Tag Archives: humble

Love Blessed Me Today

It is not often that I am speechless, but today was one of those days.

My family has been through a very difficult death in the family. Those who know my family understand the situation, for others just know it has been a very difficult death that we have been dealing with.

I teach the young adult Sunday School class at my church. I love investing into these young adults who have energy but have not experienced enough life yet to be full of wisdom. I thrive off their energy and enthusiasm – they put up with my corny jokes.

Our lesson this past week came from 1 Peter 4:8-10 where Peter is telling Christians to love each other deeply. I said for us we can take that in one of two ways – love the same people more deeply, or love more people deeply. We agreed that Peter meant that to be an AND statement – love more deeply the people you are to love and love more people deeply.

I likened this to our favorite dessert. My favorite dessert is blackberry cobbler. I asked would you like more helpings of your favorite dessert, or have more access to your favorite dessert. Of course the answer was YES! We want more and more often! The same way it is with love – we need to love more and more often.

So today I get a call from one of the group members and he asks if I am going to be home. I say sure and he says he is stopping by with a little something for me. I don’t think much of it because I was busy at work and other things I had going on.

Then around 4:30 this guy calls and says he is in my driveway, so I come downstairs to meet him. We exchange a quick hug and he gives me a silver container and says here – my family made this for you.

I was almost driven to tears when I opened it and saw it was a blackberry cobbler – MY FAVORITE!

I was just blown away that this guy remembered what I said (I really didn’t mean for anyone to bring me a cobbler), and actually followed through with it!

The action of showing me love just overwhelmed me to be honest. I was blown away by the generosity to love on me when those who know me know our family has been hurting. This just brought such a joy to my heart because I know it was an action of Godly love being displayed to me! AND it was blackberry which wins every time!!!

blackberry cobbler

I write today to say thank you to that young man and his family for loving on me and my family in such a unique way that really brough joy to my heart. This was such a great demonstration of loving others more deeply that has challenged me to do the same, and now I challenge you.

Love others more deeply as Peter told us “Above all, maintain an intense love for each other, since love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others”.

Blackberry Wisdom Bible Study Guide

Blackberry Wisdom Bible Study Guide

I am so excited to share that my new book – Blackberry Wisdom Bible Study Guide is now available on amazon.com and through Ingram books!

If you are a Christian then I believe this book can help you develop a deeper relationship with Jesus!

Blackberry Wisdom Bible Study Guide

A daily quiet time with Jesus is essential for growing our relationship with Jesus. This book is a guide to help you develop that quality time with the Lord that turns into a life-giving habit. This Bible study guide is for the Christian who wants to make changes in their life, so they look more like Jesus.

I would be honored if you would purchase your copy today!

You can search on Amazon for Blackberry Wisdom Bible Study Guide or use the link BWBSG.

Student of Jesus

I am still working on the logistics on how to post the podcast on my social media outlets. It should be automated soon, but until then I wanted to share that episode 2 of the Humble Disciple podcast has been released.

If you could subscribe to the podcast through the podcast player that you use I would greatly appreciate it!

In episode 2 we talk about what it means to be a Student of Jesus.

I have been a student at Corryton, Gibbs, UT, Pellissippi and Tusculum. I have been a student learning computers, electronics and business. Now I am a student of Jesus – learning not just about Him, but trying to be more like Him.

We focused on three topics when it comes to being a student of Jesus:

Student for life

Embracing a Learning Mindset

The Role of Disciplines in Discipleship

Christmas – the Shepherds

Did you ever stop to think why shepherds were the people God picked to announce the birth of Jesus?  The humble shepherds were the very ones God used to confirm the Deity of Jesus to Joseph and Mary.

That fact, among others, made the birth of Jesus:

Awesome

Designed

Humble

Special thanks to Bill Benziger for letting me get around his sheep.  I certainly did not get approval from the sheep as you will see.

Mount LeConte – view #1

Foggy view of LeConte Lodge
Foggy view of LeConte Lodge

In November my daughter, myself and a few friends hiked to Mount LeConte and stayed the night at the LeConte Lodge in the Great Smoky Mountains.  I had never hiked to Mt LeConte and had wanted to hike it for as long as I could remember.  Our friends who hike it every year posted they had a couple of openings in one of their cabins and asked if anyone wanted to go on short notice.  I jumped at the chance as that was a rare free weekend for me.

