travisledwards

The Cards My Children Can’t Get Enough Of

April 11, 2017March 26, 2020 travisledwards

Nine days ago my wife and I had the opportunity to attend a marriage conference that was being held at a
local church in our area. The speaker was Ted Cunningham who is the author of several books and the pastor of Woodland Hills Family Church in Branson, Missouri. The conference itself was phenomenal and something that I could write and write and write about. However, that is not the purpose of this particular post. This post is to tell you about some devotional cards my wife and I came home with that night and have been using with our children.

During one of the sessions Ted mentioned that several years ago he and his wife had taken every letter of the Alphabet and matched them with an animal mentioned in the Bible. For example, A is for Ant, B is for Bee, C is for Camel etc. Ted and his wife then took the corresponding verse/verses where these animals were mentioned and identified a character trait associated with each one.

After hearing Ted talk about these cards I knew they would be a great tool for Melissa and I to use in teaching our children the ways of God. As soon as the conference concluded we made our way to the product table to purchase a set, however, before we could buy them for ourselves a couple from our church bought them for us (thanks Phil & Jeannie).

We have been using them with our children at night before bedtime and they are not only learning they are loving it too. In fact, they look forward to it. Every night as we are preparing for bedtime at least one of them will say “are we going to do the cards tonight?” What daddy and mommy doesn’t like to hear that kind of enthusiasm from their children about daily devotions? As parents our hearts have soared this past week as we have seen the eagerness of our children to discover what they are going to learn next from one of these animals.

The influence these cards are already having on of our children was confirmed to me yesterday. As I was getting ready to walk out the door with my daughters to take them to school I said to them “remember to be an ant today and work hard at everything you do.” My three and a half-year old son was sitting on the couch and after hearing what I said he spoke up and said “don’t be a sluggard”. THAT was all I needed to hear to know the value of these cards.

If you would like to buy a set you can find them at this link. I don’t receive anything from you buying these cards except the joy of knowing that you’re going to see your children learning about God and loving every minute of it. That to me is worth every word of this post.

What Do You Want For Christmas?

December 16, 2016March 26, 2020 travisledwards

What do you want for Christmas?

I have been asked that question a lot recently by my wife. The reason she has to keep asking is because I really don’t know what I want for Christmas.

Socks (√)
Underwear (√)
A wife and kids who love me (√)

Is there really anything more to be added to that list? Okay, maybe a gift card to Barnes and Noble could be added to that list, and a Starbucks gift card, and a iTunes gift card, and a…anyway where was I? Oh yes, what do I want for Christmas?

I really don’t know how to answer to that question but I do appreciate the heart of that question. The heart of that question is love. My wife doesn’t just want to give me a gift; she wants to give me a gift I want. The desire of her heart isn’t to give me just anything but to give me something that will fulfill my heart’s desire. There are countless number of things she could give me but she wants to give something that counts to me. Therefore, she keeps asking:

What do you want for Christmas?

Christmas really isn’t about me though and it really isn’t about you either. Christmas is about Christ. It’s the day set aside to celebrate his life changing birth. The angel of the Lord told the shepherds:

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11 NIV).

Christmas is about Christ. It is a celebration of the birth of the One who would “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21 NIV).

Since Christmas is about Christ I got to thinking that maybe it would be nice if we asked Him the question my wife has been asking me: What do you want for Christmas?

When Christ was born the angels gave Him praise (Luke 2:13), the shepherds gave Him glory (Luke 2:20), and the Magi gave Him gold, incense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11). I wonder what Christ would want us to give Him this Christmas?

There are so many things we could give Him but it would be so much better to actually give Him something He wants. You could wait until you’re finished reading this entire post before you ask but I would rather you stop reading (briefly) and starting asking. Let me hear you now in 3, 2, 1…

What do you want for Christmas?

I think I heard you but more importantly I know Christ heard you. I am certain He appreciates the heart of what He heard; the desire of your heart to give Him the desire of His heart.

Now that you’ve asked, what’s next?

What’s next is waiting to hear back from Christ and you will hear back from Him. Unlike me, Christ knows what He wants for Christmas; after all, He is all-knowing.

Once you hear back from Christ the only thing left to do is give Him what He wants. That’s what Christmas is really all about.

As I bring this to a conclusion I do so by answering my wife’s question:

What do you want for Christmas?

I want her to know how much it means to me that she loves me enough to give me what I want.

