History

I want to share the history lesson(s) I've experienced in the last couple of days.  To start, let me give you an overview.

My dad served our Country in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.  His duty assignment was on the USS Enterprise (no, not the Starship Enterprise) between 1970-1972.  On 1 Dec, the Enterprise will be, "Inactivated" and the process to dismantle her will begin.  Dad was invited to attend the ceremony and to tour the Enterprise one final time.  So, dad, mom, my middle son Will, and myself have traveled to Norfolk, VA to tour the Enterprise.

The first history lesson was learned during the ride up here.  It was a lot of fun listening to mom and dad reminisce about the trips they had taken on the very same route some 42 years ago.  "Well now this road was just a two lane road the last time we were here."  When dad was drafted into the Navy, he and mom decided to get married.  The interesting part here is that my grandmother (notice I didn't say, "grandfather") had to sign off for mom to marry because she was only 16 at the time.  Can you believe that she was only 16?!  So dad went off to basic and received orders for his first duty assignment on the Enterprise which was docked at Norfolk for her first nuclear refueling.  Mom and dad moved up to Norfolk for six months while the ship was in port.

I learned on this trip that mom and dad collectively earned $90 per month in late 1970 (about $530 in today's money) and they lived in a small apartment.  My mom worked at a place called, "Shakey's Pizza".  I think my grandparents only knew it as Shakey's Pizza because they'd have had a duck if they knew their 17 year old daughter was playing piano for a bunch of drunks in a bar.  LOL!  Mom talked about how that she and three other sailor's wives would work together to by groceries and gas.  Mom and dad were the only one's with a car; a 1963 Ford Falcon with a busted out back window.  Now this was during the winter and being the good educated folks from the upstate of South Carolina they were, they obtained the finest clear plastic and duct tape they could find and taped up the back window.  My great aunt Felcie and other members of the family would take turns sending them gas money to make the trip home when dad would have leave time while in port.  They would then make the eight hour trip home and back in the Falcon with the plastic window. 

Today, we got to tour the Enterprise and I must admit, I was extremely humbled to witness the extreme amount of pride held by every sailor we came in contact with both past and present.  I've heard mom and dad tell stories about the how the community in Norfolk took care of the sailors and their families and I have witnessed that sense of pride today.  Our tour guides were two individuals with jobs that according to society, were less than desirable.  But these two young people spoke of those jobs as if they were the most important jobs in the world.  Why? Because they understood that we all have an important role to play in life and that each of us are important.

Now, if you have continued to read to this point, let me share my thoughts with you.  My mom and dad made a commitment to each other when they got married and that commitment meant something to them.  How many newlyweds would stay committed to each other, out of town, in an apartment, working at a bar, collectively earning $530 a month in today's economy?  How many 18 year old individuals would brag about cleaning up after people or working in a chow line? 

God hasn't called all of us to be Billy Grahams, presidents, or millionaires, but he has called us to do a job for him.  He only asks that we do the very best we can at the task he has for us.  I can tell you that I have been humbled by many real world examples of such commitment.  I for one am proud of mom and dad because they chose to be committed and set the example for me.  I can only hope that I am setting the example for others like has been set before me.

Lord, thank you for the examples you've provided for me.  Help me to earn the efforts and examples set by those before me by setting the example for those around me and who will follow me.

Chicken Crap for the soul

When I was growing up, we had all kinds of animals, critters, and creatures ranging from horses to cats, birds and dogs, ducks and geese, and we even had a turkey that thought he was a dog.  I'm sure you are wondering what in the world can I be up to with a title such as, "Chicken Crap for the soul" so let me explain.  We also had chickens and lots of them.  My dad had a whole mess of laying hens that would produce eggs out the tail (no pun intended, well yeah it was intended).  Dad had also built them a chicken house (hen house)where they spent most of the time.  And, like you might imagine, they created a lot of crap.  Here is where things get interesting.

