Home Archive by category "Spiritual Growth" (Page 8)

Category: Spiritual Growth

To Build a Boy

My son is loving that a house is now being built next door! I already blogged my thoughts on how the framing of the foundation related to fatherhood, but now the foundation is complete – and Luke has left his mark: Luke’s day now consists mostly of watching these men work, and then going and mimicking their work in his own giant sandbox. At lunch today be informed us, “It’s O.K. To go to lunch, my workers are at lunch right now too. I have ten workers, you know.” He’s the foreman of his backyard construction site and gives us daily reports at dinner of his workers progress each day, in creative detail. You can only imagine his sheer excitement when a huge truck arrived today and dropped off two massive piles of rocks next to our house! He loves imagining the house that will be built upon this foundation. “The house will be up here, Dad!” As I watch this boy of mine, I too wonder… What will HE hold up one day? What will be built upon his life? Some of his accomplishments and how God uses him, I will get to see, much may be after I’m…

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Blessing Faith Remembered, 31 Years Later

I’ve been going through some childhood papers, sorting, filing, (pitching!) and it’s been very special (and funny) to get these glimpses into the “young Karl.”  Many things I remember, others come as a surprise to me. I was very touched to discover a very simple piece of paper that I had written and colored just a year after my little sister, Blessing Faith, was born…and died. I didn’t want to forget her. She lived only 5 days due to a very rare birth condition where her brain did not finish developing. I got to hold her, and my parents later told me that my strength and trust in the Lord at age 12 helped them through it. It was something amazing for me to grasp at that time, not understanding the simple faith of children and how it can often help us more complicated adults! Anyway, here is a close-up of what I wrote, and a PDF of the entire sheet is linked below. I wanted to make sure I never forgot that day, and here, 30 years after making this simple piece of paper on Blessing’s birthday, I am getting my wish. I am remembering. Some might ask why…

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Sumu Kids!

Here’s a “Blast from the Past!” I recently had thousands of pictures scanned by ScanMyPhotos.com and am discovering some fun pictures from over twenty years of ministry as a children’s pastor (as well as lots of fun family pics). Several of these kids I still know and some I am friends with now on Facebook, even though this was 1993 at the Village Church of Lincolshire, IL. (Pictured here are David and Hannah Shaw, Tina Myers, Athena (Rebecca) Stephens, Tyler and Kelsey Hagen, Matt, Sam and Gab Fuqua, Jennelle, Jenene and Jenna Stanonik, Gina Geavaras, Amy Lane, and others I only remember first names. I am getting old!) Here is a fun game event I did in my Rookie Year as a full time children’s pastor that I called Sumu Kids: First, the TEAM PHOTOS: We did this at a “Sack Lunch Sunday.” Every first Sunday of the month, I let all the grade school kids stay at church for a themed afternoon of fun and games. Its purpose was simply to deepen my relationship with the kids as well as to give parents a nice Sunday afternoon off. (Parent Points!) There was always some spiritual teaching, yes, but that…

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Day 24 – Thankful for Jesus

This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving. DAY #24: Thankful for Jesus I saved the best for last. He who is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. He Created me. He Died for me. He Saved me. He Rose for me. He Sought me. He Drew me. He Invited me. He Heard me. He Accepted me. He Sustains me. He Forgives me. He Walks with me. He Reminds me. He Helps me. He Nudges me. He Guides me. He Disciplines me. He Heals me. He Encourages me. He Equips me. He Accepts me. He Abides with me. He Comforts me. He Gets me. He Loves me. He Prays for me. He Knows me. He Waits for me. He Defends me. He is Patient with me. I am nothing without Him. I am Thankful for Him today.

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Day 18 – Thankful for My Dad

This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving. DAY #18: My Dad While there may be some sons out there who have had the honor of having their dad appear on the cover of TIME magazine or some other newspaper or periodical, I must say that I can say, as the son of a preacher man, I was the proudest (in the most Godly way, of course) when MY dad made the cover of a magazine that I think says it all. You can have your TIME magazine “Man of Year” or People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” titles. In 1996 MY DAD made the COVER of a magazine whose bi-line is: “A Wise Person Displays Understanding By His Godly Life as  Gentle Servant.” There is probably no better description of my dad, so posting the cover of the magazine cover my dad was on was the best way I could think to “toot his horn” today, though it will embarrass him. Such is his character, for he made the cover of SERVANT magazine: That’s my dad. (Click…

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