Month: January 2023

When I think about my father, the first thoughts and memories I have are that he was good and I learned a lot from him.

Probably the greatest memories I have of Dad, were how he introduced our family to boating and water skiing.  He bought our first boat when I was 7 years old.  That was the summer Sarah and I learned to water ski.  We lived near a lake and he would trailer the boat to a friend’s boat ramp where we spent a lot of Saturdays skiing in Lake Coway in South Orlando.

One Saturday, after the boat had been launched, the battery was dead and the boat couldn’t start.  Dad pulled the boat over to the bank of a canal where the car was parked.  He then disconnected the car battery and connected it to the boat terminals.  Our day of skiing was saved!  Late in the afternoon he beached the boat near the parked car to transfer the battery back to the car.  As he began to step on the bank of the canal he saw a water moccasin coiled and ready to strike.  Dad grabbed a boat oar and whacked the snake til there wasn’t much left of the snake or the oar.  At the time it was sort of funny to watch, but it was quite scary as well!

 Later that summer, we took one of our trips to visit the Sprague farm in Hamilton, Massachusetts where Dad was reared.   Most of the time Dad spent helping my Grandparents make repairs while Sarah and I played around the farm with our New England Cousins.  We picked strawberries and took them to the roadside stand on 93 Bridge Street to sell.  Grampy Sprague, your great, great grandfather would give us a cut of the profits.

While Dad was working on the farm, I was invited to come help my cousin Jim Liacos repair the roof on a tree house by the road leading to the house.  We were having the best time, until I got too close to the edge and fell off and landed on the ground.  As I landed, I braced my fall with my hands and arms.  Getting up at first I felt fine.  Then I began to feel a bit dizzy and both wrists began to ache and start to swell.  My cousins took me into the milk room of the barn and began to run cold water on my wrist.  I guess with all the commotion, my mom wandered out to the milk room and sensed something was wrong and the cold water wasn’t helping.  Off we went to the hospital where the xray revealed I had cracked the bones of both arms just above my wrist.  That event ended two things.  Dad got a ladder and tore the tree house down (my cousins have never let me forget it) and, when we returned to Orlando, it ended water skiing for the summer.  It was a very long, hot summer!

 Sometimes we would trailer our boat to other lakes in Central Florida.  One adventure was to launch our boat in Lake Eloise, near Winter Haven, Florida.  The lake was the home of Cypress Gardens and they hosted a ski performance there.  Dad was a little clueless and before we knew it we were almost part of the show.  They began to send boats out to let us know we were too close to their beach.  It was the closest I ever got to being a professional water skier.  We still managed to do a lot of boating.  Late in the day, the skies suddenly turned dark and cloudy.  In just a matter of moments the clouds opened up with rain, lightning and thunder.  We were all a little scared, but Dad got us back to shore.  Presently, Lego Land owns the beach where the ski shows were at Cypress Gardens.  I am sure we will visit there one day!

When I was 9, Dad and Mom bought a lot on lake Conway and built their dream home.  We now had our own access to the water and boating and skiing became an even bigger part of my life. Sometime around 10 years old, Dad and I built a small row boat.  I don’t remember how many nights and weekends it took to build, but the final product is still one of my best!  So many afternoons after school and weekends I spent rowing around Lake Conway.   It provided steps towards building my confidence and competency.  It was my boat and I was the captain.  I loved to row my boat around the lake by myself.  It may be the first memories of my awareness of God’s Creation.   Sometimes it was still and I just felt peace.   When the wind blew it was like the breath God!  As I paddled into shore, I would be following the Sun and as it set I would be in awe of God’s Creation.  To this day, I still value solitude and being in nature makes me very aware of our Creator God.   By the time I was 14, my parents trusted me enough to take the boat on the water by myself.  Dad had taught we a lot about how to navigate the boat on the lake.  A few years later, we salvaged a small sail boat and Dad taught me the rudimentary techniques for sailing that small dingy.  It replaced the old row boat.  It was great to feel the rush of an Outboard Boat Motor, but it was equally great to feel the power of the wind filling the sails of our little boat.

