Fridays With Friends

Dear Lord; Happy Friday Father!  To start with Lord, I want to thank You for Your Gift of rest to me last night.  This morning I awoke with a smile, and feel quite refreshed.  🙂

Today Father, I have the honor of being featured over at the “A Moment with God” blog.  Lisa’s site is truly a Blessing to me Lord, and she’s always been a wonderful source of encouragement and inspiration to me in my walk with You.  Please continue to shine Your Light through her, and assist her mission to bring Your Word and Message to others.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Better Than a Hallelujah

Dear Lord; Happy Friday Father!  As I was driving in to work this morning Lord, the song “Better Than a Hallelujah” by Amy Grant came on the radio.  While the inspiration of those wonderful lyrics settled over me, it started me thinking about some the other fantastic messages I’ve received through Christian Music as of late.  As yesterday’s discussion we had was about the disturbing direction some media has taken, I thought today we could focus on the positive message that these songs bring to us instead.

Let’s start with the chorus from “Better Than a Hallelujah” :

“We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah”

What a wonderful way to say that You love us for who we are, and when we honestly seek You that our plea comes through loud and clear.  It’s a beautiful song, and always warms my heart when I hear it.

Another one I’ve become extremely fond of, and actually posted the video of as a dedication to my wife on Facebook the other day, is “Dancing in the Minefields” sung by Andrew Peterson.  Towards the end of the song, the lyrics contain the following verse :

“Cause we bear the light of the son of man
So there’s nothing left to fear
So I’ll walk with you in the shadow lands
Till the shadows disappear
Cause he promised not to leave us
And his promises are true
So in the face of all this chaos baby
I can dance with you”

I love this!  What an amazingly powerful metaphor connecting marriage and the way that You love us.  It just makes me want to hold Shannon tightly when I hear it… What a wonderful message.

One more for the day Lord, and it comes from the song “Lead Me” as performed by Sanctus Real :

“To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can’t
Don’t want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

Father, lead me, ’cause I can’t do this alone”

We’ve talked about this song before Father, but this truly represents my hopes and prayers as a father and Your Child so well that it can’t be repeated enough.  I see this song as a prayer from my heart, and strive daily to be the man this verse describes.

There are many more examples as well Lord, but these are a few that touch me the most.  It’s comforting to know that while Your Word may not be on millions of TV screens this Sunday, the airwaves do still carry Your Message of Love to us each day.  Thank You for reminding us of Your Love and Aspirations for us through these talented artists.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

You shall not give false testimony…

Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father.  As always, I’d like to start today by thanking You for the Blessings You bestowed on me this past weekend.  While we had some disappointments in regards to plans that had been made, I did get to spend quite a bit of relaxed time with my family and some friends.  All in all, it was a quiet but happy couple of days and I thank You for that.

This morning Lord, I’d like to talk about honesty if I may.  It’s been a topic on my mind the last couple of days, as our disruption in plans this past weekend appears to have been the result of some deceit from someone Shannon and I had trusted.  We haven’t been able to confirm our suspicions yet, but it’s extremely likely that we’re correct in this case.  Either way, the situation got me thinking about the importance of truth in our lives in general, and how as Your Children we need to focus on it in our lives.

To begin with, I have to beg Your Forgiveness Lord.  When I started going over the whole subject in my head, I put myself and my actions in a “litmus test” against Your Law and I found myself lacking.  While I like to think of myself as an honest individual, if I truly subject myself to Your Absolutes I lie nearly every day in some fashion.  Whether it’s a “little white lie” to avoid hurting someone’s feelings, or telling my secretary that I’m out if someone I don’t want to hear from calls, they’re lies no matter how you slice it.  And when I expand that examination outward, it appears that we’re a dishonest society in general Lord.

Wow… What an intense realization for a Monday morning.

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”  – Exodus 20:16

Ah yes, the good old 9^th Commandment.  Although we all know this one, we also all violate it at some point as well.  There are many other edicts about misrepresenting the truth in Your Book as well Lord, including :

“Do not steal.  Do not lie.  Do not deceive one another.”  – Leviticus 19:11

“The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.” – Proverbs 12:22

“Those who walk righteously
and speak what is right,
who reject gain from extortion
and keep their hands from accepting bribes,
who stop their ears against plots of murder
and shut their eyes against contemplating evil—
they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,
whose refuge will be the mountain fortress.
Their bread will be supplied,
and water will not fail them.”  – Isaiah 33:15-16

Forgive us Lord, for in this respect we have lost our way.

