Sounds like my personal slice of the American Dream, eh?

The truth is, from the outside looking in, my life appears to have met the requirements of this so-called American Dream: home in the suburbs, a satisfying, well-paying job, a wife and children.  Perhaps four children is too many to qualify for the American Dream, but we have foregone the dog and cat for the time being (which sort of evens it out).  The schedule listed above could be classified as a typical outline of my days for the frist half of 2011, and truthfully, there has not be a lot for me to complain about.  Life “looks good” to the eyes of men.   

There is nothing inherently evil with the aspects of the so-called American Dream which are present in my life (job, home, wife, kids).  In fact, I contend they are all worthwhile and profitable endeavors.  However, as a Christian man, is the American Dream what I should ultimately be striving to accomplish?  The answer should be “no”, but for whatever reason this has become the benchmark for success in our society today.  As with everything else in our society, the goals of the American Dream are short-sighted.  Politicians make decisions based on what will make them more electable for their next term.  Football programs bend and break rules to land the prized recruit who will lead them to glory for his four years of eligibility.  The list of examples could go on forever.  We are stuck in a world obsessed with instant gratification.  At the root of instant gratification screams the desires of the selfish, sinful nature.  There is no eternal outlook.

What if my schedule was evaluated for its impact on heavenly / eternal things?  How would it stack up?  Would it meet the litmus test?  Granted, there are things of eternal impact that did take place throughout the day of the schedule listed above.  However, the evidence would suggest that I was scheduling the American Dream, and not a heavenly minded reality.

Lord God, help me to approach each day with a heavenly minded, eternal outlook, instead of seeking the securities of the American Dream.  Lead me as I lead my family in seeking the fullness of Your being and satisfaction in the fullness of Your presence.

This book hits on a variety of topics regarding parenting, but perhaps more importantly, the book cast a vision for men who are raising sons in a culture that seeks to blur the lines of gender while redefining what it means to a “man”.  Even though my son is only five years old, I am deeply concerned about what is going on in this culture as I seek to raise my son to love God and become a man of honor.

This book takes a stroll down history lane to the concept of knighthood, which was fascinating to me.  While knighthood is far removed from our secular culture in America, the principles hold some timeless truths that became more evident to me while reading this ‘manual’.  There were parts of this book that were perhaps a little premature for my stage in parenting my son.  However, that does not change the effectiveness of the message in my opinion.  Father’s with sons of all ages would gain godly wisdom from reading this book.

As fathers, we need to begin to ask ourselves, “how can I raise my boy into a man?”.   My son is only five years old, but every day that passes by will be a day that I can’t have back with him.  As fast as the first five years have gone, it’s hard to fathom how quickly the next 13 will go.  It forces me to take a hard, uncomfortable look in the mirror, and ask myself, “am I doing everything that I can to accomplish the vision I have for my son?”  Obviously, this question reaches further than just to my first-born son and extends to my three daughters, but there seems to be extra weight upon my shoulders in raising a son.  I see how he watches my every move and desires to be like me.  He cherishes every moment that we get to spend together alone, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time.  These events truly warm my heart and give me deep satisfaction.  However, there are moments when I know I have disappointment him, and I must live with that sting.

I pray that I am able to fully embrace the vision for raising my son towards a vision for authentic manhood.  I pray and hope that I am able to give him not only good things in this life, but the best things and most important things in this life.

For my family, the month of July was one that could be quantified by number of miles driven.  You could also number the nights we slept as a family at our home, or simply count the smiles on the face of our children enjoying a summer filled with fun trips and family time.

However, for me, the month of July has felt like a time of spiritual refreshment.   To be more accurate, this time of refreshment probably began in mid-June after my wife and I attended the NICHE Conference in Des Moines.  As I sat down for my quiet time tonight, the scripture quoted above from the book of Acts was recalled by my mind, as I reflected on my time of refreshment over the past month.

“Therefore, repent and return“
To put this passage in it’s proper context, Peter is preaching to the men of Israel  after Pentecost.  He has just finished detailing Israel’s sin and involvement in the crucifixion of Jesus.  Talk about “blunt”.  However, this is the place where we are all called to arrive.  Peter could just as easily be preaching directly to us and to our own responsibility for the cross of Calvary.   For it is not simply Israel’s role in the trial of Jesus which resulted in their need for repentance, but the underlying sin behind the acts for which he was nailed to the tree.  We have all been there… we have our “disowning” of Christ (Acts 3:14), the moments in our lives where our sins have made a mockery of Jesus. Throughout the past 12 years of my Christian life, my mockery of Jesus has looked quite different each time.  Have you considered that there may be sin in your life that makes a mockery of Jesus?  I have found that this self examination does not happen often enough in my own life… (ouch!)

