DAY 40: There's a Better Party Yet to Come by Kevin Wood

DAY FORTY: "There’s a Better Party Yet to Come" by Kevin Wood

The date was Saturday, November 2, 1985. I turned 9 years old. Sitting around the kitchen table in our modest Southwest Texas home were two friends from across the street. My birthday cake sat in the midst of us, nine candles flickering, the wax drizzling down from the wick. The two birthday gifts I had received were sitting at my side. The first gift – and unfortunately the best gift - was a Dallas Cowboys sweatshirt given to me by one of the two friends. I didn’t even like the Cowboys. I was a Bears fan. I can’t remember now what the other gift was. Prior birthday parties had been better attended and more exciting. This party was to be the worst party I had ever had to that point in my life. This was certainly not the way I intended to celebrate my big day.

The birthday of November 2^nd was somber because of the deathday of November 1^st. On Friday, November 1, 1985, my mother traveled 180 miles east to a hospital in San Antonio, Texas. There she gave birth to a little boy named Joshua Micah Wood. He was to be my fifth brother, but I never had the chance to meet him because he died at birth. Complications with the umbilical cord turned what should have been a happy moment to a dreadful one. Tears of joy were replaced by tears of grief. The events of November 1^st cast a shadow over the events of November 2^nd, as a day of death eclipsed the memory of my day of birth.

In my self-focused nine-year-old mind, I struggled to understand why my day couldn’t be bigger. From my perspective, there was still reason to be happy. I have to admit that as a child I had a tendency to be selfish, though I very rarely voiced it. But as I sat there with the handful of family and friends who made it to my party, one thought kept rolling in the back of my mind. I may not have termed it exactly like this, but this is what I felt: There’s a better party yet to come.

I wasn’t sure when it was going to happen. I had no idea what family and friends would come. But I just knew that my 10^th birthday or 12^th birthday or 16^th birthday would be a far grander gala than my 9^th birthday had been. Surely, a better party was on the horizon. I just had to wait for the grief of November 1, 1985 to subside. We’d never forget what happened that day, but it would not always overshadow what had been a special day to me the eight years before.

If I could share one thought with, Trace Crossing, as we celebrate tonight our 2^nd birthday, it would be this. There’s a better party yet to come. Sure the cupcakes we handed out last night were delicious – just ask the kids. And the white footballs flying all over the Ballard Park night sky were exciting. And nothing beats being with my faith family on October 1^st of any year. But the parties we hold here pale in comparison to the true celebration that will take place when we are with Christ. There’s a better party – a much better party – yet to come.

Our world still lives in the shadows of the deathday, when Christ hung on a cross to pay for our sin. Yes, he did rise and in so doing defeated death, and that is certainly something worth celebrating. But the celebration I am speaking of is so much bigger and so much better than anything we could ever organize or orchestrate here on earth. For one day, it won’t be the Ballard Park sky alive with footballs – it will be the global sky splitting wide open, the “clouds rolling back as a scroll”, and Christ Himself will descend. And we won’t be handing out cupcakes or passing out fliers saying “Come to the party”. For in that day, the party will come to us. And unlike my 9^th birthday, there will be absolutely no disappointment with the gifts. For we will receive in that moment the single greatest gift anyone could ever receive. To be with the one who gave Himself for us. He will come to us so we can come to Him.

There’s a Better Party Yet to Come… Let’s Celebrate with That in Mind!

My Prayer for Trace Crossing:

Dear Heavenly Father, Help us to live with the expectant hope of a greater life with You. In Your house, Father, are many mansions - and You have gone to prepare a place for us so that where You are we might also be. Give us the absolute assurance of knowing our hope is secure in You. But in the time we have here in this world, give us the disciplined compassion of Christ necessary to reach out to all people for You. Break our hearts for those who have yet to accept Your invitation. In Your Name we ask this... Amen.

