Will Davis Jr.'s Blog, page 73

To My Mother–Happy Anniversary

Two years ago today my sweet mother passed away. The day after her death, I wrote a blog that many of you really seemed to identify with. Today, I share it again in her honor and for your encouragement. Feel free to share.

I Wonder What My Mother is Doing Today

My mother woke up in heaven today. I say “today,” because even though she died yesterday, there is no yesterday or tomorrow in Heaven. Only today—right here, right now. A glorious present tense that goes on forever. No time, no clock, no calendars. Just now.

So today, my Mom woke up in Heaven. I’ve been wondering all day what she’s doing. You know, it’s like when a friend or family member goes to a great concert or on a cool vacation or gets to meet someone famous, and you really wish you could be a fly on the wall and just see what’s going on. That’s how I feel. I’m dying to know what she’s up to.

My Mom hadn’t walked by herself in years. She needed a walker and/or the help of others. In reality, most of her recent life had been spent in a bed. But not today. Today, however you get around in heaven (run, fly, float?), she’s getting around with no assistance. Probably pretty cool for her.

My Mom hadn’t eaten in months. Her last real meal was Thanksgiving, and that was minimal. The only nourishment she was getting was from a feeding tube. But today? Who knows? There’s no hunger in heaven, so she’s obviously full. I’m just not sure what’s she’s full of. (Yes, she did constantly tell me what I was full of, but that’s another matter). Let’s just say that she’s more than satisfied. She’s full and content in a Heaven kind of way.

My Mom hadn’t been out of her room much at all in the last two years. But for the occasional family event or holiday meal, she never got out. She lived in her bed, and her bed was in a room the size of a small hospital room. That was her existence. But not today. Today, she see’s the world from a viewpoint that none of us can, even with the greatest GPS and satellite technology. She doesn’t just know how the universe and earth came into being, she knows when. She’s met the architect and builder. She knows stuff about the universe that we don’t, because she’s seeing it firsthand right now. That’s pretty high cotton for a woman who never got past using a typewriter.

And today, my Mom is home. Before the last two years, my Mom and Dad lived the previous 47 years in a beautiful home in West Austin on a street called Woodmont. The Woodmont home was such a part of our family we simply referred to it was Woodmont. A few weeks ago, Mom started telling us that she wanted to go home, that she wanted to go back to Woodmont. So two nights ago, when I was reading the Bible to her before she died, I read from John 14:1. It’s a great passage about Heaven and the homes Jesus prepares for us there. He said, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places (some translations say mansions), and I go to prepare a place for you.”  As I was reading that to Mom, I got inspired and changed it just a bit. I read, “In my Father’s house are many Woodmonts, and I go to prepare one of those Woodmonts just for you.” My sisters and I laughed, but I think my Mom got it.

I’m not sure what my mother is doing in today Heaven. I guess I won’t know until I go there and find out myself. But here’s what I do know, whatever she’s doing, she’s home. That’s what Heaven is. Home.

The Front Row Seat to Glory

I post this today in honor of my friends Stan and Gigi Horrell. Their lovely daughter Heidi moved into heaven three years ago today. I interviewed them at ACF a year after her death, and needless to say it rocked our church. Below is the blog I wrote about Heidi and the interview. There’s a link in it as well to the interview. God is good.

This past weekend at our church, I interviewed my good friends Stan and Gigi Horrell. Stan is a missionary with Mission Discovery, an organization on whose board I serve. Stan and Gigi buried their daughter Heidi a year ago on January 11th. She died of cancer. Stan and Gigi were kind enough to spend the weekend talking about sweet Heidi, her life and death, and God’s presence in both.

Heidi Horrell, at age 26, about a year before she was diagnosed with cancer

This was a weekend I won’t soon forget. Through the raw emotion have having only a year to process their loss, Stan and Gigi shared both courageously and beautifully about how they have seen God in their daughter’s passing. Stan called their journey a “divine nightmare” and a “front row seat to glory.”

Heidi, after she had started her chemo treatments, with her new friend Shaquille O’Neil, at a Houston area Starbucks

The interview is both moving and inspiring. You can listen to it or watch it HERE. Just click the January 30th message. My thanks to Stan and Gigi for their authenticity, obedience and faithfulness. You can learn more about Mission Discovery and our work at missiondiscovery.com.

Jesus Wants You. Period.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Jesus wants you. Make no mistake about it–Jesus extended his holy invitation for rest to you. You are not the grand exception in history that God cannot or will not love. You have not gone so far that he can’t or won’t forgive you. When Jesus spoke this invitation, he didn’t aim it at just the really good people or the really pretty people or the really churchy people. He aimed it at the spiritually broken. If you find yourself today nearing the end of your rope spiritually, if you find your stamina and desire to keep trying to earn God’s favor rapidly waning, then you’re exactly the kind of person Jesus was reaching out to. If you’re not spiritually worn out or if you somehow think you’ve got it all together before God, then just keep on going like you have been. Chances are brokenness will find you. But if you feel desperate before God and yet hopeless without him, then you’re exactly where God wants you.

