Palm Valley | Behind the Curtain

4TH OF JULY

TRAGEDY

Last Saturday night, there was a mass shooting in Round Rock. Those words don’t even belong in the same sentence. Mass shooting. Round Rock. It just sounds wrong. This is not a big urban center. This is our home. This is where our kids go to school. This is where we go to the park, go swimming, and have festivals to celebrate our diversity and the beauty and wonder of our city. It’s where we go for the 4th of July fireworks…and, in days gone by, for the cardboard boat regatta. Mass shooting. Rou...

SLIPPING GEARS

Not too long ago, I got my bicycle overhauled but something didn't feel right, and once in a while the chain came clean off! It wasn't until recently that I had it figured out; that I found the actual problem. Turns out one of the links was bent. So why do I tell you this? Well, it's like a lot of life. Often all it takes is one person to pull things off course, to keep things from working as smoothly as they might. So today let's stop and ask ourselves, “Am I a bent link in a chain?”...

MY DUCK!

A mother and her toddler daughter went to visit a friend. When they arrived, the two mothers greeted each other with hugs, and they set the little girl down next to the little boy who had been playing with a toy duck. The little girl immediately grabbed the duck and said, “My duck!” As you can imagine, that didn't go over very well with the little boy. I won't go into the details of the duck being snatched back and forth or the ensuing tears that flowed, but I will say that the little girl kept ...

BRINGING TRASH AROUND

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS

How often do we misinterpret what other people say? Or how often do we assume we have the whole picture when we only have a part? We all do that though. We all jump to conclusions; we think we have the whole story when we only have part of it…and then, in our minds, we fill in what we think the rest of the story might be.

PULLING ON THE KITE STRING

Have you ever done something that seemed right at the moment, but when you had a moment to think about it, you realized that it might not have been the best course of action? How often do we act without thinking? How often do we make rapid, uninformed choices, and how often do we react instead of thinking things through? We all react to situations, sometimes without thinking or taking the long view.

TUNA NOODLE BRICK

Many years ago when I was a camp cook, I had a helper. After working together for a few weeks and watching him gain confidence, I decided to delegate some work. I told him that we would be feeding the 400 kids at the camp tuna noodle casserole. He assured me that he had it well in hand, but when I returned, each one was like a tuna noodle brick! Here's what I learned: first don't assume anything. Don't assume that somebody knows what you know unless you check with them beforehand. Second, commun...

I WOKE UP NOT IN JAIL!

Every week, I set aside time to have lunch with and pray with two colleagues. The other day we met, and one of the busboys came up to greet us — we've gotten to know him a little bit over the past year. When I asked him how we could pray for him that day, he said, “Just pray that God hears my thanksgiving and my praises. I don't want anything. I don't need anything. I just want to thank God.” He went on, “I thank God that I woke up today! I didn’t just wake up; I woke up, and I was not in jail!”...

YOLO BYPASS

Recently, I had an opportunity to be in California with my family. On our way back to the San Francisco airport, I saw a sign that cracked me up. It said, “Yolo bypass.” The reason that the sign got my attention is the acronym Y.O.L.O. Yolo stands for “You only live once.” As people of the way, as followers of Christ, we have a Yolo bypass. We can bypass the idea that you only live once because we know that there's more than the life that we're living here on earth right now.

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Today is one of my favorite days of the whole year. The 4th of July! Independence Day! It's a celebration. It's the birthday of our country. It's a time when we recall the stories of the patriots who took risks and were willing to lay their lives on the line for this incredible experiment called Democracy. It’s a great day to be thankful - for our nation, for those who came before us and led the way, for an incredible history, and most importantly, for an incredible God.

BASEBALL

THE UMPIRE

A couple of Friday nights ago, I watched a ball game at Dell Diamond. For one pitch, it was a fastball, and the ball glanced off the bat straight into the umpire’s face mask. It threw the umpire back several feet and knocked him flat on his back. That umpire was down! The other umpires ran to his aid and cared for him before walking him off the field. I mention this not so much because the umpire got hit, but because the others ran to help him immediately. They were there for him. You never know...

SHOULD V. CAN

I recently went to a restaurant where they had us sign that read: “Do not touch blind! Please!" I don't know about you but when somebody tells me I can't do something, believe me, I want to do it! How about when somebody says you should do something? There is a real difference between the idea that you can do something and the idea that you should do something. What should you do as a Christian? We should be kind, loving and sharing. Yet that word “should” can often make it feel like a burden. W...

40 YEARS OF DIRECTORIES

Have you ever forgotten someone’s name? I hate it when that happens. I saw someone at worship, and I knew that we had met, but I couldn’t remember their name. So, I thought, maybe they’ve been a member here for a while, so I started looking through four decades of photo directories. Looking through 40 years of directories, I noticed how individuals and families came and went over the years. People are in our lives for a season. Some for a long season, some for a short season, but they are all wo...

JOY IN THE LITTLE THINGS

For the past three or four years, I have gone to various grocery stores looking for frozen ravioli with meat filling but could never find it, not even online. But about a week ago, I happened to be at the grocery store, looking for something else in the freezer section, and I found it! Frozen meat ravioli! I was so happy. I had found joy in one of the little things of life. This was not earth-shaking or life-changing, but I was excited and so happy—because it's true, you can find joy in the litt...

WHOSE FAULT IS IT?

