Regardless

 Regardless of the cost, He came for the joy! His gift of salvation is more lavishly extravagant and outrageously generous than anything we have to offer.

Merry Christmas!

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 NKJV.

#outrageousbelief

Battle Ready!

 

For forty days, twice a day every day, he swaggered out and shouted to the four winds.   Had he grown tired of battle?   Was he frustrated because no worthy opponent had come forward thus far?  

"Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us."  And the Philistine said, "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together!"  (1 Samuel 17: 8-10)

This was the Goliath of Gath... the splendor of the Philistine army.   Ten feet tall, weighing in at over 400  pounds.    His armor alone weighed at least 200 pounds with its bronze helmet, coat of mail, leg armor and bronze javelin.   His spear was as large as a tree branch.

Everyday he created a stir among the chosen people.    No one would dare go up alone against this megalith.   He was more mighty and powerful than any of them.    Good grief! His biceps probably measured 2 feet in diameter!    With his armor, he weighed at least one third of a ton!   Anybody would be a fool to try and take him on alone.     The Israeli soldiers spoke in frightened whispers of his size and might.

Goliath was defiant and intimidating.    He was confident and sure of himself.   He knew he had no equal.   He was the largest of the giants, taller, more muscular, more mighty.    In a land of giants, he was the champion.

The army of Israel was terrified of him.    When he came into battle, they would scatter and flee in horror.

He thirsted for battle!   He was anxious to fight and kill... to destroy his enemy.  

The two armies were camped out on mountaintops with a valley between.   The valley of Elah in Ephes Dammim, meaning the edge of blood.    Israel was camped between Sohkoh and Azekah.    In Hebrew, the word Sohkoh means 'hedge' and Azekah means 'a field dug over, broken up." 

So Israel was entrenched outside their hedge,  between it and the broken ground leading to Ephes Dammim, the edge of blood.      

Israel was at a standstill... unsure of their fate... unable to defeat their own fear, much less overcome the army and giants entrenched before them.   They had forgotten their past and the victories that God had given.

Except for David.    The young shepherd.    The least of his brothers.   David  figured that if,with God’s help, he could defeat a Lion coming at him with all his fierce muscle and weight and 20 razor sharp talons, then one ugly giant was a pushover.

King Saul, hearing of David's boldness, and desperate for some solution to his dilemma, called David to his side.   King Saul offered his own personal armor to David.    David tried it on and couldn’t move.  This was the armor of a man, a warrior king.  It didn’t fit.   He hadn’t tested it.  Hadn’t proved it. 

He didn’t need it.

David was clad in the armor of God.  With him, this armor was tried and true.    He had spent years in the field perfecting it.    Singing praises to the Lord, spending time with Him.    Fighting off the bears and lions that would come against him.       He was comfortable in this God armor.    It fit well.  He trusted it.      He had tested it many times.   It was reliable.


Goliath issued this challenge to Israel twice daily...  "One on one combat!   Winner takes all!"

Today would be his final challenge!


Except it wasn’t one on one.    This giant’s shield bearer went before him.  He carried a shield and a sword.    He was a giant also.   He had to be a giant.    He carried the shield and sword to protect Goliath.   If he was a normal sized man, what was he gonna protect?   Goliath's  kneecaps?

Shield Bearer is there to ward off attackers so that the Goliath has room to throw his deadly spear.   The giant of Gath needs a giant of a bodyguard!

Yet, here is young David, alone with a slingshot and five river stones.   Up against two grizzly grouchy bullying giants!

Goliath is almost insulted that his only opponent is a boy.  One with no armor and no weapon.  Practically naked before him with no protection.   The giant is taking David’s measure.  Goliath is using the wrong measuring stick.

He didn't consider that God had been the One that grew David to the perfect size and ability.   That God had imbued David with everything needed to slay giants.

Here is the young Israelite without any visible means of defeating this armor clad, battle seasoned, oversized warrior.

But the battle is over before it ever starts as these bold and defiant words explode  from David’s mouth! 

 “I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied!  This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you and take your head from you.  And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.   Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear, for the battle IS the Lords and He will give you into our hands.”

With that exclamation of faith, David races towards Goliath, swinging his loaded sling.  With the hedge behind him and the broken ground before him, he almost flies towards the edge of blood.   Toward the enemy of his people and of his God.

If Goliath was sure of his own might and fighting prowess, David was even more confident in his God's ability to conquer any enemy.

With one throw from his sling, David knocked Goliath out with a stone.    The giant fell unconscious to the ground.   His insulting tongue stilled.   His powerful body was rendered limp and useless.  

David took the sword from the champion of the Philistines and before the amazed eyes of the two armies, he cut off the head of his enemy Goliath.  