Heavenly Father, please forgive us for our misdeeds.  Purge our fragile hearts of dishonesty, and help us focus on Your Guidance and Light as we go about each day, so that we may serve Your Will with honesty and Integrity.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

A Fresh Start

Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father!  To start off with Lord, I want to thank You for yet another lovely weekend.  It was a hectic couple of days, but we were able to be productive and yet still have some fun in the process.  I went into Friday night still on a “God High” from the release You’d given me that morning, and it carried my spirit through much of the weekend.  My heart felt cleansed, and it very much let me recharge my batteries for the challenges that lie ahead.

Along with the concept of a “fresh start”, I spent quite some time this weekend working on reinventing the phatherphil.org web site as well.  It’s been quite a process in planning and implementing, but with Your Guidance (and a lot of help from Google) I’m quite happy with what we came up with.  It’s obviously still a work in progress, but It feels like a good start.  🙂

Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your Presence and Guidance in my Life and for the Love You’ve shown myself and my family.  We are indeed Blessed and renewed each day by Your Grace.  Please let all those who yearn for meaning, for purpose and for understanding find Your Truth and be emboldened and encouraged.  Lead us through this week in Courage and in Strength so that we can see past our earthly worries and focus on Honoring Your Glory.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Looking Back…

Dear Lord; Well Father, it’s almost the end of another year.  It’s certainly been a roller coaster, and I’ve spent quite a bit of time the last few days reflecting on everything that’s transpired.

Financially, 2010 has been a nightmare for myself and my business.  Coming off a very positive 2009, the first half of this year saw one drain after another as the crippled economy took it’s toll on our clients.  We adjusted as best we could, and gained some ground back mid-year, but even today we’re still dealing with digging our way out of the hole that was created.  And like any other business owner, that shortfall has carried through to my personal finances, putting a significant strain on our household income.  The one positive financial change that happened this year was the additional income produced by the wonderful new job Shannon got in September.  It hasn’t completely balanced out the deficit, but it’s been an amazing Blessing to our household during these rough times.

Family health was all over the board this year as well.  On the positive side, Jonathan’s disease has stayed in remission and he’s done very well this year.  Thank You for that amazing Blessing!  Shannon had a couple of injuries during the year, including seriously straining her back in the spring and later in the year bruising her tailbone.  I managed to get Lyme Disease in the late spring, which caused me some significant issues, but other than some continuing joint discomfort that too seems to be staying at bay.  Other than that, we’ve all had bouts of the typical Delaware sinus crud but have remained for the most part, healthy.

This year was not without it’s heartache as well Father.  Following a painful battle with cancer, my best friend of 26 years left us to join You in August.  He was a wonderful man, the best man at my wedding, and Jonathan’s Godfather and we all miss him very much.  I take great solace however in the fact that he’s no longer in pain, and is now dwelling in Your Kingdom.

On the positive side though Father, we’ve had a number of wonderful things happen this year as well.  As I mentioned earlier, Shannon got a new job this year that has been an amazing fit for her as well as providing us with some additional income.  It’s wonderful to see her come home feeling appreciated, and fulfilled with what she’s doing, and I’m very proud of her.  We had another fantastic family vacation this summer in the Pocono Mountains.  We’ve come to really love Chestnut Grove, and the kids are already looking forward to going back there again this coming year.  Over the summer Shannon and I also celebrated our 15^th Wedding Anniversary with a surprise (to her anyways) Renewal of Vows Ceremony led by the Pastor that married us.  It was a wonderful affair with family and friends in attendance, and a time of great joy for us both.  And finally, a few weeks back Lord I was truly Blessed to be able to act as Your Emissary to bring two good friends together in the bonds of Holy Matrimony.  That was an amazing honor, and Your Presence was obvious to all that attended.

On the Blessings side Lord, I have actually quite a few to Praise You for.  My marriage to Shannon has never been stronger.  She’s an amazing lady Father, and my love for her continues to grow deeper with each passing year.  My children are growing, and learning, and happy, and healthy and dreaming Father.  They’re my light and my inspiration, and I thank You so much for making them a part of my life.  We’re surrounded by wonderful friends, and we feel their love and caring on a regular basis.  And possibly most importantly Father, this year has been an amazing time for my personal growth in You.  I feel Your Presence in my life more and more every day, and give Thanks and Praise for Your Grace in my journey to You.  And although this has been a tumultuous time for many of us, I’m quite secure in my Faith that in You, all things are possible.  Amen.

~Phather Phil