Author: Jeff Stewart

Today is the final day of my Sabbatical. As I reflect on my experiences and areas of growth over the past 30 days, God didn’t disappoint!

Going into this Sabbatical time, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I had been consumed with so much for such a long time, it had worn me down. While in this weakened state, Satan (as he always does) had pounced on me and the people I love. We were under attack! However, I can now confidently report that after much prayer on the part of so many people, we survived the difficult days and God prevailed. Amen!

Along the way, during these 30 days, I have learned the following:

1. I am so blessed by my family. I knew this going in, but with the storms we have weathered lately, the blessings have been too many to count.
2. Global Samaritan Resources is changing lives and I am so proud of our company for getting on board in supporting their Christian humanitarian efforts.
3. I became reacquainted with some family members I have not seen in a long time.
4. You’re never too old to try something out-of-the-box…like rattlesnake hunting! The day that my son, Brett, and I spent hunting AND catching rattlesnakes together was definitely a “Wild at Heart” adventure! However, I might have created a monster as Brett is now referring to our time together as our “1st Annual Father and Son Rattlesnake Hunt!”
5. The importance of having a getaway with my wife. Even though I felt my manhood was in doubt during our trip to Magnolia Market, the time together brought real joy for Sherry and I.
6. “Chase the Lion” food for thought:
   1. When we operate in faith, we aren’t risking our reputation
   2. Dreams aren’t just born; they are sometimes born again
   3. To achieve the highest level of success in any field, you need a high pain threshold when it comes to failure
   4. What Satan uses against you can be recycled for God’s purposes
   5. Every dream, no matter how big, starts out as a seed and some dreams grow slower than others
   6. Every generation must steward what’s been entrusted to them
   7. One of the biggest mistakes we make is thinking in terms of only our generation
   8. When you seek God, opportunity will seek you

Thank you to Kris Seale and our board of directors for your vision and commitment to bless all DIG employees with the opportunity to take a Sabbatical, what a blessing it has been for me! Also, thank you to my wonderful Marketing team for covering for me these past 30 days. Tomorrow, I’ll be back in the saddle!

As I finish my study of the book, “Chase the Lion,” here are some final points I would like to share.

Don’t seek opportunity; seek God, and opportunity will seek you. This is not suggesting that we shouldn’t keep our eyes open or put our best foot forward. And if opportunity knocks, we should answer it. What the author is saying is that the best path to our dreams doesn’t involve seeking a position of leadership; it’s posturing ourselves as servants. He also is making a point that all dreamers have to pay their dues, and if they don’t, then someday they will “owe back taxes for the shortcuts they took…success will be short lived.” The takeaway here is to not be in such a hurry to begin the next chapter of our life that we fail to learn the lessons the current chapter is trying to teach us. Great advice for us all!

One of the biggest mistakes we make is thinking in terms of one generation. In this section of the book, the author made the point that it’s not only shortsighted, but selfish to think that what God does for us is just for us. It is, but it isn’t. It’s also for the third and fourth generations. We think right here, right now. God is thinking nations and generations. The author writes that “the key to dreaming big is thinking long. And the bigger the dream, the longer the timeline. If you’re thinking in terms of eternity, you should have some dreams that can’t be accomplished in your lifetime.” He then asks a very pointed question: “What are you doing today that will make a difference one hundred years from now?” Wow!

Every generation must steward what’s been entrusted to them. It all starts with honoring the generation that has gone before us by learning everything we can from them. But that’s only half the equation when it comes to passing along a generational blessing. It continues by empowering the generation that comes after us. That’s how the baton of blessing is passed to the third and fourth generation. And that is what the psalmist advocated in Psalm 78: “So the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.”

Every dream, no matter how big, starts out as a seed. In this section, the author made yet another excellent point when he stated “like a seed, a dream often goes underground for a season. That’s when we get discouraged because we don’t see any physical evidence of the dream’s progress. But it has to take root before it can bear fruit.” This makes me think immediately about Kris Seale and Jon Smith, and their dream for the AYSA Sports Complex…which has now taken root and soon will begin to bear fruit. Cool!