 The completely demoralized Philistines ran away like frightened children.     If one Israelite boy without any visible armor or weapon could defeat their champion, what could the entire Israelite army do against them?   What would the God of Israel do with them?

They were totally defeated.

If the Israelites had forgotten all that God had done for them, David’s faith and miraculous victory reminded them.   Once Goliath was dead, Israel marched forward and annihilated the Philistines.

We all have giants that come against us.      Finances, Family problems, Work, Sickness, Death, Divorce, Disappointments.      Just like a giant Goliath, they don’t  come one on one.   They hit you from all directions.       

We have everyday giants.   We have monumental life altering giants.    They all come from the same place.   The devil doesn’t fight fair.      He sends his sword bearing shield bearer before him to trick us, confuse us, distract us and keep us from focusing.    The little things.   We think we can handle it.   Then BAM!  He shows up with deadly force!.     The thing that get us right in the heart.   His javelin or spear.   We lose our job.   We lose a loved one.   We have a life threatening illness.    We’ve been double teamed. and we could so easily be struck down, but for the Armor of God.

Paul tells us to put on the armor of God...  He never once told us to take it off.     In Romans 13: 12  he calls it the “armor of light”.   Unapproachable Light.

When you are wearing this armor, you are not only protected, but you stand out as a victorious warrior!

Our armor is our faith.  It is our sure knowledge of the faithfulness of God.

Life events take our spiritual measure.  Like David, before we go into our daily battle, we should make sure we have a good fit.   We should remind ourselves of the times that God has come through for us in the past and that He will do it again now.   

Don’t try to enter into a battle wearing someone else’s faith.    We’re each given a measure.   It is formed and forged just for us.  We need to test it and try it and become so accustomed to it that it fits us like our own skin.

Like the Israelites, we tend to forget how God has provided and been victorious in our past.    We need something to remind us.
 
David took Goliath’s armor and kept it.    In my imagination I see it standing in a focal point in his home.  A daily reminder of how God came through for him and for Israel.

There are many times in the Bible when it is mentioned that the Israelites made a marker, set up stones, as a reminder of what God had done at a particular time or place.

I have several items in my home that are reminders to me of what God has done in my life.   A bowl of seashells on my coffee table.   A Santa Claus figurine holding a sign with the word "JOY".   A photograph of a beach at sunrise.   These are all reminders of the huge things God has done in my life and of His promises.

The next time you go into battle, be prepared.    As your enemy taunts you and degrades you, race toward him or it with the sure knowledge that God is with you and has gone before you.     

Call to mind what God has done in your past and trust Him for what He is doing in the present.      When the victory is won give Him the glory!    Then just in case you're forgetful like the Israelites, make a note of your victories.   Keep a reminder, something visible, as a reminder of how God did a miracle in your life.

And give Him the glory!

Originally written October 2010.   Edited October 2024.

#outrageousbelief

The Word is Buffalo

I share this story below because years ago, spending time with God in prayer, I asked Him to give me a Word... something just for me. Something personal. I spent quite a bit of time with Him.

 Finally, probably out of patience with me, He tossed the word "Buffalo" into my head. I was so taken aback that I laughed and laughed. I laughed for days, thinking that God was just having some fun with me.

 Don't get me wrong, I don't normally ask for something like this from God and it was a new type of prayer request for me. If any other word had popped into my head, I would have thought it was just me making it up. But, "Buffalo?" What in the world?! I still laugh when I think about it.

 Then, I bump into this January 2015 article in The Tennessean while browsing on FB. Maybe you know all about the buffalo facing storms, but I did not. Nor did I know the storms I would face in my life. But I know my God and His faithfulness and I know that whatever may come, He is right there with me. So I make effort to be like the buffalo. I try to face what comes and walk into it knowing that the best way through a storm is to walk right through it.

 Be the buffalo and face life’s storms (tennessean.com)

There is a great lesson about success and leadership from studying the way that buffalo and cows respond to storms.

In Colorado, where I grew up, we are world famous for the Rocky Mountains. What a lot of people don’t realize, however, is that the state is divided almost exactly in half. And to the eastern part of the state are the great Kansas plains. Because of that unique topographical landscape, we are one of the few places in the world where there are both buffalo and cows in such close proximity.

When storms come, they almost always brew from the west and roll out toward the east.

What cows do is very natural. Cows sense the storm coming from the west and so they start to try to run toward the east. The only problem with that is that if you know anything about cows you know they aren’t very fast.

So the storm catches up with the cows rather quickly. And without knowing any better the cows continue to try to outrun the storm. But instead of outrunning the storm they actually run right along with the storm. Maximizing the amount of pain and time and frustration they experience from that storm!

Isn’t that stupid?

