well, it's that time of year for me again...we had our first basketball practices for nate's team, noah's team, and luke's team the past two evenings...
i love this time of year...i'm coaching all three teams and will love every minute of it...i enjoy so much working with the young boys all the way up to luke's age...
really good first practices...i genuinely liked all the boys and think we're going to have lots of fun...
pray for influence and impact on these young boy's lives.
go gators! go seminoles! go sixers!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
proud father
so proud of Luke, my 12 year old son today...he has just endured a challenging set of basketball tryouts at North Garner Middle School...he called me this afternoon a little after 2:00 to give me the news...he made the team!
basketball is something that Luke and I love to share together...I have been coaching him and preparing him for competitive basketball now for a number of years...so today is thrilling and rewarding for both him and me...he worked really hard...and now is extremely tired...i've never seen him run so much!
anyway...very proud of my son today!
good luck on a great season! go trojans!
basketball is something that Luke and I love to share together...I have been coaching him and preparing him for competitive basketball now for a number of years...so today is thrilling and rewarding for both him and me...he worked really hard...and now is extremely tired...i've never seen him run so much!
anyway...very proud of my son today!
good luck on a great season! go trojans!
Friday, November 23, 2007
that was then...this is now
I was discussing with some family members this evening at another thanksgiving gathering what it must have been like for the pilgrims in those early days of their adventure. During their journey across the Atlantic Ocean they must have faced many problems and difficulties. They must have had testimony after testimony of how God protected them, provided for them, and led them to safety. It made me think of how often God has provided for, protected, and rescued us.
Psalm 46:1 says "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
The good news to find in this Scripture is that the God of the Pilgrims then is the same God now. He and His promises will never abandon you.
Tell me about a moment in time that God has either provided for, protected, or rescued your family.
Happy Thanksgiving...I mean Happy Thanks-living one more time!
Psalm 46:1 says "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
The good news to find in this Scripture is that the God of the Pilgrims then is the same God now. He and His promises will never abandon you.
Tell me about a moment in time that God has either provided for, protected, or rescued your family.
Happy Thanksgiving...I mean Happy Thanks-living one more time!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
new thanksgiving traditions
tonight upon returning home from family visits I decided to start our own tradition at the Thompson house for Thanksgiving...it was moving and awesome...
I simply printed out a piece of paper for all six of us with two statement on it...
1. this year I am thankful for God because....
2. this year I am thankful for ______ because...
Each person drew another family members name other than their own from one of my hats...we each put that person's name in the blank for the second statement....then everyone took about 30 minutes to write out our thoughts and then had a time of sharing them with each other.
sometimes kids can say the most thoughtful things...I am incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful family...for each of them I am thankful.
I simply printed out a piece of paper for all six of us with two statement on it...
1. this year I am thankful for God because....
2. this year I am thankful for ______ because...
Each person drew another family members name other than their own from one of my hats...we each put that person's name in the blank for the second statement....then everyone took about 30 minutes to write out our thoughts and then had a time of sharing them with each other.
sometimes kids can say the most thoughtful things...I am incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful family...for each of them I am thankful.
thought from a missionary
we had Chris and Angela Nelson and their wonder three boys with us last Sunday night...what an awesome family....pray for them!
a couple of thought provoking statements from Chris:
1. get a dream that is impossible if God doesn't help!
2. we no longer have an identity crisis when our identity is in Christ!
a couple of thought provoking statements from Chris:
1. get a dream that is impossible if God doesn't help!
2. we no longer have an identity crisis when our identity is in Christ!
Thanksgiving or Thanks-living
Thanksgiving is always a special day...but today had just a little something extra...not sure what it was...but my thoughts and heart strings were just racing all day with thoughts of thankfulness. It was good to be with my family and just enjoy everyone's company...the turkey bowl was awesome of course...nate's team did win the trophy...but even during the game i found thoughts of thankfulness...for kids that play a silly game of football and not get mad at each other...for a wife that got out there and ran as hard as everyone else...for a dad and a brother who make for a great grandpa and uncle combo...they treat our kids super-special...
It was also very special to have a dear friend, Mrs. Esther Cookman share our Thanksgiving meal with us. Many of you will know the name "Cookman" and know that their family has been special all through my life. Just visiting with her briefly today made me really thankful for the years of friendship and mentorship that I have spent with her sons and their families. The Cookmans are extra-super people and I am thankful to have had them in my life. Noel Cookman and I had a conversation over email a while back and shared some thoughts together. This on-going conversation brought back many thoughts today.
I am truly grateful for the implications of the finished work of the cross. Jesus has done and is doing so much for us...I am overwhelmed at the thought of it.
Here are some questions for your consideration that come from my conversation with my friend Noel.
What happens when...
1. we do not believe we lose fellowship with God when we sin?
2. we do not compare ourselves to others as being at a different level with God than we are?
3. we do not examine ourselves for sin but rather examine ourselves to see "whether we be in the faith"?
4. our maturity is not behavior modification but beholding Him more?
Well, just a few questions to help you think about the implications of the cross of Christ...if we really understood the cross I think thanksgiving would become thanks-living...we would live thankfully everyday.
It was also very special to have a dear friend, Mrs. Esther Cookman share our Thanksgiving meal with us. Many of you will know the name "Cookman" and know that their family has been special all through my life. Just visiting with her briefly today made me really thankful for the years of friendship and mentorship that I have spent with her sons and their families. The Cookmans are extra-super people and I am thankful to have had them in my life. Noel Cookman and I had a conversation over email a while back and shared some thoughts together. This on-going conversation brought back many thoughts today.
I am truly grateful for the implications of the finished work of the cross. Jesus has done and is doing so much for us...I am overwhelmed at the thought of it.
Here are some questions for your consideration that come from my conversation with my friend Noel.
