Continuing from Previous Post

So I'm back to blogging after abandoning Thursday's post.

Today was just a beautiful day and a much needed break for me. The day consisted of a lot of reading, bike riding, and walking. Sometimes the pace of life just gets too intense and it is essential to just unplug for a day. You might be saying something about me just getting back from two retreats and a camping weekend. But a day like today is just different - no agenda, mostly alone, a time to simply be, a time to decompress, a time to just enjoy life.

On Friday night, I headed down to Rensselaer to visit Jenn. I did not sleep great the previous night so was in need of a coffee to keep me awake on the drive down. For quite some time, I have known that there is a Starbucks at the Martins in Plymouth. However, I just could not remember the location of the Martins. However, on Friday evening, the light bulb went on and I knew exactly the location of the Martins and sure enough there was a Starbucks. Well, on Saturday morning, I woke up with a sore throat and ear ache so was really in need of a warm beverage on my throat. So I went to the Starbucks at the Plymouth Martins again on my way to Bremen. As the lady handed me the coffee she asked if I was interested in the free donut that they were offering.

"Free donut. Are you serious?" I exclaimed. (I'm not exaggerating, this was a major exclamation.)

"Sure," she replied, "a free donut with every grande or larger beverage compliments of Martins."

So I thanked her and grabbed a delicious donut with apples in it. (The apples made it healthy, of course.) She knew I was pretty excited and said that she was glad to make my day. (She really did make my day.) This turned into a Starbucks-Martins Experience.

Well, honestly, I can't figure out how to segue back into my other post from Thursday. But I wanted to return back to this whole idea of appointing a king. On the surface, the request seems somewhat innocuous. Yet, it was far from harmless. By asking for a king, the Israelites turned down the King, God. Just like everyone else, they wanted a mortal to be their king.

This story applies to every day life. How many times do I deny God and appoint other things or people as kings in my life? How many times do we all do this?

Some kings in my life...

Coffee - it might seem goofy but a friend recently backed down coffee consumption and it kind of dawned on me that my coffee consumption was getting kind of out of hand. So this week I'm hoping to be down to a cup a day. (Last week was two cups a day.)

The opinions of others - a lot of the time I'm way to concerned about what others think instead of thinking about what God thinks of me.

Fear - I struggle with fear and it is easy to let this take control of life. Yet, trusting in God vanquishes those fears.

The list of potential "kings" in our lives is endless...

Money
Name brands
The most recent fads
Cars
The "American Dream" (it has become more than little warped)
TV shows
Facebook
Alcohol
_______________ (fill in the blank)

So I guess this is something that I'm hoping to think about more on the daily journey. Who is really the king in my life?

In closing, tonight I would just like to remember the ill, the suffering, and the grieving. Maybe you can do this, too.

Take care,

Todd