Friday, January 7, 2011

Happy Friday!

Today was a day of laughter and tears as we buried our dear friend, mentor and teacher, Duane D. Gohlke. The service was brief but very powerful with not only the accomplishments of this phenomenal man, but the phenomenal accomplishments of Christ through him and his beloved wife, Bobbie Gohlke.

The family was led into the sanctuary by a bagpipe player playing Amazing Grace. But the most profound moment came at the end of the service. The organist played four pitches from the piano and then members of the congregation, as his former students, were invited to sing The Lord Bless You and Keep You. We ended each concert with this timeless classic. I am not sure who sang the first note but before long, sounds like I have never heard before were echoing inside the sanctuary of the First Methodist Church in Sherman, Texas, as if the heavens opened up and the angels were giving us a glimpse of what it will be like some day. The sound was nothing short of heavenly and it was as if Mr. Gohlke was standing in front us directing us one last time. It was without a doubt, a holy moment. I am sure we did Mr. Gohlke proud.

You know when you are going to see people you haven’t seen for years how you want to go looking your best? So you lose weight, plan your stories and plan what to wear so you are at your very best for those few short moments when you see long lost friends. You want them to see you as smart, successful, fit and healthy. With a reunion you have time to plan and prepare. With a funeral there is no time to plan. You cannot lose 40 pounds in three days, de-wrinkle your face, become successful and get all of the wrongs righted in 72 hours. Priorities change. In an instant, it isn't so important to change to fit what you think other people want to see. I guess what I am trying to say is you just never know what or when something is going to happen.

So my friends, call someone you haven’t seen in a while, visit an old friend or a relative, send a card, find them on Facebook (but don’t look for me because I am not on Facebook) and reconnect. It was wonderful to see friends today I have not seen since high school (a number of years ago!) Tell them you love them.

And finally, get right with God now. Scripture tells us that we will never know the time or place of His coming. And we will not know the time or place of our leaving. God is so good and He loves us so much. God sent Jesus so we could know Him, love Him and learn to love like Him. Do we need a reunion with Him?

We can all learn a wonderful lesson from Mr. Gohlke: to die is to live with Christ, to live on earth is to be a blessing to others. His life could be summed up in this brief sentence. Let each of us be a blessing to others until it is time to live with Christ.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us lift one another up in prayer each day. Love you all so very much, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
Happy Thursday!

1 Peter 4:11 “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. “ Amen.

Each of us has spiritual gifts. These gifts are to be used in the service of God empowered by the Holy Spirit. This passage tells us that those who speak should speak in the name of Jesus Christ and declare His glory in all they say. Then it speaks of those who are in fields of service. Let those who serve do so in the name of Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit so that God may be glorified in all we do.

Because every good and perfect gift comes from God we are called to be good stewards of the gifts God has given us. Each of these gifts of speaking and action are to further the kingdom of God.

I think we all have both of these gifts, but we have a stronger ability in one over the other. But the most important thing is that we use all of our gifts to show others how much God loves us and that God loves them too. We can preach Christ using our words or we can preach Christ every day by doing good works in His name.

Ultimately all gifts are given by God through the power of the Holy Spirit to help us live a Christian life and glorify God. God has gifted each of us and wants to work through us by using the gifts He so lovingly gave us.

Which gift fits us better and how are we going to let God work through us by using our gifts today? Just something to think about…

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to lift each other up in prayer each day. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Prayer alert! Bruce and I will be traveling to Sherman to attend the funeral of our dear friend Duane Gohlke. Pray for travel mercy for us and for Duane’s family to be comforted. Peace, gc

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Happy Wednesday!

Today I turned in my paper work for retirement from teaching. It was a bittersweet moment. I remember being asked many years ago what I wanted to be and my answer was “a retired teacher.” This moment came far too quickly. I have been an elementary teacher for thirty plus years. I am only receiving credit for 25 of those years as I taught in a private school for 7 years after first moving to Arlington. I have loved (almost) each moment and still take joy in going to school each day. But it is time to move on as God has called me to another place and into a different ministry.

1 Peter 4: 8-10 “Above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

The first lines of my meditation tonight really nailed me. They speak of deadlines and how we treat them. A pastor shared that his staff doesn’t do what is expected, but what is inspected.

The teaching staff at our school has been asked by our principal and vice principal to create an extensive data folder on each of our students. This folder is to hold all of the test data and notes on parent conferences, report cards etc…All of the folders came due today. I did not complete this task until around 4:30 this afternoon. For each of us who create these folders this is a huge amount of added work to our already overflowing plates. Most of us were cramming today to hurriedly complete these folders to meet the 3:00 deadline. The information in these folders is accurate, but the quality of these folders may show that we just “got the job done.”

Scripture tells us that at some point history is going to have a deadline. The Apostle Peter tells us in 1 Peter that we should do things in the light of the end of all things. Most importantly we should have “fervent love for one another.” To show fervent love to one another means to stretch out and love each other beyond our comfort zone. We should be radically hospitable and lavish God’s love on those we know and those we do not know “as if they were our brothers and sisters.”

