Greetings from Ohio!

I had forgotten how beautiful Eastern Ohio is this time of year.  We are in Canton for my brother-in-law's funeral and we are staying with Shelley's sister, Linda, and her husband, Denny.  They have a beautiful old home that rivals any bed and breakfast, without the breakfast, that is. That was taken care of at Fisher Foods.  Fishers is a local grocery store chain where my mother-in-law used to work.  They are an old-fashioned grocery store with a full-service meat department and one of the best bakeries in the area.  Whenever we are in Canton, we have to go to Fishers for Creme Sticks.  If you have never had Fisher's Creme Sticks, I feel truly sorry for your loss.  On the outside, they look like a simple Long John, but in reality they are pastries on steroids.

Creme Sticks are filled with the most heavenly white creme filling on earth and if there was a Fisher Foods anywhere near Grove, Oklahoma, even with my legendary personal discipline, I would weigh 500 lbs.

We are thankful for the opportunity to reconnect with Shelley's family today.  We'll have lunch with Shelley's mother and her new husband, Roger.  They were married this past year after getting reacquainted after almost 70 years.  We plan on taking a little tour of North Canton so that Shelley can reminisce a little.  It has been a while since we visited some of her old stomping grounds.  She and her brothers used to rule the Federal League when they played for Lake and Hoover High Schools. 

The funeral is this afternoon at 4.  It will be a bittersweet time.  Bitter because of a loving brother, gone before his time, but sweet because in the last days of his life, he found genuine peace with God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

The hectic schedule of these past three weeks have made it difficult to process all that God has been doing.  Trips to Denver, Israel, and two trips to Ohio have worn my body and mind to a frazzle.  But I am beginning to understand what Paul meant when he said that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness.  We have a tendency to run through life on our own power, rarely considering God's will and God's plan until we run into a wall.  When we are sick, hurting, frustrated, or just plain exhausted, that is when we have to slow down and say, God, I need your strength.  It is then that He can do His best work, unencumbered by our feeble efforts.

I have probably shed more tears in the last three weeks than I have in the last three years.  They have been tears of joy, tears of conviction, tears of loss, tears of compassion, tears of pride, and tears of mourning.  But with every tear has come a clearer vision of what God truly wants from me.  Those tears have washed away some of the foolish things that I had set my eyes upon and helped me to see that the only things that really matter are the things that God is doing in me and through me.

Last night, a thunderstorm passed through Northeast Ohio.  When we got up this morning, the sun was shining, the air was fresh and cool, and the whole world seemed clean and new.  That is the effect that I want the events of the past few weeks to have on my life and ministry.

Now, one more creme stick and I think I'll be ready to face the day. :0)

Written in Stone

There are some things in life that are fleeting and temporary.  They last for a while, but then they fade away.  Other things stand the test of time.  They may become worn and weather-beaten, but they remain.  It is these things that our hope is built upon.
In Caesarea-Phillippi there was an interesting marker.  It was a cone-shaped stone with scripture etched into a metal cover, attached to a long pole.  It sat in a pit of sand and when you rolled the stone around its axis, it left Scripture verses written in the sand.

It was a fun way to see the verses written in the sand.  The only problem was that the writing was temporary.  If someone walked through the sand box, the words were obliterated and the message was lost.

On the other hand, at site after site, we found inscriptions written in stone that had endured the test of time.  They had remained true to their writer's intent for hundreds, sometimes, thousands of years.

Today, our family is mourning the loss of my wife's brother, Scott Slabaugh.  He passed away last night after a brief but painful battle with pancreatic cancer.  However, we do not mourn as those who have no hope, because we have a promise that is written in stone. 

I know that Scott is alive and well today in the arms of Jesus, because only a few days ago, I saw the place where my Savior and Scott's defeated the grave and took away death's sting.  Written in the stones of that empty tomb are our guarantees that the promises of God are true, the threats of Satan are without foundation, and that death is no longer anything to fear.  At midnight last night, Scott simply stepped through the door that took him from this life of pain and suffering to a greater life of joy and bliss in the presence of God.  We mourn our loss, not his passing.  Our tears are for the pain that separation brings and the fact that we will miss him here.  But we have promises written in stone that we have not seen the last of our dear brother.  He is enjoying the presence of the Lord and his reunion with the ones that have gone on before.  And if he could say anything to us today, I think it would be, "Hold on, it won't be long and it's worth it."