Here’s a little exercise. I want you to make Jesus’ invitation personal. You know that he said, “Come to me all who are weary . . . .” The adjective all is beautifully used there, signifying that there are no limits to whom Jesus is willing to receive. But the broadness of the comment can still leave some feeling left out or wondering if it really applies to them. So let’s narrow it down. Here’s the statement again, with a minor change: Come to me _________ and I will give you rest. I want you to write your name in the blank. I want you to do it right now. Then, read it out loud a few times. Let God’s Spirit speak it to you. Come to me Tony, Come to me Sandy, Come to me Amanda, Come to me Carlos, Come to me Benjamin, Come to me Ajid, Come to me Trevor, Come to me Russ, Come to me Mohammed, Come to me Sylvia, Come to me Will. Come to me __________________. We could spend the rest of our lives filling in the blanks, because the beautiful and undeniable biblical reality is that the invitation is for every one of us. Including you.

From Ten Things Jesus Never Said

Great Music. Great Guys.

Meet Penny and Sparrow. Kyle Jahnke and Andy Baxter are two Austin guys who make great music. Their song Creature is one of my favorite worship songs ever. Kyle is a medical advocate to foreign nationals living in the US (and married to my niece) and Andy is on staff with Young Life and is the worship leader at ACF Northwest.

Their new album Ten Boom is out today and available on Itunes. Great guys. Great music. Great role models. These are the kind of musicians I pray that God will use mightily.

 

 

Do you have Enough?

I had the pleasure of teaching on the topic of Enough this weekend at our church. I’ll be doing so for the next three weeks. I was amazed at the warm response I got to the message. While difficult to hear initially, it seems to be very liberating to people. It’s like they’re relieved to know that you really can find joy and peace by living with less. It’s going to be a fun series.

Have you read Enough yet? You need to. It’s worth every penny of the $12 (or less) you’ll pay for it online. It’s a game-changer, and given all the mess in Congress with the fiscal cliff(s), given the shaky condition of our economy and our ever-rising national debt, and given the dissatisfaction and emptiness that so many feel in their pursuit of more, this is a game you want to change.

Below is a link to my message from the weekend. But let me go ahead and ask you the question the message ends with: If you have more than you need today–and if you’re able to read this blog you probably do–then why? Why has God given you more than you need? Answer that question, and you’ll be well on your way to enough.

Blog Update

I’m taking a few days off from writing. Next blog post on Monday, January 7th. See you then!

Hello 2013! A Great New Year’s Post from Susie

 

 

A New Year’s Eve Thought

On this eve of the new year, I like you am considering where I’ve been and where I’m going.

This past year has been like most others, bumpy at times, smooth at others, and always challenging. As I enter into this new year, I do so without the presence of some people in my life who were with me this time last year. Death, the job market and economy, and life’s uncontrollable circumstances always seem to take their toll on my relationships.

I am different too. I have emotional bumps and bruises that I did not have a year ago. I have physical ailments that weren’t so pesky 365 days ago. I have grown spiritually and have matured in some areas. I have, I am afraid, not progressed in other areas where I need to. But, nonetheless, I am different. Things change.

And that is why I praise God for the truth offered in this verse: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever, Hebrews 13:8. I change; Jesus does not. He won’t age, grow old, get sick, or become absentminded or forgetful. He will not lose his job, need to reduce his budget, or have to let go of some co-workers. He will not be defeated, surprised, shocked or caught off guard by anything. He is the same.

This verse makes it clear that the unchanging nature of Jesus carries on from the reality of his eternal being. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the same because he is God.

Friends, 365 days from now, when you sit down to reflect on the past year, things will be different. The same will be true 365 years from now. Things will be different, but Jesus won’t be. Of that you can be sure. Therein lies our hope and strength. Happy New Year.

God in Flood Stage: Here’s My ACF Christmas Eve Message

The Spontaneous Christmas Trees

It happens every year just after Thanksgiving. Cedar trees that line the roads all over my hometown of Austin are decorated for Christmas. I’m not sure how long this tradition has been going on, but I started noticing it a few years ago. And while it used to be just a few trees on strategic highways around Austin, now it’s all over town.

It’s actually quite inspiring. People will even dedicate a tree to their favorite sports team or to military families or to loved ones. And then, not long after the new year, the trees magically return to normal. That may be the coolest part of this story–people actually come back and remove their decorations.

Seeing these trees the other day started me thinking. Christians need to be like those dear folks who decorate the cedar trees. We get to brighten up the landscape around us. We get to take ordinary days, events and and even lives and make them inspirational. And, we’re supposed to clean up after ourselves. We don’t leave our debris around for others to pick up. When we make a mess, we clean it up–we confess, we seek forgiveness, we repent. and we forgive others.

Be a spontaneous Christian for others today. As they move through their ordinary day, brighten up their lives and inspire them. Let them see the Jesus in you.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

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