It all takes a Toll

I like driving. I always have. I enjoy the journey part of trips- the random things you find between point A and point B. For example, check out this awesome picture from a gas station stop with my family in Wisconsin from last fall.

Micah LOVES his hats! Haha Thank you random gas station in Cadott, WI

However, one thing I don't like about trips is TOLLS!?! Why should I need to stop and pay for the road I am driving on? Aren't I paying enough tax in my own state? Why can't that state just do the same thing?

Anyways, while I was driving to Indiana last week, I had to drive through Illinois. Illinois has tolls. And if you are on a toll-road there is NO way to avoid the tolls. There is sensors, cameras, and all kinds of electronic devices to monitor every car that passes by. If you haven't been on a tollway lately, here's an idea of what it looks like-

So if you are driving on a tollway, there is no LEGAL way to escape paying something. The tollway will take it's determined amount of money from your bank account.

The reality is that life is the same way. As we go throughout each and every day, each part of our lives can take a toll from us. Go three nights in a row without getting enough sleep? Well, you are probably grumpy and tired. The lack of sleep takes a toll on your patience and behavior. Lift too many weights or go for a run without stretching first- you are probably sore the next day.


Life very much has a give and take aspect to it. I think a great way to look at ourselves personally is to relate us to a car. Cars need regular maintenance; cars need gas to run; cars need to be cleaned every once in awhile so they don't develop an odor.....sounds just like us right, haha!

The problem though we encounter as people is we don't have something as simple as a dashboard warning light to let us know something is wrong with us. We instead are complex individuals and sometimes we struggle to notice our warning signs of breaking down.

Some simple questions for you to ask yourself this week. Think of these as maybe a tune-up or inspection for your car.

1. Are you getting enough sleep? If you are tired everyday at 2:00pm and you need a 5 hour energy, you probably aren't.
2. Have you had any "good" conversations lately? This talk could be with a friend or a loved one. We need support from other people, so if you haven't had a good chat in awhile- find a friend and coffee shop!
3. Have you been taking your celebrations and troubles to God? We need to remember to take the good and the bad to God. Ask for help when needed! Thank God when something awesome happens! Keep God included in every significant moment you have.

After you go through these questions, read to yourself or out loud Matthew 11:28-30. I've provided the traditional NIV translation and then the Message translation. What Jesus is saying in this Scripture is being said to YOU.

NIV- ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Message- ^28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Remember this week, everything in our lives takes a toll on us, HOWEVER, we have a God who will take on all those tolls FOR us. God wants us to have rest and comfort IN Him. Don't forget in our journey of life we are NEVER in the car alone- our Savior is right by our side.

How does it end?!?

TO BE CONTINUED...

Those 3 words bring me more frustration when I'm watching a TV show than anything else. What do you mean I don't get to find out what happens right now?!? Why should I have to wait for the answers I want? I can google just about any of answer I'd like, but I can't find out what happens on my favorite show.

I would argue that is why TV show BINGE watching has become so popular. When you binge watch 8 seasons of a show from start to finish, you get that instant gratification. You don't need to spend a week waiting to find out what happens, you just wait a few seconds for your next episode to load and BOOM, you get your answers. You get your ending and the story's conclusion.

I feel our search for the ending and conclusion for things is normal. We as a people want to know how stories end. We are taught from an early age of reading books that there needs to be a definite ENDING. Cinderella riding away with her prince into the sunset. Do they have kids or a happy life in the castle? We don't know for sure but we can certainly ASSUME so. We know enough that we are happy to move on to the next story.

But what do we do with a God who has no beginning or end? One of the questions I get EVERY year from the kids in my 6th grade confirmation class is, "What happened before Genesis 1?" Before God made the world, what was it like?  I tell them God was there. They always look at me confused and say, but why? or what? What did it look like with just God?

I always tell them the same thing, I don't know. I can't imagine. It's beyond my spectrum of understanding.

Similar questions then arise on the ending. What happens when we die? What happens when the world ends? All these questions flying out of the mouths of 12 year olds. They, like you and me, want to know the WHOLE story. They have read Cinderella too.