Humans do the same thing all of the time. We spend so much of our lives constantly trying to avoid the inevitable challenges that come along with the difficult circumstances that our very own choices have led us to be in.

People who are in debt constantly try to find ways around paying their bills. People who are unhealthy make rationalizations for why they can’t do anything about it or why it doesn’t matter. People who are struggling in their marriage are often trying to avoid the difficult but meaningful conversations that need to be had to reconcile that relationship. Salespeople do everything to try and avoid making a sales call.

And the key insight that ultra-performers have made that not yet necessarily everyone else has is this: Ultra-performers realize that problems that are procrastinated on are only amplified.

Waiting always makes it worse.

What buffalo do on the other hand is very unique for the animal kingdom. Buffalo wait for the storm to cross right over the crest of the peak of the mountaintop and as the storm rolls over the ridge the buffalo turn and charge directly into the storm.

Instead of running east away from the storm they run west directly at the storm. By running at the storm they run straight through it. Minimizing the amount of pain and time and frustration they experience from that storm.

Notice how it’s the exact same storm. It’s such a great metaphor for all of us because all of us are dealing with the same types of storms.

We all have some relationship issue or health battle or financial struggle.

And we don’t always get to choose whether or not we have storms. The only choice we get to have is how we respond to those storms.

And more specifically here, when we respond to those storms.

This buffalo mentality is very representative of the Take the Stairs mindset of ultra-performers and Multipliers.

They charge directly into problems because they realize that procrastination and indulgence are simply creditors that charge you interest.

Which direction are you heading?

Rory Vaden, MBA, is cofounder of Southwestern Consulting, a self-discipline strategist and speaker, and a New York Times bestselling author of “Take the Stairs.” For a free one-hour webinar on some of the other core principles of Rory’s new book, visit www.ProcrastinateOnPurpose.com.

I hope I'm not breaking any rules by sharing the story on FB.    

#outrageousbelief   #belikebuffalo

Dried Up

Lord, come and fill every nook and cranny of the empty and dried up places in my soul.    

Greg

 In response to the question: “Who was your childhood hero?”

My brother. Greg. He developed polio when he was about 6 months old. He had to have surgeries, wear a brace and eventually a shoe that was built up to make up the difference in his legs. He began having seizures when he was about 13/14. But he was such a fighter. He never let his disability bring him down.

Funny. I never thought of him as being disabled.

He couldn't play organized sports but he was always riding his bike, flying kites, playing a spontaneous game of football or catch. He taught himself how to play the guitar and he was fantastically good on it. It was a passion for him. Wherever we lived (we were an Army family) he organized a band and was constantly playing. He turned everyone he met into a friend. He loved to read and introduced me to everything from Marvel comic books to Tolkien. He graduated from college and was just beginning to start a career when he passed away at the age of 24. He gave me such an example of how to live a life of chasing after goals and dreams. He would have turned 67 this year and I have always wondered what he would have accomplished if he had lived ... But he accomplished so much while he was here.

Camelot - A Eulogy for Mom

 Long Story Short

Mom always began every tale with "long story short".

If you knew her, you probably just inwardly groaned or rolled your eyes, because you have experienced her so-called "short" stories. But I will try to keep it bearable.

Mom grew up here in New Boston. One of thirteen children, she attended New Boston schools and churches and was baptized in a local creek.

She fell in love and hit the road to Ft. Chaffee Arkansas where Dad was waiting for her with open arms. They were married by an Army chaplain in a chapel on the base. She was the tender age of 16, but she was quick to say that she was ALMOST the ripe old age of 17 if one of us girls should mention how young she was when she married.

It wasn't long before they started our family even though Mom wasn't too sure how all that came about.

One thing about our mother, she was always a lady.

Being a military spouse, she had unknowingly signed up for a life of adventures. Without complaint, she would pack up and move every couple of years from one base to another.

She lived a life of varied destinations and our family grew and grew until there were 5 of us kids hanging on for dear life as we traveled along.

From bases in the US to foreign lands, she followed Dad wherever he was ordered and we all learned to adjust to new places and people.

She turned every apartment or house or government quarters into more than a temporary dwelling. She made each of them into a home and a place where friends were welcome.

She absolutely loved life and her place in it. It was the era of Camelot with JFK and Jackie in the White House, and Zona Thompson embraced it as though it was her personal mission to keep the idea of Camelot alive.

After 20 years of grand journeys, Dad retired from the Army and we moved back to New Boston. It was a time of transition for all of us. It was a hard move for some of us, but she stepped right up and did her best to help us adjust.

Mom was a true homemaker. Our home was always clean and neat and a family dinner on the table every day. With four girls, there was a never ending demand for new dresses and outfits. She created wardrobes for each of us that were Zona Thompson originals. There were times she would stay up half the night sewing so that one of us would have a brand new outfit for the next day. She made my wedding dress and it was beautiful!

