TCSTribune.com

When I was a child the biggest challenge in my life was trying to learn how to ride a bike.  It was a rough start and took me awhile to get used to the whole balance on two wheels thing.  One event is permanently etched in my memory. It was a sunny day and my friend and I were riding when a car raced down my road.  My friend turned sharply to avoid the vehicle and I followed suit. But I over corrected and tipped, falling face first slicing my chin on the asphalt. Yeah, good times. Five stitches later, I made a pact with myself never to pick up biking again.
Several years later, I realized I’d have to break the pack or be destined to a life at home watching reruns of TMNT.  So again I tried to mount the mighty aluminum hog. This time with the encouragement of my friends I was able to conquer my fears, and make it all the way to Target without crashing.

It’s kind of like high school; freshmen year is pretty rough, being the new kid on the block, inexperienced, and unable to fit in with the big dogs on campus.  A little scary, but I had to stay on my toes to stay alive.  Then comes sophomore year, I started thinking I had to pick up my grades for college, and worry about the classes which were actually starting to become hard.  After passing the second year of high school, I was finally a junior, used to the routine and close to being the top dog, I could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.  So close but yet so far.  Next up is senior year, I’ll finally be top dog, and in one more year I’ll be on my own, just like how I learned how to pick up the bike again.

Question:

What stage in life are you at right now?

In Psalm 118:6 we read, “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” When God is with you, you can do anything.

Last Easter was Valentino’s first Easter so we had to do an Easter Egg Hunt. I love Easter Egg Hunts especially when the eggs are hidden well and you have to look hard for them. The harder the hunt the greater the prize that is inside them. That year my friend Angie and her family spent Easter with us and she put money inside a few of them making the prize even greater and the desire to find it more intense.

It made me wonder, how hard do I seek after Jesus and his will in my life? Sometimes we ignore the desire to investigate God. What would it be like if we read the Bible expecting to find an egg on every page?

There was one egg that had $10 in it, but Angie had buried it. My older sister, Tonya, found it and she was excited. God, however, does not hide his truth, but the joy should still be the same. The satisfaction of finding something that you worked hard to discover.

Seeking God is more than just reading the Bible but as the song says, “It’s how you lived.” When you seek after God you are striving to be like him. In Psalm 119:2 we read, “Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.”

Seeking him doesn’t have to be as difficult as searching for well hidden eggs either. Deuteronomy 4:29 says, “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Do not give up searching for Jesus our golden egg, He’s right in front of you.

• What have you found out about God that surprised you?

• Try reading a passage of scripture and remain open to find the egg God has for you in its pages today.

With Valentine’s Day here and gone, the question of true love comes to mind, especially with all the “chick flick” movies currently featured at nearby multiplexes. One of my favorites is A Walk to Remember.

The two main characters in the movie, a boy, Landon Carter, and a girl, Jamie Sullivan, are two opposites who can barely stand being near each other. But Carter’s need to practice in the school play forces the two together and love ensues. But Carter’s infatuation with her beauty and talent becomes so much more. Carter learns that Jamie has a terminal illness. Carter’s love grows deep. He becomes selfless and unconditional in his love for Jamie. He goes to his father who was a doctor for help and stays by her side when she is hospitalized.

This movie made me think about God’s love that is to be shown through actions and not words alone. In 1 John 3:18 it says, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” In the movie Landon builds a telescope into the night so that Jamie can fulfill another one of the things she wants to do before she dies.

It comes down to will. Will you love this man or women? My dad says, “You choose to love someone and you are lucky if you have a loving feeling.” John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This shows that God has love, but it says nothing about feeling.

You show love when you give your mom a hug in the morning, listen to them when they have been brought down. You express love by calling unexpectedly to see how they are feeling when they are sick. I see love from my friend, Angie, who cares for her oldest daughter who has diabetes. At three in the morning Angie has to get up and make sure that her daughter got the shot she needed. Her love is a sacrifice.

Sure it’s fun to watch some of the silly love stories that hit the theater this time of year, but in the end love is really more than kissing, holding hands, saying mushy lines, it is about connecting on a level that is not whishy washy. It means having intelligent conversations that you can not have with anyone else.

My dad has often expressed that he did not marry his girlfriend, but his best friend. Love is to build, bring out the best in others, and to gently correct their flaws. Love is an action that should not be taken lightly.

For those with boyfriends and girlfriends look at him or her and ask yourself, “Are you building this person up or setting him or her up to be crushed?” For those who are thinking about marriage, “Are you marrying your best friend?”

When it comes to love, you want your walk to be one that’s worth remembering.

Last Christmas I got an awesome early Christmas present…his name was Valentino. When I was younger I always wanted a sibling that was a lot younger than me; I like holding babies. My nephew was a dream came true for me, but his arrival was not part of God’s best for my brother and his fiancée, Tina. Valentino was born out of wedlock.

When we found out about the pregnancy my parents counseled that even though their premarital act was sin, they shouldn’t commit another sin by killing their baby through abortion. It reminded me of how often we as humans find it easier to cover up our sins.

Take King David for example. King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and displeased the Lord further by having her husband, Uriah, killed and taking Bathsheba as his wife. When Nathan confronted King David of his sins, he did not try to deny it and have Nathan killed too. David repented of his sins and came to be known as a man after God’s own heart.

Personally covering up our sins might seem easier than having them exposed. But there’s a better way. This time of year we remember the birth of our Savior, who came to take away our sins and throw them “as far as the east is from the west” Psalm 103:12.

Christmas has become a time when I thank God for his love and his mercy, because without that, I would not be able to enjoy my little boy who is just now learning to walk.

Has there been a time when you thought you needed to cover up a sin?

Maybe this Christmas is your time to come before the Lord and confess your sins. Let God wash you “as white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18.

There are two million vehicle crashes in the U.S. every year. It is estimated that every year about 40,000 people die from car crashes.

My family is one of the lucky ones to survive.

We were in a serious car accident on December 23, 1999. There were three things that kept us alive: Rick Jones was an alert driver, seatbelts, and the family’s guardian angel.

I remember how we were all very excited to share Christmas gifts with our good friends. We were about halfway to Waterford on Hickman road when it happened. It was too late when we saw the four large iron gates blocking the middle of the road. Our driver swerved to miss them, but the erratic correction sent our vehicle rolling down a 20-foot embankment. I know we flipped at least three times, but miraculously, our vehicle landed on all four wheels.

I found this to be very interesting, because it showed me how God is always there for us. Just as the it says in Psalms 33:20-21, “He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.”

It reminds me that God’s hand is always upon us, and His angel isn’t too bad a driver either.

1. Think back on a time where God has protected you.
2. Take time to thank God for being your shield.