Jumanji, Herbie and Peter

We are on week two of puppies, dogs, chickens, cats and now a bird.  It's starting to feel a little bit like a cross between Dr. Doolittle and Jumanji over here, but we actually don't mind!  The kids have had many friends over visiting the puppies and everyone just loves them so much.  However, it hasn't been without incident!  When I went over to the house on the weekend, the heat was off!  Who knows why.  My husband said the bird would probably die if we didn't bring it over, but the problem was the cage the bird was in was HUGE and it would never fit in a car, so I had to get creative.  I looked for another smaller cage and found what I thought was a bird cage.  We easily transferred the bird into it, but within half a second it flew out.  This was when I wished I was being videoed....it was youtube/viral material.  My son and I chased this bird literally all over the house until it got so tired we could just pick it up.  It was pretty funny.  I then went and found another cage, this time one it couldn't get out of.  It is currently trying to bite through the wire bars of this cat cage.  Sorry, birdie!  Super cute though!

Last night was the final celebration of my boys finishing their little basketball season.  Having never done anything like this before, it was kind of fun for them.  Friends were made and it was short, sweet and to the point.  I liked that there was a spiritual element to it as it was organized by a church and had an evangelical outreach aspect which I appreciated.  They brought in a big name speaker, the "Voice of the Toronto Raptors", Herbie Kuhn, for the final night, too.  He gave a talk that made me so happy!  It was literally a message straight from the heart of God, sharing his story how he gave his heart to God nearly 25 years ago and then surrendered his voice, which he felt was his God-given talent, and then he watched how God took that gift and has used him with the Raptors and many other professional athletes over the years.  At the end of his talk, he shared how others listening could also give their hearts to Christ.  I haven't heard such a strong evangelical message in a while and was so happy as I knew there were many non-Christians in the room.  He is now working full-time with Athletes in Action, which is under the umbrella of Power to Change which my parents used to work for when I grew up.  I got a chance to talk with him, too, after everyone was nearly gone and we exchanged a few names that we both knew.  He is a cool guy!

One of the things that he shared was how he had dreams growing up of being a professional athlete himself, winning championships, holding up the trophy of whatever team he was on.  But as he got older, he found out he just wasn't that good.  He knew he had a good voice though, one for public speaking, or announcing and he started to get practice announcing college games, etc.  After he surrendered his life and voice to Christ, everything started to come together for him.  God took his talents and started to use them for His glory.  

It struck me because we heard a sermon yesterday on a similar theme.  The disciples were listening to Jesus.  In Mark 8 He asked them who people were saying He was.  Then He asked who the disciples thought He was.  Peter immediately answered, "You are the Christ."  But then, when Jesus went on to tell them about the suffering that was to come and the death that He was to die, the same Peter who just said He was the Christ, then "took Him aside and began to rebuke Him"!  The nerve!  He called Him "the Christ" and then told Him He couldn't do what the Christ was supposed to do.  In other words, He wasn't acting the way Peter wanted Him to act.  The pastor explained it this way - everyone, including the disciples, had expectations of how things were supposed to go, how Christ was supposed to save the world from Roman domination, how He was supposed to be King, sitting on a throne.  Herbie, himself, had dreams, of how his life was supposed to go.  All of us have dreams and expectations of life, marriage, kids, careers.  The pastor's challenge was, what do we do when things do go as we think?  What do we do when Jesus doesn't comply with our desires?  His plan was harder, he explained, but it was better.  Herbie tried to communicate that, too.  His dream of being a professional athlete was crushed, but it turns out the plan God had for his life was better....once he surrendered it.  Now, not only has has lifted up a championship trophy, but MULTIPLE trophies. Not only has he become part of a professional league, but he gets to mentor these guys on a personal level every single day as a chaplain.  As he said, he has the BEST job, gets to sit courtside, for free, and is friends with all these athletes just as a bonus.  God's plan is better!  Even when we don't get it.  It was such a great reminder.

The final takeaway from Herbie and Mark 8 yesterday was pretty clear.  If we call Jesus the Christ, then we have to let Him be the Lord of our life.  We can't take Him aside and rebuke Him, which I jokingly like to do sometimes.  I'll say occasionally to God in my prayers, "Uh, I know you are the Lord of the universe, but I think if you would just do things my way, it would be better."  No, that is just not an option.  After being rebuked by Peter, Jesus quickly rebuked him right back and said, "Get behind me Satan!"  Not because he was Satanic or demon-possessed, but he was "not setting his mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."  The things of God are often harder to live out, accept and understand, but in the long run they are ALWAYS better.