Mark LaGrone

Changing Places

I am moving my blog so if you are following me here you need to make a change. Starting this next week I will be posting at:

 

http://marklagrone.wordpress.com/

 

I appreciate you following me and look forward to a fresh start.

Lessons From a Baby Duck

I am sitting here in my personal prayer retreat place. I have windows that overlook a lake and it is very peaceful and reflective. As I am praying and thinking I am watching a baby duck thru the window. The wind is really blowing and the normally calm water is choppy for a neighborhood lake. Several of the older ducks have floated by and followed the course of the wind and they are moving very quickly. Others have found a way to anchor themselves in the middle of the lake without moving and are huddled together.  

 

This baby duck, however, is going against the current and struggling to swim against the wind. It will get tired and stop for a rest and in doing so, looses some ground. It will start again and make some progress. Why was he struggling so hard to go against the wind? Why not follow all of the others?  As I looked across the answer was obvious. His mother was in cove he was struggling to get to. The best area for him to eat was in this cove. Everything he needed for life was in this cove.  Yes, his hard work paid off and he eventually made it to the place he was struggling to get to.

 

Thinking about my life now. How much easier it would be if I  would just follow the course of the wind. Letting the wind decide where I land and how I live. I see people do this every day.  Why struggle and sacrifice? Why not just do like most people do and just follow the wind. Do I fight the current and spend time alone with God to get what I need for my life or do I just take the easy way and flow? This would also apply to my life as a husband, a father, a minister, and a friend.

 

All of us stop from time to time and loose ground. The question is “Do I quit or do I keep going?” There are seasons in life where I do not want to continue. I am tired, empty, and usually focusing more on my self than what I need to be focusing on. After a period of time I usually sense God nudging me gently thru the wind. Look at the future. See the cove and what lies ahead. Everything I need is in His cove and there will be a place of rest.

 

I have to do different in order to be different.

 

musings

Well I actually got my wife's computer back up and going. A small sense of accomplishment for me. 

I spent the last two days in a "Christian Coaching" conference that focused on evangelism and discipleship. My goal is to take my skills higher this next year in these two areas. Being inverted always makes evangelism harder than it is for some people. However, nothing is an excuse. I am trying to learn how to leverage my strengths in this area.

Had fun catching up with an old friend whose wife passed away this year. The Thanksgiving thru Christmas season is always hard when you loose someone. I have friends who have lost parents this season and it is hard. You never know what people are going thru when you meet them on the street.

Some Days....

Ever have one of those days you can not wait for it to end? Yeh - that was my day yesterday. I thought I would work on my wife's comuter. It was just a simple swaping of parts and should have been "no big deal". Well 2 hours later when I got it back together...you guessed it. Now it does not even come on. So left and went into work for a couple hours on my day off to finish some things up. Next was ATT call in for tech support. Long story short: 2 hours, 7 people and 4 dropped calls. 

We all have those days and it is hard to get thru them. Somehow today seems brighter even though all those problems still exists. I know there are people with problems and issues way worse than mine. All in all I am a very blessed man.

Update

It has been a while since I have posted on this blog. Things seem to get so busy and we run out of time. However, I know we all make time for the things that are important to us.  Part of my goal for the new year is to write at least one post per week on this site. I have other sites as well for work, etc., but I want to continue with this one. Since I have started a blog at work this year this blog will be just for me and my personal musings. How exciting - right?!

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Happy Birthday Dad

Yesterday was my dad’s birthday and we are going out with them to celebrate tonight. Birthdays are always a great time to remember how special people are to you.

 My fondest memories are just spending time with my dad growing up. He took time out of his schedule to be with me. There were times almost every day it seemed. Little things like working around the house, yard, or cars. It seems like something always needed fixing and he could fix anything. Unfortunately for my wife I did not inherit that skill. He also involved me in his hobbies such as “ham radio”, and computers. On the weekends he would carry me hunting and we would spend time in the car on the way and back just talking.

