Joel's Travels

Theology | Bible Study | Leadership

The Traveling Dad: The Pursuit of Consistency

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Consistency

As a kid I hated consistency. Actually, the more I think about it, I still hate it. But I know it’s good for me. It’s even more important for my kids. Traveling threw the concept of consistency for a spin for our family. There are times when Dad is not home for dinner or breakfast. There are times when he is. The night time routine can get changed, which can become a big deal for our kids. I learned quickly that I don’t read stories like momma.

We quickly began to see the toll that inconsistency had for our kids. The boys became anxious and began to question everything. Liam is the king of “but why dadda?”. At first I just got mad, then I realized that this was a symptom of inconsistency in his life. So why is consistency important for kids?

1. It builds a framework for them that they can rely on:

As much my kids fight the routine they need it. In many ways consistency serves as a safety blanket that they can rely on. Without this framework there isn’t anything that is anchoring them down. This creates a perfect scenario for them to start spinning out of control.

In fact, my inconsistency creates the opportunity for chaos in my kids life. @Muddamalle

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Kids need boundaries, they need guidelines and rules. Possibly the biggest challenge I came across as a youth pastor was the epidemic of parents that wanted to be friends with their kids and not their parents. Here’s a little secret that I found out. Friendship with your kids will come as they get older. If you focus on building a strong framework for your kids to rely on it will only result in a better friendship and further trust as they become adults. My mom never fooled around with me as a kid. There was never question if she was my parent or friend. Today, I enjoy a friendship with my mom, which is a blessing. Don’t worry, she still knows how to throw down on me if I need it!

2. It creates discipline:

Our pursuit of consistency results in much needed discipline for kids. This discipline is crucial for them as they develop into adulthood. As we focus on creating disciplined children not only will our kids thank as they become adults, but their spouses, kids, and bosses will owe us one!

While I was in New York I had a great conversation with the Hillsong NYC pastoral team. An observation that we both have seen is the expectation that teenagers and young adults have for instant gratification. They want what they want, now! Possibly a big part of the challenge is a lack of discipline and patience during their childhood. The best part of this is sitting back and watching our kids become responsible adults.

3. It facilitates an opportunity to make significant accomplishments:

I am constantly amazed at how much Liam (almost 4) and Levi (2) are absorbing. My wife Brittany recently decided to start working through a easy “teach your kids to read” book. She simply decided to consistently work through a page or two in the book each night. Now, when I’m home Liam reminds me that he has to do his “work” like dadda does work. So every night he grabs his book and sits with me and momma to practice his reading. Oh, and my 3.5 year old can legitimately read 15-20 words. Is it purely because he’s a genius? Well, yes. But more importantly is because of a consistent pattern each night.

Our kids have the ability to absorb, learn, and accomplish a lot. As parents we have the great opportunity to focus in on specific areas. This can look different for everyone. For some it may be reading, for others it could working on brushing teeth or cleaning up toys. Regardless, you can accomplish a lot simply by being consistent.

Finally, grace.

Give yourself grace. Please don’t take this post to mean that we have to be perfect. Inconsistency is part of life. Things happen, routines change, and life goes on. Give yourself grace, and remember to give your parent friends grace also!

More posts from the Traveling Dad Series:

The Challenge of Discipline

Will I Mess Up My Kids?

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The Traveling Dad: Will I Mess Up My Kids?

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Will I Mess Up My Kids?

When Brittany first told me that she was pregnant I quickly went through the following emotions.

Shock – Excitement – Panic – Oh Crap.

You may have read previously that I am not necessarily a fan of kids. Now I found myself responsible for the life of this little human being. Not only that but I instantly fell in love. All of a sudden I had these intense affections for this gift of God. Then, I had the “Oh Crap” moment. The conversation in my mind went something like this.

Will I be a good dad? Am I ready to be a dad? Does being a dad mean I can’t play air-soft or Modern Warfare 2? Crap…what if I mess up this kid?

The fear of messing up my kids skyrocketed as I realized I did not have the luxury of working a eight to five job and home every afternoon. Being a traveling dad threw our entire household into a tailspin for a bit as we adjusted to this new dynamic. I typically found myself up late at night at hotel rooms thinking about my kids (its hard for me to sleep when I’m on the road). Sometimes my thoughts revolve around the future. What type of men will by boys grow up to be? What type of lady will they marry and bring into the family? How will they interact with their kids and wives? All of these thoughts hinge on the questions, did we do enough raising them?

