March 3. Happy Birthday, Curtis.

1984 was a good year for many reasons.

Shirley had provided me with a part-time job.

Gail, Kim, Janice, and Kathy (among others) helped me realize the sport of industrial softball.

Curtis was born, and in his birth, a seventeen-year-old’s heart was won.

Mr. Baxter spoke to a young graduating class of students on a hot, spring day, challenging them to live for the LORD.

Ms. Minton spoke words aloud to her English class (to her young student) and those words placed a trajectory upon their lives (and upon my life).

Where were we in 1984? Where were we in 1966? Where were we in 2017? Where were we in 2020? Where were we in 1981? Where are we today?

Maybe we were working, married, and raising kids. & Maybe we were still unborn. & Maybe we had reached a place in our life where we paused to ask——What now?

1984 was a great year (for me) for so many reasons. March 3, 1984 was a beautiful spring day. I was working that day. My employer was driving us to our next “show,” and for a seventeen-year-old, life could not get any better. Then it did. One phone call changed everything. Pay phones were found on many street corners, and one phone booth was located in front of the library, so Shirley pulled her Omni over to the curb, and I hoped out with my quarter to make my phone call. (Wow!!! I feel so old with that previous statement.). On that particular March day, I met my little brother Curtis, changing everything. Truly, 1984 was a beautiful year. Yet, maybe we can exclaim those same thoughts over many calendar years.  Quite possibly, several years have been “stand-out” years.

1981. 1986. 1999. 2015. 2017. 2019.

March 3. Happy Going Home Day, Grandma.

Maybe the years 2019 & 2020 were the best so far (and that statement is not meant to exude sarcasm).

So many have asked:  What have we learned in this time (in this year since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic)?  A valid question as we march toward the anniversary day when we went home to isolate ourselves from others, to teach on line for a few days, to learn how to attend church from our living rooms, and to shop online more than we ever thought possible.  Most definitely, what we thought would be a quick two weeks has almost become a full year. Then (like today) we were in the days of Lent, reading Scriptures and awaiting the approaching days of Good Friday and Easter morning.

1966. 1977. 1981. 1984. 1986. 1991. 1995. 1999. 2004. 2015. 2017. 2019. 2020. 2021. Stand-Out years when I gaze back upon my life.  Years of significance.  Periods in life where God’s presence was most apparent (to me).

Do we owe God anything?

If so, then…..What things?

If so, then…..What parts?

If so, then…..What places?

When we look back upon our own life, what years belong to God?

Are there any parts (of our individual life) that we hold onto for ourselves and do not give fully to God?

Are there any parts (of our individual life) that we exclude from God as we exclaim (to our own heart), “Mine” and grip with a mighty hold?

Daily, we go to God’s Word to find answers.

Do we open God’s Word to find truth? Do we search the Scriptures to seek direction?  Do we turn to certain passages to receive comfort?
What do we owe God?  &.   What parts of life do we call “ours,” but in reality—-really belong to God? If we speak into the wind and we only hear our own voice, have we really spoken? Have we really learned? The leaders of Jesus’ day sought Old Testament passages and traditions to entrap the Messiah.

“They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? “But He detected their trickery and said to them, “Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have? “They said, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20: 21-25).

What skill belongs to God?

What Thought? What Hope? What Dream? What Place within our Individual Life is God’s? What year of our life belongs to God?

Do we owe anything to God?

Step outside today. Speak into the wind and listen. Shout if you desire.  Listen.   Listen Hard. The wind will reply. God will reply when we seek Him. Hear the voice of God with clarity.

Let us seek the LORD today. & Let us listen.

Let us ask God to reveal areas of life where we exclaim “mine,” & Let us see with clarity what truly are “the things that are God’s.”

Most definitely (when we listen), we will hear the whisper of God speak His truth with clarity.