Today is a pen and paper day. Ordinarily I’m about as “paperless” as they come... I love technology and the ability to manipulate information on a moment’s notice, but today is different.

As I sit at my desk today I find  I’m thinking about many things all at once, and it’s been going on for DAYS. For example, in just the last 48 hours there have been multiple incarnations of staff meetings, each with a crucial objective and worthy conversation. There have been both work related and personal events that have required my presence and attention, and there has been LOADS of email communication and writing... Add to that the fact that tomorrow is the end of school for my children and the beginning of SUMMER... Just trying to figure out plans and activities can become consuming.... And thus comes my “Mental Parade,” each thought presenting itself for review without study... a fleeting glance at so many varied things in rapid succession that none are fully appreciated and only a few are remembered.

Racing thoughts can bring many results; new ideas, unexpected solutions to problems, maybe even a fond memory from out of nowhere. And so today I am struck with the reminder that when life races by I have a choice to make. I can either let it overwhelm me or I can use it to refine my focus. I choose the latter.

Each fleeting thought has to start somewhere, and sometimes I find that simply writing the thought down will help me to sort through the “floats” in my mental parade, giving me an opportunity to analyze, strategize, formulate and plan... And once I have a plan, I know how to proceed.

So what does this have to do with you?  Well, I’m glad you asked:  I suspect your life is like mine in many ways; busy, fulfilling and sometimes fast-paced. May I encourage you today to choose wisely how you will invest your time and energy in such seasons?

Grab a pen and paper... track your thoughts... bring them to Jesus and ask for discernment. Ordered thoughts reflect the mental and emotional capacities God has placed within you, and that brings glory to Him.

I’m grateful for my computers and my iPad, but today I’m grateful for a pen and paper, and a Savior who listens when I talk to Him.

jph

Today is a pen and paper day. Ordinarily I’m about as “paperless” as they come... I love technology and the ability to manipulate information on a moment’s notice, but today is different.

I've been trying to think all day long about what I would post as my gratitude point for the day, but there are so many things. I suppose having so many members of our family here would have to be at the top of the list... Melinda and I are so thrilled that they would choose to make the trip all the way to KS so we could all be together for the holiday!

I'm grateful for a few quiet moments in my favorite chair at the end of a LONG day... It's been very busy, both at work and at home, but I truly believe that the accomplishments of this day will bless other people and will honor God. It's been a good day.

Today I'm grateful for the life and legacy of Mrs. Mary Gress... Participating in her memorial service today reminded me of how a humble life, well lived, can touch the hearts of many.

At the end of this particular Monday I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of creative work in the theatrical community around Kansas City.  I've made so many friends, have discovered talents I didn't know I had and have grasped opportunities to express myself in "living art" on canvasses of face and visage... 

Today I'm grateful that there has never been a time in the lives of my three children when God didn't provide a way for Melinda and me to meet their physical and emotional needs... As we deliver our boxes today for Operation Christmas Child, I pray the good news of God's love will travel along with them to bring hope and life to children who are not as blessed as my own.

Today I'm thankful for the completion of the BVBC Advent Devotional Series... It's been a consuming task, much more so than I expected, but I'm very excited about it and believe it will be a great tool for private worship this season.  I'm also grateful for the help of Sonya Ferguson and Paige Szajnuk without whose involvement it would still be a loose collection of random emails and pages.

Today, several members of my family had the opportunity to participate in a school assembly called "Rachel's Challenge." Rachel Scott was the first person killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Her acts of kindness and compassion coupled with the contents of her six diaries have become the foundation for one of the most life-changing school programs in America. As we talked about the program over dinner last night, the three who had seen the program and were so deeply touch...

It's not a terribly deep thing for which to be grateful, but I find myself grateful nonetheless for an evening at home with my family and no activity or agenda to grab our attention.  

I'm grateful for unexpected moments with God. Just before lunch time I was running through a program of stories and songs in my office... I thought I was just practicing for a mini-concert & hymn sing at Grace Gardens this afternoon...

‎30 Days of Thanks - Day 14: Today I'm expressing gratitude for my great friend and co-worker, Bobbi Jo Oatman. She was my first friend in our office when we came to BVBC in 2007. After enduring an extended season of unemployment, her husband got a job in NE last summer.

I'm grateful for opportunities to grow closer to God, knowing that it is He who makes it possible and not myself. To sustain that relationship requires His presence in my life, which is not something I can craft on my own, and so I feel very valued that He makes it possible for me to know Him.