As I wrap up the book “Chase the Lion” by Mark Batterson, I am reminded to zoom out and see the big picture. It has reminded me that my life will soon be past and only what I have done for Christ will last. As the author stated, “don’t worry about the things that have zero bearing on eternity!” My only regret at the end of the day should be the time, talent, and treasure I didn’t give back to God.

Today I celebrated my birthday. Since it was Sunday, my family was able to spend the day with me in rest, relaxation, food and fun! I am truly a blessed man, who married a wonderful woman who gave me two awesome sons. In addition, I have an absolute angel of a daughter-in-law who will give me my first grandchild in about 2-1/2 months!

I know that social media gets its’ fair share of criticism, and sometimes rightly so. However, a number of times today as I was reading all of the Happy Birthday well wishes I received on Facebook, I felt the gratitude that George Bailey must have felt at the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I thank God for my life and sending Jesus Christ to save me from my sins. I thank God for my wife and awesome children, who have the Lord in their lives. I thank God for my granddaughter, who I will meet in just a few months. I thank God for my church and pastoral team. I thank God for my awesome job and the wonderful people of the DIG family of companies. I thank God for great friends!

Yes, it is a wonderful life!

“The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.” Proverbs 23:24

As I was working for Global Samaritan Resources a couple of weeks ago, I learned so much more about their various missions. With all of the attention that President Trump’s immigration strategies have created, it might be easy for many to believe that people are waiting at our borders to get into our country. And, while I can see how often times people could come to the conclusion that all refugees want to immigrate to the U.S., my time spent working with Global Samaritan has helped me to learn that this is not always the case.

In this morning’s edition of the Abilene Reporter-News, Global Samaritan’s initiative to send food to the Kurdish refugee camps in Iraq is highlighted. I encourage anyone reading this blog to click on the link below (if it doesn’t take you to the story, try copying and pasting the link in your browser).

If you feel led to donate to this very worthy Christian-based organization, please do so. The work they are doing to care for those who can’t care for themselves is very important!

http://www.reporternews.com/story/life/faith/2017/03/17/peace-love-and-boxes-food/99248124/

In continuing my reading of “Chase the Lion,” the latest chapters were fascinating to me, as the author discussed how our current experiences will be used by God for future generational influence. I was raised with the belief that “All good things work together for the good of those who love God” (Romans 8:28), but the concept of good OR bad things that occur in my life being used by God in the lives of others sometimes generations separated from me was a little challenging for me to get my mind around. Here are some highlights from this section of the book.

Our experiences form our destiny.

When David took harp lessons as a kid, he never imagined that those lessons would someday position him as a member of King Saul’s court. As he practiced slinging a stone while tending sheep, it never crossed his mind that this skill set would catapult him into the national limelight. Even when David was hiding out in caves as a fugitive, God was deepening his emotional capacity to write psalms that would pull heartstrings thousands of years later.

Just because something isn’t part of your life plan doesn’t mean it’s not part of God’s plan. God is working His good, pleasing, and perfect plan for your life in a thousand ways you aren’t even aware of. Everything in your past is preparation for something in your future. God wastes nothing! Even when you have a setback, God has already prepared your comeback. The God who works all things together for good will leverage every experience, every skill, every mistake, and every bit of knowledge you have acquired.

Generational influence.

Even when you feel as if you aren’t making a difference, God might be using you in ways you aren’t aware of. And it’s not the immediate impact that matters most; it’s the exponential impact, to the third and fourth generations. An inheritance is what you leave for someone. A legacy is what you leave in someone…it’s the influence your dream has on others even after you die. Legacy isn’t measured by what you accomplish during your life span. Legacy is measured by the lives that are affected by your life long after you are gone.

Passing the baton.

Everything God does through you is a testimony to those who have parented you, mentored you, discipled you, coached you, and loved you. You are their downline, and they are your upline.

The true test of greatness isn’t measured by your accomplishments. The true test of greatness is measured by the accomplishments of those you surround yourself with, those who come after you. Again, success is succession. That’s how our dreams outlive us.

About three weeks ago, as I prepared to leave on my Sabbatical, it was apparent that two people with whom I am very close, were under attack by Satan. Both of them are outstanding, Christian young men, whose marriages came under attack by evil forces out of their control. I was eaten up with mixed emotions – confusion, disbelief, anger, disgust, etc. In the weeks that have followed, God has been working through the emotions I had been feeling and given me reassurance that He is protecting the hearts of these two men. In fact, I am more confident than ever that, because of their dedication to lean on God during these difficult days, they will overcome the sin brought into their lives and will ultimately grow stronger!