We also had a garden every single year.  I hated working the garden as a kid because it was a whole lot of work for food I really didn't care to eat.  Money was always tight around our house, so we didn't waste a whole lot; including the chicken crap.  My Dad would shovel all that crap out of the hen house and spread it out on the garden spot year round.  Over and over again, he would shovel the crap and spread it out in the garden.  For you city folks, that chicken crap was used for fertilizer which helped produce some amazing gardens and we didn't even need to go to the all natural store to buy it.  It's odd to think that something like crap could be so useful isnt' it?  I mean, it's chicken crap right?!

I think the same concept can be related to our lives every day.  So many times in life, we've either found ourselves in a hen house full of chicken crap, had the misfortune of shoveling a load of crap, or maybe even had to be the one to spread the crap.  For sake of discussion, we'll call these things, "Crap Jobs".  The real question surrounding all this crap is, "What is our intention?"  Often times, God asks us to do things we think are crap jobs but God knows what the end result will be.  Just as with our gardens, the crap is an absolute essential to having a healthy life and whether I liked it or not, it put a lot of good food on the table.  Instead of spending time thinking about all the crap we're dealing with, maybe we should take a step back and see what God is doing with all that crap!

God never promised us life would be easy but God is infamous for making something special out of nothing.  He turned water into wine, made paraplegics walk, blind people see, and on and on.  It amazes me every single day that God blesses and loves me the way he does. 

So, when you find yourself being crapped on, shoveling crap, or spreading crap, just remember that if applied correctly, all that crap can be used to yield some amazing results.  The crap your cussing God over, may just be fertilizer, or "Chicken Crap for the soul".

Have a great week!

The Definition of Excellence

For the last week, I've enjoyed vacation with my family at the Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL.  It was the first time in my life that I have had the opportunity to go to Disney and let me tell you, that was one awesome place!  My Mother-in-law coordinated the arrangements which included the, "Dining Plan", our stay and Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter Resort Hotel, and transportation to and from the resort.  Early on, we all decided to fly to Orlando on Southwest Airlines (which by the way was an awesome experience in and of itself).  When we arrived at the airport, there was a nice charter bus waiting on us which took us to the resort.  We never touched our luggage once we dropped it off at Greenville Spartanburg airport until it was delivered to our rooms!  Everywhere we went, we rode on timely ferry boats, transit buses, or mono-rail.  I was absolutely amazed at how immaculate, courteous, and informative each Disney employee was.  The Disney, "Machine" (as I've affectionately come to call it) blew me away.  Long story short, it was an absolutely amazing trip because I felt like a King the entire time we were there.

Tonight, I was packing my bag for a work related trip I have to take next week and something occurred to me; I should feel like a King each and every day!  Other than my toys (phone chargers, ipad, laptop, etc), I didn't have to pack a single thing for the Disney trip.  Did it just magically appear?  Nope, every stitch of clothing I needed had been packed by my wife.  Not only was my luggage packed, but so was Will and Katie's and Traci's (my wife).  AND, not only did she pack all the clothes we needed, she figured that I didn't need to wear 5.11 pants at Disney and bought me brand new shorts and shirts just for the trip.  AND, (ok, this is the last "and") she knew just the right size I needed.  Now this single event doesn't even come close to all the things she does around the house each and every day, like cleaning house, washing 411 loads of clothes a week, getting supper ready, giving Katie a bath, and much more.  But, packing my own bag has made me think about just how much like a King am I treated each and every day?  I tell people all the time that even if I could have, I wouldn't have been smart enough to special order her as my wife; (and no, I'm not making up for something stupid I've said or done; at least not that I know of....)

Seriously, with all this talk of excellence, feeling like a King, being married to a wonderful wife and all, I want to get to the point.  You see, all of the things I mentioned above are acts of service and not all of us recognize them.  Not all of us are programmed to see those acts and then some of us simply choose to focus our thoughts on the things that are not the way we want them.  We cast shadows on so many wonderful things (much like I do to my wife at times) and fail to see the wonderful things that we have been blessed with.  There are countless stories in the bible describing exactly this kind of behavior.  The story of, "The Prodigal Son" comes to mind which can be found in Luke 15 beginning with verse 11.  Now without telling the whole story, the man's youngest son thought he knew best and wanted his share of the inheritance now.  The son left with the money, wasted it, ate hog slop, and then begged to become one of his Father's servants.  You see, the son didn't recognize how blessed he was until he lost everything and had to come pleading to his Father for work just to eat.  Now here's the best part of Jesus' illustration here.  In Luke 15:20, the Bible says, "So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.  His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began." (NLT)  The point of all of my rambling is this.  Don't lose everything to realize how blessed we really are.  Jesus wants to have a relationship with you and to share his wealth of blessing with you.

