Fireside Chats: Thoughts From The Desk Of A Geek

​The Mud Room

If you grew up on a farm like my wife, or know of someone who has, 9 out of 10 times their home had a "mud room." If you don't know what a mud room is (like I didn't) let me try to explain it the best way I can. 

Farming is no doubt one of the hardest, yet rewarding careers there is.  If you never had the chance to hear Paul Harvey's "God Made a Farmer" I encourage you to do so,  I promise you will be forever changed..... 

Anyway back to the mud room,  basically it's a small room that you walk into from the outside before you enter the main rooms of the house.  The room is for.... As you guessed it, to take off your muddy work boots so you don't leave a trail of muddy foot prints for anyone to clean up.

While I was feeding our horses today, I noticed my wifes muddy Muck Boots in the mud room.. 

As I almost tripped over them I thought about how great it feels to kick off your shoes after a long day,  be it work boots or heels,  or even athletic shoes.. Nothing says refresh like freeing the toes. Sometimes I feel like taking off my shoes in church while I preach, because I want to feel like I'm Moses standing on Holy ground...which in a way I am. 

Kidding aside though, it is something to wonder about this whole taking off your shoes thing because the ground was holy.  

I wonder if Moses’ shoes might have represented something less than holy because of all the less than holy places Moses had walked.  

As Forrest Gump showed us, shoes tell a story.  They tell where we have been, the trials we have endured and the races we have run. So maybe God was requiring a clean sweep in Moses’ life.  He would have to forget all the previous ways he had walked and follow this “burning” call on his life.  

Or perhaps it was a humility issue.  Some people I know feel. that it is a very humbling thing to take their shoes off in front of people.  I think they feel like it exposes them. Either way, God had an appointment with Moses that required him to remove something. 

If God were to show up at your door today, what do you think He might want you to take off? Would He want you to take off a critical attitude, arrogance, unforgiveness, a habit or a secret sin?  

Regardless of what He might ask of any one of us, the point is that after an encounter with God Almighty we should never again walk the same as we had before.

Lonnie….

Fireside Chats: Thoughts From The Desk Of A Geek

Roger’s Pocket Knife 

For Christmas a few years ago, Darlene gifted me one of Roger’s pocket knives with a special note explaining what this knife meant to her, and to Roger. When I think about the boys Grandpa Roger, I think about his pocket knife. It wasn’t shiny. It wasn’t new. The blade was worn down from years of sharpening. The handle had scratches and dents. But Grandpa Roger carried it everywhere. He used it to fix things, cut twine, whittle sticks, open stubborn packages, and sometimes just to tinker while he sat on the porch.That little knife had seen a lot of work and a lot of wear. 

Life can feel like that pocket knife.Disappointments scrape against us. Prayers sometimes seem unanswered. Doors close. Plans unravel. We feel dulled by hurt or chipped by failure. Over time, it’s easy to look at ourselves and think, “I’m not as sharp as I used to be.” But here’s what Grandpa Roger understood. A knife isn’t ruined because it’s worn  it’s proven. Every scratch tells a story. Every mark means it was used for something meaningful.

In the same way, disappointments don’t disqualify us. They shape us.

Grandpa Roger’s knife didn’t stay in a drawer because it had scars. He kept using it. In fact, he trusted it more because it had been tested. God works the same way. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:28 that God works all things together for good for those who love Him. All things includes setbacks. It includes heartbreak. It includes the prayers that didn’t turn out the way we hoped. 

Our disappointments are not our disqualifications . It’s part of our development. When Grandpa Roger’s knife grew dull, he didn’t throw it away. He sharpened it. Sometimes disappointment leaves us feeling spiritually dull  less passionate, less hopeful, less trusting. But that’s not the moment to give up. That’s the moment to let God sharpen you.

There is something special about an old, well used pocket knife. It’s not just a tool for cutting twine or whittling wood; it is a testament to a life of work, responsibility, and, often, wisdom passed down from a grandfather or father. When a grandfather passes down his knife, he isn't just giving away a piece of steel; he is passing on a legacy of dependability. 

Lonnie….