An important part of the memory of my father was you should do your work before you played.  My dad never complained about hard work.  The harder the task, the greater he would rise to the occasion.  While sometimes I didn’t particularly like having to do the yard work before we got to play (particularly boat and ski), his work ethic is one  I greatly value.  Dad taught me how to use tools, how to do yard work, he wasn’t afraid to take something apart to try to fix it.  This is largely due to the fact that he was reared on a farm and things had to be maintained and repaired.  Even now, I love to see what makes things work.  Though I don’t live on a farm and things are not as scarce as they were when my father as a child, it is still hard for me to just throw something away when it stops working.   I love fixing things, though at times it does cause me some frustration.  It does out weigh the frustration when I do acutally fix something or find a way to use something to accomplish a task.  We live in a disposable world, but dad never gave up hope  something could be repaired.  Maybe that is why I believe so strongly in redemption!  God doesn’t throw things away.  God finds away to repair and redeem if we let Him.  We will talk about that!

Later in life Dad was always available to help with projects around our house and to help with equipment for our traveling ministry.   After mom died in June of 1985, I think it was therapy for him to come and visit Sassy and me and help with chores, repairs and projects.  Dad and I remodeled a part of our garage to be used for practice and recording.  He helped us retrofit an old 1959 former Greyhound bus used for our traveling ministry for about ten years.  He also learned to drive the bus and drove it for many of the trips our retirees took at Lakewood UMC.  The older I became, the more appreciation I grew to have for how great a father and person he was.
 A memory I cherish, was a tour to Israel we took a few months after mom died in the fall of 1985.   It was an emotional time for him.  It was a trip mom and he had wanted to do, but her health prevented it.   He mourned he hadn’t done it while she was in good health   In the last 10 years before mom died, she had come into a wonderful personal relationship with Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord.   Mom had always been the one who was a little more interested in her faith.  For dad, it wasn’t very personal, but faith was necessary.   Over that ten year period, dad also began a very intimate, personal relationship with Jesus.  Being in Israel helped all of us gain a greater insight into the faith of those in the Old Testament and the witness of the life, death, resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit contained in the New Testament.  At one moment dad would be missing mom and then in the next moment so filled with Joy!  I am teary eyed recalling these memories!   Very special and heart warming!

 As a child, Dad was always faithful to attend Woship and being a member of a church mattered.  He wasn’t much of a singer and he knew it.  He just went through the motions during Worship.  Most of my memories were watching his head bob during the preaching.   After his relationship with Jesus became personal, he would stand, lift his hands and sing as loud as he could his adoration and praise for his loving Heavenly Father, for the forgiveness of sin Jesus paid for on the cross and the outpouring of the living presence of the Holy Spirit he had learned to trust with his life.  Over the years, he acutally got better at matching pitch as he sang!  What a great memory!

These memories actually are just a small part of what I loved about my father.  The important things I remember are he made me feel safe and secure.  There was never a doubt  his main mission was to take care of his family.  My father’s generation did not say I love you on a regular basis, but I never doubted his love for me.  Providing security and taking care of the family was how most men of that time expressed their love.  Early in my life, I felt my Father’s love was conditional.   Not that I had to earn it, but there were certain attitudes and actions I knew would please my mother and him, and actions that would not.  At my core I wanted to please him, but sometimes I rebelled, sometimes I failed, sometimes it was just hard to know what to do!  Later in life I came to understand how hard it is to show unconditional love.  I gained an even greater understanding of how difficult it was to be a parent when I became a father to your mother.  You want to love your child unconditionally, but you also need to teach and model boundaries!  After he began his personal relationship with Jesus his love changed.  He even let me know he was a bit sorry he hadn’t said it more to me when I was younger.  There was never any doubt in my father was good, kind and loving and for the last years of his life he never missed a chance to tell me he loved me!

A part of the Good News that Jesus preached was God was Jesus’ Father.  It was a concept at the core of the Old Testament.   God sent Jesus into the world to reveal His amazing love for humanity.  Jesus often spoke of God as His father.  

As a child, on a visit to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, Jesus wandered off and his parents couldn’t find. “Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.”  Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭46‬-‭50‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.  Jesus knew at an early age His Father is acutally in heaven.  He was perfectly comfortable in the Temple and displayed amazing personal knowledge of God because He knew Him as Father.

