Day 31: Proverbs Road Trip

Proverbs 31:30, Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised.

What I am most thankful for about this final stop in my Proverbs journey is that it’s not about the “virtuous man”. Most of this chapter is about women. Actually it is a passage that a mother taught to her son. This lady wanted to make sure of two things: First, that Lemi (see chapter 31 intro) stayed away from the bars and drinks. They weren’t going to do him any good. And second, that he found a good wife.

It all comes down to this, a woman that lives for GOD, that’s something to admire and search for. Charm and beauty are nice, but a passion for God, not that’s awesome and lasting. And while this passage is geared to women the reality is there’s nothing comparable to finding a husband or wife who lives for God!

END NOTE: Today ends our Proverbs Road Trip but I hope and pray that you will continue to make reading through the Proverbs a daily habit. God back and take the journey again for a few months. Really get to know the roads and detours. Each time you take the trip you will see new sights and learn new lessons. If the journey gets a little monotonous, trip a cross country trip through the Psalms, that will take you five months if you read a chapter a day.

Enjoy the journey!

Day 30: Proverbs Road Trip

Proverbs 30:7 - 8 O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.

I like that! “Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.” I am so grateful to God for meeting my needs. He’s never failed. He never will. The only time I get into trouble is when I want more than I need or misuse what had been given to be to meet my needs.

I don’t want to live “poor”; thinking that I never have enough. And I don’t want to live “rich”; acting as if it’s all mine and I can waste it. Just enough is good enough.

If I have to be poor, let it be that I am poor in pride.

If I have to be rich, let it be rich in God’s mercy and grace.

Goal for today: Appreciate God’s blessings a little bit more than usual.

Day 29, Proverbs Road Trip

Proverbs 29:11, Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.

This trip has been a trip of confession for me. As we approach the end of our Proverbs journey I am once again detoured by a verse on anger. I have to admit while I sit here at the off-ramp of 29:11 that I am at times an angry man.

An angry man; I try to disguise it, I try to avoid it, I try to not be it...but the reality is I deal a lot with anger, I can be an angry man.

I can admit that because anger in itself IS NOT a sin. Sometimes even God got angry. (Of course most of the time my anger is anything but righteous. God's is always just and righteous.)

Anger is not a sin. What is sin and what is foolish is VENTING my anger. Venting is what happens when I don't address the PROBLEM and instead address the EMOTION. That is foolish.

On the other hand I wisely and quietly hold back my "venting" I find out that the EMOTION fades and I can deal with the real PROBLEM (which is usually me).

Goal for today: Wisely hold back when I start to feel angry.

I'm Published...well, sort of.

OK, so it's not on Oprah's book of the month list. It's also not being promoted by Doubleday...

But, I've finally finished with my first novel: Seven Letters.

Here's the story behind the "Story"...

Last January I was at Barnes and Nobles looking for a book by Ann Lamont (Bird by Bird was the title). The book was Lamont’s memoirs on being an author. While looking for it a very young sales clerk “up sold” me a second book (he should have gotten a raise) called “No Plot, No Problem”. I had no idea what the book was, but since it was cheap, I added it to my pile of books to purchase.

When I got home Promise Ann grabbed, Bird by Bird, and we argued over who would read it first. She finally took “No Plot, No Problem” and as we read we both compared note on our readying.

It turned out that No Plot No Problem was not just a book on writing, but a book that challenged would-be authors to write a small novel IN JUST ONE MONTH! Promise got hooked on the idea and asked me if I would join her in the month-long project. I really wanted to encourage her, so I agreed and we set March as our “Write A Novel In a Month” date.

We both got off to a good start and it was a lot of fun sharing our ideas for our individual books – the plots, twists and other issues – for me it became an obsession – being the obsessive that I tend to be – so I pressed on, skipping TV and other personal pleasures and spending an hour or so every day writing.

At the end of week three – with nine days to go – I crossed the 50,000 word goal and still was not at the end of the story that was forming on my computer. I finally finished the story at about 60,000 words! With seven days to spare!

That was March 18th. What took three months to write has taken three months to edit and it's still rough. But the time has come to end my misery and get the thing out there for others to critize and wrestle with!

I've self-published through LULU Press (www.lulu.com) which is a print-on-demand company. What's cool is that I'm not out any $$$ and anyone who happens to actually want to read the thing can purchase it for about $12 (plus shipping).

For everyone else...just celebrate with me that I crossed the line and actually wrote my own "Great American Novel"!