Both Brittany and I realized a couple things quickly:

1. We have to be intentional with our kids – When people say your kids grow up in a blink of an eye they are being serious. I’ve tried to be intentional with my boy’s in a variety of ways. I’m intentional about commenting to my boys how beautiful their momma looks. This creates a standard for them as they get married.

In many ways my intentionality with my boys is an investment into their future outcome. @Muddamalle

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We intentionally talk about the goodness of God and why we love Jesus. I want my boys to always remember a love and affection for Christ. The greatest gift I could give my boys is a childhood filled with affection, wonder, and awe of Jesus.

2. Our kids foundation has to be the Word of God – If I am really honest with myself, my own wisdom, insight, and intellect is not good enough. It never will be. The best thing we can do for our Children is saturate them in the Word of God. I love Proverbs 1:8-19. Many parents and pastors love using this verse to point out the importance that kids listen to and obey their mother and father. I read this verse and am reminded that kids can only listen and obey when parents are faithful in instructing and teaching their children in the way of the Lord.

3. Praying is essential – Ultimately, our hope for our kids can’t be in our ability or skills. If this is the case we are all in trouble. As we realize that we don’t have everything under control we are left with our only hope being in the Holy Spirit. As a result, it is essential that we spend time in prayer for our kids. My mom spent countless hours praying for me, and I firmly believe that her prayers made a difference. In fact, as we turn to God we can place our hope in the creator of the universe who spoke all things into being. 1 Thess 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing and Hebrews 5:7 points us to the example of Christ to prayed and was heard because of his reverence. Our prayers makes a difference and we can take hope in the fact that our God is good.   I love that God is faithful and a good father. The scriptures are filled with this reality.

Jeremiah 29:11 [widescreen]

 Will I Mess Up My Kids?

Yea, most likely to some extent, but I’m thankful that Brittany and I can turn to God who gives us direction and a hope not only for our future but for our children also.

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Don’t forget to read the first post of the series that covers discipline!

Helpful Resources:

These two books have been game changers for us as we jumped into this crazy life parenting 3 little boys!

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Introducing: The Traveling Dad Series

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Traveling Dad

I was on an airplane with Brittany, Liam, Levi, and Lucas heading to Houston. Liam turned to me suddenly and said:

“Ohh…Dadda…so this is where you live!?”…

Never saw that one coming.

I realized quickly that traveling threw a couple wrenches into parenting. It was much more difficult being a traveling Dad than I anticipated. Some of you may be thinking:

“How does this apply to me?”

Whether or not you travel, it is impossible to be with your kids 24 hours a day. In that case, you may experience some of the challenges that I have in a different context. Most of what I write about will serve as principles that you can apply to your context. In fact, I’d love to hear about how you do that! Let me know in the comments section.

I’d encourage you to do 3 things as we kick off this series:

  1. Share this post (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+) – It’s my hope and prayer that this will be helpful to seasoned parents, new parents, new couples, and even people who are just thinking about the implications of marriage and parenthood. We all have people in one or all of those categories, so hopefully these posts will help them!
  2. Subscribe to the email news letter – Don’t miss a post. When you subscribe you will get each post delivered directly to your in box! I’m also working on devotional e-book and the only way to get it will be to sign up!
  3. Check out the first post – This first post covers one of my first challenges, discipline!

3 Things Vince Gill and Carrie Underwood Taught Us About Evangelism

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Many of you may have seen the video of Vince Gill and Carrie Underwood doing a stunning rendition of the classic Christian Hymn “How Great Thou Art”. If you haven’t take a look.

When I first saw this I found myself simultaneously stunned, in awe, wonder, and captivated by the talent of both of these artist’s which lead me immediately to being thankful to our great God who gives us such incredible talents and gifts. I can’t imagine the risk that Vince Gill and Carrie Underwood took as they collaboratively decided to do this particular song on such a large stage. Their example gives us some important reminders about evangelism and the importance of presenting the gospel in a variety of ways to a variety of people.

Excellence:

Excellence is important. One of the things I love about this video is the response in the crowd. As they listen to these epic words that have been sung by countless christians throughout the decades, the audience is first impacted by the excellence of musicianship and the vocal ability. This excellence paves a path for the reception and consideration of the words of this hymn. In fact, towards the end of the clip you see some famous artists moved to tears. This pursuit of excellence is important for every christian. The way in which you share the gospel can be multi faceted. This can be done through speech, music, the arts, and more. Therefore, pursuit of excellence should be a priority for believers.