Mary and Joseph must have been quite perplexed.  A parent’s worse nightmare is having their child wander from their care.  As relieved as they must have felt, they still must have expressed their concern He had been abducted.  On the other hand, they must have realized  God really was Jesus’ Father and God had a plan for Him to reveal His Father!

When His followers asked Him how to pray this was His response.  ““This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,”. Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

After Jesus death and resurrection, Jesus’ followers became keenly aware of Jesus message and preached God was a Loving Father!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,”. 2 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,”. 2 Thessalonians‬ ‭2‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”  2 Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

When I began my relationship with Jesus Christ it was no trouble to understand God as my Heavenly Father.  When I was taught that God was our Loving Heavenly Father, it was easy to accept because I already had a Good, Kind and Loving Father and it made me want to know and love my Heavenly Father and my earthly parents!

After 31 notes, you probably have started to understand how important my personal relationship with Jesus is!  The memories of my loving parents made it easy to accept God as my loving Father and to want to Follow His Son.

If you haven’t already come to know Jesus in a personal way, it’s easy!  Here’s a prayer that you can pray!

Father,  I am thankful for my earthly parents (and Grandparents)!  They have told me a lot about how You love me and You sent Jesus into the world to tell us of Your love.  Without Jesus, I would never know Your love.  Today, I am inviting Jesus into my heart to be my Savior and Lord.  I know that without Jesus, without His Salvation I couldn’t know the Father’s love.  Jesus, I am also bowing to you as Lord.  I want to know your will, your plan, my purpose.  I choose to follow you!  In the Name of Jesus!

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”  Revelation‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

    One of the favorite movies we watched with your mother when she was a young child was the original Parent Trap.  In one of the scenes, the grandfather asks one of the twins, “did we make a memory?”  Quite often through her life and even sometimes since she has become an adult I still ask her that question.  Your mother’s response was never as enthusiastic as the character in the movie.  Hopefully we will watch both versions of this movie some time!  Also, I am glad to know she wants us to make some memories together!

    Harper, since you are the oldest I probably have the most memories of you!  When we inherited the GEM Electric Car you named it the GoGo.  You were about 1 1/2 years old when we started taking trips around the neighborhood in the evenings looking for Deer.  To give you a little perspective of something that happened when you were young was the COVID Pandemic.  Starting in late March of 2020 and for several months we spent a lot of time at our homes with family and close friends.  Riding around the neighborhoods with you that spring and summer provided joy and peace during a worldwide tragedy.  During that time we also started taking trips to the neighborhood playground and spent lots of time by our pool.  You were just getting used to the water and we played on the deck as you threw toys for me to retrieve.  At this time, we have taken two trips to Disney, a summer and winter trip to Copper Mountain (where you played in the snow and on the frozen pond for the first time), and this past year we had some fun walks together at the Waynesville Mountain House rolling down the hill, jumping into the leaves and playing in the bounce house!

    BP, we are just starting to form some memories.  When your mother went back to teaching, you started spending Mondays with Sassy and me.  You have also been spending more mornings at our house before you go to childcare.  In the mornings as I sit and drink coffee on the back porch,  I hear the garage door open and you saying DadGee and you make your way to the porch and climb up on my lap!  After a moment, you climb down in search of the golf bag and start pulling out clubs and balls, as we putt around the porch.  Your first trip to Disney was quite high maintenance.  It was Harper’s second birthday and you were barely even 5 months old.  The second trip you were still too young to really experience things, but I am sure our next trip will be very memorable!   You are a perpetual motion boy.  It’s fun to watch you move from one activity to another.  When we sit on the pool deck of the pool, you have to be watched all the time.  Summer of 2022 we learned in the blink of an eye you would crawl off the deck as soon as you were set down!

    Your mother should have a lot of these pictures that will help you remember some of these events.

    Blake, even though you are not born yet, you are already bringing a lot of joy into our lives and memories have already been made.  On Christmas Eve 2022, at our Douglas/Sprague Christmas dinner and gift exchange, your parents had planned a gender reveal. The highlight of our night was a balloon Sassy and BeeBee were given the task of popping to reveal your gender.   As pink confetti blew through the air, Sassy and BeeBee jumped up and down while Sassy was still holding a knife in her hand!  Thankfully no one was stabbed!  You are already celebrated and the day of your birth will be a great memory!

