14 years have come and gone.
14 years have past.
14 years of hoping that
14 years would last.

14 years I’ve spent right here
14 years with her.
14 years have flown so fast
14 years a blur.

14 years I’ve loved them all
14 years so grand
14 years to have the joy
of holding my lady’s hand.

14 years have seemed more like
14 days but then
14 years will start anew
When this poem comes to an end.

I was recently reminded that the #1 rule of blogging is to write and publish regularly. To some that’s once a week, and to others it might be once a day. I wish I could be so regimented. My Dad’s blog is updated every Thursday; you can just about set your clock by his blog. Not so with me and my blog. But hopefully, as the song goes, what I do share is “precious and few”.

There’s a song by Sting called “Heavy Cloud, No Rain”. And even having just returned from a truly remarkable week away with 77 students, I can’t say that there’s one thing that really is jutting out in my mind as to what I could share here. But if there were, it’d probably go something like this…

I just spent a full week that felt like a month in a place of discomfort, hard work, sweat, no privacy, and gloriously divine breakthroughs of God’s Spirit. It was awkward and awesome. It seems that I spent most of my time either behind the wheel of the minibus or behind the trigger of my megaphone, conveying information like: “It’s cabin devo time!”, “Everyone to the dining hall”, “Here’s Alex who’s going to do our bedtime prayer”, or “Hurry up! We’re waiting for YOU!”

But through it all, no matter what, there was an unmistakable knowledge that God was not only near, but here. No matter the environment, no matter the conversation, no matter the snag in the plans, no matter the tension, no matter the triumph, no matter the trial, God gifted us with a clear indication of His presence. And that to me was the best part of all.

Throughout the week, we had worship experiences each night (I hesitate to call them “services”). We went through Mark 4:1-9 and studied each soil type that Jesus talks about in “The Parable of the Sower”. The compacted soil on the path, the rocky soil, the weeds that choke, and the fertile soil. On the final night we talked all about the crop that Jesus spoke of; 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown. And we concluded with this question: “What is more important than eternity?” As humans we get so wrapped up in this world, our culture, our stuff, our status, our comfort, our image, our worth, and all the other things that serve as gods to us. But what will any of that matter in light of eternity? I dare you to find something that weighs more than eternity. If you do, please feel free to enlighten me, so that I don’t continue to waste my life on something that actually matters.

There are 2 days left to vote on which blog is better: Faith’s or this one.
The results have been rolling in and haven’t surprised me in the least.
After all, Faith’s blog really does have it all, even random pictures of gymnasts.
And let’s be honest, this blog is blatantly devoid of random pictures of any sport.
That fact alone is a glaring support for Faith’s blog over this blog.

Not to mention, have you seen Faith? She’s adorable. And I…well, I’m not.

But still, the poll isn’t over yet. So, I should get back to blogging.

We returned on Saturday from a week away at Kilmarnock. For those who don’t know, Kilmarnock VA, is a town in the Northern Neck region of VA, near the Chesapeake. It’s a very small town with HUGE opportunities to serve people. We partnered with an organization called Interfaith to help bring hope and healing to people living in homes in desperate need of repair. We replaced roofs, painted houses, built wheelchair ramps, and anything else could find to do in order to bring help and joy to those homeowners; who were usually elderly and extremely low income.

Some of the things I learned/was reminded of at Kilmarnock this year:

1. The physiology of the brain and its development is incredibly amazing to watch, especially in middle school students.

2. Serving others is the solution, no matter what the problem is.

3. You can plan good, but you can’t plan God.
Our week was fully of serendipity and miracles. God did amazing things that we didn’t ask Him or expect Him to do. Oh sure, we expected God to do something, but not what He did and when He did it. (Silly God, didn’t you read the script we wrote?) God’s presence was made known to everyone there, I guarantee it. Some listened, followed, and obeyed. And to them God has given power, passion, authority, a new sense of mission, wild abandon, and a fire in their eyes for the Kingdom.

4. I’m still dead set against pranks. And I’m pretty sure I always will be.
Some might argue that pranks do have a place in a healthy group image. To them I respectfully say, “Are you insane?” I’ve never seen a prank do anything but damage property or damage feelings. And yes, there were pranks on this trip.

5. I’m in awe of how God orchestrates things to have the right people in the right place.
We had 20 adults on this trip to lead the 77 students. Every adult blew me away with their passion for Jesus, their nonstop love for students, their examples of holiness and servanthood, and their availiability to God’s Spirit, no matter what. We didn’t take chaperones and we didn’t take wardens. We took spiritual leaders and it was obviously that God used all of them to accomplish His purposes on this trip. These 20 adults gave up a week of their vacation time to spend it sweating, working, and loving students. It was incredible and I’m so thankful for each of them.

