Jesus Tomb and Empty Easter Eggs

Wanted to share a neat story from Sunday.

Stephanie and I had the chance to teach a lesson to the kids at our church. We read them a story about a boy named Jeremy and empty Easter eggs. It is a very touching story that you may have heard in a sermon before. (Read here)

As an illustration we brought all the empty plastic eggs in our house for the children. Our plan was to give each child an empty egg as a picture of the empty tomb of Christ after his resurrection. We didn’t know how many children we’d have so we grabbed one extra egg from the floor of the van when we got to church.

After reading the story we started handing out eggs. One, two, three…. The basket started getting emptier and I started getting more anxious. Then, as the last student came up, I looked down into the basket and saw one last egg.

Amazing. God provided all we needed. Just like he always does!

Finding Nemo Show

Had a great time with the family on Thursday night at the “Finding Nemo” On Ice Show. We forgot cash for the parking ramp so I had to drop off Stephanie and the kids and make a mad dash to get some. Luckily I know where pretty much any Super America is within 5 miles of where I am, so I made it back just in time for the beginning of the show.

My highlight of the night came during the intermission. The kids were really bummed because we couldn’t afford any toys or popcorn at the show. As we where sitting down a bag of popcorn was passed down the row our way. When I tried passing it on to the guy next to me I was told it was for the guy in glasses (which was me!).

Turns out a friend some rows up behind us had bought it for us from a vendor without even knowing our situation. It was a real blessing to our family. It was also very convicting because I often struggle with generosity and I was reminded that I need to be more active in blessing others despite my own fears and insecurities about things.

Providence Revealed

Those moments in life when God shows up and does something that blows away any possibility of coincidence are sweet. I’ve had a few of them and I am always amazed.

Check out this short story of “supernatural synchronicity .”

The Provision of the Lord

God has been showing up in some awesome ways over the last couple weeks. Here is one example:

Last week Stephanie told me that she gave $100 to our church for an offering. No problem. Until we found out that we needed to replace the front brake pads and rotors on our van. The price we were quoted was $250.

A couple days later my mom calls to tell me that a woman from the greenhouse where I worked this summer had called her house and left a message informing me that a check I was owed was never processed and that she would be mailing me a new one. The amount was around $125. Add to that a paycheck that was due Stephanie and the total was almost exactly – $250!

How amazing is the goodness of Jesus!

Interesting Dinner Conversation

I was sitting down for dinner tonight at my church when I felt like the Spirit prompted me to invite another man in the lobby to join me at my table. After some internal conversation (my introversion was screaming NO!) I went over and asked the man if he’d like to eat with me. He wasn’t hungry but he came and sat with me anyway.

The conversation was slow and I was unimpressed with his relational skills. But, one of the major goals in my life right now is learning to love all people where they are at, and so I was using this as a learning experience. Not long after we started talking another man came to the table and introduced himself. It turns out that he works for Lund’s Food and so we started talking grocery and Target and a few other things.

Man #1 wasn’t too interested so he excused himself leaving just Man #2 and myself. I was amazed as the man revealed to me some of the pain and struggle he has been walking through over the last month. It is much of the same junk I have walked through and I marveled at how God brought the two of us together for that meal. We talked and I listened to his story and shared some of the joys and challenges I have discovered on my own journey. Hopefully he will benefit and be encoruaged by some of my story.

Surrendering My Plan to His

After leaving ministry it took me a long time to come to grips with the truth that the growing I needed to do was going to take a long time. In fact, it took almost 18 months before I decided to stop worrying about my time line for getting back into vocational ministry. During those 18 months I would have jumped at the chance to speak at a retreat or teach a Sunday School class. However, with one exception, the call never came.

This August I believe the Lord led me to a place of surrendering to His plan and being willing to work on His time line rather than my own. I am holding on to the goal of one day pastoring again but I am much more content to grow my career and to further develop in the roles I am presently in. I am focused on learning and advancing in leadership in my new job, and I am less concerned with when I will get to preach again.

The funny part of it is this. At about the same time as I let go of trying to direct my own ministry life, within two weeks I received invites to speak to a Sunday School class two weeks in a row and to speak at a Youth Retreat in October. Funny how God works huh!

Blessed To Be a Blessing

One of my core beliefs is that Christians are blessed to be a blessing. This comes from Genesis 12. Sadly I don’t always live up to this ideal, but God has given me a wonderful wife with a huge heart who is constantly showing me how to love others more than myself.

