Sunday, June 20, 2010

ESSENCE OF MY DAD

Well, it's that time again; the fifth leading card sales day of the year....FATHER'S DAY! A day set aside to honor that guy that takes out the trash, looks under the bed to chase away the monsters and tells the best bedtime stories ever. He works hard to support his family and hardly ever complains....and when no one else will give you a lift, he's always there to pick you up or lend a shoulder to cry on...to hoist you high in the air in victory or take you for a "consolation" ice cream to ease the pain of defeat. He's your DAD....and if you were blessed as I was, this Sunday make sure that you let your Dad know how much you love, honor and respect him.

In high school and my first year in college, I had a morning paper route that involved delivering over 600 daily papers to the door of each of my customers. Every morning for over three years, my dad got up with me and helped me with my route. He never took a penny for it...and we used his car and gas; and during two summers that I was on tour with the Campus Americans, he hired a kid from the neighborhood to help him carry the route in my absence....that was the essence of my DAD. Tireless, selfless, humble....and always willing to do or go or help in any way that made a difference for the good of all. I know that not everyone had or has a Dad like mine, and even though he has been home in heaven for the past 26 years, there is not a day that I don't miss him and thank God for the influence he had on shaping me into the father I am today. I know that I have not been all that I could have been, but I know that my Dad would be proud of the man he raised me to be. I was fortunate that in 1977, I took the time to write a special poem for my Dad that I framed and gave to him for Father's Day that expressed my love and admiration for him. It was only 6 years later that he passed away. I will never forget that night at the funeral home when I tucked a copy of this poem in his breast pocket and sent him home to our Heavenly Father. I know he's been keeping tabs on me since then and I hope and pray that every now and then, he turns to one of the angels and says, "Did ya see that...THAT'S MY BOY ...I'M SO PROUD OF HIM!!!!"

I hope and pray that this weekend you'll take the time to tell your DAD just how much he means to you .....because there are no guarantees for tomorrow. In fact, here's the poem I wrote for my Dad....enjoy; and let it get the "ole grey matter" bubbling with the things that you need to say to your DAD...you'll both be glad you did!

B&B.
WPQ



ESSENCE OF MY DAD

Often, I have stopped
to think of times both good and bad;
And in each fleeting memory,
I reverence my Dad.

He stood both tall and straight, colossal in my mind.
He spoke in tones both harsh and firm,
Yet so gentle and so kind.

An unquenchable desire for life; a zest for its living;
He fought and scraped to provide for me
Through his unselfish giving.

A guiding hand he led my steps down paths I dared not tread,
A steady mind, a sturdy back were the
Essence of my Dad.

A willful man, his beliefs ran deep; he taught me to be good;
Yet, when times got rough or I failed my Dad,
He always understood.

So surely on the day he passes, I truly will be sad,
And never will I forget the man,
I loved and called...
My Dad



W. Patrick Queen @ 1977

Monday, June 14, 2010

What’s in Your Wallet- 2?

In my last writing, I posed the question listed above and asked what it would mean to each of us to have the first picture in our wallet portfolio be a snapshot of Jesus?

Today, I would like to continue that thought and ask the following….How would we spend our money, if every time we opened our wallet, the first thing we saw was the picture of our Savior?????

Think on this scenario….you’re standing at the counter of your favorite store with loads of “goodies” piled high at the checkout register and you open your wallet to take out your cash or another credit card and you see the picture of Jesus…how do you proceed?

Scripture helps us in this situation as we read in Matthew 6:19-21, 24, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. For no one can serve two masters, for he either will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Now God is not in the business of “ raining on our parade” but He has laid out certain guidelines that contribute to our overall health and well-being …and one of those is to live simply, so we can simply live and fulfill the plans that He has laid before us.

If every tine we reached for our credit cards, we had to go pass the picture of Jesus in our wallets, we might take the moment to ask ourselves, “Is this something I really need …Would Jesus be pleased with my purchase…in the advancement of God’s agenda on earth, will this be beneficial to me, to others and most importantly, will it advance the kingdom of God?”

Of course, this seems like a lot to go through just to purchase a new pair of shoes or a better riding lawn mower…and surely God doesn’t begrudge our fulfillment of our needs and our wants; but, the questions still remains….are we seeking to serve God or worshipping at the alter of WalMart with our buy now, pay later mentality.

Each of us needs to take stock of our relationship with Jesus and our relationship with money and the things it can buy….only an honest assessment of our willingness to be obedient and to follow the commands of our Heavenly Father will allow us to live with less as we seek to serve the Lord of heaven and earth …and to lay up for ourselves, treasures in heaven.

So I offer this challenge for the next several months…take a look at your check register or your credit card statement and see where you are spending the resources that God has freely given you….then, adjust accordingly! You will be surprised as you seek to obey the Father and serve Him in all things how He will open the floodgates of heaven with His supernatural outpouring of blessings.

Then you too will exclaim as I do each and every day…I am

BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE,

WPQ

Thursday, June 10, 2010

What’s in Your Wallet?

I don’t know if you’re anything like me when it comes to opening your wallet…if so, then a plastic, cascading waterfall of family snapshots comes falling out… and there for all the world to see are those that you love most in this world…YOUR FAMILY!

Now, I know for all the high techies out there, you proudly display your family album on Facebook or Twitter or whatever else is the “web du’jour”…but for just a moment, I want each of us to stop and take a closer look at that family photo album and see if we have the most important picture in the most important place …a picture of Jesus.

For many of you that might seem a little absurd; I mean, no one really knows what Jesus looks like and so we have no actual picture of our Lord…but what if we could get a picture on a prayer card, or a bookmark, or a small photo-shopped color-rendition…. why should we carry it in our wallet?

Simply put …because we are part of the family of God and Jesus is the first-born.

What a difference it would make if every time we opened our wallet to show a picture of our daughter in her leotard or our son in his football uniform, we saw Jesus. How proud we could be as we opened our wallet to show our favorite picture of our granddaughter or our grandson, if the first picture that fell from that waterfall was our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Scripture says it best in Ephesians 4: 4-6, “There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to one hope when you were called- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Yes, we are all related family members by the shed blood and resurrection of Jesus, God’s only begotten Son…. for when we accept His free gift, we are grafted into the family tree… and if your like me, I like to show-off the people to whom I am related.

Besides, just to take a moment and look into the face of Jesus can bring sweet relief from the cares of this topsy-turvy world…. Just to meditate on His precepts can bring clarity out of calamity and will calm the troubled soul…Just to know that a picture of our blessed brother is in the first place in our wallet can keep in Him in first place in our hearts and minds.

And then there’s the added bonus of others who see our photos for the first time and ask, “Who in the world is that? And we say, “Why that’s my brother Jesus! He died to set me free so that I might spend eternity with Him. Let me tell you more about my family.”

And it all can start with just that one simple question….What’s in Your Wallet?

Sharing and Caring …Calling Others to Him,
WPQ