My Heart: Satisfaction vs Desires

The past several days we have been entertained by the sky rocketing fantasy of what we'd do if we won the Power Ball lottery. As it keeps raising in value we continue making the tent of good will bigger and bigger. Just now I am thinking,"What is enough?" At what point does satisfaction replace desire? Is that a possibility? Can satisfaction replace desire? When do we become satisfied in our hearts?

I do not think the world can satisfy the human heart. There are times when I am satisfied but they are fleeting times gone as quickly as the morning frost or the bloom on a rose. What the world has to offer will never satisfy my heart. To borrow from James Bond, "the world is not enough". The heart, my heart, your heart was created for infinity. It was created out of the dust of the earth to be the dwelling place of the infinite God. Only God can fill my heart. Only God can satisfy my heart. Since my heart was made to embrace Him, nothing less, no nothing less at all, can ever satisfy it.

Praise the Lord!

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.   Matthew 6:21


As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. Proverbs 27:19

The Law and Grace

I am going to start posting things that I feel. Items that come from my heart. Please read them. If you like what you read, pass the link on. If you read something that your think someone else would like, pass it on. If you read something that you think or know someone else should hear, pass it on. Please provide some sort of feedbak to me on what  you read here. Thanks!

The following is a Facebook post of mine from two days ago. I am just now getting around to blogging it.

*******************************************************************************

The law, the Ten Commandments, were not meant to be the pathway to heaven. God knew when He wrote them down for Moses that not one son of Adam could ever keep the law. No sinner would be able to even come close. God gave the law to reveal to us, the need of grace.

Thanks be to God! 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  2 Corinthians 12:9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.  Romans 6:14

I Never Thought I'd Want to Be a Moon.

I never thought I'd want to be a moon but now I hope I am one.

August 29, 2015 at approximately 2100 hours, I could be found walking on the beach of Anna Maria Island off the mainland, on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Now there's a place who's fine white, shell strewn sand I had never heard of let alone dreamed about. As God would have it I and my family were taken there to help my oldest son move his home in order to follow employment opportunities. As I lazily strolled south on the beach from a starting point at the public beach parking lot with Ann, Stephen, Micah and Seth the summer warmed waters of the Gulf of Mexico lapped gently at our feet and ankles. These same waters that so peacefully took use to a place of solitude and peaceful enjoyment of nature and God's creation with their rhythmic lapping of the coast are also the same fuel used by tropical storms rev up their engines of rain, wind and destruction.  

Probably just as amazing as the gulf and the shore this particular evening was the moon. The Earth's God-hung satellite. The astronomical calendars tell us that it was one day short of being a full moon but only someone with a micrometer could accurately measure the difference between what was seen this evening and what the calendars reported.

Our conversation this evening during our walk included may varied subject. How the past days of travel, by car and by plane, were; the challenges we had with the move; our successes in meeting those challenges; hope and expectations with the coming days in Florida; and as the King of Siam would so authoritatively say, etc., etc., etc.

I believe it was Micah who first mentioned the moon. How bright is was. How big it seemed. How it lighted the entire beach showing us the way without the scorching heat of the sun. He then made the statement that he was amazed not so much by the moon but rather by the sun. The sun, he said, was so magnificent that it's light could reflect off an object 93 million miles from it so much that it was still able to illuminate the very beach upon which we trod. I interjected with another fact about the sun. At 93-million miles it was still hot enough to blister my skin if I was not careful. All this family conversation coupled with the place and the tiredness of the day delivered a weariness to our bones that in it's own special way was good to feel as well as welcomed by all.

It was the next morning during a pre-heat, pre-suffocating humidity early walk, that the full impact of what happened the previous evening arrived at special spot in my brain or my heart or my soul where God plugs directly in and through a fire-wire transfers exactly what He wants me to know. I hope you have one of the God controlled USB ports.  God works like this in my life a lot. He lets me experience some wonderful things and as the rush of that enjoyment begins to wane he allows my mind to see the message in His plan.  He wants me, He wants you, He wants us to be moons! He is looking for us not to create our own light. He does not want us to light the way. He is only asking us to reflect His light. He wants us to light the way for others, not with our light but with the reflection of His light through our lives.

How easy is that. I am not being asked to create something new. I am not being asked to save the world. I am being asked to allow the light and the love of the Creator to reflect off me so that others can see His light. This I understand. This I can grasp. This I can do.  I need only to maintain my orbit, allowing all that is Love reflect off me. I understand that like the moon I will wax and wane in this task but for those times when I am able to I can be a full moon for God, shining His light on the beaches and shores in my community, lighting the way for others as they walk in the darkness.