    Since I retired in 2018, I have been spending 10-12 weeks of the winter at Copper Mountain.  People come to visit me so I am never alone for too long.  I started bringing a digital picture frame filled will pictures of you and our family.  As they scroll through a loop of pictures my heart is warmed by many of the events we have shared and some shared while I am here alone.   Though I miss you, the pictures bring me Joy and Happiness!

    This is a great time to talk about memories.  There are two types of memories:  Good and Bad.  If you aren’t careful Bad memories will define your life.  Many people dwell on them and consequently never reach their God-ordained purpose.  There will be bad and sad memories in your life, but they do not have to define you!  It is so important to celebrate the great and happy times.  Quite frankly, most people’s good and happy memories greatly outnumber the sad and bad, but it is our nature to dwell on the sad and bad.  Don’t do that!  Remember!  Celebrate! Give Thanks!

    In the years I have left with you I want us to have Great, Joyful, Happy, Memorable Memories!  Probably my greatest purpose in life is to help provide those for you.

    It was a special gift from your mother to ask these questions of me.  By the time you are able to read and comprehend them, I will be very old and may even be in heaven.  Many of these notes have reminded me of happy memories and events as well as lessons I have learned.  Writing these has been a great way for me to celebrate how Good God has been to me and what a wonderful life I have had.  I hope I have passed on these memories to you and they will be part of your life!  Not memories of me for my sake, but memories that, I hope, will remind you of my love for you, wanting God’s best for you and sharing my memories to help you on your journey.

    Just a few weeks ago we celebrated BP’s baptism.  I have written about Harper’s baptism that was in September of 2020!   Blake, I look forward to your baptism in the near future!  Baptism is a celebration of Jesus’ death on the Cross and His resurrection from the grave.  As the water was poured on your head, it symbolizes your death to sin which is also covered by the blood of Jesus Christ (It is a lifetime journey to fully appreciate this) and now the resurrection power of Jesus Christ is in your life.  Some versions of Christianity wait until a person is able to make their own profession of faith.  Infant Baptism is an act of faith that states even before you could decide for yourself, Jesus died for your sins.  

Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  

    These moments are acutally my greatest memories of you and the ones that I pray you will embrace for your lifetime.  There were many witnesses that you were baptized.  We affirmed that you are a Child of God.  It will be up to you to make this memory a part of who you are!

    Our faith as followers of Jesus Christ is based on the memory that Jesus Christ shed His blood and gave His body so we could have abundant and eternal life.  During Jesus’ last meal with His closest friends he shared how and what He wanted them to remember!  

Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭26‬-‭29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.””
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Luke‬ ‭22‬:‭17‬-‭20‬ ‭NKJV “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”

I Corinthians‬ ‭11‬:‭23‬-‭26‬ ‭NKJV “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

    Throughout my life I have relied on this celebration to remember that I am a sinner saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I am adopted into God’s family and have the reminder nothing can separate me from the love of God Jesus shows the world.  My prayer is at an early age your parents will be faithful to having you attend worship and regularly celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  When you see another person Baptized, infant or older you will embrace the memory of your Baptism.  Even in times of trouble, trials, doubt and possible seasons of separation from God, something inside you will bring up the remembrance of your Baptism.   Martin Luther, a great leader in the church during the 16th century, while enduring times of struggle was known to write the word’s “I am Baptized!”  He did this to drown the negative words of doubt and despair, the bad memories of life and to remember that he was a sinner saved by the washing of our sins through the grace of Jesus Christ!  I imagine, when he celebrated the Lord’s Supper he was reminded as well.

    Something I hope that you will remember about me, is when I pray before a meal it is not just to ask God to bless it!  I am giving thanks for the necessities of life:  Food, Family, Friends, a warm place in which to eat it, but most importantly for the broken body of Jesus Christ and for His blood!  Everyday, every meal, every moment I try to remember that and give thanks!
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    Below are some pictures of Harper and BP that I take the credit for teaching you!

This is probably why your parents rarely left me in charge of you alone!

    To be totally honest, I don’t think there are talents I would choose other than the ones I have pursued. There’s a sense of peace and contentment to be writing this into my 5th year of retirement and just a few months away from my 70th birthday!

