Tax Return

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tax dayAre you the type to file your tax return early, or do you wait until 11:58 p.m. on April 15th?  I suppose it depends on if you are getting money back or if you have to pay up.  Just be glad the IRS man doesn’t come knocking on your front door, accompanied by a bruiser with brass knuckles, demanding payment for a fraudulently inflated tax bill.  Imagine having no H&R Block to find you deductions, no tax code to protect you from a corrupt collector, no recourse if you are wrongfully audited.

Matthew was that guy.  He regularly soaked his fellow countrymen in order to line his own pockets.  The Romans used him, the Jews despised him and his family probably disowned him.  His only friends were other tax collectors and questionable low-life individuals of ill repute.

Then Jesus said, “Follow me.”

What made Matthew walk away from his booth that day?  Did he know he was burning that bridge — that there would be no going back if this risky adventure with an itinerate preacher didn’t work out?

And what about all that money in Matthew’s bank account?  The first thing he did was throw a big party, inviting all his sleazy tax collecting buddies to meet Jesus.  A banquet for a crowd would have come with a hefty price tag.  Were there sufficient funds left over to provide for the needs of a traveling band of men and their rabbi?

And why wasn’t Matthew chosen to keep the group’s money bag?  He was good with numbers, but did the other eleven not trust him because of his past?  Was Judas the unanimous choice for club treasurer?

Was Matthew’s old name, Levi, a hint that he was from a priestly family who expected him to carry on a priestly tradition?  Was Levi a synagogue school drop out who disappointed his parents and couldn’t measure up?

Jesus’ invitation to Matthew may have been a call to the taxing business of discipleship and a return to the glorious privilege of sonship.

How to Hook a Fisherman

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10 tips for hooking a fisherman from Luke chapter 5:

1.  Go outside.  Jesus was walking down by the lake because He wanted to meet fishermen.  You can’t sit in your pew and expect people to come to you.  Venture beyond your usual circle and see who you run into.

2.  Start small.  The first thing Jesus asked Simon to do was to push the boat out a little from the shore.  Simon could do that.  Begin by asking people to do things you know they can do well.  It makes them feel good and validates their abilities.

3.  Hang out.  Jesus picked Simon’s boat because He wanted the fisherman to be within earshot of the sermon He was about to preach.  You don’t have to get in somebody’s face with the message.  Just get them in the vicinity.

4.  Stand out.  No one had ever preached a sermon in Simon’s boat before.  Jesus did something unusual and unforgettable.  Go ahead and surprise people with a word or an action that takes them off guard and makes them wonder what you’re up to.

5.  Expect a lot.  Although He started by simply asking Simon for a place to sit, Jesus had much bigger plans for the fisherman.  Suggest some outrageous possibilities.  People don’t mind being challenged to attempt great things.

6.  Use their language.  If Jesus had said, “Come with me and I’ll give you a great theological education,” there might not have been any takers down at the lakeshore.  But “fishers of men” — now that sounded interesting.  Use words people can relate to.

7.  Be generous.  Simon wasn’t too happy about taking his freshly cleaned nets back out into the deep waters.  Jesus assured Simon he would haul in a catch — but even on his best day, Simon never caught so many fish that his boats started to sink.  When you give more to people than you have to, it gets their attention.

8.  Reveal need.  When the fish started piling up, the nets broke and the boats started to go down.  Simon may have hit the jackpot, but it only revealed his inadequacies.  Whether a person’s security comes from money, power, comforts, or relationships, at some point everyone asks, “Is the best the world has to give, enough?”  Pose the question.

9.  Stay calm.  After the miraculous catch, Simon was pretty shook up.  He sensed that something was stirring beyond his comfort zone.  When Jesus comes calling, it can be a little unnerving for people.  A reassuring word such as “Don’t be afraid” is a good idea.

10.  Start with one.  Even though Jesus was in Simon’s boat and spoke directly to Simon, his brother Andrew was on hand along with their other two partners, James and John.  At the end of the day, all four men “pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”  Invite one person to follow, and he might bring all his friends with him.

Fish Guts

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the-jesus-boat-at-the-sea-of-galilee-miki-karniJesus didn’t put an ad in the paper, “Seeking 12 men to follow me.”  He didn’t go to the synagogue school and ask to interview the top 12 students.  He didn’t stay in his hometown and gather up 12 of his childhood buddies.  He didn’t wait for people to come to him asking to be disciples.

Jesus went out to the lake shore because he wanted those kinds of people.  Fishermen were hard-working and strong, patient and determined.  Fishing for a living took faith — they couldn’t see the fish under the surface but they had to believe they were down there.  They had no formal education, no qualifications for ministry — yet were well-trained by everyday life experiences.   Fishermen were robust, hardy souls who knew how to work together to pull in a catch.  And they were fun.

