Being Frank and 40

I just looked at my first post and can't believe it was 3 years ago...ha! I guess it rings as much true now as it did then.  I turned 40 today and thought I'd share with anyone who was interested, the wisdom that I have gleaned since November 6, 1972.

First of all, though I'm not very political, I am getting a kick out of all of the political posts that we've been reading on Facebook...as if the hope of our future actually lay in our next President's hands.  The day after I was born in 1972, Richard Nixon was elected to office by a landslide victory.  I imagine that, like now, many people were optimistic about our country's future simply because he would be our next President.  Oops, I guess that hope was misplaced!  Though I respect the office of President AND whoever may hold it, and agree that it is an important decision of the American people...the hope of our future is NOT the next President of the United States. 

Twenty years ago, I was a sophomore at Iowa State studying to be an Industrial Engineer.  I was trying to figure out life and what sort of foundation I could build that would serve me through the rest of my years.  I had gone away to college a boy, but was deperately trying to figure out what it meant to be a man.  I had placed my hope in many things, but all of them left me with nothing.  In high school I had poored my life into popularity and sports.  I wasn't talented enough in sports for it to amount to any sort of future (actually if I'm honest, I wasn't talented enough to have it last even during high school!).  Popularity, though it served my ego and insecurity for a time, was not going to happen at this small university of 25,000 people.  Since entering college life as a freshman the year before, I had turned my attention to partying and women.   I knew that partying would help me forget my troubles and be a good release.  It was also a great way to get up the courage, which I so desparately lacked, to approach women.  But for some reason this didn't work either.  My parents had taught me that getting drunk was wrong, so I always felt this huge guilty feeling after a night of binge drinking.  And, though I knew for sure that a relationship would solve all of my problems, for some reason women didn't find a big, sweaty, drunk guy, who smelled like the bars all that appealing.  So those hopes were dashed.  That left me with one last pillar on which to stand:  my family. 

I grew up with great parents who encouraged me to be active in whatever I wanted to pursue at any age.  Piano lessons, Indian Guides (the step before Cub Scouts), wrestling, football, weightlifting, more football...you name it..all were encouraged and supported by not only my parents but even my younger siblings.  I remember my dad taking off work to watch us demonstrate our mad swimming skills at the local pool after our swimming lessons.  I got to spend summers in North Dakota with my cousins playing baseball.  I was baptized, a regular church attender, and even confirmed.  I had two younger sisters who loved to support me in my activities and I equally enjoyed going to dance recitals, show choir concerts, volleyball and soccer games, etc.  My freshman year of high school, we even moved into a house that we had built that my dad designed.  I had my first car by the time I got my driver's license -life was good!  Except, my parents hadn't really figured out what foundation to build their lives on either.  All of the "stuff" and "activities" and even the love they had for their children did not carry them through the trials of life and their marriage.  I started my 2nd year of college in the wake of the finality of my parent's divorce -which came as a shock to everyone but us.  My last pillar had just been obliterated.

I don't know if you have ever felt like you've come to a crossroads in your life.  Like something has got to change for better or worse, because you just can't stay in the place you are in?...but I was there. 

I had always enjoyed going to church, singing the hymns, and learning about God...for the most part.  I mean I was still a kid who could think of a million better things to do than get dressed up, sit through an hour of Sunday School lesson, and another hour of church service (like record Casey Kasem's top 100 on my new dual cassette recorder!).  But I liked the stories about God's power in creating the world, sending the flood, parting the Red Sea.  It was a comfort to hear that such a God loved me and that I could pray to him anytime I wanted.  I even was aware that I would sin and remorseful when I did so.  In my own little way, I wanted to please God and not do bad things.  I wanted to be a good person.  But when things started going south in my parent's relationship, I let God know that if He didn't fix it, He wouldn't hear from me again.  When they separated during my 8th grade year...I decided to make it official.  I wasn't messing with this God thing anymore.  I stopped worrying about whether I sinned and even pursued it at times.  I stopped worrying about being sorry for my sin.  I stopped wanting to learn more about God.  I just stopped.  For all practical purposes....in my life He was dead, or at least not worth pursuing.  But even through this, He would not leave me alone.