My prayer tonight is that I will not take for granted how blessed and how much I feel like a King thank to my my Lord and my wife.  I pray that each of you will take the time right now to think about how blessed you are and maybe even send somebody a thank you note to tell them just that!  Have a great week everybody!!!

Tough

Well, I'm writing a new blog a little early.  I committed to fasting from TV and surfing the net for 30 days last Sunday night, and tonight is a tough night.  My favorite TV show in the whole world is on and I missed this episode when it aired; "Person of Interest".  I love that show because they are always looking out of the victim.  I mean, there have been episodes where people have been victims of some serious business yet the main characters almost always end up at the right spot at just the right time.

Well you know what?  Our Lord and Savior is in many ways, just like Person of Interest.  Have you ever thought about Jesus in that light?  Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about some sort of messed up Ricky Bobby idea of who, "Baby Jesus" is, but I am talking about how much God loves you.  Jeremiah 29:11 says it best where it reads, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  There are many other places in the bible where God expresses his love for us.  There is none more defining than the gospels where the story is told of Jesus' crucifixion and what Jesus went through for us.  Dr. Keith Maxwell wrote a very telling thesis on the medical point of view regarding Jesus' death.  You can read it at this link http://www.oocities.org/wei-kwan_ng/article/crucifix/crucifix.htm and I dare you to read it until the end.  It will open your eyes.  We take for granted how Jesus really suffered and all he ever did was love people.

After you read Dr. Maxwell's thesis, TV shows start to seem somewhat less important.  Truth be told, I'm enjoying fasting because just like tonight, when I wanted to give in, all I had to do was begin spending time with him and now I have the opportunity to share with you what he's placed on my heart.

Thank you Lord for loving me enough to die for me!  Thank you for giving me just a little insight to share with others and I ask you to change lives one reader at a time.  Remind me to consistently set the example and to always strive to love you more!

Thoughts For Today

Just a few thoughts before we all start out with a busy week.  I am blessed to be part of a wonderful Church with wonderful volunteers, wonderful staff, and a great Pastor @deanhermanonline .  I get the opportunity to serve with an amazing group of volunteers every Sunday morning who give their time to see lives changed.

Tonight, I attended a meeting hosted by Pastor Dean where he shared his vision and passion to "Win this City for Christ".  I am humbled every time I hear him say that because that is truly his passion and I am reminded to check my passion to see the lost come to know Christ.  I think I often fail at being committed to the cause of Christ and find myself distracted by so many things ("Squirrel!!!!").  Seriously though, Dean challenged me as usual to think less of me and more of others and to take every opportunity to share Christ with others.  He reminded us that it only takes one mistake to ruin our ability to lead.  He gave several examples that have occurred in the last few months, but one example he gave stuck out in my mind.  The Bible says that, "David was a man after God's own heart." and in fact, David had everything.  What caused David to fail?  The one thing he couldn't have; Bathsheba.  David had wives all over the castle to fit his every occasion.  But one look at Bathsheba taking a bath, and he decided that he wanted her.  Now you know the rest of the story, but suffice it to say, David lost everything and was eventually chased out of his Kingdom by his own son.  It only took one indiscretion and his career ended.

Pastor Dean talks a lot about, "Church People" and "Radical Followers of Christ".  To put it in even more perspective, 5 Point Church only has two services, both occurring on Sunday morning.  Most Sunday evenings, our front door is open and we are outside playing.  For the last nine years, we have lived directly across the street from Calvary Hill Baptist Church.  Would you believe that in that nine years, there has only been one occasion where somebody from that Church has walked across the street to invite us to come to Church?  Nine years!!  I mean seriously, Paul and Beth Turner were the only ones to ever invite us to visit and they have since moved on to an amazing ministry at Mt. Carmel Baptist.  But it got me thinking.  What makes me any different?  What have I done to invite my neighbors to my Church?  Truthfully, I'm no different.