She taught me to cook and sew. I think I learned by osmosis. I don't know what happened with the rest of these guys I call sisters. Because none of them learned how to do any of that… at least not while I was there.

Not only did she do all this, but she followed our brother Greg all over the place when he was playing in a band as a teenager. I truly do not know how she found the time for everything. But she did.

After we moved back to New Boston and we got involved in school activities, she was the biggest supporter of whatever we did. Whether it was cheer or band or sports. She was going to be part of it.

She was our encourager. Always letting us know that we could do anything if we just set our mind to it. Even with her great grandkids, she would tell them to live life to the fullest!

She wrote these words to my grandson Colt, but this is her word of wisdom for us all: “Never forget that I love you. Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you know.”

Mom loved to entertain. She thrived on family traditions and celebrations.

She loved to spend time with her sisters and brothers and kept them close in her heart.

She did have some varied interests. Along with being an excellent seamstress and homemaker, she was an accomplished artist with her china painting and a life long Dallas Cowboys fan. As elegant as she looks today, she is secretly wearing those ‘kick butt’ Cowboys socks on her way to meet Jesus. Well, it was a secret.

As far as working outside the home, not only was she at one time a really bad waitress in a restaurant, but later she worked at our local KNBO radio station and even DJ'd on occasion. She was willing to try just about anything.

During our tour in Iraq, she taught English to Arabs at an institute in Baghdad even though she didn't speak a word of Arabic. I'm not sure how that worked, or if they ever learned the language, but she loved it and those Iraqis just couldn't get over her crazy Texas accent.

She was the creator or user of a few euphemisms such as "Shoot Fuzzy", "I look like Fraggle Rock!" and "Oh! My Stars", "Hector's Pup!", or "Land O Goshen!” or maybe “Patience is fortitude!” and most famously “Shoot a monkey!”. Or maybe after she would call you 30 different names, she would say “well… you know who you are”.

Mom always had a new or unusual phrase to use when excited, happy or mad. Lately she would mumble "Joy to the World" when confronted with a difficulty she didn't like.

She didn't curse, but she could make up something in a heartbeat that wasn't too far from it. She once bested a New York bus driver in an argument without saying one foul word. He didn't know what hit him.

I was so proud!

She was NOT afraid of much of anything or anyone.

Yes...She loved to tell stories of her travels and the places we had lived and the people that she met.

But her most personally rewarding venture was right here in New Boston providing child care in her home for many area families. I am sure that some of you experienced her care and her imagination and creativity for either yourself or your children. She loved you all and never forgot a one of you. Plus: she told a few "short" stories about you too.

Like everyone, Mom had troubles in her life. Her only son, my brother Greg, developed polio as an infant. His doctor cried when he gave her the diagnosis. There was no vaccine. That came later on, and treatments were experimental. She was alone in her distress because Dad was half a world away serving in Korea. Although family stepped in to help, she had to find a way to be strong and fearless when it came to battling for her son's health. At that time, she was still just a kid of 18 herself.

Later on, Greg and Karen developed some other serious health issues. So she always had an extra bit of maternal instinctual protection for the two of them. When they both passed away as very young adults, what should have broken her spirit and her faith only proved to make her a stronger person with a more solid belief in God. What should have driven Mom and Dad apart, brought them closer. It didn't happen immediately... it took time. But she grabbed a hold of her faith in God and stood firm.

What an amazing example for all of us!

She was our rock. Always concerned about her family. She was there for us when our hearts and spirits were crumpled and broken… and when we were on top of the world.

She never lost her sense of grace and elegance... her dignity. She never spoke of regret. She always looked forward to the future with optimism and a sense of joy.

Mom always spoke of God as "the Good Lord".

In the last couple of months when she was ill, and suffering from a bit of confusion in her thinking, we would find her singing very loudly. Some of her songs were silly... like "Oh my darling Clementine" which would cause the hospital staff to stop and listen to be sure she wasn't in dire need.

But most of her songs were loudly worshipping her "Good Lord".

To me... to all of her family... she is the epitome of the Proverbs 31 Woman. Someone we should all try to emulate.

There is so much more I could tell you about the amazing woman my sisters and I have had the great honor of calling Mom.. or Momma. But I promised to try and keep her long story short, even though now it has become eternal. You might say it has gone viral

She knew she had lived a great life. And now her greatest adventure has begun. I pray that one day we all will be so blessed as that.

But... for now...in this time and place...

"Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment, that was known as Camelot."

or at least, Zona Thompson's version of it.

Shades

Cerulean Blue

Sapphire, Ultramarine, Teal

 Midnight hue, my soul