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THE PROUD SPLINTER!

March 25, 2013 by Keith Lewie 4 Comments

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You’ve heard of Paul’s thorn right?
…how about Braden’s splinter?

When my son, Braden, was about 8 years old he came to me with an enormous splinter that he had lodged in his finger while playing outside. He held his finger with his other hand and began to timidly, yet proudly, lift it toward me so that I could see it.

In my humble opinion, the splinter was GINORMOUS!

But fortunately it was not entirely embedded under the skin and I knew I could remove it. I immediately told him that I could take care of it and remove it. As I was saying these words I was reaching toward the splinter when all of the sudden he yelled out “NO!” Instantly he pulled his whole body back and hid his hand behind his back so that I had no access to it. When I asked him why he wouldn’t let me remove it, he said, “It will hurt when you take it out!”

Mom would have had more compassion, but not me… because, without hesitation and without warning I simply grabbed Braden and his hand as fast as I could (midst the flailing arms, screaming and crying) and I simply removed the splinter within a matter of seconds.

Afterward I held up his “splinter trophy” he looked at his finger and then back at the splinter. In just a matter of seconds, he realized the splinter was gone and amazingly… so was the pain. The tears stopped, the fear stopped and a simple smile appeared.

Like Braden, you may be “living life” and all of a sudden you get a splinter or experience pain and hurt. Regardless of how the pain or hurt comes, it can be removed very simply.

When dealing with our own pain we usually react just like Braden, proud, yet hurt, but also willing to show it off to others. When we act like this, sometimes we are not actually looking for a resolution to the pain but rather for attention.

Others tend to react by withdrawing from others. Hiding the pain and keeping it all to themselves. Usually holding it in and allowing bitterness to settle in their heart. The fear is if we open up to someone we might get hurt again.

Pain is an indicator not an educator. Pain indicates that something is wrong. Pain is like a gauge, it only indicates what is going on, it tells us what needs fixed, but not how to fix it. Your Heavenly Father wants to fix whatever is wrong in your heart, mind or body no matter the experience. He has all the ability to repair anything and everything. God uses The Holy Spirit through His Word to be our educator, physician, comforter, helper and our guide to fix and in fact – prevent pain. If we choose to listen, learn and trust in Him then we can be healed of anything.

John 14:26 (KJV) “But the Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

If there are hurts in your life then take it to the One who made you. God knows everything about your life and He knows how to remove the splinter – if you will just let Him.

SQUIRREL!

March 18, 2013 by Missy Lewie 1 Comment

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Our van has a DVD player in it and it is amazing how much more you hear when you can’t see the screen. Recently my kids were enjoying the movie “Up” and I found myself laughing out loud every time Doug the dog would say, “Squirrel!” I thought it was funny how obvious his apparent lack of focus was in the movie. However, after many months of struggling with certain situations in my own life, I realize I’m in the same boat. I just don’t yell “squirrel” and make it obvious to those around me.

When faced with struggles or circumstances, I suggest to fall back on 2 simple questions, “where is your focus and what is your plan?” Keep in mind, being focused is more than just staying on task, it is also organizing your thoughts!

The Word of God says in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “casting down arguments (thoughts) and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

In order to accomplish 2 Corinthians 10:5 – you must also learn that it’s a process. When David fought Goliath – he had already been through a process of successes by first killing the lion and the bear. When it came time to fight the giant, David was confident in the plan and knew that God would fight for him as He had done in the past. And God did.

It’s not that you have a struggle in life… it’s how you organize your thoughts and plan to deal with it. Anything that tells you something negative about yourself, friends, family, or even about your enemies should be cast down. Depending on the circumstances, you might need to do this hourly! But through it all, you will recognize that it’s a process. The process was so successful to David that when he went to face Goliath, he picked up 5 smooth stones – rather than just 1. His intention was not a back up plan in case the first stone missed, but rather David knew and prepared in advance for Goliath’s 4 other brothers.

The old adage, “Failure to plan, is planning to fail” sounds good right here. You are planning in both instances so you might as well plan for success!

Keep focused, stop the negative thought process in your mind and make a plan. Because yelling “Squirrel” every so often will really get annoying for those around you!

SOUP’S ON

May 31, 2012 by Missy Lewie 5 Comments

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Because Keith and I were married at such a young age, I would have to admit my cooking skills were no match for that of his mother. Mind you, she was trained by the little Old Italian ladies in San Margherita (West Side) how to make authentic pasta from scratch and amazing meatballs and gravy (aka red sauce).

Yeah, I didn’t have a chance.

I remember one night, early in our marriage; I was so excited about cooking a meal for Keith. I spent hours planning it but soon realized my execution was completely off. You see, when he arrived home from work at 1:00am I had the KRAFT Macaroni and Cheese already prepared but had forgot to put the frozen tater tots in the oven. So I hurriedly threw them in and we sat down to eat. Since we didn’t normally eat in our kitchen, it wasn’t for at least another 2 hours that I was able to pull the now “Charcoal Briquettes” from the oven and air out the house for the remainder of the early morning. I had a plan, but failed at the execution!

I think back on those days and am grateful that Keith allowed me to be an individual; he never compared me to that of his mother. Other relationships aren’t necessarily the same. One example that most people can relate to is with their children. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the phrase… “Well Johnny’s parents allow him to….” Really? Like that would change my mind? As a parent, I don’t make decisions based on the majority; I base them on my beliefs.

Although there were many times in my life (speaking with cooking of course) where I have failed in my execution, yet I have continued to get back up, brush myself off, and then try again.

