Be careful that you don't fall

The end of another school year is almost here and that brings a guarantee of a few things:
1. Teachers are more excited about summer than the students.
2. My students at the high school know that #1 is true, so they try to get me to stop assigning homework and projects by getting me to talk about things I am passionate about.
3. The heavy workload I have at this time of year to get papers graded and projects assessed is never surprising, but I have a tendency to fall into a trap of letting it completely stress me out.

The last two weeks have been very stressful for me and I have not handled it well. Prior to this stressful time, things were going great. I was consistently reading the Word daily, spending quality time with Christy and the kids, making time to read and listen to challenging Biblical teachings, and then it happened. I got complacent at work and at home. I began to get a bit too comfortable and confident that I had things under control, and I began to do it under my own power instead of recognizing my need for strength to come from the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 10:12 says “So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.” I didn’t recognize what was happening until it was too late. I was then so far behind at school with grading that I didn’t know where to begin. I brought this stress home with me and I became an ineffective spiritual leader for my family. I became irritable, distant, and felt completely powerless and depressed. I was going through the motions in my daily quiet time with God and with my family. I was investing my time and energy into being stressed out instead of turning immediately to God and His Word to comfort and guide me.
My sins of pride and self-sufficiency had caused me to fall and I didn’t even see it coming. This was a good reminder for me that I must always be watchful for the enemy who wants to distract or trip me and that I need to be more prayerful about my pride and selfishness.
I praise God for HIs Spirit who convicts me of my sin and chastens me back to the narrow path that Christ mentions in Matthew 7:13-14. He is so good yet I so easily give in to my sinful nature of doing things my own way. I am so undeserving of His love, but He disciplines me “because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Proverbs 3:12).

A dad's thoughts on his daughter's birthday

Olivia turns 4 tomorrow and we had her party for the extended family on Saturday. It’s Christy’s tradition to spread out as many birthday parties over as many days as possible to stretch out your birthday as long as you can!
Tonight as I put Olivia to bed for the 10th time in 20 minutes (she’s a bit excited about her big day tomorrow and her “kid” party), I snuggled in bed with her and thought about the day she was born.
Her birth was an amazing event in many ways:
1. Olivia brought the level of estrogen back into close proximity to the level of testosterone in our home and she can scream with a pitch, tone, and volume that can be heard in outer space.

2. When Olivia was only minutes old, I remember thinking something I never thought about when the boys were born: “Some day there will be a boy who will come to my house to take her on a date. I will be ready for that day!” When the boys were born, I think I grunted and thumped my chest in approval.
3. The most important difference between her birth and her brothers’ was where I was in my relationship with God. I became a born-again believer in Jesus Christ in October 2003 when Christy was only a couple of months pregnant with Olivia.
I claimed to be a Christian on his way to heaven when the boys were born, but I was actually dead in my sins and on my way to hell. I had not repented of my sins and put my faith completely in Jesus Christ and what He did on the tree for my sins. “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). What a new perspective I had at her birth. To hear my complete testimony, click HERE.
As I have grown in my relationship with Christ these last 4 years, my role as a dad has changed from teaching my kids to have worldly morality to teaching them about their need for a Savior in their own lives. Worldly morality and good deeds will never save them from their sins—only the shed blood of Jesus Christ can do that when they repent and trust Him.
While that might seem like a lot to expect a 4 year old to understand, my role is
clear: “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from
it” (Psalm 22:6).