    As I shared in an earlier note my only regret was I didn’t pursue my musical talents a little more purposefully. My parents were happy and supportive of my musical abilities, but their emphasis was much more on academics and character development. Music, to them, was a bit of diversion from reaching my potential as an adult. At the time, most of friends were nurtured in the same way and music at best was a hobby. It was fine to be passionate about it, but other talents were more important.

    As life would have it, I am glad for the path I followed. At a fairly early age, I really believed God had a plan for my life. If it included music, so be it. If it was another direction so be it! The path I would follow, music would play a great part in it, but my academic training, my character development and my leadership skills would be used to a greater extent throughout my life and especially in the ministry.

    There is one physical attribute I often longed to have. To be about 2 inches taller would have helped me, and I might have been a better athlete. Sitting down I am almost as tall as most men. I just have short legs. Sitting down, I was actually taller than my father, but he had long legs and when he stood, he towered over me. It’s hard to find 29–30-inch length pants. My waist size has fluctuated around 32-33 inches, and it is healthy measurement. It is so much easier to find pants for a 32-inch waist and 32 or longer length. Most of my adult life my average weight was about 170 pounds. At 5’7” I always felt a little stocky as they say. My friends who were taller always looked more fit and athletic at the same weight. Who knows, if I was 2 inches taller, I probably would have been 20 pounds heavier too. It possibly was part of God’s plan. I might have pursued sports more vigorously making it harder to hear God’s voice calling me into the ministry.

    Now in the years we have together, I am committed to helping your parents develop your God given talents, abilities and passions. As God wills, I am committed to supporting you even more than my parents and grandparents supported me. I hope to help provide you with the instruction and coaching you need to pursue your talents and abilities.

    Along with that, I am also committed to helping you hear God’s voice and discern his will for your life. I have prayed for you since the day you were born. Actually, yesterday, Sunday, January 8, 2023, we celebrated Benjamin Paul’s baptism. Harper, you were baptized as well on Sunday September 20, 2020. Those are your earliest steps on your journey of faith in God’s love which was shown through His only Son Jesus of Nazareth. The most important part of becoming fully human and reaching your God given potential begins with acknowledging even with all your gifts and talents, you need a Savior. Jesus died to Save you from our broken human nature. He rose from the dead so His Holy Spirit could guide you on your journey. Allow Him to be your Lord and trust His will is best for you.

    Here are some scriptures and truths from the Bible I hope and pray you will embrace!

    By the time you are reading this, I hope you have learned the Lord’s Prayer. I hope it is not a prayer you have only memorized and can recite like a parrot, but it becomes the model for your prayers.
    In Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus teaches His closest friends how to pray.

Matthew 6:9-13 NASB The Lord’s Prayer
9 “Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
    10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done,
    On earth as it is in heaven.
    11 Give us this day our daily bread.
    12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
    13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’
    At the center of this prayer is submission to God’s will!

    Over the course of my life following Jesus, I have come to an understanding there are two parts to the Will of God. There are truths which are GENERAL to all and then there are
SPECIFICS uniquely for the individual.

    The general truths of God’s Will are much easier to discern. Here are a few.

Micah 6:8 NASB 8 He has told you, mortal one, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you. But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

It’s not terribly hard to understand.

    Here’s another.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NASB 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

    God’s will is really simple!

    Jesus tells an important part of God’s General Will.

John 13:34 NASB 34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

    Start with loving your parents, then your siblings, then your friends and finally love your enemies.

    These truths may be the most important part of God’s Will for humanity.

Mark 12:30-31 NASB 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

    It gets even more radical and challenging!

Matthew 5:43-48 NASB 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

    One of the greatest stories Jesus told tells us who our neighbors are.

Luke 10:25-37 NASB 25 And behold, a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” 29 But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 And by coincidence a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’ 36 Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The one who showed compassion to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

    Jesus is telling the young man that the people group he hated the most actually showed love and mercy to a person who actually hated him. That’s love!

    Those truths pretty much summarize what God’s General Will is for you and all humanity. Discerning his Specific Will for you is more of a challenge. It is a life long journey beginning with prayer. When you are making decisions, ask God silently to help you. Don’t base every decision on just what you desire. Ask God to direct you. Spend a few minutes each day asking for God to guide you. Reread one of the scriptures above to remind you of God’s General Will.
    A scripture which has helped guide me is James 4.

