Faith, Family, Friends and Forty

Yesterday was a big day - I turned the big 4-oh! I can't believe I'm a "fortysomething"! Yikes!

I've been thinking about turning forty for several weeks now. As the big day approached, I spent some time evaluating what the Lord has taught me about Himself and myself in recent years. Since January 2005 the Lord has graciously been breaking me of my self-centeredness and the pervasive presence of pride in my life. Every day, it seems, the Lord points out another area where I need to change. For a guy whose first thoughts have centered on myself and my "rightness", it has become painfully clear how wrong I have been. The first forty years of my life have been so much about self! I pray the second forty (if Jesus doesn't come back before then and if God gives me that long to live) will center on knowing God and serving others! At forty, I'm thankful for God's gracious gifts to me: my faith, my family and my friends!

I've included some pictures of these gifts!

Back for another attempt at this blogging thing!

Here we go again . . . we’d love to keep you updated on the sometimes bizarre but always busy happenings of our “F-Troop”. Marcia and I have not always done a great job of calling and writing to our family and friends. Maybe with the help of my tech savvy daughter, Danielle, our blog can be a way for us to stay in touch. We’d love to stay up with your family and we do our best to help you be informed on ours.

Here’s a great quote from Cotton Mather that one of my co-workers passed along to me yesterday. Though you’ll have to read it carefully, I think you’ll find it quite convicting – and helpful in getting a clear perspective on what truly matters in this life – and the next!

"But the contemplation of DEATH shall be the FIRST point of the Wisdom that my Advice must lead you to . . . Do this, that you may do nothing like Living in Vain. Place yourself in the Circumstances of a Dying Person; your Breath failing, your Throat rattling, your Eyes with a dim Cloud, and your Hands with a damp Sweat upon them, and your Weeping Friends no longer able to retain you with them: And then entertain such Sentiments of this World, and of the Work to be done in this World, that such a View must inspire you withal."