What happens when...
1. we do not believe we lose fellowship with God when we sin?
2. we do not compare ourselves to others as being at a different level with God than we are?
3. we do not examine ourselves for sin but rather examine ourselves to see "whether we be in the faith"?
4. our maturity is not behavior modification but beholding Him more?
Well, just a few questions to help you think about the implications of the cross of Christ...if we really understood the cross I think thanksgiving would become thanks-living...we would live thankfully everyday.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
TURKEY BOWL
Hope you all are getting ready to have a great Thanksgiving day. I'm sure you are ready for a couple of big plates filled with turkey and dressing...probably some cranberry sauce...maybe some yams...and top it off with some pecan or pumpkin pie? Well, I'm getting hungry...so I'll just have to wait until tomorrow.
I'm getting ready for bed...gotta rest up for the big game. Thanksgiving day is always so much fun with my family. After we eat...we head out to the front lawn turned football stadium and engage in our very own annual Turkey Bowl. There's lots of festivities...we have ESPN jams playing on the big boom box as the teams run onto the field...we have the coin toss...we have the national anthem and everything. It is always fun to see whose jersey everyone will wear...my brother and all the kids want to wear a jersey...you might see Brett Favre, Vince Young, Phillip Rivers, some college jerseys....who knows....but one thing is for sure...it will be fun! And the youngest kid on the winning team gets to keep the Thompson Family Turkey Bowl trophy in their bedroom for the whole year! I better get rested up. I think Nate is really wanting that trophy this year.
I trust you and your family will enjoy some wonderful Thanksgiving traditions together. If you don't have one then start one...but most importantly tomorrow let's take some time to be thankful for what Jesus did for us that we might have life and enjoy it to the fullest. Please pause your heart tomorrow and be reminded to be thankful.
I'm getting ready for bed...gotta rest up for the big game. Thanksgiving day is always so much fun with my family. After we eat...we head out to the front lawn turned football stadium and engage in our very own annual Turkey Bowl. There's lots of festivities...we have ESPN jams playing on the big boom box as the teams run onto the field...we have the coin toss...we have the national anthem and everything. It is always fun to see whose jersey everyone will wear...my brother and all the kids want to wear a jersey...you might see Brett Favre, Vince Young, Phillip Rivers, some college jerseys....who knows....but one thing is for sure...it will be fun! And the youngest kid on the winning team gets to keep the Thompson Family Turkey Bowl trophy in their bedroom for the whole year! I better get rested up. I think Nate is really wanting that trophy this year.
I trust you and your family will enjoy some wonderful Thanksgiving traditions together. If you don't have one then start one...but most importantly tomorrow let's take some time to be thankful for what Jesus did for us that we might have life and enjoy it to the fullest. Please pause your heart tomorrow and be reminded to be thankful.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Guaranteed Uncertainty
Sorry for the lapse in blog posts...I'm back now.
If there is one thing I'm learning right now...it is this: that my days hold no guarantees except the guarantee of uncertainty. Often we find ourselves encountering difficult circumstances, strained relationships, confusion, and extreme challenges. I know when I wake up each morning I can't plan every detail, but I certainly don't have these challenges typed in my To-Do List in Microsoft Outlook. These encounters are usually unplanned and catch us by surprise. There are thousands of variable that make up our day...and they all add up to one thing: an uncertain outcome. Most days things could go either way...heads or tails...win or lose...live or die.
Oswald Chambers wrote, "To be certain to God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation."
The key is keeping a sense of destiny coupled with the degrees of uncertainty and challenge. We can not fear the uncertain or unknown, but must remember that God is with us!
I definitely believe in planning and goal-setting. But there are just some things in life, in work, in ministry, in relationships...you can't plan or predict. And that drives many of us crazy on the inside. We want control, but the decision to follow Christ is letting Jesus take the wheel. Of course, some of us prefer to act like backseat drivers...or even worse, we act like little children that drive their parents crazy by asking one question over and over...'are we there yet?'
The more I think about this, the more I think that spiritual maturity is less about planning out the future and is more about a moment-by-moment sensitivity to the Spirit of God. I think we simply like to be in control of our futures and desperately want certainty. But faith involves a loss of control...and with a loss of control comes a loss of certainty. Faith is the willingness and readiness to embrace guaranteed uncertainty.
Enjoy the adventure!
If there is one thing I'm learning right now...it is this: that my days hold no guarantees except the guarantee of uncertainty. Often we find ourselves encountering difficult circumstances, strained relationships, confusion, and extreme challenges. I know when I wake up each morning I can't plan every detail, but I certainly don't have these challenges typed in my To-Do List in Microsoft Outlook. These encounters are usually unplanned and catch us by surprise. There are thousands of variable that make up our day...and they all add up to one thing: an uncertain outcome. Most days things could go either way...heads or tails...win or lose...live or die.
Oswald Chambers wrote, "To be certain to God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation."
The key is keeping a sense of destiny coupled with the degrees of uncertainty and challenge. We can not fear the uncertain or unknown, but must remember that God is with us!
I definitely believe in planning and goal-setting. But there are just some things in life, in work, in ministry, in relationships...you can't plan or predict. And that drives many of us crazy on the inside. We want control, but the decision to follow Christ is letting Jesus take the wheel. Of course, some of us prefer to act like backseat drivers...or even worse, we act like little children that drive their parents crazy by asking one question over and over...'are we there yet?'
The more I think about this, the more I think that spiritual maturity is less about planning out the future and is more about a moment-by-moment sensitivity to the Spirit of God. I think we simply like to be in control of our futures and desperately want certainty. But faith involves a loss of control...and with a loss of control comes a loss of certainty. Faith is the willingness and readiness to embrace guaranteed uncertainty.
Enjoy the adventure!
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