Mistakes

“They’ve finally come up with the perfect office computer. If it makes a mistake, it blames another computer.”
Milton Berle

“I must tell you I take terrible risks. Because my playing is very clear when I make a mistake you hear it. If you want me to play only the notes without any specific dynamics, I will never make one mistake. Never be afraid to dare.”
Vladimir Horowitz

Not to compare ourselves with God but an average parent can imagine how God might feel about the human race. You could nickname most of us Will because we have a tendency to exert our wills throughout our lives for better and for worse. I will study this subject until I have it down. I will grab that hot skillet at an age when I’ve yet to know for myself what hot really means. I will use prayer, love, and reason to grow healthy relationships or I will engage in selfish and unhealthy behavior to the detriment of myself and those around me. To be sure, all of us Wills will make mistakes, some intended and some unintended. How do we deal with the mistakes we and the others around us make? What reaction should we then expect from God, and how should that model prepare us to meet the challenges mistakes pose in our lives?

When I consider how God feels about our mistakes, I think he’s the perfect example of an ideal parent. First, he gives us plenty of room to grow and learn from our mistakes. A good parent is able to set boundaries while creating an environment the child can thrive in. Learning our way into being our best selves always involves some trial and error. For some of us, a lot of trial and error. Sometimes we even have to go to trial for our errors! God’s grace, forgiveness, and attitude of forbearance do not remove natural consequences. That hot stove will still burn. Traffic school might be the best you can hope for if you decide to set your own special speed limit. Your spouse may have married you for better or for worse but not, for example, felony murder. What you will find with God though, is he never runs out of grace. His love and forgiveness are always enough and more. If you trust in Christ, you’re part of the family. Period.

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 NIV

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9 NIV

God, there you are
before and after my mistakes.
I learn. I grow.
Always you forgive.
When I’m afraid to move on
and lack faith in myself,
I lean deeply into you
because you live.

©Joel Tipple 6/28/2020

Out of Control

I was driving the family car. I had been a passenger many times, but never the driver, and I was terrified that at any moment I would do something wrong. The sun was on its way down, and I was on the edge of losing control when I crested the top of a short hill just outside of town and woke up. I’m not sure how I managed to drive, since, at age eight, there was no way my legs could have reached the pedals, but hey, it was my “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” dream, and in a situation like that, rules are made to be broken. It was a recurring nightmare when I was a child. It could have meant something or nothing at the time. I don’t know.

Have you ever found yourself at a point in life where you felt, like in my dream, that you were barely holding on? Since we can’t be certain when the circumstances of our lives will take a wild and crazy turn, it’s worth considering what and where our place of hope and security is. You may feel, as an adult, that you’re better prepared to be behind the wheel of your life than I was to be driving our Oldsmobile, but just what is waiting for you beyond that hill’s crest? When you get there, will money keep you safe? Your own strength? Your family and friends? No matter how well you’ve managed your finances, no matter how well you eat and how much you exercise, no matter the quality of your personal relationships, the reality of the human condition is that stuff happens. So what, then? Is it a waste of effort to be right and responsible? Or rather, given what many view as the uncertainty and ultimate futility of life, should we teach the virtues of selfishness and hedonism?

Over 2,000 years ago a man came along claiming to be the Son of God. At first those in power viewed him as simply another in a long line of self-aggrandizing trouble makers. But the politically sanctioned murder of Jesus Christ was not the end, instead, it was just the beginning. In dying, then defeating death by rising from the grave, our Lord made available eternal life to those who would turn to Him. Not only did the teachings of Jesus show us how to live life here on earth, his actions secured our access to eternal life in the place God has prepared for those who ask for forgiveness and turn from their sins.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14:6-7 ESV

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
John 10:27-29 ESV

Your tears and blood
Lord
have won
But for your tears
and blood
Jesus
we’d be forever done
the end would be the end
but for the one who calls me friend
now darkness and death
turn to light and life
eternal joy instead of strife
because of the Son

© Joel Tipple 11/2/2019

Relationship

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Genesis 2:24

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:2-3

I’m not a mistake, God wasn’t mistaken
when He made me,
this particular creation,
and when He made the woman,
who in grace took my hand,
the next permutation
of His divine plan
for this couple came to be.

To God be the glory.
Together, came to be,
the next chapter in the story,
together, came to be.

No, marriage isn’t for all,
and God is sovereign and faithful
to reveal to each their own unique plan.
If we seek Him in faith,
believing He will answer,
He’ll reveal His best purpose in time.

But what of this home
and this family,
beginning with these two?
Without God love is such an unruly word.
Show us what it means. We don’t have a clue.
God, we need You!

Football games and carpet stains,
budget and relation strains.
Misunderstanding and forgiving.
You scratched the car but it’s just a thing.
Children are here and then they’re grown,
visiting with their own.
It was the future, now it’s past.
How on earth did it go so fast?