Conviction/Execution:

They followed through with both conviction and executed flawlessly. There was not a hint of hesitation. Possibly the most crippling challenge for anyone is the lack of conviction which results in the in ability to execute. We all have great ideas when it comes to evangelism and how we can share Christ with those that we love, but how often do we actually execute that idea? Being able to follow through is important. This simple act of execution is crucial for everyone.

Boldness:

This song choice was not without risk. Both Vince and Carrie knew the possible negative press that could come from their song choice. In fact, I can imagine some PR specialists asking them to reconsider the song based on recent events with religious freedom and the issue of homosexuality in Indiana that has hit the front page of news. Regardless of the potential risk, both Vince and Carrie were bold in their decision and followed through with excellence. At times the possible negative outcome can sway our decision making process. In fact, it can cause us to question not only our decisions but our motives and beliefs. Acts 4:29 is worth noting, the first century church believers plead with the Lord to give them boldness as they speak truth about what Christ has done. Therefore, it would be wise for us to echo this same prayer for our lives.

acts 4 29

 

Should Christians Do Easter Egg Hunts?

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Easter Egg

Easter is literally around the corner and in many homes there is a frantic rush to prepare for an epic Easter egg hunt. Interestingly, there seems to be a debate amongst some people if Christians should participate in Easter egg hunts. Some of the rationale stems from the following arguments:

Why NOT to do an Easter egg hunt:

  • It puts more emphasis on getting candy in eggs than the real reason to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ.
  • The focus becomes a bunny and not Christ. Some even say this is a form of idolatry.

There is definitely a concern that the focus of Easter can easily be directed towards candy, eggs, and bunnies and not the atoning work of Christ. However, I would argue that the issue here is not the activity of an Easter egg hunt but the intentionality of parents. The responsibility to place the focus on Christ lays solely in the hands of parents. Further, something as simple as an Easter egg hunt can become an incredible way to share the Gospel.

Why we should do an Easter egg hunt:

Engage a cultural norm:

Something as simple as an Easter egg hunt is a cultural norm. This is one of the few holidays that religious background is super imposed by a fun activity. So why is that important? As a kid I remember my Hindu and Sikh friends coming over to do easter egg hunts at my house or at the church. These friends would never come for a church service or even for youth group, but something like an Easter egg hunt was not even a question, of course they would come to find candy in these colored eggs. What an incredible opportunity to engage an activity that our culture has embraced to connect people to the Gospel. I agree with Tim Keller as he unpacks the importance of active contextualization in a balanced approach.

“To contextualize with balance and successfully reach people in a culture, we must both enter the culture sympathetically and respectfully (similar to drilling) and confront the culture where it contradicts biblical truth (similar to blasting). ” – Tim Keller

Opportunity to proclaim the Gospel:

Just because we leverage an Easter egg hunt to engage our culture does not mean we do not boldly proclaim the Gospel. In fact, in our bold proclamation some may be offended. I am thankful that it is our responsibility to clearly and boldly proclaim the Gospel and that the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts of sin and does the work or regeneration and sanctification. In fact, proper contextualization and gospel proclamation produces a scandal.

Proper contextualization means causing the right scandal – the one the gospel poses to all sinners…

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I believe most of us fall short in this area of Gospel proclamation. Therefore we begin to say the issue is the Easter egg hunt, when the issue is our inability to boldly proclaim that while the act of finding eggs is fun, the hero is not a bunny but Jesus Christ who conquered sin and death and made it possible for us to live in right relationship with God who created us.

1 Corinthians 15:19–20 [widescreen]

 

Related Posts:

Why I Love Exodus: Gods and Generals

What Can 50 Shades Teach Us? 

The Traveling Dad: The Challenge of Discipline

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Proverbs 6:20 [widescreen]

When Brittany and I first got married we always wondered who would be the tough parent and the easy parent. I quickly stated that I would be tough.

Moment of honesty:

I don’t like kids. It’s actually true. I’ve never been a kid person. That’s why I’ve always gravitated towards youth ministry and working with high school and college age students rather than little kids.