James 4:13-17 NASB 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.

    It is challenging to know God’s will in every specific area of your life. At times, I think God leaves some of the decisions up to us. I learned my decision making process always needed an escape clause. While I was considering what I wanted to do, I tried to give God the last word. “If the Lord wills…” There were a few times I missed God’s will and I had to circle back and start again. Some decisions may have even affected the course of my, but it is amazing how much direction God gives even when a person isn’t really open to listening. Make your plans, but always give God the last word. There’s a clever statement that I like. “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plan!”

    Ultimately what I learned was the better I followed God’s General Will, the easier it was to know and follow his specific will. You may not fully understand this the first time you read this note, but over the years if you begin to embrace this, I fully believe you will find purpose and contentment following Jesus. When you do you will increase your chance of reaching your human personal potential, and your gifts and talents will shine!

Gee Sprague, January 09, 2023

    It’s Monday morning. A man walks into a produce market and asks the manager if there are any oranges. He informs him there was a hard freeze in the area they get their oranges and there wouldn’t be any oranges for a week.
    On Tuesday, the same man walks into the produce market and asks the man if there are any oranges. The manager politely tells the man there is shortage of oranges because of hard freeze and there won’t be any oranges until next Monday.
    Wednesday morning the same man walks into the produce market and asks the same question. The manager is a little perturbed about the same question and as politely as possible gives the man the same answer for a third time.
    It’s Friday morning, you guessed it! Same man, same question. The manager is fed up with the request and is at wits end. He says to the man, “If you take the Straw out of Strawberries, what do you have?”
    The man answered, “Berries.”
    The manager then asked, “If you take the Blue out of Blueberries, what do you have?”
    He answered, “Berries.”
    Next, he asked, “If you take the Black out of Blackberries, what do you have?”
    He answered, “Berries.”
    The manager said, “Sir, so far you are correct. What if you take the Stink out of Oranges?”
    The man was puzzled and answered, “There is no Stink in Oranges.”
    The manager looked the man in the eye and said, “You are correct again! There were no STINKIN’ Oranges on Monday, No STINKIN’ Oranges Tuesday, No STINKIN’ Oranges on Wednesday, No STINKIN’ Oranges Today. We won’t have any Oranges until Monday. Now get out of the store and don’t come back until then!”
    I know what you are thinking. I am not very good at telling jokes. You are right. I do, however, know a good joke when I hear one and I like to hear them. Laughter is good for your soul! It helps us stay emotionally healthy, but only if we are able to laugh at ourselves and not at others!
    Proverbs 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.
    Here’s a little advice.
    Make fun of yourself, and not others!
    Avoid people who make fun of you but try to see if there is any truth in their comments.
    If you choose to make fun of others, be ready to take your own medicine!!!!!
    Avoid any jokes which demean a particular culture, gender, or a person’s physical appearance. There are a couple of exceptions! It’s ok to make fun of Rednecks and people from the North. I have family from the South and the Northeast, and we are pretty funny! You might even be able to make fun of people from California, but it may have fallen into the sea by the time you are reading this. Actually, stick to just making fun of yourself.
    As a preacher, I liked to make people laugh. Mark Rutland, who I wrote about a couple of notes back was very good at using humor to help make a point. I remember him telling me he wasn’t very good at telling jokes or funny stories, but he was good at telling stories funny. Though I was never as accomplished as Mark, I aspired to his style.
    When I preached, I liked telling stories. I shared a lot about our family. When your mother was young, each week she would ask if I was going to tell a story about her. When she was a teenager, I realized oflten what I thought was funny, was not always funny to her. I began to ask her permission if I could talk about her. Most of the time she approved. By the way, if I ever told a story demeaning anyone or putting someone else down, it never felt good! I regret I sometimes went too far. I had to apologize a few times. Sadly, I am sure there were people I hurt by my reckless and insensitive sense of humor. Let me see it again, I regret it!
    There were also Preacher stories I liked to tell. They probably weren’t true, but you acted like they were to make a point. One of my favorites was a behavioral psychological experiment testing the attitudes of twins. They put one twin in a room filled with manure up to his neck. He cried and complained until he was rescued from the setting. When the other twin was placed in the room, he immediately started to dive down deep into the manure and was laughing as he played in the deep pile. When the researchers removed him from the room, they asked “Why are you so happy?” He said, “With all this manure, there had to be a pony in there somewhere!”
    In your life, you will find yourself knee deep in manure sometimes. It is your choice how you will react! Keep looking for the pony!
    Preachers often tell stories as if they actually happened to them. It personalized the story. Here’s a favorite of mine. A little girl comes to her father and asks, “How does God open a rose and it is so beautiful, but when I open it, it looks like this!” She holds up a mess of rose pedals. The father is speechless. In a moment she comes up with her own answer. “I know,” she says, “When God opens it, He does it from the inside!” I hope you get the point. After your mother was born, I would tell the story as if it was a conversation we had. When I got to the end, I then said it really didn’t happen to us, but I wanted to personalize it. I tried to always be honest and never exaggerate, but it was fun to tell a simple story and use it to make an impact!
    Here’s my best advice! Laugh a lot! Laugh at yourself. Make friends with people who have a good sense of humor and don’t take themselves too seriously. Watch funny sitcoms! Find comedian, who makes you laugh!
    As you know, one of my favorite activities is playing golf. I was never very good, but I enjoyed the company. Golfers tell a lot of jokes. Some I can’t repeat, a lot I don’t remember, and a lot of them sound the same. One of my favorites is a story about a John Daly. John had a reputation for being quite funny. He is playing in a Pro/Am and the amateur asked if there was simple tip to drive the ball little further. John smiled, bent over, placed his tee in the ground and then placed his ball on the tee. He stood up and addressed the ball. Then he looked at the amateur and said watch. He bent over and pushed the tee forward just a little further and said, “Do this and it will go a little further!” Probably only funny to the others in the group!
    This is note 28. You probably have learned by now I like to tell stories. I am not interested in keeping my memory alive, I am interested in you learning a bit from my life’s experience.
    If you really want to laugh, ask your mother or Sassy tell you funny stories about me!
    By the way, one of my favorite portraits of Jesus was given to me by my mother when I was a teenager. He is smiling! Most all the pictures I had seen he looked serious and somber! I have kept that picture almost 60 years. It made me feel good to see just smiling at me! It makes me feel good sharing it with you! He is smiling at you!