In my reading of the book, “Chase the Lion,” the author relays the following story which underscores how God can work through evil:

On July 9, 1776, General George Washington was headquartered on Manhattan Island. The ink on the Declaration of Independence was less than a week old and Washington was rallying his troops by reading it to them. Right after the Declaration was read, his energized army marched to where a 15 foot high statue of King George III stood and pulled it down. Then they put the broken pieces into wagons, took them down to the wharf, and placed them on a schooner that sailed up the East River to a foundry where the pieces of the statue of King George III were melted down and made into over 42,000 musket balls.

The symbolism is hard to miss, as was the practicality of this action. Washington’s rebels didn’t just pull the statue over, they melted it down and turned the two-ton lead statue into 42,000 musket balls to shoot at King George III’s redcoats!

This story symbolizes how God works in our lives. He wants to redeem every attack the Enemy has waged against us. In fact, what the Enemy intends for evil, God will use for good:

• Don’t waste suffering
• Don’t waste failure
• Don’t waste disappointment
• Don’t waste cancer
• Don’t waste divorce

God wants to recycle these things for His purposes!

This morning, as I was reading “Chase the Lion,” the author made some points that really resonated with me.

To achieve the highest level of success in any field, you need a high pain threshold when it comes to failure.

A few years ago in the Disney film, “Frozen,” the theme song “Let it Go” won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2014. This powerful ballad was an instant hit, selling more than 10 million copies. But what’s easily forgotten is the fact that there were seventeen songs the husband/wife song writing duo of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez wrote that didn’t make the cut. Most of us give up after two or three rejections. But to achieve the highest level of success in any field, you need a high pain threshold when it comes to failure!

The benefit of a strong work ethic.

When the London Philharmonic Orchestra selected the 50 greatest pieces of classical music, the list included six pieces by Mozart, five by Beethoven, and three by Bach. To generate those masterpieces, Mozart composed more than 600 pieces, Beethoven produced 650, and Bach wrote more than 1,000 pieces of music. If it had been baseball, Bach would have been batting .003! It takes a lot of swings to get a hit…and a strong work ethic! We glamorize success, but it always comes back to basics. You have to practice scales, practice skills, and practice techniques over and over again!

Dreams aren’t just born; they are sometimes born again.

Most dreams die not because they’re the wrong dream but because the timing is wrong. We’re not ready for it, or it isn’t ready for us. But what seems like a waiting period is really a grace period. Don’t put a period where God puts a comma. When the time is right, dust off the dream and rededicate it to God.

When we operate in faith, we aren’t risking our reputation.

You may doubt yourself because of your lack of education or experience, but if God has called you, you aren’t really doubting yourself…you are doubting God! God doesn’t call the qualified, God qualifies the called! Faith is taking the first step before God reveals the second step!

Like so many others, my wife Sherry loves watching HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” with Chip and Joanna Gaines. And, I have to admit…I have caught a few episodes and it’s easy to see how likable of a couple they are. I can particularly relate to Chip and his affinity for “Demo Day.” So, with Sherry being on Spring Break this week, I promised her a day trip to the Gaines’ Magnolia Market.

So we left Abilene bright and early for our trek to Waco. Once we pulled up to the iconic silos that are their calling card, I quickly saw that my gender was definitely in the minority. I then became concerned that my “Man Card” could be revoked! I was amazed how long the line was just to gain admittance to this “den of estrogen!”

And wouldn’t you know it, as soon as we finally made our way through the entrance Sherry put her hands on a marble side table that was a “must have!” I could already see that this was going to be an expensive little trip. As she gathered up other “nick knacks,” and we headed for the checkout line, women from all over started commenting on “what a beautiful table we had found.” So, I have to admit that this made me hold my head a little higher as I began our four block trek to the car with marble table in hand! From there, we hit a few other nearby home decor stores. After it was all said and done, the financial hit left a mark…but not as bad as it certainly could have been!