I wonder what Zebedee thought the day Jesus came down to the fishing boats and talked to his sons, James and John.  There they were, father and sons, sitting in the boat together getting the nets ready to cast out on the water.  And Jesus offered the boys a chance of a lifetime — tutelage under a real rabbi.  Such an opportunity for simple fishermen!  The Bible says, “…immediately James and John left the boat and their father and followed him.”  They climbed out, waded to shore and were gone.  Immediately.

Dear Zebedee, what did you think?  Were you happy to see your sons find their destiny?  Or were you ticked that they up and left the family business?  James, were you itching to do something else with your life and this was your ticket out?  John, did you know deep inside that you weren’t cut out to be a fisherman?  Did you both feel like there had to be more to life than fish guts?

I hope Zebedee’s sons stopped in and checked on their father whenever they passed through Galilee.

I hope the old man didn’t make his boys feel guilty for leaving home and changing careers.

Jesus said, “Follow me.”  James and John said, “Yes”.  Pretty gutsy.

Follow Me

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follow meJesus said, “Follow me” 20 times in the gospels.

He says it to me every day.

He has to, because I need constant reminding who is the leader and who is the follower.

Some days, I attack my to-do lists and productivity goals with gusto.  I catch a few waking moments to let Jesus know what we’re going to be doing in the coming daylight hours.  I picture Him barely keeping up with me, breathless, but proud of all my many accomplishments.

Other days, I shuffle out of sleep and dawdle through the early morning.  I approach the day with sighs and groans and no particular plan.  I picture Jesus with a bored look on His face, kicking at rocks as He plods along behind me.

Of course, I’m wrong on both counts.  Whether I’m energized or empty, His place is always out in front, never bringing up the rear.  He leads, I follow.

So why aren’t we taught how to be good followers? Type in “leadership” in a search engine and up pops hundreds of leadership courses, leadership training programs and leadership development books.  A quick search for “followership” offers a shorter list.  Interestingly enough, Harvard offers a course entitled “Followership” with sections on Hitler and Jonestown, but not one mention of Jesus Christ.  Can’t say I’m surprised, even though Jesus was the only one who came right out and said, “Follow me” and then millions did for thousands of years.  Still do.

During this season of Lent, I’m going to dig into the word “follow”.  To whom did Jesus say those words?  How did they respond?  Why did some say yes and others say no?  What does following Jesus include?  What does being a follower cost?  What does it look like to be follower?

Care to follow?

Jokers

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Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time.  Proverbs 17:22

PB is a champion storyteller.  He has a whole arsenal of jokes and strange-but-true stories in his memory bank. I’ve always admired his ability to spin a captivating yarn.  The thing is, I’ve heard them all.  After 35 years of marriage I can tell when he’s getting ready to share a joke….and which joke he’s going to tell.  In my head I can relate every story right along with him, word for word.

I, on the other hand, am not a good jokester.  In an effort to be efficient and not waste people’s time, I leave out the embellishments, forego the details, and rush to the punchline.  My timing is off.  I don’t have that mischievous twinkle in my eye that endears listeners.  My anecdotes seem to lack PB’s pizzazz.

The winds of change are blowing as our children and grandchildren settle into their own homes.  PB and I are finding ourselves at a table for two more often.  Our conversation tends to center on work and church — serious stuff.  Sensing that we need to laugh together more, I challenged my man to 30 days of jokes.  New jokes.  Just to keep things fresh around here.  Besides, I found a website with enough one-liners to get me through the month.  I was ready.

It started slow.  The first morning, over our oatmeal, I said, “What did the zero say to the eight?”  PB put down the newspaper, confused.  I could see he was struggling with how to respond so I whispered, “I’m telling a joke.”  Still perplexed by his wife’s unusual question, I prompted him.  “I don’t know.  What did the zero say to the eight?”  He started to catch on.  PB: “I don’t know.  What did the zero say to the eight?”  Me: “Nice belt.”  I figured if I set the bar pretty low, things could only get better.  We shared a laugh.  He tried to pull out an old one on me, but I was firm.  30 days of new jokes.

The second week went better.  PB must have found a website, too, because he started greeting me with funny questions every morning.

“How much did the pirate pay for corn?”  

“I don’t know, how much did the pirate pay for corn?”  

“A buccaneer.”

“What did the three-legged dog say when he walked into the bar?”

“I don’t know.  What?”

“I’m looking for the man who shot my paw.”

I’ll spare you the rest…

 Sharing a laugh every morning has been good for us.

PB is learning some new jokes and I’m working on getting that twinkle in my eye.

A merry heart is good medicine.

laugh

Ta Da!

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Wait!  Don’t leave!  It’s the same old me.  Just with a different look.  I thought it was about time for something new.  Four years is long enough wearing the same blue outfit, don’t you think?  Sometimes a person just has to move the furniture around, or paint the walls, or hang a curtain.  Suddenly everything looks new and fresh, which is exactly what I need this time of year.

I hope you like the remodel here at “small drop”.  It was easier than moving couches.

 

Anniversary

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photo

My mom was so pretty.

My dad was so handsome.

On February 23, 1946 at the farm on Highway 38,

she came down the staircase in her silk and organza,

he stood tall in his Navy dress blues.

