My flight back from North Carolina made a detour. Despite swinging clear down to New Orleans, we still encountered turbulence from the large thunderstorms in our path.
Isn’t that just like life.
I arrived home to a misfiring minivan, a broken toilet, weeds threatening the garden, foot high grass in the backyard (it rained so much there was no time to mow), a leaky basement, a failing shower head, and a wife leaving me (just for the week to help her parents. Calm down.)
We managed to get through the week and got all the repairs taken care of but we are still in an emotional fog as my mother-in-law has taken a turn for the worse. She will likely take possession of her heavenly body this week.
This is the view from the middle of the storm.
Emotional and physical exhaustion threaten to rule.
Other than my daily devotional, I’ve only had one chance to sit down and write. The words wouldn’t come.
Even as the storms rage, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there will be sunlight on the other side.
“Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”
Psalms 23:4 NLT
My wife and I will rest in God’s strength and guidance as the storm passes.
When we reach the other side, I will update you on my writing journey and the next exciting steps.
Until then, if you are in the middle of life’s storms,
seek the strength and shelter of the one who can calm storms with a word.
When the storm passes, rejoice in the clear new day.
Sorry I haven’t posted much lately here. I am crazy busy getting ready for Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference in a couple of weeks.
I have been keeping up with the writing on my other webpage (and Facebook Group). It’s a daily Bible study that takes you through the entire Bible in two years. I post the reading and add a commentary on a verse that stands out to me and encourage discussion, especially on the Facebook Group.
As far as my normal blog goes, I have two written that need serious editing. If work lightens up, I will try to get that editing done at lunch times over the next couple of weeks.
After Conference (Memorial Day week), look for my content here to pick up again. Thanks for your patience.
May 8, 2023
Monday – Gospels
Reading – John 20-21
Highlight Verse:
“(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.”
John 20:9-10 NIV
They were taught by Jesus Himself. They lived with Him for three years.
And they still didn’t get it.
Immediately following this scene is where Mary encounters Jesus outside the tomb.
She stuck around.
And she encountered Jesus.
Yes, it’s true that the other disciples encountered Jesus later that day and several more times before He ascended. But they had to endure a longer time of uncertainty because they didn’t wait where Jesus was last seen.
There are times of uncertainty in our lives; times when we have no idea what Jesus would want us to do.
We would do well to stay where Jesus was last seen by us.
That could be in fellowship with people we know have close relationships with God.
It always means seeking Him in the Word.
It never means wandering away from the places where we are likely to encounter Him.
In times of uncertainty, do you tend to wander closer to God or away from God?
Who are the people you know who would lead you closer to God?
Glen Gordon “Gary” Davis, a used car salesman from Indiana, created the Davis Divan in 1947. Based on a custom three wheeled car built by then famous designer Frank Kurtis, Davis aimed to make it safe, innovative, and affordable.
Davis Divan at Lane Motor Museum, Nashville, TN
Davis’s ambition and ability to raise money was far greater than his ability to mass produce a car. After two years, his factory had turned out only 13 Divans before his investors and employees sued him for fraud.
Davis was a bit of a misfit.
I can relate.
Momma always said, “Remember, you are a totally unique individual, just like everyone else.” (She never said that, but it sounds better when I say it that way).
I’ve never felt like everyone else.
I’m an upper middle-aged man who listens to hip hop and bluegrass (Darius Rucker’s version of Wagon Wheel is playing as I type).
I love the culture of hospitality of the rural South and hippie vibe of Santa Cruz.
I like shooting but I’ve never been hunting and don’t have the desire to start.
I love cool and unique cars and drive a pickup and a minivan.
My pickup has Han Solo’s dice hanging from the mirror and a BB-8 in a hula skirt and coconut bra on the dash.
A Funko-Pop Bob Wiley (from the movie What About Bob) watches me type from his perch on my desk.
Am I normal?
One of several Tatras at Lane Motor Museum, Nashville, TN
I hope not!