Afterwards, Sherry did allow me to take a side trip to Buc-ee’s on our way to visit with our niece in Killeen, whose husband is in the Army and is currently on deployment. Come to find out, Sherry’s brother and sister-in-law from Boerne were there, too! So, after a nice visit with them we headed home and stopped at Underwood’s in Brownwood for supper. By the time we arrived back in Abilene, we were tired from a long day of travel but Sherry was happy and commented several times on what a great day it had been.

Any concerns I had about losing my “Man Card” earlier in the day were replaced with “Brownie Points” with Sherry…which I can never have too many of!

Today was definitely “a bucket list” kind of day. Brett and I ventured over to Sweetwater and took part in our first ever rattlesnake hunt! Yes, it was our very own “Wild at Heart” moment!!! Crazy? Probably. Exhilarating? Definitely! A great father and son bonding opportunity? Absolutely! You see, we quickly learned that to catch a rattlesnake required teamwork. We also discovered that there is a fraternity of sorts that forms between the hunters…who had started out the morning as strangers. However, soon our group of adrenaline junkies banded together to encourage and watch each other’s backs (and feet)!

Since it was a cool day, the snakes were inside of their den. So, we had to get them out. This required climbing into a deep canyon, finding their den and spraying a little gas into it to persuade them to begin moving. Then a brave soul had to lay on his belly with a flashlight peering into the den to spot any snakes on the move. I quickly discovered that my son was braver than I was, so I let him handle that duty! Then it was time for the catch. I assure you, the best purchase of the morning that I made was as long of a pair of snake tongs as I could find – and with the first rattlesnake I caught, I thought the tongs could’ve been even longer!

At the end of the day, this father and son had caught a total of 7 rattlers. Brett bagged 4 while I caught 3. I thought we would end the day tied, but Brett being the competitive person that he is just had to one up his old man! However, I gained the distinction of catching the biggest snake of the day who was easily 5 foot long!

After wrapping up at Global Samaritan Resources last week, I spent some time with one of my closest friends over the weekend. We have not been able to get together for a long while, so we went to the ranch and spent a good portion of the night and early next morning varmint hunting (I will refrain from posting any pictures). We had a great time together. There is something about guys, guns and varmints! Ahhh!!!!

Then, on Tuesday of this week I drove over to the DFW area and spent some time with my two nephews. The oldest of the two has kids of his own – making me a GREAT Uncle (I could’ve told you that!) Unfortunately, I do not get over to see them very often. As a matter of fact, I’m sad to say that the last time we were all together was during my 2010 Sabbatical! It’s really unfortunate that my sister and brother-in-law no longer live in Texas. They moved to Seattle about 10 years ago. This has caused a lot of hard feelings over the years, because my nephews feel somewhat abandoned by them – particularly Chris, the one with two kids of his own. Quite frankly, it has puzzled me over the years because when my sister and brother-in-law moved from Texas to Seattle, they left all of their family including their kids and soon to be grand kids behind. For multiple generations, our family has lived in Texas. So when my sister decided to up and move to Seattle (it was not because of work), it definitely broke with tradition. This has really continued to be a sore spot with Chris because he now has children who get to spend very little time with their grandparents. These kids are awesome and very loving. As a matter of fact, they clung to me as if I was their granddad the whole time I was with them. The time we spent together was very much needed by all. None of us can convince my sister and brother-in-law to move back to Texas, so instead I plan to make myself more available to my nephews…as sort of a surrogate dad/granddad.

When I got back to Abilene, one of my first jobs was to do some tree and shrubbery trimming. Today, I attacked two massively overgrown cedar trees. Over the 15 years since we planted them, they had begun to take over the entrance to our house. My wife told me she wanted them gone, so this gave me an opportunity to fire up the ole chain saw and start cutting…what a wonderful feeling! Since I am a visual guy, I’ve included some before and after pictures for your viewing pleasure. However, as stiff as my back is now, I don’t plan on giving up my day job anytime soon!

BEFORE

AFTER

Tomorrow, my youngest son (Brett) and I plan to venture over to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Round-up and see what kind of trouble we can “rattle up.” To be continued…

Over one billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water. Global Samaritan Resources is making a difference and saving lives through providing safer and purer water to those in need. They are the exclusive supplier for one of the most ingenious products I have ever seen, it’s called the SaveStraw. The SaveStraw purifies and filters out 99.9999% of contaminants. It can also soften some water and improves the color and taste. Global Samaritan sends SaveStraws to help people after earthquakes, typhoons and other disasters.