 You never realize what a priority that was in his life until you have a job, responsibilities, and a family. What makes that so different than today’s world is that we make such a big deal when we spend time with our kids. We make sure everyone knows about it, we facebook about it, and tweet about it. For him we were just doing life together. It was a natural flow and not some event to be broadcast. He actually enjoyed spending the time with me.

 My Father also loved my mother. As a child you do not realize how special this is until you meet those whose life is not like yours. I never saw my parents fight although I am sure there were times when they disagreed about things; they never created an environment where you were afraid. It was a very stable house.

 My Father also made sure we made it to church each week. He was a deacon and a leader. He also became my R.A. Director (Royal Ambassador) at church when I went through that program. He not only invested in me, but many other young men as well who always seemed to say how much he meant to them as well when we would see them years later. He gave time – the one commodity that is more precious than money and the one thing you cannot replace with money or gifts.

 

Thanks for the heritage Dad !

 

Comments Often Said

I am always amused when people meet me and they know that I am in the ministry.  Their comments range from things like “ I had no idea you had a sense of humor” – I do understand this assumption as some ministers do not have a sense of humor, or “ I did not know you were interested in ……”. My personal favorite is " You seem so normal".

 Do not get me wrong; I am not ashamed of what I do or my calling, but the fact is when you are a minister most of the time people tend to think of you as one-dimensional.  You are a minister, therefore you can only think one way, read only religious books, and be one thing.  The fact is that I have way more interests and hobbies than the average person. Interesting how we always try to make people fit into certain boxes.

 

Nothing significant – I was just rambling.

 

Interesting Commentary

Sunday morning as I was eating breakfast I surfed thru the channels and a story on the local news caught my eye.  There were some protestors standing in the rain demonstrating against the tearing down of a church. I thought this must be important to them for them to stand in the rain all day with signs.

 

It seems this church was designed and built by the same person who designed and built the “Pink Palace”.  Fair enough; it has a famous history.  Their heart cry was how much this church meant to the community and they wanted it to stay versus becoming another pharmacy.  Their only reason for saving the church was it’s history.  It was not that the church was a beacon for Truth, meeting needs and healing hurts. It was because of who built the building.

 

I was saddened due to the fact that here was another church that had gradually lost its influence – these things rarely happen over night.  I wondered: was it over budgets, programming and people, was it over a music style, was it people becoming more focused on the inside of the building rather than who was on the outside? It left me wondering where a lot of churches are in their “life cycle”.  I want to be in a church where the community would protest the church leaving due to the positive influence instead of just another pretty building.

 

Parker 51

This is a 1947 Parker 51 in blue.  I have had this pen for about a year and it was my first antique fountain pen purchase.  The Parker lays down a beautiful wet line that is always consistent, does not bleed through easily, and is smooth as silk. I can leave the pen in my case for a week and it writes immediately.  This pen will spoil you in the way it writes and I find myself looking for excuses to write. 

 

My only real disappointment is that it really does not look like a fountain pen.  I like using a pen that has that “traditional” fountain pen look.  Still you have to love a pen that old that still writes like a dream.

Yes - that is my favorite coffee mug that I had custom made.

 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year.  As a matter of fact, I always hate it when people rush Christmas and start decorating before the Thanksgiving Holliday and the radio stations who try to outdo each other by starting earlier each year with Christmas music. Now if you have small kids I understand starting early.

 

 The nice thing about Thanksgiving is that there are no presents involved.  Before you think I am just a scrooge; I love getting and giving presents to friends and family. Most of us really need a time to pause and be “thankful”. We rush through life never really slowing down and thinking about all the blessings we have in our lives.  I enjoy spending time with family and just “hanging out” with no agenda or pressure.  It is like my last breath before the business of the Christmas season.

 

For the next couple of days just try to relax, enjoy the break, and thank one person each day for what they mean to you.