May I be a full moon for the creator. With His help I too can accomplish this. - DD

The Ann and Dan Compulsory Education Farewell Tour, Next to Last Stop

Tuesday May 19, 2015.                                         

This was a day I sometimes never thought would come. This particular Tuesday morning Ann wrote the last tuition check to Bishop McDevitt High School, end a very special chapter in our lives. Many families have experienced this same thrill time after time. In our case it is unique because we have been writing checks for 24 years. More specifically, our family's time at McDevitt spans 286 consecutive months or 1,246 weeks or 8,448 days. Figure the hours, minutes and seconds out for yourself, I am not counting any more.  During that time Ann and I estimate that the sum of all our checks easily exceeds one-hundred thousand dollars.  Our oldest son Stephen enrolled in August of 1991. Seth our youngest graduates May 27, 2015.  Our home mortgage did not last this long. Before I continue please permit me to say that we wish it to be clear that we are not complaining. This was our choice, 100%. We were in one accord in this decision. To us it was not a sacrifice but rather a priority. Never did we feel that we missed out on anything, never did we do without anything and never did we ever have second thoughts about our commitment to value of the high school education of our children provided by Bishop McDevitt educators. The return on our investment (ROI) was worth every cent. 

How does one measure the ROI for a hundred thousand dollar plus investment twenty-four years in the making. In our case we looked at the finished products and the feedback received from them directly and garnered from the successes and failure in their post secondary years reflected in their lives. When your college student tells you that their undergraduate classes are easier than the classes they had at McDevitt you know your ROI is good. When you college student tells you how easy it is to write term papers you inherently know you ROI is great. When your college senior is challenged by his professor, accused of plagiarism, stands his ground by defending his work and ultimately wins when the accuser admits that he has been convinced admitting that rarely has he witnessed writing skills such as those exhibited by this particular college student, you know your ROI is off the charts. When you have a son that does not do well in college as a recent high school graduate but returns to the academic world ten years later and earns a Bachelor degree while working full time, one's ROI soars. The value of a McDevitt education is not only manifested in those who continue their education in college. When you have a son that finds himself challenged by the classroom rigors of the undergraduate student, realizes that it is not for him, then parlays what he learned at McDevitt into a successful career as a surveyor, our ROI continues to climb as it nears the apex of expectations. The measurement does not end here. We have other children who are still working on or just beginning the next chapter of their lives. Where they are going, what they do when they get there and the measure of success achieved are still hidden behind the curtain of time. What we as parents know, what we as parents have proof of is that they have the same advantage as those siblings gone before them, they have a Bishop McDevitt education. 

Through the years when speaking to friends about our commitment to a Bishop McDevitt education we are told that they cannot afford to send their child there.  We realized when we were blessed by having a family, when we became stewards to God's creations, we could not afford not to make the commitment. Through the entire process these past twenty-four years we were able to do what we did, we were able to provide what we did, we were able to have a fantastic ROI because we believed that God would provide us our daily bread. Whether it was the food on our plates, the roof over our heads or the tuition needed to provide a quality education for our seven children, He was always there, He was always faithful. Thank you Lord! May you now continue to be with us as we turn the page to the next chapter of the life you have so graciously give us.  Proverbs 30:8-9 - DD

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Could You Accept This for What You Believe?

Philippians 3:7-8 

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

Mark 8:34-38 

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Matthew 16:24-26 

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Psalm 46:1 

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

*~*

As I was finishing up the devotional for my other blog, I started  to think about the Coptic Christians that were martyred for their faith in Jesus the Christ.   I was then convicted by the Holy Spirit.  Dan, what would you do?  Would you deny Me and save your life or would you do as these men did and lose your life to gain everything?  I know what I'd say here sitting in the comfort of my home but what would I'd say if I was kneeling in the sand, wearing an orange jump suit on a far away beach. How about you?  What is valuable? Where is your treasure?

God grant me what I need now.  God grant me your peace and love if the time comes that I have to make this decision for Your sake. Carry me Lord in all my weakness. - DD

God Visits Ella Alley, 17103

"God works in mysterious ways!"  Let me say that again, "God works in mysterious ways!"  He asks us to believe that His ways are best, that He cares for all of us, that He wants us to be obedient, that He hears and answers our prayers.  Since he sent His son to Earth to take on the form of a human, He knows firsthand, without any doubt, how much of a blockhead His human creations can be on a daily basis.  He uses the foolish to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27).  If I am not His number one example for this, I am confident of being in the top 10 somewhere. Allow me to explain:

Calendar pages continue to flip.  Months turn to years. The length of time between when I first arrived, drew my first breath and enjoyed my first meal and the current date to becomes larger.  As that number grows one unsavory trait I have developed is that I am very impatient with certain things.  Most of those things deal directly with what happens when I assume a position buckled safely behind the steering wheel of my car or truck.  Which vehicle I am driving does not seem to have any influence over how I feel or what happens.  It's when I find myself in that particular position that God brings to me "Teachable Moments".  These are those times that God allows things to happen not as  I would like them to go or as I think the law of nature should have them going.  For example, it's 2 a.m. and I am unable to pull out from a traffic control device because of the number of evenly spaced autos driving towards me.  How about just as I pull out into the passing lane on the highway in order to avoid as slow moving tractor-trailer, a slower moving tractor trailer in front of the one I am attempting to pass enters the passing lane in front of me.  Or the coup de grace, I have cruise control set while on the interstate and as I approach a slower moving vehicle I am obstructed from entering the passing lane because someone is riding on my left rear bumper doing the exact same speed as me, while texting.  Lord have mercy.

So, one day last week Ann and I come rushing home from running errands in order that I can eat the noon meal change clothes and have her drop me off at work.  It was at this very time that God created one of His "Teachable Moments" in my life.  Coming down our street to park in front of our house, the car in front of me, who by the way cut me off while turning onto my street, pulls in and parks in the last remaining parking spot in front of my house.  As aggravating as that was, it was not a life ender.  I quickly realize that I am not going to be defeated because all I have to do is pass my house make a U-turn and park on the opposite side of the street. Thus my auto will be facing in the direction that I eventually need to go and  my frustration level stays in check.   But nooooooo!  As I make the U-turn and oil truck comes down the street to make a delivery.  Of course!  I should have known!  We are now face to face with no place to go.  The friendly driver leans towards his windshield and politely points to the house he is stopping to service.  This is going nowhere fast.    My frustration is rising. The clock is ticking. I back up, make a K-turn and head out the end of my street in order to go up the alley behind my house. 

As I make a right hand turn to go up the alley, there in the middle of the alley is a broken down, beat up, road beaten, rust red pick-up truck being circled by two dirty, broken down, down on their luck men.  While muttering to myself that I can't believe this is happening, I have come to expect nothing less.  I squeeze my car between said bucket of bolts and a yet-to-be-foliaged lilac bush.  I hope deep down inside that I was invisible to these men as the hour at which I need to be at work is fast approaching. Teaching Moment!

"Excuse me Sir. Excuse me Sir!"  This is what I was greeted with as I exited my vehicle and attempt to make a break for it.  

"Excuse me Sir. Do you have any gas that I can buy from you?"  As I begin to reply a voice inside my heart says to help these men on this day, at this time. 

"No, I am sorry I do not have any gas to sell or to give, but I do have some empty cans", I answer.

The weariest of the two men said, "I am out of gas and only have eight dollars.  Can I borrow one of your cans?" 

As a soothing peace settled over me I said that would not be necessary.  I agreed to take his money and my cans and go get him the gas he so desperately needs.    The clock was still ticking and the time was getting shorter as I got my can out of the shed and headed to the petrol station.

The looks on their faces when I returned was worth all the aggravation, lateness and any other price I would be paying for doing this deed.  As two U. S. gallons of refined oil, turned to gasoline, was poured from my red plastic container down the gullet of the rusty red pick-up, my new found friend explained that I was a Godsend, that no one else stopped to help, that no one to who's door he had visited would help and that many just passed him by.  Little did he know that was my intent until God showed me he had other plans and needed to teach me something.  My friend said he was going to a job where he could finally make some money salvaging metal from a building that was being gutted.  If I hadn't helped his final option was to call his wife and take her tenuously away from her job to get him gas.  This would not be a good thing.  He was afraid that if he did not get to the job site he would lose out thus hurting his chances to turn trash into cash.   He told me that he did not know how he could repay me for the act of kindness.  I explained to him as I have many others that all I ask is that in the future when he sees someone in trouble that he help them as he can with no expectations of reward.  We shook hands and as I returned to the house to head to work, without eating a lunch I probably did not need anyway, I heard him thank me once again, bring the engine of the rust red pick-up to life and drive up the alley and out of site.

I felt good that things happened the way they did.  I ate something while being chauffeured to work. Once there I was not late as I punched in at the exact starting time.  All seemed right. Little did I know but another Teaching Moment was yet to come.

Four evenings latter as I sat in my man cave the door bell rang.  I heard Micah answer the door and speak to someone for a short time.  The door closed and Micah came into the room, handing me a roughly folded piece of paper.  He said the man I helped on Monday had stopped.  He wanted me to have this referring to the folded paper.  I unfolded it to find a hand written note and a five-dollar bill.  The note written on the inside of a used UGI billing envelope read:

 DeAr SiR. I AM Not The BEST cHRiSTiAN iN The world ANd I Still Have my problems. See we ARE Not Born peRfect. IN A Nice NeighboRhood such AS YouRs, No oNe offeRd help. out of 50 people. I doN't Have much BecAuse people Have stolen EveRy thing I Had. I AppREciAte the GAS that day.  Here is soMething that is Not Much. But my pRayeRs for you ANd YouR fAmily will Be multiplyed in Gods Kingdom. thank You.      