Hubris:

This experience lead me to believe that I would be immune to the charm, whinny voice, and utter smooth moves from these little creatures we call kids. Then I became a dad. Quickly it became evident that I was not the stoic father that was immune to childish charm. In fact, when it came to my first born, Liam, I fell pray to his wide eyed smile, cry, and whine almost every time. Brittany became the tough “cant get anything past me” mom. Then my second son Levi came. He has a different kind of charm. The kind where he does something incredibly naughty, looks at you in the face, smiles, and in a raspy voice says, love you daddy da. It gets me every time. My third son Lucas is only 4 months old. He already has the half smile with dimple smile down.

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Traveling Life:

Then our lives took a twist. I transitioned into a new role at work where I spend a considerable more time traveling across the US and sometimes the world to present, speak, and teach workshops at conferences. One side affect I never considered would be how this impacted my desire to discipline my boys. I found myself on the road for 2-4 days at a time. When I came home my first thoughts were not about consistency in parenting or the 3-4 things Brittany had been working on the boys with. It was hugging, kissing, and playing with my boys. Even further, the simple thought of disciplining the boys was hard enough, I couldn’t really bring myself to do it. I became the dad who gave the “last warnings” and “second and ONLY chances”.

I quickly realized (Brittany helped a lot with this!) that my travel schedule was not an excuse for me not being present or active in the discipline of our children. In fact, my sons need discipline from their father. Proverbs 23 has it right, children should listen to their fathers instructions. The only way children can listen to their fathers instructions are if fathers are actually giving instruction!

Ways to be present in the discipline of my kids:

Here are a few ways I have tried to provide some course correction:

  • Stay in the loop while I am away – Its easy to talk about surface level things with Brittany and the boys while I’m away. The best thing I can do is be intentional about what is happening in the lives of my kids and asking my wife how things are going with them. My wife serves as the window into everyday life when I’m gone. Our ability to communicate well is incredibly helpful as I stay in the loop on the wins and challenges at home.
  • Engage in conversation with kids – While I’m away I want to discuss and talk about what has been going one during that day. I want to talk about what happened when Liam got in trouble for hitting his brother. Even though I am in a different state I want my sons to know that daddy is still present and cares about what they are doing. This type of daily recap and recollection is not only helpful for me, but also for my kids to consider the events of the day.
  • Take your kids on dates – I give myself the freedom to have either a fun day. Basically, daddy takes the kids out to have fun. Typically, this just means we order pizza, have sword fights, throw the football around, or go to the park. Being able to just have fun with the kids gives me a release and is helpful as I step back into day to day dad living.
My kids need me to be their dad in all areas of their lives. @Muddamalle

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I’ve seen the disaster of parents that are physically or emotionally unavailable. It creates lasting challenges for their kids. The benefits of being godly and attentive parents are countless, and we will see those benefits played out as our kids become spouses and parents themselves one day.

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The View Never Saved Anyone

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The View

As beautiful as the view was, it wasn’t enough. I woke up at 5am with my friend Jason so we could hike up Hanauma Bay Ridge in Hawaii. We wanted to see the sunrise before we left Hawaii after the conference we just attended. By the time I got to the top and watched the sunrise I was stunned. It was breathtaking. The warm orange glow began to burn through the dark clouds. In an instant it burned right through and lit up the bay in front of me. And then I had the realization. As powerful as this view was, it was not enough. This view in and of itself did not proclaim the Gospel to me. I began to consider how many people have hiked up to this very same point, surveyed the beauty in front of them, and then walked down without ever hearing the beautiful proclamation of the gospel. That God not only created all this but Christ  conquered sin and death that he might restore us in our relationship with God.

What Does Creation Do?

It causes us to ask questions. How did something so beautiful come into existence. Who crafted such beauty? John Calvin is correct when discussing creation he states, “The clarity of God’s self disclosure strips us of every excuse”. The excuse he describes is the acknowledgment that there is in fact something greater than us. We must consider and come to the realization of our finite stature in the midst of this creator. However, in regards to our ability to take the next leap in knowing God, Calvin rightly states, ”

“But although the Lord represents both himself and his everlasting Kingdom in the mirror of his works with very great clarity, such is our stupidity that we grow increasingly dull toward so manifest testimonies and they flow away without profiting us” – John Calvin

Calvin

I fell trap to this stupidity. Almost immediately as I walked down away from the sunrise and the view, I began focus on everything except that which would profit me. As soon as I realized this was happening, I came to the conclusion that the scenic beauty was not enough.