You can preview the first chapter of Seven Letters at http://www.lulu.com/content/967008.

Now...to write the "Great American Song"...better go get busy!

Day 28: Proverbs Road Trip

Proverbs 28:14, Blessed are those who have a tender conscience [fear to do wrong], but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.

OK, I admit it, I'm selfish and stubborn. I hate to admit when I'm wrong. I struggle with that one. Even when I admit that I'm wrong, I find it hard to get past looking for everyone else's offense and simply deal with my own.

What I want is a tender conscience. I want to be pricked all the way to my heart when I am doing wrong - toward God and toward others. I've already experienced the serious trouble that comes from being too subborn to admit my failures.

I've learned what verse thirteen teaches, "People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy." I want to confess, forsake and receive mercy.

Goal for today: A tender heart.

Day 27: Proverbs Road Trip

Proverbs 27:23, “Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds”

Introspection is not something that is encouraged these days. We start the day with the clock radio telling us the latest news or latest tune, or we head to the table for a cup of coffee and the morning paper. (Or in my case, check the latest e-mails) We sort of blow through our days allowing whatever happens next to guide our daily journey. Absolutely no introspection.

I’m trying to rediscover that past Christ Followers called “The Spiritual Disciplines”. We don’t like the word “discipline” so we say “habits”. But honestly, they all take a certain amount of discipline just line a good exercise or diet routine – both will make you feel better, both take discipline. So it is with the “Spiritual Disciplines”; they take effort, but they make us feel much better.

Introspection is one of those spiritual disciplines. Proverbs calls it knowing “the state of your flocks”. How is it really going in your life? God gives me a certain amount of physical, emotional, spiritual resources – my responsibility is to know what state they are in – to honestly evaluate where I’m at with God, with my family, with my health, with my friends...you get the point.

Introspection should lead me to both confession to God and reliance upon Him. I need Jesus Christ to walk me through my yesterday and guide me through my today. I need to know the state of my flocks.

Goal for today: Put my whole heart into caring for the people and things God has placed in my life.

Day 26: Proverbs Road Trip

Proverbs 26:11, A fool who repeats his foolishness is like a dog that goes back to what it has thrown up.

Vomit makes a lousy lunch!

I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, some good, some very bad and some have even been true. But, there is one thing I do not want to be called: a fool. Cuss at me, yell at me, but don’t call me a fool. I don’t want to be a fool.

But sometimes I am foolish. Sometimes I do act like a fool. Those are the times when I repeat what I know is going to hurt me. I know the consequences; I’ve been there before, yet I go ahead a do the same thing again. I foolishly convince myself that I will enjoy the sin and get away with it. That’s not only foolish, it’s stupid.

I could never imagine eating my own vomit, yet I will “vomit” up sin and then consider eating it again.

I want to live in such a way that I don’t sin, but just as importantly I want to learn from the mistakes and sins that I have committed and not go there again.

Vomit makes a lousy lunch!

^{Day 25: Proverbs Road Trip}

Proverbs 25:26, A good person who gives in to evil is like a muddy spring or a dirty well.

Giving into evil seems pretty far from what most of us do on a daily basis, but if we are honest, we are faced with many evil things and we just sort of allow them to pass through our lives. Television that is questionable, literature that is unwholesome, conversations and words that are obviously ungodly. We just allow it, seldom question it and rarely challenge it.

The last thing I wish to do is to muddy my life with evil things. Honestly looking at the things I allow into my eyes and ears will keep my life "fresh and clean" (sounds like a soap commercial).

Goal for today: Stay clean and guard again evil things that muddy my life.

Day 24: Proverbs Road Trip

Proverbs 24:3&4, It takes wisdom to have a good family, and it takes understanding to make it strong. It takes knowledge to fill a home with rare and beautiful treasures.

This morning at church we will dedicate a precious little girl to the Lord. In dedicating her to the Lord we will be following an ancient pattern found in the Old Testament book of First Samuel where Hannah told the Lord that if He would give her a child, she would give him back to God.

As we dedicate the little one to God we will also be dedicating her parents to God. It is her parents who make the decision today to raise her in a Godly home where Jesus Christ is the center and the Guide of all they do.

Raising a good family takes God’s wisdom and understanding. But such effort is well worth the rare and beautiful treasures that are found in such families.

Day 23: Proverbs Road Trip

Proverbs 23:2: Control yourself if you have a big appetite.

OK; enough said.

Goal for today: Control myself...