Socks (√)
Underwear (√)
A wife and kids who love me (√)
A wife that wants to give me something I want (√)

There’s really nothing more to add to that list.

A Student of the Storm

May 26, 2016 travisledwards

It has been said that every person is either going into a storm, in the middle of a storm, or coming out of a storm.

It’s kind of hard to argue against that statement, isn’t it?

As much as we really don’t like storms they are an inevitable part of life for everyone.

The last word of the last sentence is extremely important so please read it again.

Everyone, including those who follow Christ, experience storms. Just because we are going the direction Christ would have us to go does not mean we will never find ourselves in the eye of a storm.

In fact, Jesus very candidly told us to expect troubled seas in this life. In John 16:33 Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble”. Not exactly the promise we wanted Jesus to make. We would much rather Jesus had made us this promise, “In this world you might have trouble” or “in this world you will only have trouble if you don’t follow me”.

That’s not the promise Jesus made to us though. Jesus promised us problems, without exception. No one, including those walking closest to Jesus, are storm exempt.

We find an example of this in Matthew 8:23-24: “Then Jesus got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat”.

The disciples followed Jesus into the boat and a storm followed the disciples into the boat Share on X.

The disciples weren’t expecting a storm to follow them when they were following Jesus and neither do we.

We might expect to encounter high winds and waves when we run from Jesus but not when we remain with Him.

Yet there is no escaping the fact that the disciples encountered the storm while they were with Jesus which means we won’t be escaping all the storms of life either.

There will be days when we follow Jesus out of our house and without warning will find ourselves in the middle of a storm. When that happens we need to remember that while Jesus may not cause the storm in our life He will always use it in our life to develop us into mature disciples of faith. James 1:2-4 says: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”.

James says, “the testing of our faith develops perseverance” which eventually leads to mature faith.

None of us want to experience the storms of life but the reality is that our faith can never grow stronger unless it is tested and the storms of life test our faith.

I don’t believe that Jesus caused this storm in the disciples life but I do believe He used it in their life to test their faith because He wanted them to develop persevering faith that would grow into mature faith.

Matthew tells us that when the disciples found themselves in the middle of the storm they went and found Jesus who was sleeping in the boat. They wake Jesus up and say to Him, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown! Jesus replies, You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (vv.25-26)

When the disciples faith was tested it was found to be lacking and not complete. Perseverance had not finished its work within them. They still had a few more storms to go through to get them to the faithful shore. As long as they kept following Jesus, though, it would be a journey they would for sure complete.

Storms are not the classroom we would choose to enter to have our faith tested but we need to recognize that Jesus uses storms as part of His discipleship training. Therefore, the next time we find ourselves in a storm we need to become a student of the storm and discover the area of life our faith needs to be further developed.

Put simply: When we find ourselves in a storm we need to keep rowing in faith so that we can keep growing in faith.

What storm is Jesus using in your life right now to develop your spiritual maturity?

Planet Hypocrisy

August 5, 2015March 26, 2020 travisledwards

I almost didn’t go to the gym today.

It wasn’t because I didn’t need to; I did.

It wasn’t because the equipment isn’t great; it is.

The reason I almost didn’t go to the gym today was because of the hypocrites that go there.

Let me explain.

While I was driving in town the other day I saw a guy that goes to the same gym as I do walking into a donut shop. I thought maybe he had mistakenly gone into the wrong place and was ready to give him the benefit of the doubt until I saw him walk out with a box of donuts. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Here is a guy that puts on his work out clothes and is pumping iron with his “gym friends” in the early morning hours and dunking donuts with his wife just a few moments later. “What a pretender”, I thought to myself as I drove on my way. “He acts all healthy at the gym and acts totally different outside the gym. If that’s the kind of people who go to the gym, I reasoned, there was really no point in going to such a place”.

Hypocrite.

Then I remembered something important that I had almost forgotten. I remembered the reason I got up nearly every morning and went to the gym myself was not because I was in perfect health but rather because I wanted to be.

Although I have been going to the gym for six months myself I am still not in perfect shape. In fact, I think it would be more fitting (pun intended) to say that I’m a work in progress and always will be. The same can be said of the guy that was working on his 12 pack abs earlier in the morning and who is now working on his dozen of donuts. It’s not so much that he is pretending to be something he’s not but rather that he is striving to be something that he wants to be but has yet to become. In my mind that makes him less of a hypocrite and more of a hero.

