Over the course of the past couple of weeks, a small RV town has formed on the north and west sides of the county fairgrounds. The Tulsa State Fair opens this week. About six weeks ago dump trucks loaded with dirt started unloading the massive amounts needed for the animal barns and temporary parking lots and staging areas. Bulldozers and shovels are valued tools these days. It has been a little quieter on the Yale Avenue side. Since company is coming, city crews have been repairing broken sidewalks and redoing the curbs and ramps along Yale between 11^th and 15^th streets. Trucks with trailers filled with large animals have been rumbling past the church headed for the fairgrounds, only to have to weave around the barriers on Yale. Carnival rides have been assembled and are still being tested and inspected, new signs have been added, and those RVs filled with people, supplies and merchandise have assembled, followed closely by the young Future Farmers and their prize-winning livestock. Corn Dog and Cotton Candy trailers are escorted down the streets like honored guests arriving at the ball. All that is left is for about a million people to show up, discovering along the way that it costs real money to go to the State Fair. Last year’s Tulsa Fair attendance was 1,075,000, by the way.

There is a widely held belief that 80 percent of every successful project is careful planning, 10% is in having a Plan B and Plan C, and the last 10% is found in the enjoyment of seeing it all come together. The unexpected will always happen—that is what makes it memorable.

I enjoy the Fair. I enjoy watching the people, eating the “food” and discovering the latest, greatest miracle-working gadget ever seen on the face of the earth. There is nothing quite like a state fair. But it would never happen at all without detailed preparations, hardworking people, and a common goal to hold the best fair ever. So when you see the 4H-ers with their creative robots and future technologies, the FFA-ers’  prize cow or pig, the blue-ribbon cakes or quilts, the hot tubs or the glasses cleaner, remember the effort and sacrifice that is behind it all. Any worthy endeavor takes preparation, commitment, and sacrifice. That includes your family, your church, and your daily life.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Prepare for the best. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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How well do you sleep each night? As a child I was taught the bedtime prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep.

I pray the Lord my soul to keep,

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

You may have prayed this prayer as a child. Apparently children have been praying this bedtime rhyme for a few centuries. As a youngster, the “if I should die” part of the prayer did not bother me as much as the keeping and taking of my soul. What is my soul? Where do I keep it? And why would the Lord want to take it somewhere? That was heavy theology to ponder before going to sleep at night. Later I assumed this prayer was probably born out of the anguish of high infant and child mortality during times of plagues and smallpox. One day I discovered the full version, based on a German poem from the 1600’s, has much more to say. It also could have been based on a sermon from Psalm 4.  Where we finished praying with, I pray the Lord my soul to take,  fuller versions continued with: If I should live for other days, I pray the Lord to guide my ways. Amen. Why didn’t we learn this part before we said, Amen! 

How well do you sleep at night? What are the things you think about as you drift off (or not) for the night? I read an article this week with the headline, Why Everyone Is Waking Up at 3 a.m. A quick search will reveal several widespread reports about the reasons many people wake up in the middle of the night, and the struggle to go back to sleep. It is a popular subject in the field of mental health these days. 

I have my share of wakeful nights. A couple of Bible verses help me at the end of a stressful day: Come to me, all who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:27) Cast all of your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7) Try letting God hold all your stress, fears, to-do’s, etc. as you go to sleep. You will find them soon enough in the morning.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Sleep well. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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This year we have been getting our backyard ready to attract more butterflies. Our beautiful old October Glory maple tree was showing the repeated years of storm damage. We had the tree specialists mend and thin out the broken sections year after year. But the damage had become too great. We were concerned the old tree might topple on our neighbors’ fences, or our house, with the next ferocious storm. Reluctantly, we had the tree removed this spring. It was time to rework the backyard with a little landscaping project. I have since learned there is no such thing as a little landscaping project.