My writing may never be more successful than the Davis Divan, but I’ll keep typing out these odd stories that pop into my head.
Maybe, like Gary Davis, I’ll find success where I least expect it. He took some of what he learned from the Divan and became a successful manufacturer of bumper cars.
Whichever way life bumps you, never give up on your uniqueness.
God only made one you. You might feel like you’re different than anyone else.
Celebrate your differences and contribute your uniqueness to history.
The first rays of light teased at the new day – one I wasn’t sure I could endure.
But I had to get up.
The women who had been cooking for us told us last night that they would be going to the tomb to anoint his body.
I feel guilt even recounting it to you now. I should have helped them. But I was numb. If someone didn’t tell me to do something, I didn’t do anything.
I know…
I was alive. My friends were alive and still here with me in this room in the Holy City.
I should be thankful.
I think we were only together because we had no place else to go.
Our whole world fell apart when they killed Jesus!
A week ago, it was so different. Crowds adored and praised him as he entered the city. They hung on his every word.
It was all good until that last meal. Jesus revealed that Judas would betray him – and that I would deny him.
He was right – on both counts.
Judas led a mob to us Thursday night and they took him away.
Friday morning – I can’t bear the thought – I denied I even knew him. It has been my deep shame since the moment I heard the rooster crow that early morning.
I pulled my stiff body off the cushion that Sunday morning and set about helping with breakfast. The bread was already in the oven, my shame compounded by my late rising.
I was about to ask what I needed to do when the ground shook. We all stopped and looked at each other. It was over quickly and we moved on.
I was tasked with cooking some fish – my specialty. We all worked together to try to have a hearty meal ready by the time the women returned.
They returned sooner than expected with a crazy story.
They said Jesus wasn’t there!
John and I high-tailed it to the tomb. He beat me there but I went right on in. There were the burial clothes, neatly folded. No body.
We went back confused.
Was there reason to hope?
Could he be alive?
I dare not believe it.
That evening, we were all gathered in the upper room. We had locked the doors because there were rumors going around the city that we had taken the body.
I gotta say, I was a little more than scared.
I might have been a little grumpy too. I wasn’t the only one. We were all in a very bad place.
Until we weren’t.
No one saw him come in.
He was just there.
Jesus!
At first we jumped in surprise. There was a scream or two. One of them might have been me.
He spoke peace to us.
Peace came like a wave.
Then, such elation came over us that cannot be described.
Our Messiah lives!
Over the next few weeks, he visited us several times, explaining the good news of his death a resurrection.
He even took the time to meet directly with me to forgive my denial of him.
Eventually, he took us up on a mountain where he – I’m not exaggerating here – flew up to heaven.
It wasn’t like the cross. This time we knew He was alive. We knew he was preparing a place for us in heaven. Until then, we had good news to tell everyone.
It’s the news that Jesus paid the price for all our sin. He sacrificed his life to fulfill the requirements of the Law for all. Then, on the third day, he showed his power over death by rising. Now we have power over death by believing and trusting Him.
I, Peter, saw all this. My eyewitness accounts can be found in the Gospels. I can now be found in heaven, thanks to my Jesus.
Photo credit Pisit Heng via Unsplash
I hope you enjoyed this look into the events of that first Easter. I did embellish the story so it is fiction based on truth. That truth is the Gospel.
It is my hope that you may read this and find that truth yourself.
The two mullets bobbed vigorously in the Chevy in front of me. I couldn’t hear the song over my music, but it must have been good to make two grown men look a bit loco at the stop light.
Is that so bad?
I guarantee you, if these two had been at a concert with the same song, there would be a sea of mullets bobbing to the beat.
I love music and my shorter locks have been seen bouncing at many a good concert.
I also love baseball.
I root for the Rockies, but I admit my favorite mascot is not Dinger.
I only lived in Pennsylvania for three years and only actually attended one Phillies game, but nothing can beat the Phanatic for shear insanity. The green snouted creature uses creatively crazy ways to show its devotion to the Phillies.
