mthiner's blog

What types of things stir inside you? I mean, what rolls around inside our heart and mind on a regular basis? Is it worries about your work? Is it concerns over your kids? Is it anxiety about adulting? Or maybe it’s something bigger in our community or world. I know for me each and every one of these things (and so much more) has stirred in my heart at different times in my life. And, I’ve found, that often when my heart is stirred about these issues I have a choice to make about them.

Consider back 10 years ago and reflect on some of the major changes that have taken place in your life. If you were able to ask that younger self where they thought they’d be 10 years down the road, do you think you could imagine you’d be where you are today. As I consider where I was 10 years ago, there is no way I’d imagine my life would be where it is but that’s definitely not bad. But that got me to think more and more that as much as I like to think I’m in control of my life and how the day to day decisions I make are my own, there’s so much outside of my control, too.

Most of us probably don’t consider how we pray. At ACC we’ve been looking at various aspects of the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6, where Jesus reveals to us the heart of prayer. And there’s been some interesting details that have come to my attention during the study, but the overarching thought of how my prayers affect my view of God has struck me most.

None of us completely hold to the values or truths that we believe. And what I mean is that each one of us will tell ourselves that we ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ do gets ignored too often in our lives. I should exercise more. I shouldn’t eat all twelve donuts. I should send a care package to a local pastor who would be eternally grateful. I shouldn’t lose my temper.

I worry that I’m becoming an obnoxious fan. Honestly, I have a very specific philosophy when it comes to cheering at ball games, especially local games, though I sometimes struggle to maintain that philosophy. As a fan I think it’s important to cheer for your team and players, to encourage and motivate them and not to attack the other players, coaches, fans or even the refs. Honestly, though, I sometimes struggle with the ref’s side of it. But I can be very vocal, which I realize might annoy some people, which is where my worry comes in.

What have you done that you believe in and are proud of? I began last week’s sermon with a story about a gentleman who made a habit of asking this question, especially to new acquaintances. In asking this question, he had hoped to get beyond the surface question of ‘What do you do for a living?’ and really seek out people’s purpose in life. And that question can easily be related to what we do for a living, but it certainly doesn’t have to be.

The school announcement last week read, “Due to difficult weather conditions, Astoria Schools will have an old fashioned snow day…” I have to admit, I appreciate the idea of ‘old fashioned’ when it comes to things like that. And so for three days this week, we tried to do that.

There’s a new Disney movie that came out recently that I have come to thoroughly enjoy. It’s called Encanto. If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to check it out, but make sure you watch it at least twice before you make a judgement on it because it took a while to grow on me.

All of us have people we miss. Whether that’s a loved one who has passed away or a friend we haven’t seen for a while. Sometimes that missing hurts so bad we don’t know what to do about it. Other times it’s just a longing that we experience. But then we can miss people in general. We get so caught up in our own little worlds that we just miss connecting with other people or seeing familiar faces where we expect them.

All of us have people or relationships in our life that seem to always be a struggle, right? Often times, unfortunately, it’s someone in our family or someone who we can’t completely severe ties with for various reasons. Maybe you’ve always butted heads with a parent or with one of your children. We can still love them and care for them, but for whatever reason we just don’t seem to be able to see eye to eye on many things.