We gathered some ideas and found a landscaper that was reasonable and affordable. I do not enjoy weeding flower beds, ever, so we had the bed along the back fence filled with rock. We added some Juniper trees, three lilacs and three rose bushes. At the far end we planted a Butterfly Tree (Chaste tree). It is somewhat like a crepe myrtle, yet softer and wider.  That one tree alone provides most of our backyard enjoyment. That and the roses, which have been continuously in bloom since late June. Pollinating bees, bugs and butterflies attract the best birds. All these little creatures and insects tend our part of the earth with professionalism and diligence. No pesticides are allowed in our backyard, for the monarchs are headed to my house, and yours also, in a couple of weeks.

The majestic monarchs are making their journey from Canada to winter in Mexico, a place they have never seen, yet long for. When the winter passes, they will send forth the next generation back to Canada. The journey is one of transformation from a sluggish caterpillar into an international traveling butterfly. If God does that for butterflies, imagine what is in store for us. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

When I went out to inspect the roses and the trees today, the bees and bugs were faithfully working. The backyard is starting to settle in. The weeds seem easier to pull up. Creation is amazing. God is so good. 

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Tendyour garden. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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​As I headed to the car to leave the church this afternoon, a trio of puppies, maybe three months old, came prancing towards me, all “look at us, we are out on our own.” I did not know if they had escaped their yard or had been set loose to find a new home. I am not ready for a puppy, or three, at my house. Although it does remind me of this good word:

If you can start the day without caffeine, If you can get going without pep pills, If you can resist complaining and boring people with all your troubles, If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it, If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time, If you can overlook it when something goes wrong through no fault of yours and those you love take it out on you, If you can take criticism and blame without resentment, If you can ignore a friend’s limited education and never correct him, If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend, If you can face the world without lies and deceit, If you can conquer tension without medical help, If you can relax without liquor, If you can sleep without the aid of drugs, If you can say honestly that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, color, religion or politics, Then, my friends, you are almost as good as your dog.

It is simply amazing how attached we can become to our pets. We can simultaneously delight in their antics and clean up their messes with a frown. We love them in our laps or at our feet. We smile when they are happy and cry when they are in pain. Our grief is all too sharp when we lose one. I called my first dog Nickel because his mother’s name was Penny. Nicky listened to my troubles, chased mice and other critters and ran beside me when I rode my bike. I do not know if our pets will goto heaven when they die. I do know that the Bible indicates that heaven is filled with all manner of animals and creatures beyond our imaginations. If we can love our creatures so deeply, how much greater is God’s love towards us today? 

​Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Be as good as your dog. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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As the Body of Christ, the church has been provided, to use Paul’s analogy, the Armor of God. (See Ephesians 6:10-18) This armor serves as defensive protection against the daily onslaught of problems both human and spiritual. Describing the uniform of a Roman soldier, Paul depicts the church locally and its members individually, dressing for the day.  He shows us a spiritual exercise for facing each day. How do we get dressed?

We dress for the weather, and we dress for the occasion. If we are staying in, we may not dress much at all. We have yard work clothes, dress-up clothes, travel wear, and the stuff we wear all the time in between. I suggest clean clothes are better for being with friends and family. Consider adding the spiritual layer of protection on top of the physical every time you get dressed. 

Last Sunday I made a few suggestions for dressing as the body of Christ and as witnesses for Jesus:

Stand firm then, with the belt of Truth buckled around your waist, rather than a string of Lies trying to hold it all together.

With the breastplate of Righteousness in place, rather than an ugly t-shirt of Lawlessness.

With your feet (shoes) fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace, rather than the flip-flops of Conflict and Chaos.

Take up the shield of Faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, rather than the ping-pong paddle of Cynicism.

Take the helmet of Salvation, rather than the hoodie of Hopelessness.

And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, rather than a bucket full of the words of Anyone or Everyone Else.  In Jesus Christ alone, we are fully secure, fully dressed for the day, and fully protected for eternity. 

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Wear the right clothes. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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