In the 9th chapter of the gospel according to Saint John, there's an amazing story about a man who was born blind. Jesus heals the man and creates quite an uproar. But even before that happens, his disciples ask him, “Rabbi, whose fault is it that this man was born blind? Was it his fault or his parents’ fault?” Isn't it interesting, that was their first question? We always want to find out whose fault something was.

TOO BIG AND TOO SMALL

When I was a little kid, my favorite aunt sent me a package with two shirts. I quickly tried them on and discovered they were too big for me. About a year later, I tried them on again, only to discover they were now too small. I know I talked to you last week about not being too focused on the future because we would miss the blessings of the day. Yet, today, I want to remind you not to forget about the future. Just as I had forgotten about the shirts, I missed my opportunity when it came along....

BINOCULARS

One day while my dear friend Tony was driving home with a beautiful, brand-new pair of binoculars, his excitement about the binoculars got the better of him. He held them up to his eyes just to take a look. Suddenly, he saw how close he was to the car ahead of him, and he slammed on the brakes . How often do we worry about what might be on the road ahead of us, before we even get there? We get nervous, or excited; we're worried about what might happen in the future, and we miss out on what's hap...

DOGS

I enjoy volunteering with the Round Rock Police Department as a chaplain. But that's not all that I enjoy. I enjoy spending time with the police dogs. I have to admit; my favorite one is Rocket. Rocket is just a ball of fun! Now, I've enjoyed owning my fair share of pets over the years, and even though I would love to own a dog again, I never felt that it would be fair to have a dog, given my crazy hours and my occasional trips to conferences that would last several days. But I recently found ou...

PIZZA AND OTHER THINGS

Do you know how they slice pizza in Sweden? They slice it with a pair of scissors! No kidding! They use scissors to cut pizza! Different people have different ideas and ways of solving problems, and sometimes we get all bent out of shape when somebody comes up with a different solution to a problem than the one that we are used to, and we just shut them down. We are all still working on being good citizens and faithful people, and not only is it ok if we come from different angles, but it’s also...

FAKING IT

We all have faked it at one time or another to make ourselves look good. The only problem is that we can’t keep it up for long – sooner or later, we will either get found out or get so wrapped up in our own deception that we lose track of who we truly are. In life, the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing, and for you and me, that is to remember that our identity is in being a child of God. We don’t have to fake that. And nobody can ever take that away from us.

HOLY WEEK

Here it is, Holy Week. So many things happened during Holy Week. It's hard to take it all in. But I think the biggest thing to know is that just as Jesus forgave the soldiers who put him on the cross and the crowds shouting “crucify him,” he forgives you and me today. Don't run straight to Easter through this week. This Holy Week, listen to the incredible witness of God's love for you.

BUSYNESS VS. BUSINESS

I’ve been thinking about words and how they can change over time. Like when “busyness” morphed into “business.” Is it when we got so busy that our busyness became a thing to be honored and respected? We are so busy with business that we often forget to take time to enjoy creation, to breathe in the breath of God, and to care for our bodies and minds and our spirit. Maybe plan some quiet time with God and maybe then we don’t have to let busyness become our daily business.

ONE OF THOSE DAYS

I asked a friend how her day was going she said it was just one of those days where nothing seemed to go right. Yet, she was pleasant at work. She told the story of her day like it was a funny story. Why? Because we all get to choose our attitude. It doesn’t depend on circumstances – no matter what happens, you get to choose your attitude for the day.

SPOT ON YOUR SHIRT

Every week I go to lunch with the same guys, and the other day we go to a restaurant to meet and pray. Now I knew that the food that I was going to be eating had the potential to be messy. So I tucked my necktie into my shirt so I wouldn't get anything on it. Well, about three bites into the meal, I spilled food right where the buttons are on my shirt. I luckily was able to hide the spot with my tie once the lunch was over, but I was subconscious about it the rest of the day. How often do we hid...

BACKPACKING WITH MICE

Many years ago, I backpacked through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Part way through the night, I woke up to the sound of rain. Which was strange because I didn't feel any droplets of water. I had a small flashlight, so I turned it on, only to see about 25 mice atop my sleeping bag. Sometimes things are not what they seem. I had thought that it was raining, only to find out it was an extended family of mice. How often have we thought that things were one way, and they turned out to be ano...

LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION

I told you a little while back about being in a cabin on a bluff when the last ice storm hit. The ice that glazed over everything was gorgeous and beautiful and sparkling, but it was also treacherous. Temptation is like that. It can look so good, so tempting, so wonderful but it can also be treacherous. Face it, we wouldn't call it temptation if it wasn't tempting. So the next time you are attempted to do something, when you're tempted to cut corners, when you're tempted to do things the easy wa...

CABIN ON THE BLUFF

Recently I spent a few days in a little cabin on a bluff — and I arrived just as the ice storm hit a couple of weeks ago. When I opened the door, I discovered that the interior temperature of the cabin was the same temperature that it was outdoors - just about 30°. So I turned on the wall unit, set it on heat, and some air came out of it that was not entirely cold, but a least it was warmer, and gradually the cabin reached a livable temperature. I’m telling you this, because sometimes things, li...

GOD'S LOVE LETTER TO YOU

Today is Valentine's Day. Some people think this is the greatest day ever. Some people think it's the worst day ever. Dating can be kind of confusing. Relationships can be challenging. Fortunately, God has written us an incredible love letter, the Bible. You can start with whichever gospel you like and when you think about it, God has loved you, through actions, your whole life. So regardless of whether or not you have a Valentine today, the one thing you have that is most important of all is Go...