What a great week I have had volunteering at Global Samaritan Resources! This is a wonderful Christian-based organization that serves so many, regardless where the need exists. As I wrapped up my final day, I left there having made new friends and having acquired a new perspective on the plight of those living in poverty…and in many instances, living in persecution. I learned that the thousands of people Global Samaritan serve have the same hopes and dreams for their future and the future of their children, as we all do.

The mission of Global Samaritan Resources aligns perfectly with one of our company imperatives (To make Jesus Christ and Christian principles as attractive to as many people as possible.) They believe that helping people is the greatest calling in life. By helping others with humanitarian aid, water purification systems, food and disaster services they are advancing the love of Jesus Christ…whether it’s in Abilene, Africa, Iraq or any other location around the world.

If you would like to learn more about Global Samaritan Resources, click (or copy and paste) this link http://globalsamaritan.org/ourstory/

As we continued building pallets of supplies to be shipped to the Congo, the hot topic of the day was the Food & Hope Forum that was sponsored by Global Samaritan and broadcast on KTAB-TV on Thursday evening. The forum served as a prelude to their big event on March 22 when the public will be invited to Global Samaritan Resources’ warehouses to purchase a food box for $50 (this will feed a family of six for a month!). In addition, the family will be encouraged to provide messages of hope and love for refugees in northern Iraq by writing supportive words and drawings on the boxes of food to be shipped out.

During the televised forum Thursday night, Global Samaritan Resources CEO, Danny Sims, moderated a panel discussion centered around why we should help refugees. Former Dyess Air Force Base wing commander Michael Bob Starr, the expert in the group on national security, made what I thought was the most poignant comment of the forum when he said, “it’s true that terrorists vow to exploit refugees fleeing to other countries, and that’s happening. It’s in our security interests, though, to help refugees abroad because most refugees don’t want to become immigrants.” He also added, “a presence abroad, too, allows the West to tell its story — that we are not modern crusaders bent on plundering.” I thought this was a great perspective. The panel explained that the radical Islam movement preys on the idea that the U.S. wants to conquer everyone. (Are you listening, President Trump?)

I have seen first hand this week, how Global Samaritan is helping to spread peace in distant lands, while breaking down cultural barriers. As I head into my final day of volunteering at Global Samaritan Resources, my eyes have been opened to the phenomenal work that this Christian-based organization is doing all over the world!

Today was yet another busy one at Global Samaritan Resources. Thank goodness we had a cool front blow through…it made the rest of my landscaping this morning feel much more comfortable. After sawing down two out-of-control cedar trees and trimming a massive oak tree, we were finished…all that remained was my stiff back and sore muscles!

In the afternoon, Esther and I worked on gathering materials and packing them onto pallets for shipping to the Congo. By the time we were finished, we had two mountains of supplies ready to be placed into the container trailer. Everything from medical supplies and exam tables to non-perishable food to parts from the pontoon boat I discussed in yesterday’s blog, were included. Once we had the pallets packed to the hilt and piled exactly 9-1/2 feet tall (the maximum size allowed to be able to fit into the container trailer), we carefully moved them to the giant shrink wrap machine that our DIG Foundation had helped pay for and let it do it’s thing…technology is awesome and this machine is so vital for what Global Samaritan does!

As Esther and I were taking a break from our packing detail, she shared some stories with me about how God has blessed the efforts of Global Samaritan. There was one time recently, when Global Samaritan had a container trailer all but filled and ready to be shipped to Mozambique, when the head of the mission walked into the Global Samaritan CEO’s (Danny Sims) office and asked for prayers as an urgent need for an X-Ray machine has arisen. When Danny heard her request he could hardly restrain himself as he told her that Esther was currently at a local physician’s office to pick up an X-Ray machine they had just donated! Another story shared by Esther involved an urgent plea from Swaziland for hospital beds, when shortly after the request had been made a medical supply company from Midland happened to show up with a truck load of donated hospital beds! These are two recent stories about how God continues to bless Global Samaritan’s mission!