“so that your sins may be wiped away“
I am constantly amazed at the cause-effect relationships that are found throughout scripture.  It continually points to the fact that God’s ways are not only higher, but wiser than my own!  We are not told to “try and do better”, but to confess our sin and turn and go the other way.  While scripture puts our sinful nature and sin’s ramifications in it’s proper perspective, we are never left without hope.

“in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord“
Not only are we given a clean slate before our Creator but a promise.  We live in weary times.  There are constantly things that pull at us and drain us of our time before the presence of the Lord.   This is why the time of refreshing has been sweet to me.

This is where the rubber meets the road… will we examine our lives before a Holy God and His Holy Word?  We will we acknowledge our need to repent and return to the Lord?  Will we see our need to repent of our mockery of Jesus and actually do it?!

I pray for you (and me) that the answer is YES!!!

Blessings,
Travis

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My Heavenly Father
I love that Father’s day always fall on a Sunday.  Is there a sweeter way to celebrate, than in worshiping the Father of Lights and King of Kings? Today, as I stood in worship at FFC, my heart was overwhelmed at one point in worship to the song, You are God Alone (written by Billy J Foote and Cindy Foote, made famous by Phillips, Craig & Dean).  There is nothing unique or exciting about the lyrics, it is simply a praise hymn.  However, in the simplicity of the lyrics, something happened.  For today it was transformed into a testimony of God’s beauty in my eyes (thanks Pastor Todd).  For this might and unchangeable God, sent His only Son to die on the cross for MY sings.  While it easy to use the words that name God as “Father” (see the Lord’s prayer), it is another thing entirely to call and cry out to God from our hearts as “Father” in the spirit of adoption (see Galatians 4:4-7).  I am who I am today, because of my Heavenly Father’s, saving grace and work of sanctification in my life.

My Earthly Father
My Father was and is a hard-working man who embraced God’s calling as provider for his family.  He loves God and has always placed his family above all other things that would consume his time.  As busy as me and my siblings were in high school, I can scarcely remember a time where he was not present at one of our events.  His support and sacrifice was never-ending.  My Father taught me what it means to work hard and sacrifice to accomplish the things which you want in life.  As I sit here at the computer, a time during my high school years stands out to me.  I distinctly remember an instance where he “encouraged” me (more like challenged me) to have a stronger work ethic. While I can’t quite remember my immediate reaction (suffice to say it probably wasn’t very God or a great example of submission and respect to my father), as I look back on that time in my life my earthly father was right (in substance) and had every right (in role) to challenge me in this area.  It is little events like these, accumulated over the past 27 years of my life, that allow me to say I am who I am today because of the love and training of my earthly father.

My Role as Father
To me this is the most frightening level of my life to write about it, because I am a long ways from being a perfect dad.   By God’s grace we have four wonderful children, they are well behaved (most of the time), and learning what it means to love God.  Yet, this is an area where God is currently “dealing” with me.  Have you ever had those times where God uses his instrument of wisdom (Word of God, quiet prayer times, godly books, sermons, etc.) to speak truth into your life? Currently this is one of those times. I believe that God is speaking to my heart that as a father, he has given me a high calling of leading my family physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  I can’t necessarily define what that looks like or will look like in our family’s life, but I am seeking God and praying for wisdom (James 1:5).  Ultimately, my prayer is that someday, my children will be able to joyfully say, “I am who I am today, because of the role that my earthly father and Heavenly Father had in my life.”

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1.  Work can become a consuming force in my life, if left unchecked.

This year has marked quite a few changes for me in my workload.  I have accepted some new roles within my office, while transitioning out of some of my past roles.  All of which is very exciting and fulfilling to me, as I truly love the work that I do.  In general, I would classify myself as a driven person.  Growing up, this trait fleshed itself out as academic and athletic success.  Now in the workplace, it becomes a zeal to serve our clients better in our relationship based business.  God has simply taught me that my zeal for him must be above all other zeals (i.e. work, sports, family, etc.).  Or simply, no other gods before Him!  I believe that God is delivering on His promises.  As I seek Him, He is directing my zeal towards the heavenly things that truly matter.

2.  God is forever faithful to His promises.

This one is definitely not a “news flash”.  I have known this to be true for a long time, but it never ceases to amaze me when and how God delivers on his promises.  This month, his provision for our daily needs and financial provision have been at the forefront of my  mind.  Just days ago, my wife and I scheduled my last student loan payments and my family is now debt free (except for our home).  It’s a freeing feeling.  The bondage is gone as God provided the path to freedom.

