no collar worker

It happened.

I was at the park with the family and the cell phone rang. I answered it and heard this young girl's voice say, "Mr. Harmless?" ... only it was spoken with a southern accent.

Now there is more than one thing wrong with this. The first this is that I have moved, so anybody that knows me as, "Mr. Harmless." is miles away. The second thing is that this is summer time, and everybody that knows me well, knows that in the summer I am not a teacher! The third this is that it was a southern accent.

After about 10 seconds of trying to remember whether or not I was actually "Mr. Harmless" I very weakly replied, "Yes?"

You see, I knew that it had happened. This was my first contact with a new student... and I was jolted back into the onrushing reality of the end of the summer.

I was hoping she would then say, "... just checking, we won't bother you again until the end of August!" But that didn't happen. In fact, having come out of my summer mental hibernation, this southern accent speaking girl had the nerve to ask me a question...

"... what supplies would you like to have ordered?"

Darn! This was going to require some actual thought. I stumbled around for a couple of minutes and then I finally came up with the most intellectually sound response that I could muster. I said, "... Ummm, I don't know."

I think she finally decided that I wasn't about to give her any suitable information to deal with, so she ordered me the typical supplies that the other teachers tend to order.

You've heard of the white collar worker, and the bluecollar worker... But I would like to say that I am a proud representative of the no collar worker.

No skills, just a willingness to work. That's me!

still learning - #3

I started to do a series of things that I have learned in this last year. You can read #1 - God is good and #2 - I love being a teacher, if you like.

So here goes...

Still learning #3 -- God's way is always better.

I think that this has been the most impactful truth that I have encountered this past year of my life. I don't think that I have ever said that there was a truth that was "life-changing" before. I have heard other people say that, but I am pretty sure that I never have. Well, if I was going to say it about anything, it would be about this.

Because His way is better.

I used to think that God had all of these rules for us to follow. You know, right vs. wrong stuff... But as I have gotten older, I have started to notice that He didn't just randomly pick a bunch of things for us to do. He, in His love, has established a way to live. A way that is better.

He is the creator, and He knows how we should live.

I have alluded to this before on this blog. You can read some of these related thoughts here, here and here.

Sometimes it seems that His way will not be as good. And I will say that I have had to learn this the hard way from time to time.

I know that a big one is telling the truth. Sometimes it sure seems that telling the truth would be the worst possible thing. And sometimes it even seems that way when we go ahead and tell the truth. At first it seems like, "oh man, why did I tell that?!?" But in the end it is always better. I know that even Bill Clinton would agree that telling the truth was the best, ultimately.

I know that there are marriages that it seems like it would be better if you separate, but His way is better.

I know that there are experiences that you want to have that God has forbidden. I know that my students struggle with this one. When you're young it seems like the best thing would be to experience everything, but the best life you can have is a life done God's way... it's better.

I know that there might be some revenge that you want to take, even though God has asked you to leave that up to Him. And that is what you should do. His way is better.

But however bad or difficult it seems, I guarantee, His way is better, His way is ultimately easier, and His way will be more fulfilling.

There are other things that seem like they will limit us or deny us the enjoyment of life, but his way is better. And life in Him is the only free life and the most enjoyable life. Doesn't the Bible say, "... if the son has set you free, then you will be free indeed..." and how many different times can you read the phrase, "... then you joy will be complete..."

His way is better. You should try it.

Update

I'm working and busy, I don't know about you.

I am working for a moving company (again). I am sweatin' off the pounds while I am picking up hide-a-beds and toting them down from third floor apartments. I am bored out of my gourd while I am driving to different parts of the country.

But hey, I'm bringing home the bacon!

I will try to write more later but right now I am just a simple truck driver.

How about you? What are you doing this summer? Why don't you drop me a comment and let me know how things are going.

moving right along

Well, I have moved!

I have been really busy, so I haven't had time to write. But I am hoping to get back at it again really soon.