Even though I am tired and my body is aching, I feel so privileged to be spending my time working this week for this wonderful organization!

Today, I started off with the one activity that I dread the most during mowing season – weed eating! But, I took it on like a champ! From there “Sal,” who can best be described as their version of “Craig Loper” and I tackled some shrubbery that was out of control. We were relentless and by the time we were done with our trimming, the front of the building was pristine!

From there we went and picked up several boxes of books donated by the public library. It was so gratifying to hear the librarian sing the praises of the work Global Samaritan is doing!

One thing that is consistent with all of the non-profit organizations I have worked with over the years, is that they have to be resilient. Funds and personnel are always tight, so they squeeze every ounce of value out of anything they own. Today, we took a trailer load of scrap iron, metal, aluminum and copper to the recycling center. Sal had even crawled on top of their building and disassembled an old air conditioner, just so they could get some value for the metal and copper in it. After everything had been unloaded from the trailer and processed, we came away with almost $600…which thrilled their business manager!

We wrapped up day two by figuring out how to ship a pontoon boat to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Yes, a pontoon boat! Actually, this is a pretty cool story. A church in Amarillo donated the pontoon boat, and took the time to disassemble it and create assembly instructions so that it could be shipped over to central Africa. Then, when it arrives the mission team will assemble the boat and load the relief materials onto it so they can travel along the river of the jungle…stopping off at villages to deliver medical supplies, food, books and school uniforms. On the subject of uniforms, I was shocked to learn that in the area of the Congo where these uniforms are being shipped, the government does not allow children to attend school unless they have a uniform! That’s crazy! And it was sad to learn that the kids who do not have uniforms crowd around the outside of the school building, hoping to eavesdrop a little so they can learn something from the teachers. The great news is that we have 1,000 sets of uniforms that will be going out in the shipment for the kids! As the husband of a school teacher, I relayed this story to my wife so that she could relay it to her high school students…hopefully, it will make them stop and think of how good they’ve really got it!

This morning, I began my service project at Global Samaritan Resources. This organization is a Christian humanitarian nonprofit, headquartered in Abilene. It began in 1999 with a very simple mission in mind: collect surplus goods and share them with people in need. They started by working out of the back of a truck and stored donated goods in a borrowed garage. Today, they operate out of a 55,000 square foot warehouse and have supplied goods in Abilene and more than 50 countries on five continents!

The five areas they are most involved in now are:

1. Supplying medical supplies to developing countries
2. Providing food to refugees in war-torn countries
3. Providing water purification systems and products anywhere they are needed
4. Supplying disaster relief at home and abroad
5. Providing dozens of Abilene non-profit partners with a wide array of supplies

This is an amazing organization! They do all that they do with a very small staff of six full-time and 3 part-time employees, so they heavily depend on volunteers to help meet the growing need of being “His hands and feet.”

As you might imagine, the logistics behind shipping a wide variety of material all over the world can be overwhelming! Everything must be intricately placed onto a shipping pallet, shrink-wrapped, then loaded into a shipping container – you know, the type of containers you see huge cargo ships loading in any port city. As Esther (the head of their logistics and my boss for the week) was giving me the tour of their warehouse she mentioned that up until a few months ago, they had to shrink wrap everything by hand! I can’t imagine what hard work this must have been – we’re talking about pallets with material stacked 8 feet tall and even higher! Then, she stopped at the new machine they recently installed that they are so proud of (and now I understand why)…a massive shrink wrap machine. And, my ears perked up when she told me that they were able to purchase this machine as a result of a generous donation from our DIG Foundation. How cool! I have to admit that my chest poked out a little more upon hearing this news! The photo below is a picture of the massive shrink wrap machine.

Tomorrow, I will begin loading medical supplies for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, along with loading food for a Kurdish refugee camp in Iraq.

“There’s a bond that brothers know, and it gets stronger as they grow;

A love that time and miles can’t come between, there will never be two closer friends;

They’ve got something special, it’s brotherly love.” – Earl Thomas Conley

God blessed my wife, Sherry, and I with two great sons. Three and a half years separate them, so when they were little neither one really had a lot to do with the other. Most of the time, Brett (my youngest) would do everything he could to pester Blake (my oldest). However, I never could have anticipated how close they would become in their adult lives. Both of them, as young men, have had to deal with their share of heartache, but through it all they have grown closer together. Each one has had their opportunity to have their brother’s back…and have never failed to do so. As a matter of fact, I am certain that the adversity they have experienced has drawn them closer together!

