Really Rambling. Just thoughts that flowed from my fingers.

Well, the turkey has been stuffed, cooked, carved, eaten and the leftovers have already begun to disappear. The stuffing has been stuffed into so many different family members. The sweet potatoes are no longer so sweet. They have disappeared. Family is starting to think about that return trip back to their homes. It has been a good visit or may it hasn't been such a good visit. I don't know the dynamics of your family. Perhaps you love being around them or maybe you are happier when they finally leave.

Me? I love my family. I love having Rachael and Brandon and Matthew and Chelsey around for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, we don't always get what we want. We had Rach and Brandon here but Matt and Chelsey were in Florida to see her new niece. Made our heart sad to not have them here. But then again, life is filled with disappointments.

I wasn't sure what to write about but perhaps that it is - disappointments. Not an uplifting thought but we all have them. Disappointed about how the Thanksgiving meal went. Disappointed certain family members didn't make it. Disappointed that other family member did make it. Disappointed that - someone close to use has died, that somone's health is not what we had hoped, that a relationship is broken, that a heart is hurting, that a gift was not given, that a kind word was not said, that a harsh word was said, and the list goes on and on.

Why are we disappointed? Because we have set up a certain expectation. I expect that I will spend the next 25 years with Penny. I imagine that a young couple that we have known for years, one which I married nearly 25 years ago had but will not see come to fruition as they must have his funeral today. Not easy to face. Not easy to accept.

We have expectations. We set expectations. We know what we want. Disappointments come when they don't happen. We forget that we do not live in a perfect world. We live in a broken world, a world that will disappoint us (perhaps even crush us) from time to time.

I don't mean to say that we will never have joys. I know I have had plenty of joys. 33 years of marriage - a joy. 30 years in the ministry - a blessing. Family and friends - a blessing. Dogs that bring me joy. Days that are filled with sunshine. Ministry that sees the Holy Spirit working wonders as that one person who didn't know Christ is saved. The joy of baptizing an infant, a child or an adult. They joy of seeing a heart lifted with the message of life and hope that comes from knowing Jesus Christ as the Savior. There are more joys and blessings than we can count.

But we do hit those disappointing times. May disappointment isn't the word that you would use. Frustration. Anger. Fear. Whatever you want to use, those times do come. Loss of a loved one. Loss of a job. Loss of health. Loss of ... whatever it might be. Those times can destroy the joy we have in a brief moment. One moment, sisters are driving down the highway singing their favorite song at the top of their lungs, laughing and enjoying life and the next there shriek of tires, the grinding of metal, the final breath of life ebbing from their broken bodies. Terrible. One moment feeling good and the next moment seeing the husband laying the hospital with a doctor saying they are going to have perform surgery in order to try to save his life. More than disappointment. More life fear. More like, "What am I going to do?"

The very same thing that you have always done. Where can you go when your loved one lies in the hospital? When you get the phone call about an accident? When you hear the last breath come from the lips of that special person?

You trust in the Lord. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23 from my memory) You turn to the Lord. Your heart is broken, He holds the pieces in His hand. Your life is struggling, He gives you the guidance you need.

Talking with the young widow, she tells us, "The Lord has made my faith stronger through this. I know my husband is out of pain and is with the Lord." What a powerful witness to the strength that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. He is the Savior, the Strengthener, the One who guides through the valley, who lifts up when disappointment sets in, when the family leaves and heads home, leaving you alone in a quiet house, when you wait for that message that says, "I love you mom, dad, brother, sister, son, daughter, friend."

I guess in the end I want to turn your eyes from disappointment, frustration, anger, bitterness, loss and pain. I want to help you turn them to the cross, to the Savior, to the only One who is always there to help, to lift up and to save. Jesus alone is the One you can turn to that will never disappoint you, that will always love you, and that will never leave you alone.

I rejoice that the Lord loves me, cares for me, and is with me every day. I thank the Lord for Penny, my family (both near and far), for my church family, for my everything. Yes, thank You Lord for the joys and the disappointments. Thank You.