While I am away, I would like to encourage you to browse the sidebar. I would like to suggest checking out the archives, maybe even go all the way back to the beginning of "harmless thoughts." If you are not interested in that, I would like to suggest some of the blogs that I have listed. I check them all out from time to time.

Thanks for reading!

still learning #2

I suppose that when most people start to think about what they have learned in the last year of their life, it happens in January. But as a teacher, I start to think about it in May.

I am working on a top ten list of what I have learned in the last year of my life. You can read the first one here.

Here is #2 - I love being a teacher.

I mean it, I really do! Now, there are plenty of things that go along with the job that I don't like. For example, the paperwork, the endless responsibilities, the low pay, etc.

But I love it!

This year has been the best year when it comes to getting to minister to students. I have had countless opportunities, and God has given me the Grace to handle them all. There is nothing more wonderful on this earth than doing exactly what God would have you to do. Nothing compares.

the van

Towing the van home........$43
Fuel pump & other parts....$86
Fixing the melted pieces...$52
Saving about $500 by
doing it myself...............$500
Being 31 years old and
crawling under the van
again with my dad ...........priceless


All around, it has been an expensive week for me. But as I have said before, God is good. And even in this He is good. I honestly don't know how people can survive without Him.

p.s. Thanks again dad, for all of the help that you have given me. Not only coming over and helping with the van, but also showing me how to be the kind of man that would even attempt to fix his own car! I can't ever thank you enough.

Creator -- creature

"Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let thy glory be above all the earth."
(Psalm 57:5)
Have we forgotten the creator?

The creator of the heavens and the earth... and the creator of us! Like Jeremiah the prophet, God could say to us, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you..." (Jeremiah 1:5) He is planning out and orchestrating our lives to conform us to the image of His son. (Romans 8:28-29) He knows the best way for us to be us!

He is the creator, we are the creatures. We can't forget that. In order for us to live the most peaceable, enjoyable experience that we can live, we have got to get that right.

It is true that order in nature depends upon right relationships; to achieve harmony each thing must be in its proper position relative to each other thing. In human life it is not other wise.

The right relationship with our creator would be to have Him as our Lord. Many of us would claim to be in that right relationship with Him. We might call ourselves "Christians" or we might say that we are "saved." We might even "call" Jesus Lord! But is that really true, or is it just words? How does this right relationship begin?

A satisfactory spiritual life will begin with a complete change in relation between God and the sinner; not a judicial change merely, but a conscious and experienced change affecting the sinner's whole nature. The atonement in Jesus' blood makes such a change judicially possible and the working of the Holy Spirit makes it emotionally satisfying.

There are many of us who have been "toying around" with God's grace most of our lives. We have claimed this salvation stuff, but we have never really lived it. It has only been words. Jesus is not Lord.

Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image. The flesh whimpers against the rigor of God's inexorable sentence and begs like Agag for a little mercy, a little indulgence of its carnal ways. It is no use. We can get a right start only by accepting God as He is and learning to love Him for what He is. As we go on to know Him better we shall find it a source of unspeakable joy that God is just as He is.

But how can we know if we are on the right path? How do we know that we are claiming Jesus as Lord and really meaning it?

Our break with the world will be the direct outcome of our changed relation to God. For the world of fallen men does not honor God. Millions call themselves by his name, it is true, and pay some token respect to Him, but a simple test will show how little He is really honored among them. Let the average man be put to the proof on the question of who or what is above, and his true position will be exposed. Let him be forced into making a choice between God and money, between God and men, between God and personal ambition, God and self, God and human love, and God will take second place every time. Those other things will be exalted above. However the man may protest, the proof is in the choices he makes day after day throughout his life.

Who is your lord? What do your choices say about you? I hope that if Jesus is not really your Lord, if He is simply a figure-head, that you will repent and turn and seek Him. May you be like the prodigal son coming back to the father!

God wants the whole person, and He will not rest till He gets us in entirety. No part of the man will do.

Check out the book
The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.