God has really been gracious to our family this month as we have tried to bless others despite our own tight financial situation. One example of this was when Stephanie gave my sister $100 as a thank you for babysitting and so that my sister could buy a new cell phone. A couple weeks later someone randomly gave us $100 so that we could take the kids and have a fun family day.

Another example happened on Monday. I was given the opportunity to buy a TV from a friend for a really good deal. We don’t need another TV but I knew that my parents did. With all the money they spent raising my siblings and I things like new TV’s always got pushed to the back burner. So I called my brother and we decided we’d buy the TV as a surprise gift for our parents. We don’t have much disposable income but I felt God prompt me to contribute a certain amount towards the purchase. Amazingly, the next day I was offered the exact same amount to teach two Sunday school sessions at the church where a friend of mine pastors.

God is amazing! His plans are wonderful and his resources are endless. He will always provide as much as we need and sometimes even more when we are willing to be a blessing in others lives.

Royals Advance, Jeff Goes to the ER

Despite blizzard like conditions outside last night, the inside of the Schwan’s Super Rink in Blaine was packed with students cheering on the Bethel University Royals. The BU boys didn’t disappoint as they defeated visiting St. Olaf college 5-1 on a wintry March night. With the victory Bethel advanced to the M.I.A.C. Championship game on Saturday. Read more here

The picture above is Bethel’s reaction to their first goal in the game last night. My brother Jeff is #17.

As usual the scoring attack was balanced with multiple Bethel players getting goals. My brother Jeff played a solid two way game. He had one real nice move in the third period, jumping with the puck in between two Ollie defense men before shooting it off the goalie’s face mask.

The scariest moment of the evening happened with about 4 minutes left in the third period. My brother had the puck in the offensive zone and he tried curling back up the boards with it. Just as he turned a St. Olaf defense man checked him into the boards, sending Jeff’s head into the sidewall. After laying on the ice for a couple moments Jeff got up and skated very slowly off the ice. I thought he might just shake it off but then I noticed the trainers holding his helmet steady on the bench and not moving him at all. After the game he was still in the same position with a team of medical personal around him.

In the end he had his neck stabilized and he was transported by ambulance to a local hospital. Thankfully Jeff never lost consciousness or feeling anywhere in his body. The hospital CAT scan showed some bruised tissue but nothing fractured or torn. They told him he would be pretty sore for a few days and ended up releasing him from the ER that night. Praise God!

A very cool moment occurred in the ER as we were waiting for the doctor to interpret the CAT scan. A group of us were talking about how bad Jeff wants to play on Saturday. Then Jeff remembered a story about Erwin McManus praying for his wife when she was sick and how God answered his prayer. So Jeff asked us to lay hands on him and pray for him. Just as I was finishing the prayer the doctor walked back into the room and gave us almost the exact diagnosis we were asking the Lord for.

I know there were many people praying for Jeff last night and I am grateful that God chose to act in the way he did.

Pick-up Truck Miracle

During January I was having some problems starting my S10 truck. I figured it was the starter going bad but I never had a chance (or the funds) to fix it. It got so bad that Stephanie and I would have to push the truck and pop the clutch to get it going. I know it sounds crazy but doing that kind of thing with her really made me feel good, it was a moment that solidified out marriage.

But, since that is not a scenario that could continue forever I had to bite the bullet and buy the part last week. Thankfully a friend was able to install it for me and get the truck starting again.

Until the next day.

When I woke up to start my truck and drive to work nothing happened. I had a meeting so I had to drive to work in my wife’s van, but before I left I removed the battery and got it tested. The test said the battery was good, which left a bad connection somewhere in the electrical system as the most likely explanation for the non-start. Bummer.

Stephanie and I prayed the next two nights and asked if God would heal the truck. I figured, if he could heal people and raise people from the dead, that he should be able to heal an electrical connection. Then, on Saturday morning my dad stopped by to look at the truck. He opened the hood, inspected the connections (which we good), jumped in the cab and turned the key. And…the thing fired right up! Unreal.

God is so good!

Obedience Brings Blessings

This morning my wife wrote…

I had to laugh at how God blesses our obedience. Here I wanted to use the $20.00 my dad gave me to go out to eat but instead I obeyed and gave it to the church, then God turned around and blessed us with more $ to go out to eat with! Thanks God!

This is so true. God promises in Scripture that when we follow him he will in turn bless us. In this case it was a monetary blessing of sorts, but that is not always what happens. The principle is not that we should give to get something back, but that we should be obedient and grow in faith as we trust in the promises of God.