As a result, Phillies fans are some of the most fanatic in the country.
All this is my way of pointing you to my favorite verse of the Bible.
“If we are out of our mind, it is for the
sake of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:13a (NIV 1984 version)
I’m not afraid to be seen as a fanatic for Jesus. If I can yell at the top of my lungs when the Rockies hit a homer, how can I do less when Jesus wins the heart of a lost soul?
When I saw those mullets bouncing in front of me, I confess –
I felt a tinge of jealousy
over the good time they were having.
I hope my wild joyfulness will cause people to want in on the joy in me that overflows into my actions.
I almost hesitate to complete the rest of my favorite verse. It ends with
“if we are in our right mind, it is for you.”
(2 Corinthians 5:13, also from the 1984 version of NIV)
Yes, there is balance and appropriateness.
Just don’t let the balance tip so far
to the “safe” side that it robs your joy.
If I’m going to rob something from you, let it be your sadness, anger, and pain. And let me return joy to you.
So, the next time you see me singing at the top of my lungs or even raising my hands in prayer while I’m driving, tell me to get a hand back on the wheel and then
from his family home at the age of 16. He was trapped in the world of human trafficking in a third world country for the next 6 years.
He was bought by a war lord who put him to forced labor.
He had no rights.
He had no respect.
He had no love.
He looked for escape at every opportunity.
As he labored, he turned to faith in God for comfort.
There were no other believers in that area but he remembered enough of his family’s faith to get him started.
When the opportunity to escape finally came, he jumped at it. The attempt nearly killed him.
When he finally made it home, he studied more about Christ, eventually becoming a minister.
Then came the call on his life.
He had a vision in which he received a note from the people of the land of his captivity. It begged him to return.
I don’t know about you, but I would be very hesitant to return to where life was horrible. Nobody wants to revisit bad memories, much less, live among them.
The closer Maewyn got to God, the more he understood God’s compassion and the need the people of that land to get to know God.
Maewyn obeyed the call.
By now he had taken a new name to reflect his changed life.
He returned to that violent land, Ireland, under his new name, Patrick.
He brought the Gospel to a land that desperately needed it and brought about the most drastic revival Northern Europe had ever seen.
Maewyn was just a normal upper middle class teenager in his day. He suffered some extreme trauma that turned his life upside down. No one would have blamed him if he had just found a quiet place to hide the rest of his life.
But he didn’t.
Instead of letting the trauma rule him, he channeled it into compassion and action.
I know that PTSD, social anxiety, and many other conditions are real. I don’t mean to belittle them.
But what would happen if we submitted our fears and trauma to God and let him heal and use them to bring healing to others? I know it’s not easy or simple but Patrick and many others have shown it is possible and the fruits of their actions show it is worth it.
This Friday, as you enjoy your corned beef and cabbage or shamrock shake (or green beer), remember the life of that guy who brought Christ to Ireland and ask yourself if there’s anything you can learn from him. It might just bring you to a life of healing and action.
All too soon, I’ll be entering my last year as a fifty something.
I can hear you –
Wow – you’re old!
Of course, I claim to be 29 with 30 year’s experience.
I must confess – I sometimes feel like I’m in my 50’s.
I just did an all-nighter with our youth group. I had no problem staying awake despite the hours of laser tag, go-cart racing, ga-ga ball and 9-square. But now, a day and a half later, I’m still sore.
Regardless of the aches and waning stamina, this has been the best decade of my life.
So far.
Each decade of my life has had it’s pains and joys, failures and triumphs.
This decade started with marriage. I got to see three of my kids become adults. I began teaching a group of boys whom I will lead at church through their graduation in 2028.
All that is good, but one of the most exciting parts of my fifties is the fact that I started learning how to write at a higher level.
It’s an ongoing process and I admit I am breaking the rules with this rambling blog. Still, it’s been an incredible journey.