That’s two for now.  I hope to outline some more in the coming days!

Blessings,
Travis

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So, last night I began my reading plan for the year.  Yes, I do realize that it is more proper to start the reading plan on January 1st instead of Februray 1st.  It’s amazing how many different “reading plan” options are out there.  You can basically customive your plan to your liking (but does every reading plan really have to start on January 1st).   Personally, I’m using the following webiste and plan to accomplish my reading goals for the year (My Reading Plan).  Pray for me that God will use my commitment to ignite a deep, hungering passion for his world over the next 12 months.

I suppose some people may be curious about what it means to pray for the entire world over the next year.  Operation World is a great resource and the one that I will be using.  It outlines prayer needs for every nation in the world, and it simply walks you through praying for them on a daily basis.  From what little experience I have with the book so far, I am thoroughtly impressed and very excited to be embarking on this journey.  God has been teaching me that my heart for missions and the globe in lacking.  I need a deep spiritual revival to give me a glimpse of God’s heart for all nations.

The reality that I face is that I am much better at explaining, organizing, and planning than growing an intimate relationship with my heavenly father on a daily basis.  I want less of my man-made ways of running my life and more of Jesus consuming every detail of who I am.

Blessings,
Travis

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Work
Where to start?  It was quite a year.  I received a promotion and continued to take on increasing responsibility.  In fact, one of my co-workers retired at the end of the year and we hired an analyst so that I could take on more revenue generating responsbility in the office.  God has continued to bless my work and grant me favor with my co-workers and colleagues.  Praise God!

Chilren
No additions to this category this year (as mentioned above), but our children continue to grow, change and develop.  Abel and Amariah both started pre-school this past fall.  My wife, Angela is homeschooling this year and using the Sonlight curriculum.  So far it has been very profitable academically for our children and worth the up front cost.  It’s really neat to watch our children learn and hunger to know more.  Abel continues to love to build with Legos, he is a detail oriented four year old.  Amariah has the most creative imagination of any child I have ever known.  She loves to sing and play make believe.  Isabel and Elliana are now over 19 months old and walking / running / climbing whereever they please!  It’s so much fun to watch them interact with each other and their older siblings.  Children certainly have a way of keeping things in perspective.

Family
My brother got engage to his college sweetheart and we look forward to their wedding in April.  My sister and brother-in-law are finally catching up with us on the kid count and are due to equal us in March of 2011.  My parents continue to be blessed with good years farming and enjoying their seven grandchildren.  My mom had another good year of tests at Mayo. She has now been officially cancer free since her last surgery in December of 2007.   What an amazing work of healing and restoration.  I continually praise God for his goodness and do not take my time with my extended family for granted!  

Church
At First Family Church, we finished series in 2 Peter and Romans, and did a topical study on the Gospel-Centered Life.  We also spend the entire year in our “new” facility.  It was nice to finally have a place that we call “home” after being a mobile church.  We led a Lighthouse group for the first half of the year and then took a break beginning in the fall to take a year to “recharge” from the demands of having a young family and leading. 

Spiritual Growth
It was a good year of growth for me in some theological areas that I had been studying coinciding with the various sermon series.  However, I found myself struggling with consistency in scripture reading off and on.  When my work schedule became hectic, I found myself leaving God with the leftovers… ouch… that’s a tough thing to admit and something I am not very proud of.  I did not have a formal bible “reading plan” outlined at the beginning of the year, and found that did not serve me well.

Eternal Outlook
While, my posting was down this year (only 21 posts = yikes!), I feel that each year God is changing my outlook on life and focusing my gaze eternally.  I want to have a year that counts for eternity and be able to look back with satisfaction that I am not only encouraging christian living with an eternal outlook, but living as a Christian with an ever increasing eternal outlook.

Blessings!
Travis

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I am also planning to be more intentional about my “other” reading, trying to consistently work my way through “other” books.  I hope to have a steady slate of theology, Christian living, and professional development books.

It’s a New Year that I hope to fill with new “reads”!

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Blessings
Travis

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“It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High” (Psalm 92:1)

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater.” (2 Thess. 1:3)

Thanksgiving day often causes much reflection on the goodness of God and His provision for my life.  In fact, my wife, spent an entire week at her blog, Eternal Outlook [with Angela] espousing differing aspects of God’s provision in our family’s life.  But ultimately, it is my prayer for myself, and all those who may read this blog, that we will be known as people of thanksgiving, because of how indebted we are to our Creator and Savior.

I want the heartbeat of my life (and my family’s) to be one that praises God with a heart of thanksgiving on a daily basis.

Blessings,
Travis

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