    With this note I am starting the second half of my year on notes. Every week I wonder if this will be the week I just draw a blank, but I am happy to share with you on this topic!
    Quite frankly, the note just prior to this recounts people with wisdom who affected my life, but it is also a remembrance of those who inspired me. Each person mentioned inspired me and I am grateful for them.
    The reality of my life is I have been blessed to have had a lot of people in my life giving me inspiration Somehow, I avoided the negative voices of so many people in my early life. The environment in which I lived was quite nurturing. Of course, there were negative voices, but the positive voices were so much louder.
    As I was writing last week’s note I began to think about a person who had great influence in my life. I am glad I saved his story for this week. His inspirational influence in my life helped me in many ways.
    Even though I only used my Math Major and Education minor for a year and a half, the choice of them was of less impact than the man who would be me College advisor. Dr. Henry Hartje was in his first year as head of the Math Department at Florida Southern College. He was my advisor and my Calculus 101 Professor. If my memory serves me correctly, his undergraduate and master’s degrees were from University of Arkansas. He was a true Red-Blooded Razorback. He had taught a few years early at the college but left to pursue his PhD in education at University of Georgia. He was a brilliant mathematician, but it was his passion for education which affected me the most. I am not sure I could recall any calculus, but I am happy to remember and celebrate his personal impact on my life and recognize the inspiration he was!
    The first exam of the semester was a review of basic Algebra I had learned in High School, and I made an A plus. The second exam I think was a D minus (it might have been worse). It was pretty common among most of my classmates. He told us we would be able to drop one test score at the end of semester and he would do his best to make himself available to us if we needed help. I NEEDED HELP!
    Almost every week I was in his office making sure I understood the concepts of this new level of math. During our meetings, however, it was never just about math. He wanted to know me and wanted me to know he cared about me. It didn’t take long for us to find out we had a common love of Blue Grass Music. He played guitar, but his real claim was a collection of Blue Grass and Country music recordings that filled several shelves in his home office. He and his wife Betty opened their home to me and a few other Blue Grass Fans almost every Friday night while I was in college. It was my home away from home. They had two young children who would peep in and out while we were there. Betty always had a light meal or heavy snacks for us. It was a great break from Dorm and Cafeteria life.
    Friday nights at the Hartje’s became very special to me. We usually arrived around 6 and tried to leave by 8 so the kids would get to sleep. Other Friday night activities didn’t start till after 8 and most of those activities were not as wholesome and fulfilling as being with the Hartje’s. Sometimes I would take my Friday night date with me to their home and then we would go out for a more typical college Friday night. You learn about a person when you bring them to the home of people you love. Quite frankly if my date didn’t fit in, it was a pretty good sign she was not a keeper. Quite often she figured it out for herself.
    People who inspire are often people who are passionate about what they do. Dr. Hartje was passionate about being a college professor. He loved teaching, but he loved his students even more and he is responsible for helping me make some wise choices while I was in college. He recognized early in the first semester of my Junior year I would be graduating a semester early and would have finished all of my required hours for my major and minor before my last semester. He suggested I take one more course in the education department and apply to intern in the Polk County Public School System my last semester. It was a novel idea and though I had never considered it, it made sense. The internship went well, and it opened doors for me teach for a year and half.
    It is no surprise that I do not remember a lot of the theories of education, but I do remember how he inspired me and enabled me to become a good student. By the way, I made A’s on all the other tests in my first semester of Calculus, dropped the D minus and made an A for the semester.
    To be honest, I could write several chapters about people who inspired me, but the stories would all be very similar. My parents, parents of friends, older friends from our church youth group, adult counselors. The inspirational traits are very common. Passionate about what they do and the people with whom they are doing it. It’s New Year Eve 2022 as am I writing this and I am celebrating memories of those people and I am very grateful for the life I have had and the people who have inspired me.
    During my years in the ministry, I focused a lot of my energy to make the churches I was serving INSPIRATIONAL. I think most people are motivated to reach their potential, especially their Faith Potential through Inspiration. For several years, the church Sassy and I founded had a mission statement “To inspire people to become followers of Jesus!” It has been a part of my personal mission as well!
    It is important for me to tell you the most inspirational people I have known were followers of Jesus. When I became mature enough to really embrace the Bible, I found a God who longed for a relationship with me. So much, He sent His only Son into the world to prove His love.
    Probably the greatest attribute of inspirational people is Hope. Here are a few of my favorite scriptures about that have inspired me.

