Excuse me. Do you have change....

How do you handle change?

I know that many of us no longer carry much cash, in part because we don’t have much to carry and in part to the ease of using a check card or credit card.  Even with the ease of using “plastic”, there are still times we need to carry cash. i.e., a bill, a buck, a clam, a ten-spot, a sawbuck, a Hamilton, a Benjamin, a C-note, a bone, a green back,…some dough.  Sometimes we need to carry the almighty dollar.

I like the feel of a crisp new twenty dollar bill.  When I get the chance to have one in my wallet, I try really hard to keep it there.  I experience a sense of security in knowing it’s in my possession, something to fall back on when the need arises.  It is like carrying singles when you are traveling; it’s reassuring that when the need to offer a tip presents itself, you know you have in your pocket what is needed to do what you know you should do.

Though it is nice and prudent to keep that crisp $20 in your wallet as long as possible, what do you do when you have to break it and all of a sudden find yourself dealing with change?  Change is not easy to deal with.  It weighs heavy on us and it is not as comfortable to handle.  It rattles around and can become a distraction.

We often lose it!   

The reality of life is that change is going to come, be it in copper, nickel, silver or gold.  When it comes, what are you going to do with it? 

All change adds up, and all change creates growth.  When we are dealing with pennies, it seems like it takes forever to get to where we think we need to be; and if the change is golden…well, that presents its own set of challenges.

Change is change.  If we are talking about money, every penny counts.  We just need to realize its importance and value and let it add up to work for the good.

If we are talking about change in our lives, we can say the same thing.  All change creates growth.  It takes us out of our comfort zones and allows us to see things from a different perspective…and I can assure you that God is in that new point of view.

Change in your life and in my life is coming; and it is our faith, not our cash, that gives us security and the hope we need.  We have to focus on the little things, the little blessings…like pennies, they add up.  It is through paying attention to the little blessings that keeps us from breaking and becoming rattled and weighed down.  It keeps us from loosing it.  Don’t keep the little things to yourself…God is in the pennies.

You can take that to the bank.

Faith, Hope and Ta-Tas...Yes, Ta-Tas

Do you think you understand the meaning of Hope? I always thought I knew something about it, but each time I truly encounter it, I realize I have much to learn. Hope is something you experience in relationship.  It is not something that just happens; Grace just happens, but Hope is different.

Bullies and Abused Dogs

Were you bullied growing up?  I was.  It is one of those things that I don’t think about very often, though in reality it is something that has had a great effect on me and my theological understanding of how Christ took care of those who were and are being bullied by society.

You treat her like she was born to you.

My family just spent a week at church camp.  Tricia was the program chaplain and I was the worship chaplain.  What this really means is that Tricia led the 42 elementary campers in a daily 45 minute “churchy” lesson and I led one 45 minute Holy Eucharist on Friday, but Tricia actually did the preaching so…well…I didn’t really do much all week.

When to stop being fruitful and multiplying?

In the 9^th chapter of Genesis, God tells Noah and his sons to be fruitful and multiply. Great!  Sounds like a lot of fun, but God didn’t say when to stop being so fruitful.

Pledged Allegiance and Independence

Independence Day has always been celebrated in my house.  When I was a kid we used to pile in a boat at Lake Tenkiller in Oklahoma and drive down to the Dam for the yearly light show.  This was always a good time and I have very fond memories of those outings.  We were not allowed to buy fireworks from the stand, but I do remember once when we got sparklers and those black snake things.  I burnt my hand on a sparkler, but I was not going to tell my mom…I was lucky to get the sparklers that one year and there was no way in hell that I was going to reinforce her insistence of just how dangerous fireworks really were/are.

Communication: Real or “Phone-y”

Yesterday I bought my 10-year-old his first basic cell phone.  (He would say 10 ½)  I had always said that I would not get him one until he was driving, but apparently I was wrong.  We saw his last year’s teacher (last year as of 4 days ago) at the phone store.  He was so excited to see her, but me…well, I was a little embarrassed that I was buying an ex 4^th grader (yet soon to be 5^th grader) his own cell phone.  My son goes over to say hello and very excitedly he tells her what we are doing there.  I, without haste, said that my plan had always been to wait until he was driving, but that he was taking two separate unaccompanied airplanes trips this summer…(but it's not like he hasn’t done this before; it’ll be his 3^rd time)  She quickly said that it was a good idea and also since he walks or rides his bike the 1 mile to and from school each day.