More Now Than Ever

     2020, the year that never seems to end. 2020, the year of masks, social distancing, shelter in place, oh and a very contentious election. 2020, the year where you can explain away any mishap or difficulty by simply saying, "It's 2020." How do you celebrate Thanksgiving in 2020? Do you even try to celebrate it? Do we actually have anything to be thankful for?

     In February of 1995, Phyllis Campbell took a chance and hired a 28 year old with no teaching experience to teach high school math and history. I had a lot to learn about running a classroom and she was the perfect person to shepherd me through that process. I just want to say, "Thank you, Mrs Campbell, for all that you did to shape my career as an educator."

     Yes, 2020 has been a strange year, but isn't every year? The word unprecedented has been thrown around a lot this year, but if you think a minute you will realize that every year is unprecedented. SO, how can you be thankful amidst all of these unprecedented days? I would suggest you look to the Apostle Paul. His entire ministry was one unprecedented event after another. It started in blindness, included multiple shipwrecks, he had to flee from several angry crowds, suffered multiple beatings, spent several years in jail, and ended with an execution. That was Paul's life and yet he is also the person that penned these words, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thes 5:18 NIV)

     All of my students have had a hand in molding me into the teacher that I am today. One group requires special thanks though. Coaching volleyball has changed the kind of person I am. Those hours with my teams, facing the trials, pressures, successes, and failures that come with sport have taught me how to recognize the emotional issues that plague teenagers in general and teenage girls in particular. I have always been good at predicting behavior, but I wasn't good with emotions. Well, coaching teenage girls has changed that. I am not going to try to list all of you and risk leaving someone out so, "To all of my volleyball players and those that helped with practices and stats, thank you. I am a better person because of you. You will always be 'my girls'.

     So if Paul could be thankful in all things, even when those things included beatings, shipwrecks, jail, and more, surely we can be thankful in the face of this current pandemic. Yes, things are annoying at times, and yes we have to do things differently, but are those really reasons not to be thankful? Paul said to be thankful in all things, not for all things. That is an important distinction. This year has seen a lot of things that I have not been thankful for, but I have continued to be thankful in them.

     My life is spent almost exclusively around teenagers, and for the most part I love that. It is what I was called to do. It does have a down side though. I can go long periods of time without having a conversation with another adult that didn't revolve around school and teenagers. A few years ago that was starting to take a bigger toll on me than even I realized. It was then that a friend of mine, Amie Willis, decided to go back to school. She needed help with some of her math and science classes and asked if I could help her. She quickly became my outlet for adult communication. Having another adult I could just be Mike with instead of Mr Matt was more important than I understood at the time. "Amie, thank you for being a great friend and more importantly letting me turn off Mr Matt and just be Mike. That has meant more than you will ever know. It has  given me a way to recharge batteries that I didn't realize were running so low."

     So, if you are struggling with how to be thankful for Thanksgiving 2020, try what I have done here. There are people that you haven't said thank you to. Find them and tell them thank you. I think you will find that you have a lot more to be thankful for than you realize. You will find you can be thankful in things, even in 2020.

 Go Stand Over There

Acts 8:26-30

     Evangelism, if there is a word that strikes more fear into the heart of a Christian than evangelism I don't know what it is. It is the odd contradiction of our faith that the one thing we are called to do is the thing most of us fear the most. If only it was easier to share our faith.

     Philip was tired. It had been a long day and he just wanted to go home and relax. That's when he heard it, the unmistakable voice of God, "See that chariot over there? Go stand next to it." Well that's an odd thing to do, thought Philip, but he dutifully headed over to the chariot. When he got there he overheard the occupant reading the following passage, 

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?

    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b] 

So Philip asked him a simple question, "Do you understand what you are reading?" Thus began a long conversation started by a simple question, a long conversation that led to the conversion of one man. One man, but it led to so much more. You see that man worked in the royal court of Ethiopia. That man took his new found knowledge back with him and shared it with those around him. The result? Ethiopia became the home of one of the first Christian churches outside of Israel. All because Philip was standing in the right place at the right time. Evangelism isn't just shouting the gospel from the rooftops, it is more often asking a simple question at the right time. Yes, God calls people to preach and shout the message from the high places, but He also prompts us to just "be in the right place at the right time." So no need to fear the word evangelism, just go stand next to that chariot.

The Dash

     You are going to find as you read that the title has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of this piece. I was going to write something entirely different but it just wasn't coming together like I wanted and it was sounding too much like things other people have already said much better than I ever would. I was going to write about tombstones, more precisely the dates on them. Two numbers separated by a dash. If you want to see basically what it was going to be, look up The Dash. There is even a poem called The Dash.

     Here is what you get instead. Today, after almost 54 years on this planet, I have learned the importance of simple encouraging words given at the right moment. That might seem odd to those of you that know me. That's what I do best, encourage people. Today, I have learned the power of simply telling someone that they are thinking of you and praying for you. Simple words, words that I have said hundreds of times to people going through difficult times. Words, that if I am honest, I have wondered if they actually accomplished anything.

     Well, now that I find myself on the other side of those words I can say that they do. Reading and hearing the words of others, from the most eloquent to the simplest, is a cathartic experience. (Sorry, big word but I couldn't think of a better one.) Galatians 6:2 says, "bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." When several people add their strength to something, no one person has to do a lot of lifting, but the net result is a lot of strength. So that is what you are doing when you send those encouraging words. You are adding a small amount to a much larger whole. So encourage those that are suffering. It doesn't have to be grand and eloquent, simple and heartfelt is fine, in fact perfect.