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Hebrews 11:1 NIV “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Romans 5:5 NIV “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

Romans 12:12, 13 NIV “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” 13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

    Today is January 1, 2023. The start of a new year is always a chance to look back on the past, but more importantly to accept the gift of Hope. I am feeling pretty Hopeful today. Writing this note is helping me see the gift of who you are and I am glad to play a part in helping you become the person God created. I do have to accept the fact that by the time you are reading this I may not be living and if I am the person that you see is very old. My greatest desire at this time in my life is to do all that I can to inspire you even knowing that you may not remember some of the events in your early life when I was with you or by the time you are reading this the person you know may not be able to provide inspiration! Hopefully by then, you will be inspiring me!
    You won’t remember our first trips to Disney, to the Park, or riding the Go Go looking for deer in our neighborhood, swimming in our pool, playing in the bounce house at the North Carolina house, playing on the Ice Pond at Copper Mountain acting out Spidy together or that yesterday we spent time together assembling a small trampoline for you to play with at the house!
    Let me caution you! There will always be people around you who are negative and hopeless. Sadly you won’t be able to avoid them. Don’t let them steal your Hope and Joy. Don’t let them dim the light of those who are around you lighting your path with Inspiration. You may need to provide them Inspiration. You could be their source of inspiration!
    Another word of caution, Jesus teaches there is evil in the world always at work trying to rob you of life! John 10:10 NIV “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Don’t let the thief steal your life from you. Accept the promise of abundant and eternal life from Jesus!
    The core definition of Inspire is to breathe life into something! Let the Holy Spirit of Jesus breathe life into you!

Gee Sprague, January 01, 2023