So what is my point to all of this rambling?  It is so easy for us, well me, to look at what other people are doing, or aren't doing.  I don't make as much money as they do, but I do so much more than they do.  Man if I were the boss, there's no way I would do that.  Just like David, I think I lose sight of what's really important and the only thing I can control; my actions.  So I'm going to start making some changes right now.  Every one of you that reads this blog, come visit 5 Point Church next Sunday.  People there really don't care what you look like, what you wear, or where you've been.  They will love you!  I want to challenge each of you to start right now focusing on you and your actions.  Ignore the action (or the lack thereof) of those around you.  Spend the next 30 days focusing on growing closer to God by reading the bible and spending time with him in prayer.  It won't be easy because Satan DOES NOT want you to focus on the person that God wants you to be.  He wants you to be distracted by those around you. 

For the next 30 days, I am going to take part in an unusual fast.  When I put the kids to bed at night, I spend the next several hours watching TV or surfing the net.  For the next 30 days, I am going to turn the TV off and spend some one on one time with Christ and I plan to spend a lot of that time praying for you.  I hope all of you have a great week and I pray that every one of you that reads this blog will accept my challenge.

Lord, forgive me when I fail you and when I get so busy thinking about me.  Help me see every opportunity to share you with others.

"How in the world did I end up here?"

Like many of my postings, this question can reflect several different scenarios.  My scenario is one of extreme humility because I know how I ended up here; my Dad.  So, I thought I would list a few things that Dad is responsible for in my life and share with you my thoughts on what it means to be a Dad.  Our focal passage comes from Ephesians 6:4 which read, "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

For those of you reading this blog, my prayer is that you will take lessons from Dad on what it means to be a great Father.  Remember, your daughters will seek out a husband that is like you and your sons will treat their wives like you treat your wife.  Be it good or bad, you are the gold standard in their lives.  You'll read more about this later.

As early as I can remember, my Dad involved me in things that he liked such as hamfests, ham radio, fishing, computers, and many more.  I guess this explains a lot to those of you that know me...lol!  I can remember going with Dad and one of his friends, Mandall Rigdon, up to Sassafras Mountain to work on a ham radio repeater.  I could not have been more than three or four years old, but Dad took me with him.  Fortunately for Dad, he brought along my sleeping bag which proved to be a good thing; we got stuck on the mountain.  I don't remember how or why, but I do remember being with him.  Hamfests were an annual event in the Littleton family.  Dad, my uncle Lewis, my cousin Eddie, and myself took a trip up to Shelby, NC every year to walk around, "The Granddaddy of them All", the Shelby Hamfest.  I have so many wonderful memories of those trips, but unfortunately I don't have the time to share them all with you.  But again, Dad involved me.  I remember fishing trips to the "Hot Spot" and "Hughes Bend".  I remember Dad teaching me to work on things; cars, radios, yard work, etc.  He always told me, "Check the simple stuff first."  You don't know how many times I could have saved a lot of time if I had only listened to that little piece of advice.  Dad was always there for baseball games and later in life when I played RA Softball, he was there for that as well. 

When we were young, we didn't have a lot of money, but Dad was very creative.  Our semi-annual outing was to take a trip down to the Ramada Inn in Clemson.  That may seem strange, but my sister and I loved to play in the pool which we didn't get to do very often so Dad would load us up and take us for a one night outing just to let us play in the indoor swimming pool at the Ramada Inn.  Sometimes on Sunday nights, he would load us up in the back of his vette, his Chevette, and just go for a ride while Kathy and I would look up at the stars.  I remember Dad decorating the house with balloons and other party favors for Mom's birthday.  He even let me stay up to wait on mom to return from work on the second shift.  Dad was the perfect gentleman. 

Now while I'm sure much of the motivation and instruction on doing things for Mom came from subtle guidance from Mom, Dad was willing to do it.  He taught me to love my wife and to treat her with dignity and respect.  I've never heard Dad raise his voice at Mom to this day and they've been married for 42 years.  Dad has always been active in Church and faithful to Christ.

