At Your Door...

Oh, make no mistake about it...

He IS at your door.As well as the car next to you....
behind you at HEB....
in front of you at Tekas...
He's everywhere, just might not look like what you'd expect.

God, Thank You for your constant presence among us.

In His Dust,
DCC

Taylor...

We went to Taylor Swift last night...wow!

It was as if Broadway, Disney, Cirque de Soleil and Taylor had a baby...

and it was witnessed by almost 15,000 people shaking their glow sticks among other things

A certain Godson may or not have been a slight nap in a few of the slower songs, towards the end....I couldn't blame him.....it's tiring jumping for almost 3 hours while trying to convey your love to Taylor, over a crowd of this size.

What a great way to end the day...you have danced your heart out...you have sung all the songs...you have "left it all on the field"....you have yelled "I love you", to the point of physical exhaustion.

The snoring snuggled up on my lap this was the sweetest thing I heard all night.

God, May we be heard, saying I love you, above all other noises and then resting in Your Arms.

In His Dust,

DCC

Wrestlers...

Big Mike D is fascinated with Wrestlers...it's all we hear about 24/7...stats...nicknames...moves...terms...To be honest I am not quite sure if any of it is in English.

For his birthday present his daddy took him, with a friend, to see the real deal...live...front row!

Or as Mikey told me, "The row is called front."Why are they wearing masks?
Why are they beating each other up?
Why are they saying things like, "you can't see me?"
All good questions.

Oddly enough, I am afraid I might recognize some similarities
in their behavior and mine.
We are ALL wrestlers, aren't we?

We are wrestling God for control....

We are wrestling The Lamb for His Crown...

No matter what we are calling it...our anxiety, our fears....our restlessness....

make no mistake, we are wrestling

God, Thank You for Your Patience with our weak attempt at wrestling You.

In His Dust,
DCC

Stamped...

"God has ordained work as something good. So whatever you do,

do it as if Jesus is stamping his name on your work" -Max Lucado

Everyone seems tired today...
Seems like an easy day to take short cuts...
to be impatient with others...
to blow off commitments...

Whatever you do- do it, "as if you were serving The Lord and not merely people"~Ephesians 6:7 We must remember "the stamp" we leaving behind us, in all things we do....is not just our own.
More importantly, we must remember The Stamp, of God Himself, that we have on us.

God, Thank You for loving us enough to Stamp us with Your Name.

In His Dust,
DCC

Not Forgotten...

"I Am The Resurrection and The Life.

He who believes in me will live, even though he dies." ~John 11:25

"I am with you always, to the very end." ~Matthew 28:20God has not forgotten us....and neither shall we forget Him.

"Even though I walk through the darkest valley,I will fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Surely Your Goodness and Love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in The House of The Lord forever."~Psalm 23:4,6

I have seen God working in every detail of the past 7 days.

I have literally watched Him, "work all things together for good."

He has brought calm into chaos.

He has brought peace into strife.

He has brought laughter into grief.

He has brought His Plans to pass against difficult circumstances.

As usual, I am blown away by the Might Presence and Love of our God. We are not forgotten and neither is Ben.

God, We ask you to continue to reveal Yourself to Ben's family and friends. Thank You for providing The Way to dwell in Your House forever.

In His Dust,

DCC

High Beams...

Bob Goff says, "We need to be the right kind of light.
If we leave our high beams on all the time, we'll just annoy everybody"

One of my pet peeves is, people forgetting to turn their high beams off.

The minute I see them coming at me, I start flashing mine over and over...
as if they are shooting fire balls at me.

I was reminded this morning, to watch how I let others lights effect me.
To not be so easily offended.
Which, in turn, also reminded me to watch how I adjust my own lights towards others.

"A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger." -Proverbs 15:1
"Let your gentleness be evident to all.
The Lord is near." -Philippians 4:5

God, Thank You for constantly and patiently teaching me.

In His Dust,

DCC

Ben...

"Greater love has no one than this:
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." ~John 15:13

Ben Schmidt....one of all time favorites.

We shared a birthday....albeit a few years apart.

I got an email a few years back from a good looking TCU Phi Delt- He had questions about searching for more than just a party.

Told me he was joining The Marines.

We shared thoughts via snail mail, email and Facebook.

We talked about our faith, the dangers of serving....and the great sacrifices made by those in uniform.

He was always particularly interested in my grandfather's sacrifice. (who was KIA in WWII, Battle of The Bulge...in his early 20's.)

Ben was always so respectful, intrigued and so grateful for those that sacrificed it all.

He had a firm understanding of what he was doing.

He had a firm understanding of what it meant to search for more

He had a firm understanding of what it meant to expect more of himself.

When most people have this kind of revelation in their life, they may come across as judgmental- not Ben.

He had a firm understanding of his faith.

He took this picture in Afghanistan, September 2010.

He also had a firm grip on how to have a great time-
he was the life of the party.

Today, Ben's "firm grip" on things, has met it's match.
For I believe Ben finds himself IN The Firm Grip of God Himself.

I know he has finally found the depth he has always looked for in The Very Face of Christ Himself.

We are more than conquerors...

"In everything, we are more than conquerors.

Everything has changed and death has lost it's sting

because You died and rose again for us.

Your empty grave has broken death's hold.

Nothing can prevail against the Power of The Lord our God."

-Ross King song- based on Romans 8

God, Thank You for the life of Benjamin W Schmidt. Please continue to reveal Yourself in big ways to his family, friends and community.

In His Dust,

DCC

Just Enough...

"Give us each day our daily bread" ~Luke 11:3

Let the words fall in....

When Jesus asks for bread, He literally asks for "just enough for today."
That shocked me.
He could have asked for tons of it. But He didn't.
He knew then and He knows now, every day is different.

Some days feels like you are getting an entire loaf... Some days you feel like you are getting the crumbs and
might even wonder if He forgot....or left your portion in the toaster....
Some days might even feel like,
He gave someone else a big fat bite of your piece.

Bottom line, He knows what we need.

We don't.

Not a day has passed by, in my lifetime or your's, that we have not been given the exact portion we needed.

God, Thank You for Your daily gift of bread and the perfect amount of it.

In His Dust,
DCC