And if we’re not careful,
we’ll miss the now.

God, in His grace, through His Son,
has brought us to and taught us
a saving relationship.
His Word keeps our home
and provides a forever one too.
Those He lets us learn from are precious,
So guided by gratitude,
we seek God’s view,
and prayerfully choose,
and prayerfully choose.

Father

Daddy, Dad, Papa, Father,

the names we have for our own,

the names our own call us.

So much bound up in one little word

for the man we invest with our trust.

“I’ll fix it!”

Baby, if you only knew

how new you are to me.

But how complicated can you be?

Just some biology, right?

Honey, where’s her mute button?

She didn’t come with one?

She’s fed.

Her diaper’s changed

I’m sooo tired…

“I can fix this.”

What kind of homework do you have?

A project?

When is it due?

Tomorrow morning?!

Okay, let’s get started.

The school dance?

She’s not that old!

She IS that old?

How did she get that old?

“I can’t fix this.”

High School, maybe college, a job, her own baby

and the cycle’s complete.

Like shampoo, rinse, repeat

and I still can’t get any sleep.

“God, help me fix this.”

A grandfather?

I can’t be that old!

I AM that old?

How did I get to be this old?!

One day I’m carrying you,

the next you’re holding me.

And in a flash life happens,

filling the pages in between.

God, our perfect father,

If we’re wise, we look to you first

To help us raise little humans

at their best and at their worst.

There is a book, after all,

though dads are loath to read instructions.

But first things first, can you help me

find my reading glasses?

Allergic Reaction

Sandra walked into the living room, where her mother was relaxing in a corner chair, reading. “Mom, what’s up with Dad?” she asked. Looking up, Sandra’s mother replied, “Why do you ask, Sandra?” “Well, he’s at his desk, writing. He seems upset.” “Oh, he’s fine. It’s probably just his allergies,” she replied, the corners of her mouth turned up a little. Sandra drew her eyes together in a frown. “What’s he allergic to?” At this her mother’s smile broadened and she chuckled before answering… “Your father says he’s allergic to ‘happy… and sad.'” she replied.

The Road To Healing

God, we know you’re knocking.
Still, families are falling.
A dad’s afraid to say what he thinks.
A mom’s sure she’ll lose it if she doesn’t get a drink.
A daughter thinks the answer is a wedding ring.
A son thinks life’s a game… and he hopes he’s winning.
The television blares on,
and too few hear the door.

All journeys to healing begin
with one human being earnestly praying.
He heals families
one person at a time.
His desire is to rescue
and mend our broken hearts.
He throws hope to the hopeless
with a life line.

On the road to healing
God brings us together.
Building a body
from the ashes of the fallen.
He reveals beauty
where one could hardly find it.
Will we
choose
all apart,
or
all a part in?

The Body

God, do you need me?
I’ve been wondering lately.
I’ve read I have a part to play,
but it just isn’t clear to me.

Trust in me, child. The body needs you.
If you listen and obey, I’ll show you how I choose.
The vision won’t seem clear, not certain from the start,
but a plant of faith has taken root in the soil of your heart.

But what about my limitations?
God, you don’t even know!
If I don’t have faith in me, how can you tell me it’s so?
That I can be of some use in the body of Christ?
Are you sure I’m not just a broken device?

Pick up your bible, child.
Read of great women and men.
They often failed at the beginning, but achieved great ends.
Then look closely at the other folks who were used in support.
Without them the endings would be quite different sorts.

Stepping out now, I choose to move and serve.
If I just take without giving, it’s his body I hurt.
God already chose me, the plan in place from the start.
It’s not all clear to me yet, but I can see the better part.

There You Go

(For a friend)

Remember, when I was a child
and you were on your way out the door,
and I said please, can I go too?
Well, now feels like before.

There you go, out the door and to the Lord.
Praise God, it’s heaven’s gain,
but though I’m so full of joy for you,
It’s joy accompanied by pain.

But thank God for blessed memories…
in albums and frames on the mantle.
Those times you celebrated with me.
The times you handled what I couldn’t handle.

I grew older and it was my turn
to open and walk out the door.
You were braver the dad than I was the child,
but behind your eyes there was more.

The grief, now that you’re gone,
is married with joy and pride
for your legacy and the expectancy
I’ll see Jesus at your side.
We’ll look back at the front door together,
this time left open wide.

Christmas Sails

Christmas sails on,
another season blows through,
at breakneck speed
we rush
into and out of it.
We gather ourselves,
brush off bits of wrapping paper
and fir needles,
then begin the focus
on rest and recovery
until the next one.
Always an opportunity for growth,
and trying to focus on Jesus the most.
It seems with humans nothing is worth doing
unless it’s overdone.
But still, amid the fun,
God, we remembered Your Son…
was the reason.

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19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30

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