Good day dear friends.
As we pray for one another, please pray for John Schaeffer, who has entered the hospital again. John and Dawn are new members but he has spent more than his share of time in the hospital. If any of you work or drive by Austin South Hospital, please go and visit John.
Here is our text for today:
Matthew 7:12 "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. 13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
I don't know about you, but in my opinion, traveling alone is not the ideal way to travel. I say this because of the long journey yesterday from SM to Ft. Worth. This is one route that our car has memorized. I could have taken a nap and the car would have known how to get to FW easily. We have made this journey several times going up to Denton to visit Caty at Texas Woman's. I traveled this way to attend General Conference. I am chair of the Committee for Correlation and Editorial Revision, the committee that puts the Book of Discipline together for the United Methodist Publishing House. I have one of the best seats in the house, sitting on stage while all goes on around. I do not get to vote on things, unless one of the reserve delegates wishes to let me go and vote. But I came without Nellie, who is the Chief Administrative Officer of Child Care for the Department of Valverde Grandchildren. Her number one and only client is of course, baby Sarita Evangelina Cortez, the delight of our eyes, ears, heck, all our being! So, while Sarita's mom has finals, Nellie is watching baby. And that's an important job! Pray for her today at 3:30 pm as Sarai has a major exam.
I don't know about you, but in my opinion, traveling alone is not the ideal way to travel. I say this because of the long journey yesterday from SM to Ft. Worth. This is one route that our car has memorized. I could have taken a nap and the car would have known how to get to FW easily. We have made this journey several times going up to Denton to visit Caty at Texas Woman's. I traveled this way to attend General Conference. I am chair of the Committee for Correlation and Editorial Revision, the committee that puts the Book of Discipline together for the United Methodist Publishing House. I have one of the best seats in the house, sitting on stage while all goes on around. I do not get to vote on things, unless one of the reserve delegates wishes to let me go and vote. But I came without Nellie, who is the Chief Administrative Officer of Child Care for the Department of Valverde Grandchildren. Her number one and only client is of course, baby Sarita Evangelina Cortez, the delight of our eyes, ears, heck, all our being! So, while Sarita's mom has finals, Nellie is watching baby. And that's an important job! Pray for her today at 3:30 pm as Sarai has a major exam.
But the road is best traveled with my wife. She's my navigator, critic, food processing administrator (she unwrapped burgers as we eat and drive), narrator, conversationalist, critic, and my overall best friend and travel companion. She wants me to be a cautious driver, friends, which is why I list that as "critic." But our road has some known turns and routes, as well as the unexpected "only one lane open ahead" and I had a couple of those last evening. We usually start our journey northy by leaving 35 to get to Creedmoor and then to the tollway that gets us north of Georgetown. We stop in Temple at one of our favorite Starbucks (the best manager of those is of course Blair Thompson from our church at the SM Starbucks); it's ideally located for a rest and stretch, hot chocolate or hot tea stop. We pass through familiar sights that are still standing 30 years after we made that journey up to Perkins. And the road from Waco northward reminds us of our first church there in Waco. It is a familiar road, best traveled together.
Jesus spoke of life and how it can be traveled. In the above passage He mentioned life in Him and how that can be "narrow" which I take to mean difficult, for it is not a popular way to travel, the wider way is more traveled and you see so many on that way. His way is the way of service, sacrifice, and love. The other way is selfish, self-serving, me-centered, and doesn't offer much in the way of love. My mom first exposed me to that verse talking about the road to destruction she would say, "Is a beautiful road or so we think. It has roses and beautiful flowers all along it. The road that Jesus wants us to walk has thorns and is harder to walk." I first thought "I'd rather walk along the beautiful road, but when she said Jesus was on the thorny road I changed my answer.
I haven't changed my answer to this day. And I trust your changing would be only to get on the road to life.
PRAYER: Loving God I thank You for being with me on the road that leads to life. Speak to my heart about what I should be, what I should do, and what I should share. Help those not yet on Your road to find the way, and if you could, use me to help. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
PS Yes, I miss Nellie very much!