And this is where reliance on knowledge ends and faith begins!

God is NOT a TV show. The reality of our life with God is some questions will always go unanswered. We do not know the specifics of life before the Bible and we don't have a clear picture of what exactly eternal life in Heaven looks like. We have to give up our thirst of knowing all the specifics and details about God and instead put ALL our faith in God. The books of Hebrews expertly sums this up in two verses: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and  assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for. (Hebrews Chapter 11- Read through this and see the power of faith throughout the Bible)

All I truly know is my faith in God will someday lead me to eternal life in Heaven. Even though I don't know exactly what that picture looks like, I can imagine it will be better than any ending I could ever see on TV.

The final whistle

I still remember my last high school basketball game. It was a playoff game. Not the semi-final, or final, or anything glorious, just the 1st round, on the road, in a small town in Wisconsin. The game itself wasn't all that close or dramatic. I got in during the 3rd quarter to score 3 quick points and that was about it. The moment I'll never forget was sitting in the locker room after the game with the other 2 seniors on the team. After 8 years of playing basketball together, we were done, our sports careers were over.

High school sports are special. I was reminded again of that this weekend watching the Minnesota State Hockey tournament IN person and on TV. The energy of the fans all supporting the same cause, the emotion of the players using every ounce of skill they have to win, and the coaches doing everything in their power to help their team succeed. It is electric to see all these factors converge upon a team.

 A whole town cheers a goal with 3 seconds left in the game...their team is going to the state championship!

But like almost everything else, high school sports have a final buzzer and not everyone gets a story book ending.

The challenge for many athletes AND their parents is then "What's next?!" Now that this season of life is over, what else is out there?

Nick Forner's Last Wrestling Match

A hole is left in people who have been following their child play for X amount of years and now that is gone!

Here is the cool thing at this time- the things parents are going through, and the things the players are going through is VERY similar. They are both mourning the loss of something. For players, it's the time on the field in competition with close friends. For parents, it's watching those they LOVE most, their kids, compete.

So instead of looking at this end with sadness or gloom, look for it as an opportunity!

A great Biblical perspective I see here when looking at something differently is Mary and Joseph. Here is an engaged couple going through the same thing. They are excited about the future, they are making plans to have a family. Instead- Mary gets pregnant. Joseph had nothing to do with the pregnancy. Mary is going to give birth to Jesus, God in the flesh, but Joseph has it in his mind to divorce her quietly. But instead an angel appears to Joseph. The angel puts it in perspective for Joseph. The angel shows where the blessing is. The blessing is Jesus.  

See the blessing in the parent/child relationship in sports isn't SPORTS. It's the relationship. It's the car rides to games as a youth. It's the signs parents make to support their kids. It's the hours put in working concession stands. It's the partnership of a common goal. Now that the season might be over, the goal of sports is gone. But you know what is still there? That incredible parent/child relationship.

So while the final buzzer will sound on all of us in our high school sports days, those blessed relationships can continue on.

What are you looking at?

Newborn babies can only see 8 to 15 inches. Could you imagine only being able to see that far? Imagine how big your TV would have to be to make out anything from your favorite TV shows? HELLO Home theater system...haha.

"No dad, Mom is NOT going to let you buy a BIGGER TV"

This may seem like a random thing that newborn eyesight is SO limited BUT the reality is they only focus on what they need to. At this stage, that is usually just their overtired parents. (It might actually be best that they can't notice the extra wrinkles or gray hair I'm getting anyways.)

While their vision will continue to grow and they'll eventually be able to see everything this world has to throw at them, it got me thinking...wouldn't sometimes it be a blessing for US if we could only see what's right in front of us?

As a kid, I always was SO excited about what was next. Not the thing right in front of me, but the event that was happening in a month. I would set up countdowns to things and constantly know "how many days" it was until something happened. The result of this was generally a HUGE internal build up of excitement and then a disappointment when the event didn't live up to hype I had created for it.

The other result of this was I was missing what was happening right in front of me. I was missing out on all the daily blessings that God had given. It's not all about BIG events, birthdays, and celebrations- sometimes God moments happen on a Tuesday evening, or a Thursday lunch. We are blessed with an everyday God- He doesn't just appear on special occasions.