I want to thank anyone who prayed for this trip, and assure you that prayers were definitely answered and are still being answered now. I want to thank the students who participated not only on the worksites, but also with God throughout the week. You’ve come away from this experience different than when you left, and that was the whole point.

Kilmarnock 09 will be one for the books, that’s for sure. It was memorable and monumental in the life of this student ministry. And now we get to the work of allowing God’s Spirit to continue the work right here that He began over there.

Well, if you’ve listened to the Day 3 Kilmarnock Podcast, and if you listened to the special “addendum”, then you know that the gauntlet has been thrown down. With recklessness never before witnessed now or ever, it was declared that Faith Price’s blog is better than this one.

Now, I’m not one to shy away from a challenge, so I have chosen to let the people speak. Look to the right and you’ll see a simple poll (until it expires one week from today) so that once and for all, we can see clearly who’s blog reigns.

Now, a word about Faith. Faith is great. I really like her. But when I’m faced with such a challenge such as this, well….the gloves come off.

So, take a peek at Faith’s blog you can find it here.
Then, come back and cast your vote.

Okay, Faith. Let’s do this.

I wonder if anybody else notices things about themselves as they get older. I wonder if anyone shares these generally non-positive things with anyone else. (And remember this is a blog, so I do mean ANYONE else.) I’d guess its more likely that most of you noticed these things long ago and the fact that I’m just now noticing them is once again a testament to my slow processing speed.

One thing I noticed this morning is that I thank people a lot. Maybe too much. Maybe way too much. Thanks so much for reading that sentence. Really. Thanks so much.

Case in point: It’s 9:17 a.m. right now in the past 10 minutes I have written 2 emails to 2 different people. Within both emails, I was thanking them. Not for anything specific per se, just in closing. As in…

Thanks so much,
Jerry

But here’s the weird thing I noticed. When I type the word “Thanks”, my fingers automatically follow “Thanks” with “so” as in “so much”. As if “Thanks” is insufficient. I’m not kidding. It’s a freaky subconscious thing my fingers do when I’m typing “Thanks so—see? I did it again. So, I admit, I’m a bit overboard with “so”.

And if you ever call me on the phone, I’ll thank you before saying goodbye. Even if you called me. Even if in the context of our conversation I agree to some huge favor you’ve asked, like donating a kidney. Even if I was totally right and you were totally wrong (Okay, that one doesn’t really happen). No matter what we say on the phone, I’ll thank you right before I say goodbye. I just do. Its a habit. Thank you.

I’m thinking about having brain surgery to correct it.

Another thing is, I use commas a lot. In fact, its been said that I overuse commas. Some would say that the previous sentence shouldn’t have a comma. To that I say, “Tough toenails, I’m the one typing.” Seriously, I do like commas and for someone who does an awful lot of typing I’d fully expect the comma button on my keyboard to wear out first. And I’m still upset that it has to share with the <. I mean who uses < ? I just looked down at my comma button and no joke, the < is just about worn off. I can't wait until its totally gone and then its just me and my , ready to conquer the world.

I don’t mean to psychoanalyze myself, but my love of commas might come from the fact that I don’t like things to end, I mean end. And periods just seem so final.

I think I’ve said before that I grew up in a conservative independent Baptist church. The name of the church was “South Jersey Baptist Church”. It was on Townbank Road in North Cape May. Google it when you have absolutely nothing to do.

And in that church of my youth, I aquired my theology. My Dad, Ron Varner, is one of the best expository preachers I know…even to this day. But before each sermon, we’d sing hymns. Not familiar with hymns? Hymns were songs you’d sing in the church service from a book called a hymnal that had not only the words to the songs, but also the music; the notes, the keys, the parts for soprano, tenor, alto, and bass. Ah, hymns. What memories.

One hymn I remember in particular, “When We See Christ” held these words in its chorus: “It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ….”

Wanna be a hymn-star? Click here, and you’ll be centerstage for a “When We See Christ” Karaoke Jam. Sing as loud and as badly as you’d like. Especially if you’re reading this at a public library computer.

You back from your World Tour? Good.

The reason I was thinking about this hymn is because I’ve been extraordinarily busy recently (comparatively speaking) and I want to be sure that what I’m doing is worth anything. Can you imagine going through life living each day and at some point looking back and seeing no evidence that you did anything good?