What Creation Does Not Do:

  • Proclaim who Jesus is
  • Declare that God created all things simply by speaking it into existence
  • Identify our great sin and need for rescue
  • Proclaim the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ
Creation does not Proclaim the Gospel to us, but when we know the Gospel; creation becomes so much more impressive.

As we understand the Gospel and the goodness of God we tend to grow in our appreciation for all created things. Not only do we value creation but we are lead down a road where we realize that God values us even more than creation. Unlike creation, in Genesis 1 he blesses man and gives man dominion over created things.

Clear and Bold Proclamation of the Gospel is Necessary:

If creation is not enough, than the responsibility falls on Christians to clearly communicate the goodness of the Gospel.

It’s not ok to wait and hope that someone else will share the gospel. – @Muddamalle

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Or that creation itself can do the work of gospel proclamation. That is our job. We declare the goodness of the gospel and then rely on the Holy Spirit to do the work of conviction, restoration, and sanctification.

Enjoy the goodness of Gods creation. And allow the next sunrise or sunset you see to remind you of the opportunities that you have to share the gospel.

Hanauma Bay

Bridging Two Worlds: Music and the Word

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Bridging Two WorldsI remember sitting in a church planting workshop and hearing a pastor and the worship leader talking through their process for collaborating weekend services. They essentially unpacked how they were able to neatly categorize each part of the service and allocate responsibility to either the teaching pastor or the worship leader. They met once a week for 15 minutes to run over the set list, identify any transitions, and then they were off. I left thinking that there has to be more to the story. Is it really that easy to just separate roles and responsibilities and leave it like that?
This caused me to consider the implication of this type of system. I believe the results could be challenging and create an environment that fosters competition and segmentation. Be on the look out for the following:

1. Areas of ownership versus collaborative ownership

The term “areas of ownership” is common among businesses and teams. Essentially, what are you responsible for, what do you own? When it comes to a worship service, consider that you don’t “own” anything. Rather, it is a collaborative effort where all the pieces of a service come together to honor God, make much of Him, and clearly and boldly proclaim the Gospel. Changing your perspective from individualistic to “holistic” will in return cause you to value all the other parts of the service.

2. Compartmentalizing worship in song and preaching.

It can become easy to view the worship service in parts. The first being the singing and the second being the preaching of the Word, view them as continuation. Worship in song is a communal experience, knitting the hearts of believers together. It causes us to remember who God is and His goodness. Further, it causes us to consider what Christ has done and is continuing to do in our lives and in the life of those around us. As our heart posture is set correct before the Lord, we begin to dive into his Word. Engaging the text and being encouraged and admonished through the proclamation of the Gospel is important. These are not two different things, they are simply a continuation of one thing.

3. Team mentality versus a church and family mentality

The conclusion of the first two issues eventually results in a team mentality. All of sudden the worship team begins to create a “mini-team” within a larger team. However, the motivation, values, and mission of this mini-team can begin to stray from that of the church. There should never be a team mentality that disrupts the vision and mission of the church. Rather, focus on the development of a church family mentality. You do serve in “mini-teams” and these teams are formed to fulfill and execute the mission and vision of the church.

4. Diminishing appreciation and value for the weekend service as a whole

If you find yourself in a place of segmentation and separation, you will eventually begin to resent the service. This is dangerous to say the least. In my generation this diminishing appreciation and value for the gathering of believers has resulted in a “non-church going” movement. I’ve seen people my age disengage from the local church and choose to meet in small groups or leverage technology to live stream church services. A word of warning, watching a live stream of a church service is NOT you being apart of a local church.

So what is the solution?

How do we bridge the gap that can be present between the preaching and singing during church?
The answer lies in the relationship between the pastor and worship leader. Even more important is their understanding of corporate worship and how they individually work together as a team to see the Gospel preached and to edify the body, equip the saints, and bring conviction to those who are not near Christ.
Unity is everything.

Recommended Resources:

Here are some tools and resources that may be helpful to you as you pursue bridging the gap.

  • The Worship Initiative – My friends Shane and Shane have done a tremendous job modeling how the Word and Song are meant to work cohesively together
  • Planning Center Online – I’ve had the opportunity to work with these guys in the past. Not only do they have a genuine love for the church, they have the best planning solution for your church service and various ministries.
  • The Church Collective – Recently I did a podcast interview with them. Ryan and Brian are awesome. They love the church and want to provide resources that will be a blessing to local churches
  • Logos Bible Software – Shameless plug here. Honestly, both the Worship Leader and Teaching Pastor need to be serious students of the Word. This will enable you to have conversations that are rooted in Biblical truth and not merely opinion.