As I read, then reread these words so crudely written but yet so much from a man's heart, I was filled with many emotions.  First I was humbled and ashamed because of the very thoughts I had had that morning leading up to this encounter with God.  Second God reminded me once again that it is more important to have a good name than great riches. Next God showed me that He is found everywhere, even dressed as two dirty, broken down, down on their luck men.  Finally was the reminder that peace, true peace the eye-of-the-storm type peace, is only found in the love of and obedience to the Creator and Savior of the World.    

Thank you Lord for working in mysterious ways. Thank you Lord for the humbling lesson, may it help me grow.  May I spread it and it's fruits to others both on the inside and the outside of you kingdom.  -DD                                                        

The Bridge - Day One of Our Bermuda Cruise Vacation

I almost went to prison in order to get this shot.

I hate packing.  If there is one single task that would make me not plan a trip, a cruise or a walk across the room, it would be packing for the journey. Packing seems like taking everything you own on vacation. It wears me out .  I become stressed.  I am not fun to be with while performing the drudgery of packing.  However, my deodorant, toothbrush and underwear all get to go where ever I go worry free.  I worry if I am taking enough cash.  I worry about whether or not the van that is going to take us to Bayonne will get here let along get here on time.  Even when the van gets here earlier than expected, I worry about whether the van will get us to the ship.  Why do I worry about that?  Because the van driver who makes five trips a week to NYC gets in the van on Boas Street and immediately sets his GPS to where I tell him we are going.  Heaven help us!  As the second hand continually makes its sixty-second journey across the face of time and the odometer continues to add by one-tenths, all the stress, worry and anxiety slowly drain through the hour glass of time and are buried in the sand. 
I did not even let the fact that, as we passed the exit for Cabella's, the Ford van started to signal the driver and all conscience occupants of the van that the anti-lock breaking system was failing.  Not a problem because I know we only have to really stop once and that is at Cape Liberty.  Heck, he has a whole week while I am cruising to get the van repaired.
There was another unscheduled stop.  It seems the one who needs a GPS to find my ship is also being paid to transport coffee from York to a rest stop just across the PA/NY line.  As I exit the van somewhere inside the Garden State, a much less stressed traveler is heard saying, "Wow! Bermuda looks an awful lot like New Jersey!" The tourch that lights the Delp sense of humor and warped way of looking at life has certainly been passed from my generation to the next.

"Welcome Aboard!" to the love-of-my-life.

The van reached Cape Liberty, stopping at the correct place without incident,  Hallelujah!   This was followed in order by 1) a quick baggage check-in at the van, 2) a quicker passenger check-in 3) a short walk through the terminal where I (click) was yelled at by a uniform wearing, badge toting, lady of the up-sized fashion world (click, click) for taking pictures inside the building (click), 4) a bus ride of about 300 yards and 5) a walk across the gang-plank.
A grip, a grin, a glass of bubbly champagne and eleventy-billion "Welcome aboards" made me realize that this is for real and there's no turning back. 

A buzzing beehive. The crackling caused by electricity between to wires. The high energy excitement of my fellow passengers, as we waited for and finally heard the deep throat-ed bullfrog blast of the ships horn signaling our departure from terra firmam, filled the air. It's difficult to tell exactly when the ship breaks the chains of inertia but I realized that we were indeed moving forward and that New York City was not moving away.

Lady Liberty in New York Harbor

Lady Liberty shone her light for us as she waved goodbye while NYC feel off the stern and vanished in our wake.  NYFD joined the festivities and said 'bon voyage' by sending a fire boat to create a rainbow for our departing pleasure. Approaching and finally passing beneath the Verrazano Narrows Bridge puncuated the departure as the masses began to sing and dance to the frenzied beat of the pool band.

Unlike the rolling crescendo of excitement that climaxed with the bridge passing, the entrance to the sea and the announcement that luggage had been delivered to the rooms perpetuated an instant evaporation of energy and excitement on-board the Summit.
As the sunset on Day One of our cruise, the Main Land gradually disappeared in our rear-view mirror.  The sleep that was chased from us the night before by worry and packing, caught up to us as we set out watches ahead one-hour and sailed east into the darkness that would be our bridge from the real world to the amazing fantasy we were about to experience on the Atlantic Ocean.  - DD