Today my entire family spent the whole day deep cleaning our house.  Of course, I'm grateful for our home and neighborhood... we love it here, but the reason we spent the day working as we did is because the holidays are coming and we will be hosting MANY people in our home over the next couple of  months.

I'm grateful for freedom, both civic and spiritual. Today especially, I'm grateful for all veterans who have served our country, but most specifically for those who are a part of my life and relationships.  Beyond that, I am grateful for God's Spirit, who brings freedom to live.

I'm grateful that God speaks His truth in advance of our need so we can be ready to respond in an instant.

I'm grateful for the people I work with... for their expertise and their friendship.

Today I'm grateful for the opportunity to chaperone my daughter, Lillie's field trip to a combined half-day orchestra rehearsal and her hear play her violin since I'll miss the concert tonight.  I'm also grateful for her AMAZING orchestra teacher, Chris Kusek, who realizes his opportunity is not simply to teach music, but to teach CHILDREN.

Today I'm grateful for specific friends who transparently share the joys & struggles of their lives.  Their respective stories remind me that God has dealt graciously with me throughout my own life.

I'm grateful for a church that believes God's word, that demonstrates God's love and that seeks to worship in Spirit and Truth.

Today I'm grateful for the way music rings through our house at any given moment... Walked in from the grocery store this evening to find Lillie & Olivia playing a violin piano duet, then rehearsed with the redhead for her solo tomorrow morning.

Today I'm grateful for a busy calendar & full schedule because it reminds me of the valuable people God has given me as friends and family.

Today I'm grateful that God allows us to make choices.  I pray my choices today will honor Him. 

11/02: Today I'm mindful of and grateful for MANY people who have shown significant kindness to my family and me. If kindness indicates the fruit of God's Spirit, then I am blessed with an abundance of His handiwork. 

Today I'm grateful for my mother, who not only taught me to work hard and to make the most of every opportunity I am given, but who demonstrated such things with her own life.  I'm particularly grateful for the opportunity to usher in her retirement from full-time work TODAY by having her here with us.

I like words. Today I've spent a good deal of time on my computer.  I've read everything from comics for our Worship Ministry newsletter to emails from my colleagues at BVBC.

I love a bargain... especially when that bargain is something shiny and new with an incredibly discounted price tag! But alas, many of the bargains I find aren’t shiny and new...

For the past couple of months I’ve been asking specific folks from the BVBC choir, orchestra and handbell choir the same set of questions… and each week I select one person (or a married couple) and feature their answers in our weekly worship ministry newsletter, Rhythm & News. It’s been a great way to get to know one another better across our organization, and it’s caused everyone to consider the question, because they don’t know when it will be their turn on the hotseat! If it’s true that ...

It was August 1980, and as was the case every year, I dreaded the start of school, not because I wasn’t a good student, but because with the beginning of each new grade came the realization that I lived in my own world... a world that reminded me of the Island of Misfit Toys from the old Rudolph cartoon.  I didn’t have many friends; after all, I lived in a town where football and FFA were the popular places to be, and I could say with absolute certainly that I connected with neither of thos...

    I would be remiss if I started this post in any other way than to say THANK YOU to the members of Blue Valley Baptist Church, whose generosity makes possible so many of the blessings my family and I enjoy.  Melinda and I genuinely appreciate the many ways you demonstrate care and love for our family.  This includes things like your friendship… your involvement in and support of our ministry… constant words of encouragement and affirmation… and even things like a...

There’s a white board on my kitchen counter… It showed up earlier this week, and on it is written, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. --Phil: 2:3” I asked my youngest about the board because it was obviously her third-grade handwriting that scribed the verse. She told me it was to help her and her sisters remember how best to work together, even when they didn’t want to.

Author’s note: Often in the church we talk about living a life that “Honors God,” but if we are honest, I suspect many of us would have to admit that we don’t really know what that looks like or how to flesh it out day by day. For the last several weeks I’ve been reading a devotional series entitled “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom” by Selwyn Hughes. It’s rooted in the book of Proverbs and it organizes the wisdom contained therein under seven topics that can help followers of Jesus reflect wisdom in...

I woke up early this morning… WAY TOO EARLY. It was one of those times when my mind was racing in a thousand urgent directions. Each topic was its own thread, all of them varying in color and texture; there would be no "tapestry" woven from this mental mess.