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More lessons from my Dad… 

8.     When I have wronged someone, an apology is what Jesus would have me do.   This is never an easy thing, but it is good for the “apologer” and the “apologee”.

9.     Have a sense of patriotism.  Go to parades and stand and salute the flag.  Honor our Service Men and Women.

10.If you didn’t die from sticking your finger in a live socket, don’t sweat it.  (This is self-explanatory.  Dad just assumed that I was trying to stay up late!)

11.Appreciate the lessons learned by those who have gone before you.

12.Hard work has it’s rewards.  Dad built our home.  When an “unexpected bundle of joy” came into our home (ME!), Dad added on to the house.  It was his castle, his finest physical achievement.

13.Appreciate what you have.  Learn to be content. 

14.Being #2 is okay, if that is where God wants you.  I found out later in life that Dad often turned down overtime because it would take time away from his family and his church.

15.Make time to be spiritual.  Your devotional life should be a regular part of your daily life. 

16.Save coins.  One time when Dad was on strike, he needed a pair of shoes.  He was able to buy them (and pay for them) with rolls of quarters in a brown paper bag (much to my mother’s horror)!  

 More later…

My Dad, Frank Kasparek, was an incredible man!  He passed away three years ago this March 22.  He was simple and sincere.  By simple, I do not mean a simpleton.  I mean uncomplicated and focused about his life.  Dad loved and was passionate about four things: 1. God; 2. His family; 3. His church; 4. His hometown.  He was patient. (He took my mother, my two sisters and me shopping to Monroeville Mall just about every Saturday!)  He was the King of our home.   A few years ago, I wrote down the most memorable lessons that I learned from Dad.  I would like to take a few blogs to share some of them…  

1. Family is important!  Dad always had time for his wife and his daughters…and his parents, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews.
2. Memories are important – make them special.  Dad took ALL of the neighborhood kids Christmas caroling.  He took our family to Florida for vacation (in August in a car without air conditioning).  Having to do all the driving, it was quite a sacrifice!  We (Kathie, Judi and me) will always remember those FUN trips!
3. Fruit is good for you.  Having lived through the Depression with 12 brothers and sisters, fresh fruit was a treat!
4. Never leave straight pins on the carpet.  I can still see him jumping as he found one!
5. Disappointments will come – God is still faithful!
6. Hymns will inspire you.  Through the tough times, the good times, the hymns have wonderful anointed words for all ages!
7. Learn to see the humor in life!  We all loved to hear Dad tell a story, especially when he was laughing too hard to get to the punchline.  

I love doing things well!  It feels good to sit back and see “my creation” (whether it is a sewing project, something that I have cooked, or a child that I have raised).  I must admit, at times I am filled with pride at my accomplishments!  The other day in my personal devotions, I was hit with reality.  In I Corinthians 13 (“The Love Chapter”), I read as Paul said that if I do great things, “but have not love”, I am simply an annoying clang!  My accomplishments, my “great abilities” are worthless.  It is simply and only “love” that is important.  Someone once told me that “all things respond to love”.  In our goal-oriented society, we believe that all things respond to technology, to well-planned programs, to perfection.  But all that is worthless without love.  And it must be the perfect “agape” love of God.  Since the other day, I have been praying that more than anything I show God’s love to others.  My world needs the saving love of Jesus Christ!

This weekend was an awesome time of ministry!  Friday night Pastor Jim and Becky Leake were with us at First Assembly for our annual Sweetheart Fellowship.  Pastor Leake served as the Senior Pastor at Monroeville Assembly of God for 40 years!   Not only did they have words of wisdom, but they exampled for us true and enduring love! Saturday afternoon they were back with us for a Leadership Seminar for our Board and Trustees and their spouses.  The “Followship” principle that Pastor Leake shared was full of insight and inspired our leadership to move forward in the Lord. Sunday morning Pastor Leake shared an anointed message concerning the “I am”.  He is our “ever-present help in trouble”!   I am thanking God today for the “feast of the Word” that we were served this weekend.  I will be pondering and digesting it for a long time!   We are so blessed to know this incredible couple, and to call them friends!