I have loved seeing these crazy ideas swimming around my head taking shape on paper.
I do have one regret.
Had I known what joy writing would bring me, I would have started when I was younger.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve enjoyed my career in technology. It’s just that I now realize what a joy that writing is.
If you are young and have been bitten by the writing bug – pursue it!
If, like me, you’re not so young anymore and have experienced that blazing urge to write – pursue it!
Some of you may have the luxury of pursuing writing in college. That’s awesome.
Most of us will never make a full-time income from writing. For us, there are still many ways to pursue our writing.
I have compiled a short list of resources for the Christian writer which I will upload to the resources page on my website (as soon as I create it).
These are just a few of the resources available to writers to learn and grow and connect to other writers, agents, and publishers.
I created this list for a Christian writers small group that I lead every other Monday evening. Anyone in the Denver area is welcome to join us. We meet every other Monday (including this Monday, Feb. 27, 2023) at 6:30pm at the Café at Barnes and Noble at 120th and Washington in Thornton, CO.
There are similar groups that meet all over the country. They are a great place to start exploring the options available to the new writer.
Make this next decade the best in your life and if the bug has bitten you, make writing part of it!
I told my daughter that this morning without even thinking about the double meaning.
Sometimes the dad jokes come naturally.
Regardless of that, I now sit at a small desk in an AirBNB in Franklin, TN.
The trip here kept me from finishing this blog on Sunday. The concert we attended at the Bridgestone Arena that night didn’t help either.
Now it’s Tuesday afternoon and I’m finally sitting down to some serious writing time.
Why not Monday?
I love exploring and seeing new things. Between dropping my daughter off where she needed to be and picking her up, we went to Nashville and spent some quality time at the Lane Motor Museum.
I’ve always liked to explore.
Even driving to drop off and pick up my daughter, I have a hard time not looking at all the sights on the way.
I see historic sights and imagine the stories that took place there.
I see natural wonders and imagine the reactions of the first people to see them.
I see grand houses and wonder about the lives of the people who have occupied them.
You could say my wandering tendencies are as much a product of my overactive imagination as my writing.
Maybe a new story will crop up in Franklin.
For now, I am heading back to the inside of a mountain in Arizona in my mind to try to make some much needed progress on Reymons. The characters there are evolving and starting to get to know one another.
I really want to be a significant way through the first part of that story by the time I go to the Blue Ridge Christian Writer’s Conference at the end of May. This trip is the perfect opportunity to get some momentum going.
I think of the man walking slowly through the grocery store with his elderly mother helping her get all the things she needs.
Love is kind…
I think of the woman who, when she saw a child fall off his bike, immediately stopped to help the crying child get to his mother and first-aid.
It does not envy…
I witnessed writers congratulating and hugging their fellow writers as they won awards for which they had competed.
It does not boast…
There was that true sportsman who, upon winning the championship simply smiled and pointed to heaven, acknowledging where the talent and drive originated.
It is not proud…
The former head of a denomination confessed a slight wrong to his successor and asked forgiveness in a spirit of complete openness, even allowing the story to be told in public.
It does not dishonor others…
There was the girl who stood by her friend being accused by their peers.
It is not self-seeking…
I’ve seen many parents work multiple jobs so that their children can have food and clothing.
It is not easily angered…
I’ve seen police officers, being berated and belittled by an aggressor, calmly question and calm the suspect.
It keeps no record of wrongs…
I think of the couple that got back together after his infidelity, when they worked through their problems in counseling.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth…
There was the couple who confronted the killer of their son, holding him responsible for his actions while forgiving him and bringing him the truth of the Gospel.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
There was that couple who came alongside me in my trials, living the example of faithful marriage for many years.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV
There are so many examples of the love chapter being lived out in our lives. I have witnessed either first or second hand all the above examples. I strive to live out these verses myself.
Can you imagine what the world would be like if we all were to be living examples of this chapter everyday?
Solano Writing 