God has ALWAYS shown me in different ways and in different people two things.  He has never left me, and He has never stopped loving me.  He has done it so much, that I can't even recall all the ways that He confirmed to me those two things.  Even though I swore to Him that He would never hear from me again, He continued to love me.  He gave me a roommate that became a good friend.  God brought a pastor into my roommates life that would challenge him on his worldview...so we'd talk about it.  I had all the Sunday School answers, but I didn't believe it...but he had a pastor talking to him who REALLY BELIEVED THIS STUFF.  That year there was a student who was "reaching out" to us.  He wanted to hang out with us whenever we would let him, he wanted to do things with us, he wanted us to come to a church group with him, he wanted us to come to church with him.  He would not leave us alone even though we'd get quiet when he knocked on our door.  We wouldn't return his calls when he left a message.  But this guy just wouldn't stop pursuing us!  As poorly as we treated him...as poorly as I treated him,  he wouldn't stop pursuing us.  My sophomore year he did something that blew me away.  He knew my parents were going through a divorce and when he saw me at this campus group, he ran up to me to tell me how much he'd been praying for me.  I was blown away by this undeserved favor....but it wasn't just from him....It was from God.  I started going to this campus group and couldn't get over the joy that these people had.  I had never really seen people who had a "relationship" with God.  I had never seen people who had put their faith in Jesus and been changed forever.  I had never seen people with such peace and joy - it was overwhelming and I wanted it.

Well I'm realizing now, that I've not been short-winded in this post...so I'll try to wrap it up as best I can as quickly as I can.  Through God's overwhelming love and someone showing me the truth found only in the Bible,  God led me to PUT MY HOPE IN JESUS!  The Bible calls this being "born again" -a term I always thought was reserved for radical fundamentalist Christians who boycott Disney because they have a "homosexual day."  But it turns out that this phrase was coined by Jesus, himself, in the third chapter of John and is a prerequisite to having an eternal relationship with God.  When I put my faith in Jesus, when I surrendered my life to Him and His leading...guess what??? I got a new life.  Yes, I was "born-again."  The Good News of the Bible is that "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us....the righteous for the unrighteous...to bring US to GOD."  While every other religion tries to earn or live up to a standard in hopes that it will be good enough to earn heaven....following Jesus does no such thing.  You see if it were up to me I'd be in real trouble.  I'd still be looking for that next pillar to lean on...that next thing to hope in.  But God pursued me and showed me that it was futile.  The only thing worth putting my hope in is Jesus.

Some people advertise Christianity as a "bed of roses" or an "easy street."  I don't want to deceive anyone into thinking this is the case.   In many ways, my life has gotten harder after surrendering to Jesus.  The Bible teaches me that I am to "die daily," that I am to "take up my cross and follow Him."  It also teaches me that when I sin I should "confess" it and when I have enemies I should learn to love and pray for them.  It also teaches me that I should be bold and share the truth...do you know how many people DON'T WANT TO TALK about it?  By the world's standards, there is nothing cool or appealing about being a Christian...most people just think you are a freak or an idiot or something.  In obeying Christ, I'm also called to examine my life, my motives, and the things I might worship in place of Jesus...this is seldome fun.  But before I make it sound too unappealing, let me tell you what I did get:

I have a relationship with the living God who is the Creator of all things!  Let that sink in a minute...that is an AMAZING statement.  I have access to the King of Kings!  We get giddy when we meet a celebrity or a sports figure....I get to have a very personal and very real relationship with the God who spoke the world into existence!  And I get to do it forever!  Yes, my sins have been paid for... I have been purchased for heaven by a Savior who gave his life for mine!  He leads me, He guides me, He comforts me, and He keeps on loving me.... it is amazing - like no other relationship I've ever had!  That's one thing about God that trumps EVERYTHING else....He satisfies the deepest desire in our innermost being like nothing else.  You can try on anything else and it will ALWAYS leave you wanting..but JESUS ALWAYS SATISFIES.

I have had 20 years now in a relationship with Him..Half my life....this is no fluke, no passing fad, no crutch...it is the real deal.  If there is any wisdom I have gained or want to pass on from my 40 years of life, it is this:

HOPE IN JESUS IS HOPE WELL PLACED!

I will end my short novel with these two passages from the Bible:

Philippians 3: 7-8 says, "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...." (ESV)

and

Matthew 7: 24-27 says, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." (ESV)

Thanks for reading...sorry it was so long...stay tuned for my next blog when I turn 50!  ;)

Being Frank

I heard someone say once that when you are in your 20's you care about what everyone thinks about you. Once you reach your 30's you don't care what anyone thinks about you. And by the time you reach your 40's, you realize that no one was really thinking all that much about you.

At the age of 37, maybe I'm a little ahead of the curve, because I'm guessing that most people (except my immediate and extended family of course) don't give me a whole heck-of-a-lot of thought on a regular basis...and I'm really pretty okay with that.

But even so, we ARE living in a Facebook and Twitter world...a world where we can have a range of virtual relationships with people whom we have no idea what is really going on in their lives...but we sure are excited when they release their latest most embarrassing moment or post an album of their children whom we've never met.