The Christian message requires God’s help in delivery each day. We cannot wait until it is too late to deliver this message for we do not know when our last opportunity to share God’s message of love might be. In order to deliver this divine message of love and hope we must live it and express God’s grace in our lives. When we love like God loves us we share His blessings with others as gifts from God.

Let us pray:
Father, let me “stretch out” in love and hospitality as we live in Your grace.” Amen

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to lift one another up in prayer each day. Please continue to keep the Gohlke family in your prayers. The service for Duane Gohlke is Friday at 2:00 in Sherman. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.


Happy Tuesday!

Today was the first day back for the students in FWISD. I was greeted by excited children, a new student and some sad news. Duane Gohlke passed away on Monday. The picture is of me talking with Duane at a reception given for him last July.

Duane was my high school choir director and so much more. He became my mentor in so many ways. He was a brilliant man with a wonderful sense of humor, a brilliant mind, perfect pitch and a lifelong love of music. Duane taught me to sing. He taught me to never accept anything less than the best in myself. He always told me, “Helvey (my maiden name), all I expect you to be is perfect.” Today in my morning devotion it closed with this sentence, “To die is to be with Christ, but to remain on earth is to be a blessing to others.” Duane is now with Christ and while he was on earth he was a remarkable blessing in my life.

1 Peter 3:15-16 “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.”

This passage tells us that our salvation is grounded in the hope of the resurrected Christ. I have had a number of people ask me how I got through the battle and loss of our son to cancer. I always say God never left our side for a moment and that I always believed in hope. Our wonderful oncologist Dr. Adams told us a number of times that “the destination is never in question, but sometimes the journey sucks.” Yes, cancer is devastatingly horrible, but hope in our Lord and Savior is always the right thing. I always knew that no matter what the outcome of this disease, Casey would be alright. He would either come back home with us or he would go home to God. Home was Casey’s favorite place and either way, the journey would take him there.

I am often questioned as to why I did not feel anger at God during this time. My answer is simple in that God did not give Casey cancer nor did Casey invite this disease, it just happened. There was nothing to be mad about, a number of other emotions for sure, but not anger. I think it is because I believed that the crucified Christ was in the midst of the battle with Casey and all of us. God worked through all of us - Bruce, Casey, Geni, Travis and me to model how a family of faith walks through a horrible situation.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to lift each other up in prayer each day. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Prayer alert: Please pray for the Gohlke family, Bobbie (Duane’s wife), Josh, Jenny and their children.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Happy Monday!

1 Timothy 6: 6-8 “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”

How often do we feel contentment? Contentment for me would mean enough of what we need to meet the needs of the day. Each day during the Christmas season my prayer was for “enough.” God blessed us with enough. We had enough food, we had enough gas for our journeys, enough gifts and were blessed with enough family time. I think we all had the nicest Christmas we have had in the last couple of years. It was as if God was continuing to bless us with His ever present grace as he granted us His presence.

In my meditation tonight it gave the Greek translation for godliness. The translation means, “good worship.” We were blessed to have worshiped on Christmas Eve and then again on Christmas morning. Those times of worship helped make our Christmas complete. We had wonderful food, wonderful journeys, visits with loving family and the warmth of our own home. But the tie that bound all of that goodness together was the worship of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

God promises in this verse from Timothy that good worship will produce contentment. Seeking Jesus throughout Christmas brought about the most wonderful contentment and sense of quiet joy. This Word promises that godliness combined with contentment is gain. God knows that we need homes, food, gas and cars to lead our lives, but God also knows we need a savior to grant us forgiveness and salvation. So God sent to us a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And through the life of this tiny child we find godliness and contentment.

Let us pray…
Lord, remind me today that you are all I need and let me find contentment in you. Amen.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Please let us continue to lift one another up in prayer each day. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Prayer alert: One of Geni’s closest friends, Erin, lost her grandfather last evening and has two other grandparents who are also not well. Also, my teaching colleague, Ron, received word today that his grandson in Austin was rushed to the hospital with acute appendicitis. Please pray for these our friends, their healing and the healing of their families. Peace, gc
Blessed Sunday to you all.

Today is Epiphany Sunday. Epiphany is the celebration of light. The light refers to the star that led the Wise Men to Bethlehem in search of the Christ Child. It was that same star that rested over the manger that led the shepherds to come to the stable. They were the first guests to see the Holy child and his family. But when you think about it, the star saw it all. The star illumined the skies with its miraculous light, lighting the way to Jesus.

Today Pastor Joel spoke about stars. He talked about what stars we follow and where they lead. What are the stars we follow? Do the stars we follow lead us into darkness? Are these the stars that are false like the tarot readers and psychic predictors who tell us if the stars and planets align then all is well and we will be wealthy, have perfect teeth, beautiful hair and be wildly popular? Or are these the stars that show us the way to abundant living in the name of Christ?

Can we be stars? I think God calls us to be stars. Stars are those beings that illuminate the path. Are we stars for others? Do we lead our lives in such a way that others want to follow the star? Does the star that led the Wise Men and the shepherds to the Christ child burn brightly in our lives?

On the day of Epiphany we are called to be led by a star to the place where Jesus lives and we are called to be stars to lead others to Jesus. Shine my fellow stars. Shine!

Take joy in the journey led by a star. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to lift one another up in prayer each day. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.