As I've gotten older, I've started to realize and appreciate the everyday blessings right in front of me. Our 3 year old Micah does a great job of reminding me if I forget. He does this SUPER funny thing sometimes when he says, "LOOK at me." He does this while having this silly/creepy smile on his face. If you don't look at him, he will put his hands on your cheeks and MAKE you focus on him. He doesn't want me to miss the blessing he is. 

One Biblical story that is a great example of focus is Moses. Moses is in the desert, minding his own business and watching after his flock of animals. We aren't sure his state of mind, but we know he's intently watching the animals. Then all of a sudden a bush is on fire and NOT burning up and God is talking to Moses. (Full Description Here) In the middle of his regular, everyday life- God spoke to Moses. As amazing as the bush was to Moses, he didn't miss the fact that God was speaking to him.

Every once in awhile, we need to take a deep breath and just focus on the item right in front of us. Sometimes that is a loved one needing our attention, sometimes it's a homework assignment we keep procrastinating on, and sometimes it's God  trying to tell us something important.

So while our eye sight might be better than a newborn, I would argue that sometimes their vision might be better. They focus on their 8-15 inches instead of the rest of the swirling world which they have very little control over.

How do you do it? Fingerprints

Many times life is described as a rollercoaster. It has ups and downs- steep climbs and sudden drops. I can say without a doubt, I believe this analogy to be true.

In the past few weeks, I've experienced hearing the first cry of my newborn daughter, the weeping cry at the loss of my father, and the jubilant cry of a basketball team going to play in the state championship game. And during all this, I have probably shed every kind of tear I can imagine having.

And one question I've heard from people is- HOW? How are you doing it? How are you handling all of this?

Honestly...it's ALL about God.

Throughout the whole process of my dad's terminal cancer, I've seen God. Like the WORST criminal ever, God has made his presence known by leaving His fingerprints all over everything.

My dad was told on December 23rd that had 2 weeks to a month or two months to live. My dad lived  8 weeks. My dad got to meet his granddaughter. My dad felt GOOD enough for 7 weeks to go out for dinner every Friday night.

 God was there.

I made 5 trips to Eagle River to spend time with my parents and family. These trips were made in January and February in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The weather? It cooperated! We had record heat, we had dry roads.

God was there.

My wife gave birth to a healthy and happy baby girl. EVERY time we have a child, I stand in awe of God. So many things can go wrong during pregnancy, during delivery, during surgery- but here is this beautiful, tiny, precious, baby staring back at me.

God was there.

I had the opportunity to coach an amazing group of kids on a basketball team. They reached the state tournament BUT my dad's funeral was the weekend of the tournament. I wasn't going to be able to coach them. What did the team do? Reel off back to back nail biting wins. Then when I GOT back, they won again. A team that placed 5th in their preseason conference tournament was now playing in the state title game.

God was there.

What I'm getting at is this: as traumatic and crazy and sad and exciting as the past 8 weeks have been, I have seen God's fingerprints all over everything in each step of life.

There are SO many things about these last 8 weeks that could have been SO different. But they weren't. They went just as God had planned.

God was there.

And that is the reason life will continue to move forward for me. My dad may no longer be here on earth and I may now have to say "kids" instead of just "boys", but I know that whatever happens, God is with me. And I'm going to need to continue to rely on God moving ahead.

That's something I wish everyone could feel. So many times in this world we feel alone and not supported BUT we have a God who is with EACH one of us ALL the time. We are never truly alone. Let that thought wash over you. Even in your deepest, darkest, saddest moment- God is there. The same words Moses spoke to the Israelite's are true for us: ⁶ Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) And we are reminded of this again later in the Bible in Hebrews 13:5-
⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. 

Now, just because God has been THERE, it hasn't made these last 8 weeks easy. But, it's served as a strong reminder to me, I'm never alone. 

My prayer is that you always remember- Nothing can separate us from the love that God has for us. 

God was there and God will CONTINUE to be there....here....and everywhere. Just keep looking for those fingerprints as evidence!