Now, I know there’s a line of thinking among some Christians that goes something like this, “Do your best and God will take care of the rest.” But what if the best that I’m doing isn’t even something God is interested in taking care of the rest of? In a nutshell: Is what I spend my discretionary time doing in line with what God would have me do?

It’s a thought that can really haunt you if you let it. But I take it as a leveling tool when the thought arises in my mind. I suppose you just might go crazy if you’re paranoid that whatever you’re doing at any given moment is displeasing your Creator who created you for something other than what currently fills your time.

All of this is simply another angle of the deep-rooted desire to do something that matters. So, I ask questions of myself like:
1. Will what I’m doing today make a difference in a year? In 20 years?
2. Does what I’m doing with my life now represent a heart and life that is passionate for God and people? Or does it represent a mind focused primarily on myself?
3. (For parents of kids still under your roof): If my child(ren) were to follow my example, would I be proud of the people they become?

There’s a realignment that can happen when I ask hard questions of myself. That is, if I actually realign anything. It’s one thing to see a misalignment. It’s quite another to do something about it.

So that I don’t spend my life chasing my tail, I’d like to try and put legs to these thoughts. Here are some things I can do to bring this to life:
1. Evaluate life on a daily, even hourly basis. Did what I just spend that hour on draw me closer to God’s design for my life, further, or did I just “mark time”? (Some might argue the third is impossible.)
2. Intentionally pass on what I know. Someone once said, “If you want to impress people, talk about your successes. But if you want to impact people, talk about your failures.” Successes or failures, I want my kids to know that their Dad is going to be honest with all of it. I want to take every chance to teach my kids not just what is right, but why its right. Case in point: 15 minutes ago I was standing at the bus stop with my son. He and another boy were talking about whether they prefer doctor visits or dentists visits and the pros and cons of each. A third boy walked up from down the street who also rides their bus, and without a word he raised his fists with his first 2 fingers extended like a gun and “shot” my son and his friend. And then declared “There. You’re dead.” And while for the most part I chalk that up to “they’re boys”, I also am keenly aware of the influence of society through media, internet, movies, cartoons, and video games in the hearts and minds of children and adults alike. But in those moments at the bus stop this morning I squandered an opportunity to not only teach my own son, but also those 2 other boys as well. “Lighten up Jerry, they’re boys playing with fake guns.” Well, if we don’t give kids the right perspective on things like that we shouldn’t be surprised at the horrible epidemic of school violence, not to mention sexual deviance, hatred, and substance abuse. So, I want to pass on what I know.
3. I want to live unashamedly loving Jesus. I want my kids to know that I would lay down my life for my wife, but that Jesus laid down His life for me. How can I do anything but turn my all over to Him. The truth is, God’s wrath is coming to this world. But God’s love has already come. And that love of God is only found in the person of Jesus who died in my place so that I don’t have to fear the coming wrath. Those aren’t popular words today, but they are necessary and true. And no matter what, I want my kids to know (beyond the whole pastor gig) that if my job was cleaning cess pools, teaching 1st graders, washing dogs, wiring houses, welcoming Walmart customers, I’d still be captivated by Jesus’ love for me and live each day returning that love to Him through loving all people.

If I can do those things, I know that I can confidently say that when its my turn to be lowered into the ground, that my life’s work would bring a result that would have been worth it all.

I woke up yesterday morning to quite a surprise. Apparently while I slept, some jokesters decorated my lawn with Fruity Pebbles (the colorful cerea that can’t be picked up), and a dozen eggs under the welcome mat at my front door. Not only that, but they painted my car windows with “Class of ’09” and then saran wrapped my entire car. They even took great care to even wrap under the car as well. Certainly whoever the culprits, they did a great job–and whatever their goal was, they achieved it. But I had to wonder, who would have done this?

I lead a small group of high schoolers, who all happen to be graduating this year (their ceremonies were this weekend, actually). So, I soon decided that out of sheer love and good humor, they decided to decorate their small group leader’s lawn and car. Even as I unwrapped my car and my kids helped pick the silly string from my driveway, I couldn’t help but feel the love. I mean if they hadn’t loved me, the probably would have thrown rocks through my window with menacing, threatening messages attached to them. So, I chalked it up to love and gladly washed my car.

End of the story? Not quite.

They also threw countless lima beans across my front yard. These beans promptly took root and now I have lima bean plants all over my front yard. Even after pulling them out by the roots repeatedly, even after mowing them down, they return undaunted. So, it seems as though I have become an involuntary bean farmer.

At least now I have an excuse to buy a tractor.