I want to invite each of you today to a party of sorts.  I am throwing it because I want to wallow in my own self pity. That’s right, it’s a pity party!  I am tired today.  I am weary of the on-going side effects of the cancer surgery. I want a break from the pressure to “get caught up”.  I am fed up with being behind in my schedule.  I want to get back to where I was six months ago! There!  That feels better.  But now I see the absurdity of what I just wrote!  There is never an option to “go back”.  It is impossible!  And I certainly don’t want to stay right where I am.  My only real choice is to move forward. “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:13,14 Read the rest of this entry »

 My Sunday School lesson today was about the cost of discipleship.  As believers, we love to hear about the blessings of God in our lives.  (He really does bless us much more than we deserve!) I love to hear how God gives us victories.  (Who doesn’t enjoy a mountain-top experience???)  But God calls us to discipleship…and it cost us! 

Philippians 1:29 says, “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.”   God has GRANTED us the privilege to suffer for Him!  Now, I don’t enjoy suffering (that’s why I took my pain pills after surgery).    But I realize that out of suffering comes an appreciation for the lack of pain and an appreciation for those who suffer!  And most of all comes an appreciation for the Rescuer of the sufferer.  In America, we don’t really know what it means to suffer for Christ.   That’s where the sacrifice comes in…I willingly sacrifice of myself for the cause of Christ.  Sacrifice means giving up of one thing for something of greater importance.  ALL sacrifice is that!  And when we as believers gladly suffer, and willingly sacrifice, we become a servant.  “Servant” should not be classified as a noun but a verb.  Servant should be an action word.  Christ exampled the truest expression of a servant. 

Just some quick thoughts for you.  Do you have anything to add?

            A few months ago I was introduced to the blogosphere by my son.  Since then I have enjoyed reading the thoughts and opinions of so many.  I have been challenged, inspired and amused by what I have read.  I am not sure what makes me think that I, as a 40-something mother, would have anything to share with others.  Maybe it is not so much what I have to share as my trying to be open concerning my thoughts and feelings.  I cannot deny that it has been a rough year.  I wonder what in the world God is doing.  I have asked Him many times (like He has to answer me!).   But God, in His infinite wisdom, continues to carry me each moment of the day.              Let me share with you my life.  I hope to encourage you.  Possibly you can learn something from my journey (and my mistakes).   And please, laugh with me at my often humorous experiences.  So here goes…MY FIRST BLOG!            

          Just a little more than four months ago, I was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer.  It was found in a routine physical that my doctor insisted upon before giving me my immunization meds for a missions trip to India.  Needless to say, it was a shock.  I must admit, I have never thought of myself having any kind of serious physical problems.  I do not remember feeling a lot of fear during this time.  I felt numb.  I felt like I was in a nightmare.  And I felt like I just wanted to curl up on my mother’s lap and cry…            Well, three surgeries later, I am still kicking!  God has been so good.  The doctors have assured me that all of the cancer was removed.  It was a “very good kind of cancer, if you have to have cancer”.  (Couldn’t the medical professionals phrase that some other way????)  I do not need to take any kind of treatments (chemo nor radiation).  I just have to deal with an incredibly ugly scar.  Enough of all of that!            So what have I learned these past four months?  I am surprised at some of the things I have learned.  I hope to post some of these nuggets to share with you.  Now, please don’t think that I would even assume to “know it all”.  I don’t.  But I do know, for me, God has shown me a lot.

            One of the first things that I learned was to “reach deep”.  I love entering into God’s presence by listening to the Newsboys, or Mercy Me, or even Casting Crowns.  But when I am feeling the most desperate for God, I find that the songs that I grew up with, the “old hymns of the church” are the ones that minister the most to me.  I’m not saying that the other songs are not as anointed, but the olds ones that are buried deep within my soul are the ones that have helped me to reach God.  Throughout the Pentateuch, the children of Israel are encouraged to tell their children and their children’s children of all that God has done in the past.  They are to write it down and to never forget the past.  But God also was doing a “new thing” in Israel.  Even Jacob was given a “new name” (Israel).  So what I am trying to say, God is interested in blending the old with the new, the tradition with the new beginning.  In our efforts to be “cutting edge”, I hope that we do not forget the heritage we have.

Any thoughts???