I owe every single success in my life to my Dad.  I began training for my career when I was born.  I began training to be a husband when I was born.  And, I began training to be a father again, when I was born.  Why, because I had a Dad that took the time to be involved and who taught me to be these things.  Now I'm sure there are those who are reading this blog that didn't have a Dad like I have.  I cannot begin to imagine what that must have been like, but there is hope!!  You can break the cycle today.  Today, you can choose to be a man of integrity, a husband of great repore, and a father of immeasurable compassion, love, and strength.  Today, you can choose to be "Courageous" all for the cause of Christ!

Jesus, thank you so much for Dad!  Thank you for giving me such a wonderful example of you.  I'm sorry when I fail to take advantage of every single second of life with my wife and children.  I ask you father to heal broken hearts that may be reading this and who have not experienced a Godly example of you.  Please wrap your arms around them and show them your love.  I love you so much Lord!

Happy Father's Day Dad!!! You have no idea how much I love you!!

"Yeah, whatever..."

The blog for today is one that I have struggled to write for a long time.  In fact, I had my beautiful wife, Traci, proof-read it prior to posting.  I hope that if you have spent any time at all around me you know that I love to talk about my family!  I really do!  And if you've spent any time at all around me, you've often heard me refer to, "my oldest", Cody.  Cody is 19 years old and is actually my step-son.  Many people have no idea that Cody is my step-son and make assumptions based on how I refer to him; this is by design.  You see, I've always felt that the term, "step-son" is somewhat demeaning.  It's almost like I'm saying, "you're here, but you are just not quite good enough" and that wasn't acceptable to me.  Not to mention, Cody's Dad is very much a part of Cody's life and loves him very much.  So, I decided to refer to Cody as, "my oldest".  It was a tough balance of making Cody feel a part of our home without creating the perception that I was trying to take the place of his Dad.  I wanted to make sure that Cody never felt as though he wasn't good enough for our home or me.  In my mind, this was one of the ways I could make sure he felt like he belonged.  After all, our home was as much his as it was any of ours.

What does this have to do with anything, right?  There have been countless times when I've attempted to guide Cody in an effort to prevent him from making the wrong decision.  I've tried to help him plan for his future and build a solid platform that he can build his life on.  But, there have been just as many occasions where Cody responded with, "yeah, whatever".  He would just blow me off and ignore anything I had to say.  I guess the truth of the matter is, I was just like him when I was 19 years old.  I thought my Mom and Dad only wanted to hold me back and keep me from living life.  The reality is that I wanted to live life the way I wanted to live it, and I didn't want anybody telling me any different.  I wanted all the glory and none of the responsibility of being an adult.

You know what's funny?  I think God the Father must feel the same way I do on a constant basis with us; with me.  He must shake his head at me on regular occasions.  I can imagine the Lord thinking to himself, "I really wish he would just listen to me.."  I should listen to our Father and here is why. His word provides insight into just how much he loves us.  If we take a look at 1 John 3:1 (I like the New Living Translation for this one) which reads, "See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!"  You see, God loves us so much more than we could ever imagine!  He calls us his children!  And, just like with my Mom and Dad, we see that God knows what is best.  Take a look at Jeremiah 29:11 which reads, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  The Bible is very plain in that God does not want harm to come to us; he doesn't want us to make sinful choices that will cause harm for us.  And like I did at 19, like Cody must feel at 19, and like we as adults feel now, we MUST know better than our Lord what is best for our lives.  In other words, we look away from God and say, "Yeah, whatever."  I hate to remind all of us, but ignoring God is, "sin".  God did so much more for us than just worrying about perceptions of the feeling of belonging.  He gave up his son's life for us.  He loves us SO MUCH that he plainly calls us, "His children".  WOW!!!  Did you catch that?  He doesn't call us his "adopted" or "step" or whatever, he calls us His children.

Lord, I am SO sorry when I ignore your words and your wisdom.  Please forgive me and help me to live by your example and leadership.  Please remind me to set the example for my family and friends and to honor you!

I hope all of you have a wonderful week.  And remember, "Step up, man up, and be more, "Courageous" all for the cause of Christ!"