Why do I keep trying? My family depends on it.

When put in this context (cooking), it makes it plain, however if we look at it in any another potential struggle in life, I would venture to say… families depend on that one too.

So what holds us back?

Why do we think it’s ok to give up or quit trying?

The Apostle Paul took this attitude when he wrote the church at Philippi, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,” (Philippians 3:13 NIV) – The Message version says it like this, “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.”

If we fail at execution, let’s learn from it and try again. Eventually, we’ll get it right! I have to admit that over the last 22 years of marriage I have evolved into a “better” cook. Some knowledge has come by learning from previous mistakes and some by actually applying a recipe (go figure). If you can find a mentor, glean from their knowledge (take their soup recipes, change them just slightly and call them your own…LOL)– it will probably elevate you to another level as well.

I have experimented and had success, and I’ve also heard those encouraging words from Keith, “Good try honey, but try again!” And that I will.

FACE YOUR GIANT!

May 6, 2012 by Keith Lewie 2 Comments

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Years ago my wife and I would sit to enjoy some downtime and we began to get hooked into popular television sitcom shows. There were many details about the sitcoms that we didn’t like, but we kept watching, we kept laughing, we kept ignoring. I remember the jokes about how the kids in the family disrespected their parents, or how the husband disrespected his wife, or how meddling in laws would usurp a parents authority. And we laughed. Although those things weren’t prevalent in our family and our relationships, the fact that we were being desensitized to the topics became obvious to us. The enemy uses the “repetitive” nature of this theme throughout most of the shows today to desensitize people to just laugh it off and move on. Without confrontation, the deterioration of our founding principles will eventually erode.

Most people don’t enjoy confrontation, in fact they avoid it! However, what you fail to confront you will not change. In 1^st Samuel 17:10 the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.” In verse 16 it says the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. Talk about repetition.

King Saul and the rest of his army failed to confront the problem at hand. They went to bed at the end of the day and then they got up the next day with the expectation that their problem would just go away. But each day the Philistine continued to present himself. King Saul and his army ignored him and failed to deal with their problem.

Problems don’t go away, addictions don’t go away, and marriage problems don’t go away. You can’t sleep them off in hopes that tomorrow things will be different. In fact, your problems won’t go away until you face them. It can be overwhelming when thoughts and words come your way taunting you and driving you to the ground with words that say “you can’t do it,” or “you won’t make it,” or “you’re not good enough.” Mix those words with other insecurities or weaknesses and you have the recipe for going nowhere fast!

In 1^st Samuel, it took David, a man who knew His God, a man of faith and experience. After first slaying the lion and then the bear, he knew what God would do for him to confront this Philistine. All of the men of Saul’s army had this opportunity, but only David acted on it.

You have to be willing to seek God for the strength, direction and solutions to your problems. And then be bold enough and confident enough IN HIM to put them into action. Go ahead, take your giants head on, you will succeed!

JUST DO IT!

May 1, 2012 by Missy Lewie 1 Comment

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So I’ve heard the best way to build a church is to have more kids. Although there is some obvious truth to this, not sure that they are totally serious – Although the Duggar family could probably make a great argument.

Keith and I believe the best way to build a church is to affect your community. So many times churches move toward the technology’s available today. They focus on the best email marketing program, the best direct mailer or the latest and greatest text marketing program and they put their time, effort and finances into these avenues and hope that it will get someone’s attention and ultimately, they will visit. Although these are excellent forms of communication today, they will probably be obsolete avenues of communication in the future with new technologies coming just around the corner.

I wonder how it was that Peter was able to add 3000 to the church in just one day and to my knowledge, Peter didn’t have a FACEBOOK or TWITTER account. Yeah that’s Amazing! Peter utilized “the demonstration of the Kingdom” and used it to the HILT! Coincidentally, it was the same demonstration given to him by Jesus.

If you are using today’s technologies, and they come, and there is no demonstration of the Kingdom, you just lost your opportunity.

Back in the day, Jesus was a ROCK STAR! People would WALK miles upon miles just to get a glimpse of Him, and they would follow Him around because of the demonstration of the love of God, the opportunity to see God working through people, or quite frankly just to get their needs met. When Jesus was asked to show them the father, he responded with, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the father.” He demonstrated building the Kingdom one by one, family by family, and demonstration by demonstration.

Many have heard the the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 in Mark Chapter 6, and it has had many life-changing illustrations, but I want to focus specifically on the component that the disciples told Jesus it was late, and that the people are hungry and for Jesus to send them away to get themselves food. Jesus’ response in verse 37 was, “You give them something to eat.” Amazing – He said, “You do it!”

The disciples immediately responded with why that was an impossible option – it would take 8 months of a man’s wages to accomplish this! Then Jesus went to demonstration. Not only did he meet the need for those in attendance, Jesus went above the need and provided left overs for the next demonstration.

His life on earth demonstrated for everyone how the Kingdom operated and more importantly how to affect a community. People today are looking for an experience, they want to know that God is REAL, they want to feel Him, they want to have an experience with Him, an experience that they will never forget.

So I would encourage you today to JUST DO IT! Whomever or whatever God places in your path, demonstrate the Kingdom. It may be loving the unlovely, reaching out to the rejected or healing the broken-hearted, in any case, JUST DO IT! Extending yourself where you are uncomfortable, will stretch you to see God working in you.

It will change the life of the person you are demonstrating the Kingdom to and it will also have an IMPACT AND CHANGE you!