This week I have had the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with each of them. I thank God for these moments and I am so very proud of both of them!

Anyone who really knows me will tell you that music has and will always be something I cherish. The Stewart family has a rich history of music history, from professional performers to teachers. So, I suppose I was destined to have a love for it.

Today, for the first time in a long time I got my trombone out and played for a good while. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of recall I had, and it sounded pretty good…considering how long it had been since I had really played! As I spent part of my afternoon reacquainting myself with this instrument, I was reminded of the scripture, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth, break forth into joyous song and sing (or in my case, play) praises!” – Psalm 98:4.

Music is therapy for me. For the past few years I have exercised this therapy with my guitars, but I have to say that today I was reminded why I love the trombone, too! I will make playing my trombone more regularly one of my goals for the future.

“Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.” – Martin Luther

If you are like me, as a parent you feel what your kids feel – both good and bad. Lately, the Stewart family has been experiencing the highest of highs and seemingly the lowest of lows…quite the roller coaster ride! My oldest son, Blake and his wife Julie are expecting their first child (a girl, Taylor Renee) the first of June…these are definitely joyful days for them and for my wife and I, as we are looking forward to our first grand child being born! On the other end of the spectrum, our youngest son, Brett, is going through a divorce right now…the details of which continue to tear all of our hearts apart!

We were able to spend some time with Brett yesterday, perhaps one of his lowest days yet! In spite of the bad day he was having, he had decided to go visit a young couple from church who just had twins. I am amazed at what my 26 year old is teaching me and others about faith! If you read the following excerpt from a Facebook posting this morning by Brett, you will see what I am talking about:

Yesterday was a difficult day for me. In fact, I’ve had more days like that than not. However, I had the chance to hold two precious baby girls that were born yesterday. And as I looked at them and held them, suddenly all of the difficulties, all of the turmoil, all of the uneasiness of my life in this season left because I held in my arms these two gifts of life that the Lord brought into this world. Pure beauty. Pure miracles. Purely the love of the Father. And holding these two precious girls reminded me of the gift of life the Lord gives us. The fullness and joy of life are not found in any person, any thing I accomplish or possess, any circumstance, or anything else in this world. The fullness of life only comes from the Father. These two little miracles of life reminded me of the miracle of life that I have: both life on this earth, but more importantly my life that is found in Christ. My worth, my purpose, my joy, and my satisfaction only come from the truth of God the Father: His love is indescribable and unfathomable. There is nothing I can do and nothing that I can face that will cause God to love me any less. And there is nothing I can do that will cause God to love me more. He loves 100% all of the time. It’s just who he is…That is the truth that I walk with and live with each day. Life comes only from the Father, and it’s full of his unending mercies and love.

Amen!

Psalm 3:3 – “But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.” 

Day 1 of my Sabbatical got off to a great start. I achieved an accumulated total of 9 hours of sleep last night (if only I could sleep straight through the night with no interruptions). With it being President’s Day, my wife (who is a school teacher) had the day off. After we slept in a bit, we went for a mid-morning brunch. After a few errands, I decided to begin my book “Chase the Lion,” by Mark Batterson. It was interesting how I selected this book to read. Several months back, as I was beginning to make plans for my Sabbatical, I did an Internet search for Christian-based books that I thought sounded interesting, and I was drawn to this book. You have to admit that the title is pretty intriguing! Little did I know, that our church would introduce a study series around the book, “The Circle Maker,” by the same author! Coincidence? Hmm…

Based on 2 Samuel 23, and the story of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada a valiant warrior who did many heroic deeds…including chasing a lion into a pit and killing it, “Chase the Lion” is a book about running “toward the roar,” rather than away from it. As the author describes in the first chapter, “Most people believe God is real, but few people actually live like it. The result is a widening gap between their theology and their reality. They allow their circumstances to get between them and God instead of letting God get between them and their circumstances. Lion chasers measure everything against almighty God, including five-hundred pound lions.”

I have a feeling this will be an interesting book to read, and one that will challenge me!