Men in general are known for being many things. Among them are driven, strong, aloof, outspoken, bad listeners, unfeeling, intelligent, unintelligent, focused, lost, and the list goes on and on. But there are two typical charateristics of men that I want to focus on today. Many of us are “big picture” guys and many of us are fathers.

Men like to think big. If we are going camping in the backyard, we probably need all the camping equipment we can muster and even a weapon because you never know what kind of wild beast you may encounter 90 feet from the backdoor. When we go to a football game we need to make sure we have our home team t-shirt, sweatshirt, hat, blanket, drink holder, grill cover, flag and bandana, not to mention our team color fold-out lawn chairs. And they say women pack a lot! But the point is we plan. And we plan in church too. Now don’t get me wrong, planning is a great thing. It keeps us all from wandering around aimlessly. Planning keeps our kitchen cabinets and refrigerators stocked with food. It makes sure the gas tanks are filled. But sometimes…sometimes…it keeps us from “seeing the forest from the trees”.

Yesterday I had a couple of opportunities to see that my plans were not as important as what God gives me in the moment. I was busy working on a project for my job and trying to figure out how my small business is going to make it in this economy and I kept talking to God and saying, “Please, please, please show me what I am supposed to be doing. What is the big picture for my life here?” And then God rang the doorbell. A close friend had stopped by to share some burdens with me and we talked and I am not sure if I made this person feel better, but it definitely clued me in that God has the Big Picture under control and I need to be looking around for those types of moments because they hit us every single day.

So in that same line of thinking I had another oppportunity last night. I was given a moment with my oldest daughter who was struggling because she had spent the first part of the week with her grandparents and all of their candy and craziness and so Harper wanted to stay there forever. So we had a nice long talk and I think her 4 year old mind and heart were able to grasp most of what I said. But my 35 year old mind and heart grasped all of it.

As fathers, husbands, leaders, teachers, mentors, supervisors, workers, pastors, we plan. And we like to plan big. But there is nothing bigger or more important than the heart. Make sure you look around from time to time and see if there is not an opportunity to heal one.

On the Journey with You,
Scott