She took his arm before the fireplace.

Elmer and Ada, Frank and Jeannette, and 35 others

heard them promise to love and to cherish.

Before the bride knew there would be four kids

and a house in the cottonwood trees….

before the groom knew there would be seed corn

and cattle and cancer….

he wrote her letters from the USS Fanshaw Bay

filled with hopes and dreams of life together on the farm,

planting seeds and harvesting a good crop.

And so, for 27 years, they did.

Elinor (1922-1973) and Roger (1923-2011)

3/1000ths

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Henry David Thoreau said, “If thou art a writer, write as if thy time is short, for it is indeed short at the longest.”

You could put anything in that sentence and it would still ring true.

If thou art a builder, build as if thy time is short….

If thou art a teacher….

If thou art a baker…

If thou art a speed skater.

stopwatch

Last night, an Olympic athlete won a gold medal by 3/1000ths of a second.  How do you split a second into one thousand little pieces?  To someone flying around a track made out of ice at a ridiculous speed, I suppose that’s a plausible concept.  In order for my mind to grasp what that minuscule moment is like, I need to zoom out.

If I live to be 80 years old, I will have a total of 29,200 days to race around this planet.

3/1000ths of 29,200 is 87.6.  In other words, 87 days is my 3/1000ths.

If I live to be 80 years old, I have about 9,490 days left.

3/1000ths of 9,490 is 28.

Life is indeed short, even at the longest.

Psalm 90 carries the subtitle “A prayer of Moses the man of God.”

He wrote, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

I just numbered my days.

Now for a heart of wisdom.

Book End

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Sad day.

books2The Pew Research Center reported last week that “nearly a quarter of American adults had not read a single book in the past year.  As in, they hadn’t cracked a paperback, fired up a Kindle, or even hit play on an audiobook while in the car.  The number of non-book-readers has nearly tripled since 1978.”

I can’t imagine life without books.  Some of my best childhood memories involve books.  The red Child Craft books full of poems and stories, Nancy Drew mysteries, the Little House series.  I kept it up as an adult and now I usually read around 20 books each year, although in 2012 I burned through 41.  Last year, however, I read a measly 12 books.  What happened?  Am I about to become a “non-book-reader” statistic?  Never!  I know exactly what happened.

First, our church had a “read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year” program in which I took part.  (So I guess you could say I read 66 books.)  Keeping up with that demanding reading plan did take a chunk of time, but it was so worth it.

Second, I bought an iPhone.  I’m embarrassed to admit how much time that cool little gadget sucked up.  Shudder.   Facebook, Pinterest, Words with Friends.  I am back in control now.  Pretty sure.

Third, I subscribed to Gospel Ebooks.  Every day these nice people send me a list of books that are dirt cheap or even free.  Every day.  FREE.  Books.  So my Kindle got loaded up and I’d read a few chapters out of a new book, but then would get distracted by the next day’s free offer.  And so it went.  I’m working on this gluttonous addiction.

I plan to pick up the pace this year.  And I better.  My current “Books to Read” list has 170 titles on it.  Plus, there are 26 unread books on my Kindle,  a pile of 8 books by my bed, and 13 must-reads on my bookshelf.  At the rate of 20 books a year, I’ll be almost 65 years old by the time I finish.  Then I will retire….and finally have time to do some serious reading.

“I still find each day too short for all the books I want to read….”  John Burroughs

Still The Reason Why

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ink-drop2I had to go back and read the page titled “Reason Why” that I wrote four years ago.  When I started this blog, I had no idea what I was doing.  And that was a good thing.  No expectations, no goals, no grandiose visions of glory.  Just a small drop of ink to make a few, perhaps, think.

So, after four years of trial and error, I thought I’d get serious and try to learn a little something about blogging from the pros.  Maybe take an online class from a blogging expert or tune in to a webinar promising tips and tricks.  Turns out, I’ve been doing it all wrong.

It seems a real blogger is supposed to seek out advertisers and sponsors.  A true blog has a goal — make money by selling something or by working toward a lucrative book deal.  I am supposed to create a platform, gather a tribe, build my subscriber list, and develop my brand.  I should have been on Twitter by now.  I should have ditched my free template a long time ago and designed a one-of-a-kind look with some real wow factors.  I should have a stack of business cards ready to hand out to everyone I meet. (I actually did print out 10 business cards four years ago, but they are somewhere on the bottom of my purse — I never got up the nerve to give one to anybody.)

After giving this serious thought, I have come to some conclusions:

1.  I don’t want to do all that.

2.  I hate self-promotion.

3.  I’m doing this for fun.  I hope my family gets a kick out of it, and if anybody else wants to read along, well then, fine.

4.  I am going to change a few things.  It might be time for a new look.  I’d like bigger print so it’s easier on my eyes and I’m getting tired of blue.  So, don’t be surprised if one day the view is different.  It won’t be fancy.  It will be free.

5.  My reason why hasn’t changed….and I’m at peace with doing it all wrong.