Let me transition for just a moment.

I often hear many people say the reason they don’t want to go to church is because of all the hypocrites there. I won’t argue the fact that hypocrites can be found at church. There are those that go to church only to play the part but once they leave the church building the mask comes off and the real person is made visible. These are people who have no desire to change only a desire to have a “form of godliness while denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5 NIV).

Hypocrites can be found at church.

I would suggest, however, that maybe they are not as many in number as we think. I would contend that some that are labeled as hypocrites are really imperfect people that are still in the process of being perfected in their faith.

Week after week they come to church not because they think they are in perfect spiritual health but rather because they want to be. They come to build their spiritual muscles and they leave with the expectation that they will exercise their faith at work, at school, and in their neighborhood. They desire to live for God and most of the time they do but sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they leave the church building and minutes later walk into an argument.

An argument over heard by someone else; an argument that draws this conclusion: hypocrite.

Here’s a person that put on their church clothes and was talking Jesus in the morning and is talking down to his neighbor in the afternoon. “If that is the kind of people who go to church”, they reason, “there is really no point in going to such a place”.

On the contrary.

The kind of people that go to church is the whole point of going to such a place.

The kind of people that go to church are, by and large, those who recognize their imperfections.

Imperfect people go to church to worship the One who is perfect, Jesus Christ, and to call upon Him to do a work of grace in their heart that purifies their imperfections.

They go not because they are pretending to be something they’re not but rather because they are striving to be something that they want to be but have yet to become. In my mind that makes the person that goes to church less of a hypocrite and more of a hero.

So tomorrow I will go to the gym and Sunday I will go to church. I will go not expecting to find people in perfect physical health or spiritual health at either place but rather people on a journey toward that end.

40 Years-40 Life Lessons

April 27, 2015March 26, 2020 travisledwards

Today I celebrate my 40th birthday so I thought I would share with you some lessons I’ve learned during my 40 years on this earth. As you will notice some are serious and some are not so serious. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Jesus loves me and died for my sins.
Children who have parents that love God are blessed beyond measure.
A man who has a virtuous wife has received the favor of God.
There are absolutely no words to describe what it is like to be a daddy.
Moments with grandparents should be cherished. You will miss them when they are gone.
What you know will open doors but who you know will open more doors.
The greatest investment you can make is in people.
True friends are discovered in adversity.
You can learn something from everyone you meet.
Smiling and laughing are both contagious.
You will like more things if you try more things.
Dessert should be served first so you actually have room to eat it
A Ford will not die when it’s driver has a Chevy heart.
There is such a thing as a stupid question.
Libraries are a wonderful gift to a community.
A good name is invaluable.
Positive people are more fun to be around than negative people.
Growing old is inevitable but acting old is optional.
If people approached Monday like they do Friday they would enjoy Monday like they do Friday.
Everyone is someone’s difficult person.
Nothing is ever lost that is placed in the hands of Jesus.
Some people are in denial that Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977.
Words have the power of life and death so we should choose them carefully.
People who attended Baptist churches in the 50’s as children or teenagers don’t know how to dance or play cards.
You can pick on your siblings but nobody else can.
The Apostle Paul really didn’t have the King James Version.
Santa and Satan are not the same person even though they have the same letters in their name.
Death is not a respecter of age, gender, or race.
Love is a choice.
Life is meant to be shared with others.
The church is not perfect but it is still an important part of God’s plan in this world.
I was young and now I am older but I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
Taking care of your body when you are young will pay huge dividends when you are old.
Some things are better left unsaid.
We were born for a purpose greater than ourselves and that purpose can only be found in the One greater than all; Jesus Christ.
The older I get the more hair I have in my ears.
Growing older is a gift because it allows me the opportunity to watch my family grow older
We should number our days aright so we will gain a heart of wisdom.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

What is one lesson you have learned during your lifetime?

Monster Youniversity

April 9, 2015April 21, 2016 travisledwards

A while back my oldest daughter was having a difficult time going to sleep. It wasn’t because she wasn’t tired, she was. It wasn’t because she doesn’t have a comfy bed, she does. The reason she was having such a difficult time going to sleep was because she was scared.

I wasn’t able to determine exactly why she was scared but she was afraid of something.