3 Ways To Make Travel Easy

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Travel

I’m always on the look out for new tools and tips to make my travel life easier. I never realized how important it would be to make travel efficient until I started traveling for a living. Here are three travel tips/tricks that will help you regardless if you are a frequent traveler or travel by necessity to visit family, friends, or vacation.

  1. Trip It – This app has become a lifesaver for me. Simply create an account and store all your travel details hear. When you get confirmation emails for flight, hotel, and rental car, forward them to your trip it email. The trip it app automatically creates your itinerary and keeps all your travel info in a central location. I love the fact that I can quickly see what hotel I’m at when I land and launch the directions to get there directly from the Trip it app.
  2. Flight Track – This app has saved me from some close calls. I first got it when it was the free app of the week at Starbucks. Simply type in your flight number and Flight Track will get you all the info you need about your flight from gate information to travel time and probability of a delay or cancelation. This app becomes priceless when I’m delayed and land with a short connect time. In some cases the gate changes for the connecting flight. Instead of wasting valuable minutes staring at a blue screen looking for the right gate, the flight track app lets you know what gate you arrived and updates to the minute the gate that you leave for your connecting flight, leaving you more minutes to run terminal to terminal.
  3. Cam Scanner – My favorite scanning app. I tend to pile up receipts. Cam Scanner lets you create a document or folder where you can add multiple scanned images. Perfect for keeping all my documents, receipts, and information categorized by the conference or event I’m at. Even better, it allows you to upload that folder to your Evernote app. Brilliant!

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Being Road Sick

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Being Road Sick
I get hesitant to tell people what I do for a living. No matter how I phrase it or describe it people always leave thinking that traveling around the U.S and even to international locations is so incredible. They all think I must be living the life. For those of you that travel for work are already thinking, “they have no idea what they are talking about”.

HONESTY:

I’ll be honest. Traveling is fun. I get to meet a lot of incredible people and see some pretty awesome places. However, the average trip for me goes something like this.
  1. Wake up at 3am to catch a shuttle to Seattle (2.5 hour shuttle ride).
  2. Catch a flight from Seattle to (name the location).
  3. Land and grab a rental car
  4. Drive to the hotel and check in
  5. Head to the conference venue to set up and test audio and video
  6. During the conference I am up at 6:30am and back to the hotel (as I was writing this I actually called the hotel “home” thats how bad it is!). I repeat this while I am at the conference and have to find some time to grab some food.
  7. Drop off the rental car, catch a flight, catch a shuttle, and get home usually around 11pm.
Glamorous enough for you? If you answered yes, Faithlife is hiring.

MY LITTLE SECRET:

Now for the little secret…there are parts of the job that I really love. When I get on a stage and present Logos in front of crowds up 10,000 people it is a thrill. Even better is the response from the crowd when I nail a joke or illustration and they are blown away by how easy it can be to study God’s Word. Some of these things are addicting and there is an adrenaline rush that I can never adequately describe. The only way to experience it is to do it.
Then I get home. I am greeted by an incredible wife that has held down the fort for the last 3-4 days while raising our three kids. Now, when I’m home there is not the same adrenaline rush. There is no place that I would rather be, but the experience of travel can create a false sense of reality. Sometimes I lay awake and begin to dream about the next big conference. And then it hits. I’ve not only created a false sense of reality I am waiting for the next experience.

REALITY:

The conference life and travel is NOT the real world. It is a job. My life is at home and my joy and satisfaction comes first from my understanding of who Christ is and what he has done. Second, it comes from my loving wife, adorable three boys, and even a naughty dog.
Every time I catch myself being road sick I literally preach the Gospel to myself. I have to remember my priorities and what real living is. Authentic relationships with my family and friends.
Some of you may be reading this and are thinking that this may not apply to you, but it does. When was the last time you found yourself dreaming about that dream job, house, career, or anything that is not your identity in Christ and the joy you get from your family? It’s in these times when you begin to long for something that will not satisfy you. In fact, its a cheap substitute that always leaves you empty apart from the greatness of knowing Christ and being known by him.
Philippians 3:8 [widescreen]

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