So there are a few facts I need to let you in on to put this story in perspective.  First you need to know that I agreed to go one week before the weekend trip.  Yep – one week to prepare for a long hike and overnight stay.  Like I said before, I have wanted to hike and stay at LeConte for a very long time, so I eagerly jumped at a chance to go.   Secondly I lead a sedentary lifestyle.  Exercise to me was a big part of my life at one time, but is not currently something I do regularly.  ……..Work, home, eat, sleep and repeat is pretty much my routine.

Also know that I am a former member of the 10th Mountain Division in the US Army.  I was a commando Infantry light fighter, which meant more than anything we walked just about everywhere we deployed.  My job required me to carry a 75 pound rucksack full of food, water, clothes, and mortar gear when we were on maneuvers.  We were stationed in the flat lands but were trained mostly to navigate mountains (hence the name 10th Mountain Division).  Our unit was designed to go to and fight in places that the normal Army units could not access.  We were trained to go no matter how I felt, or how bad the weather was.  So I know how to hike and take care of myself.

The Hike

Trillium trail 1
Trillium Gap Trail

Now given the fact that I was not physically in the best of shape I thought to choose the most gradual incline of the five trails that lead to Mt LeConte.  Trillium Gap Trail is a 6.5 mile trail and gains 3,300ft in elevation.  From what I had read it gained the least in elevation, so I thought it would be the best on my knees and body.

There was twelve of us that hiked together that Friday morning.  Before I lost sight of the parking lot I was already winded, and I knew this was going to be a long day.  So I kept a pace that was steady, but not really as fast as the others.  The first part of the hike was not too bad, but by the time we stopped at the half way point for a snack my knees were already hurting.

It wasn’t long after we started the second half that my left knee gave out.  So to compensate I used more of the right leg, but I also noticed that I was falling further behind the rest of the gang.  By now the weather was also turning colder with rain becoming more steady, but the mountain trail was beautiful.Trillium cross roads

Then if that were not bad enough I started getting a Charley horse in my calf – actually both calves!  I was in pain!  Apparently I had not drunk enough water at the beginning of the hike, and it was now showing in these muscle cramps.  I could not go 10 minutes until one calf or the other was convulsing in a Charley horse.  All I could do was wait for the pain to go away and try to keep slowly hiking.

Danielle stayed with me to encourage me to keep me going – she was a trooper.  But it was not long until she was getting frustrated with my misery and offered to carry my backpack.  Not only are my legs hurting really bad, now my pride is hurting because this 40 something year old man is needing his 20 something year old daughter to carry his pack.  But I did concede and let her carry it for a few minutes because I was in so much pain.

I look up and the rest of the gang is long gone by now, but our group leader Keenan came back to check on us.  He saw the pain I was in and offered to hike on to the top, drop his pack, and come back to help me.  I was in no shape to deny the help, so he took off while Danielle and I kept on moving slowly.  I tried to keep a positive attitude because I was enjoying the scenery, smells and adventure.  I was also thankful that Danielle was keeping such a good attitude through all my trials.

I am not sure how long he was gone, but about a half mile out from the top he met us again with a couple of guys with him to help me out.  I was about in tears because I needed the help, and these guys had come to assist me.  I was totally humbled at that point and glad to let Keenan carry my pack the rest of the way to the cabin.

LeConte cabins
LeConte cabins

Once we got to the top we met the rest of the hikers along with another group that came up another trail.  One of them was a friend Mike who saw what kind of shape I was in and helped me to our cabin.  Mike also went to get me some warm hot chocolate from the kitchen to warm me up (LeConte Lodge is famous for their hot chocolate!).  Over the next hour as I sat in the cabin resting and trying to figure out just how I was going to walk around on the top of this mountain the rest of the night, Mike would come by every so often to check on me offering anything I would need.

Of course, the next morning would be a hike down the mountain with another set of pains to endure.  But as I sat there before supper reflecting on the day’s events I was overcome with gratitude and humility.

I am so Thankful

I was totally humbled by my lack of physical ability to hike to the top of the mountain like I thought I could.  Thinking back on my experienced days with the 10th Mountain I realized they were close to 25 years ago.  My mind was strong, but my body had become weak.

I was also overcome with such gratitude for those who helped me especially Danielle, Keenan and Mike.  They gave so sacrificially and graciously to my aid that I just could not thank them enough.

It reminded me of Joshua fighting in Exodus 17.  While Joshua and Israel fought Amalek and his people, Moses would hold up his hands.  When his hands were raised Joshua would win, but as soon as he let them down Amalek would win.  So Moses had Aaron and Hur help hold his hands up so Joshua and the Israelites could win the battle.  Those three helped me win the battle of Mt LeConte against my body.  I did victoriously see the mountain top!