As a result, every night we went through the same routine to try and calm her fears. We made sure the closet door was shut. We turned on lights in the hallway and the bathroom. We reminded her that Jesus is always with her. We assured her that daddy and mommy would be in their room if she needed us. Some nights it worked and she went to sleep without much drama, other nights, however, it didn’t go very well at all.

On this particular night that was the case. It was time to go to bed and she wasn’t having it. We had gone through our normal routine to try and convince her everything was going to be okay and that there was nothing to be afraid of. Instead of getting calmer, however, she got more frantic. She was screaming and refusing to lie down and that’s when I had reached my limit.

I am usually a very empathetic person. If someone is feeling any kind of pain I am feeling it with them. This particular night, however, my empathizer had gone AWOL. Instead of identifying with what she was feeling at that moment I made it all about what I was feeling at that moment. I was tired and ready for bed and so I raised my voice and told her to go to sleep or there would be consequences.

She slept well that night (at least she pretended to anyway) but I didn’t. As soon as I was finished talking with her the Holy Spirit started talking with me. It was a talk that began that night and continued the next morning.

As I was shaving and pondering the way I had responded I heard the still small voice of God say to me:

don’t be a monster your kids are afraid of.

Ouch.

I had just got cut while shaving but it wasn’t on my face it was in my heart.

Galatians 5:22-23 says that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is …patience…and gentleness… Obviously, I had been lacking in both the night before with my daughter and as result my actions were in no way Christ-like. They were in fact selfish and self-centered and God reminded me that neither are becoming of a dad that wants his children to run to him in their fear.

So that evening I modeled for my daughter humility. I took her aside, explained to her my actions the night before were wrong, and asked if she would forgive me.

She did, we hugged and all was well again.

But not forgotten.

I haven’t forgotten that experience and pray I never do.

Occasionally, when I am shaving, I look at myself in the mirror and ask myself: what do my kids see when they look at me? Do they see a monster that scares them or a man of God that cares for them?

When you look in the mirror tomorrow morning I encourage you to ask the same question of yourself.

What do your kids see when they look at you?

Do You Want To Build A Snowman? (Unthawing Frozen Relationships)

April 2, 2015May 25, 2016 travisledwards

In November 2013 Disney released a movie that captured the hearts of young and old alike.

In the weeks and months following its release there was no mistaking that our culture had fallen in love with the main characters of the movie: Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf.

Shirts were sold bearing their image.

Birthday party after birthday party had them as their theme.

Nearly everywhere you went the conversation eventually made its way around to this movie: school, church, work, the gym. Okay, maybe not the gym but you get my point. People couldn’t stop talking about this movie and singing its songs.

Of course the movie I am referring to is “Frozen”.

Surprised?

I didn’t think so. I have a feeling you were probably frozen in time after the first sentence.

I bet you might have even started singing “Let it Go” in your head when you figured out the direction I was going.

Another song from the movie you are likely familiar with is “Do You Want to Build a Snowman”?

“Do you wanna build a snowman

Come on, let’s go and play!

I never see you anymore
Come out the door
It’s like you’ve gone away

We used to be best buddies
And now we’re not
I wish you would tell me why!

Do you wanna build a snowman?
It doesn’t have to be a snowman”.

Those lyrics are stirring aren’t they? Here’s a little girl that misses the close relationship she once had with her big sister. She doesn’t understand what happened to put this relational distance between them. All she knows is that she wants her sister back and is willing to do anything to make it a happen.

As we consider our own life it’s important to listen closely to hear if someone in our family is knocking at the door of our heart asking: “do you want to build a snowman?” Does our spouse or children feel like we’ve gone away because they never see us anymore?

In Ephesians 5:15-16 we are instructed to “be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity”.

It is never a wise decision to close the door on our family in order to give ourselves to other things. Sacrificing the relationship we have with our family on the altar of opportunity is unwise. The only opportunities worth giving ourselves to are those that give us more time with our family.

The opportunity to be a husband or wife is now; we need to make the most of it. The chance to be a daddy or mommy is now; we need to seize it.

We must listen closely to the one knocking at the door of our heart asking if we want to build a snowman and then respond by giving them what they want. You see, it’s really not a snowman that they want to build with us but rather a close relationship.

We need to open up the door and give them the time of our life. We’ll be glad we did and so will they. [Tweet “Now is the moment to go build a snowman with someone in your family.”]

What steps can you take today to make more time for your family?

Following Jesus. Learning to Lead.

Author: travisledwards