DAY 39: "First Love" by Glennis Williams

DAY THIRTY-NINE: "First Love" by Glennis Williams

“We love because He first loved us.” I John 4:19
“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” Rev. 2:4

I called their home yesterday never dreaming I’d reach Hazel. After all, she has spent the past 3 to 4 years at the nursing home, day and night, sitting beside the bed of her beloved husband, Prather. Before she took a little cot to put beside his bed so she could spend every night with him, you might walk in and find her sleeping, cuddled in his arms in his hospital-type bed. I only reached her at home today because she had hurried home to cook him some bacon and homemade biscuits. She makes sure her first love is never neglected.

Hazel, now almost 91 years old, and Prather, who will be 93 in October, never left their “first love”. They are more in love today than they were the day they met. They can tell you every detail of that meeting. Hazel still has the dress she was wearing that day! They spend their days listening to their old love songs on a cassette player, or reading the love letters they wrote each other during the war. They saved every one of them.

What a love story! I have to ask myself, “Am I capable and unselfish enough to show that kind of love and devotion to anyone?” I don’t know how many times I’ve told Hazel and Prather that they are the greatest of all love stories. In the human realm, I really don’t know of another couple that is more devoted and in love than they are. As I watch them, I am convicted, not only in my relationships with others, but even more so in my relationship with God.

I awoke last night, and as I lay in bed I felt God asking me to search my heart and answer these questions:

“Am I still your “First Love”?

“Do you stay near Me, paying close attention to all the details of our relationship?”

“Do you rest in My arms when times are difficult?”

“Do your “love songs” to me come from a heart that is truly devoted to Me and Me alone?”

“How often do you read the “love letters” that I have sent you?”

“Has your love grown deeper for me through the years?”

God, as He often does, teaches us lessons through people who come into our lives. Hazel and Prather have shown me what true love looks like. Now I am left to ask myself some serious questions.

My prayer for Trace Crossing:
Heavenly Father, I really cannot understand your love for mankind. How we must break your heart being so unfaithful at times in our love for You. May I, and The Church at Trace Crossing never forsake You – our “First Love.” May our relationship grow stronger and sweeter through the years.

DAY 38: "Sunday Afternoon Kevin" by Kevin Wood

DAY THIRTY-EIGHT: "Sunday Afternoon Kevin" by Kevin Wood


"Sometimes a nap is an act of pure laziness. Sometimes it is an act of worship."
- Allen Levi, folksinger from Columbus, Georgia


Sunday afternoons are usually "crash time" for me. Regardless of whether the sermon that Sunday was a good one or quite honestly one I'd just rather not repeat anytime soon, Sunday afternoons are my Sabbath - a time to just come home and be with my family. On Sunday afternoons I leave church at church, take off the "Pastor" hat and just slip into being "Dad" for the rest of the day. I might take a nap, one of my kids or Traci tucked right by my side. I might go out and toss the football with Graham, jump on the trampoline with Lydia, or roll on the floor with Fisher. I don't pick up a commentary and I don't touch any of my sermon help books. It's time that I value more than almost any other time during the week because for a full afternoon I feel like a good husband, a good father, and a good man. And that feels good.

I've learned something about Sunday Afternoon Kevin. My kids like him better than Tuesday Afternoon Kevin or Wednesday Morning Kevin. Sunday Afternoon Kevin is more relaxed. His mind has let go of church concerns and he is fully focused on his kids. Graham, Lydia, and Fisher love that. So do I. I believe God does, too.

As I was preparing for this week's message, I had to look at the Ten Commandments again. I was reminded as I read them that the fourth commandment that God gives is to "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy". That's funny. God commanded us to rest. It's like He is saying, "You must take some time off each week and let everything else in the world go undone for a full 24 hours." And this command isn't tenth of the Ten Commandments. It is fourth. Before adultery. Before coveting. Before killing. Rest is important to God. He is serious about His Sabbath.

Now here is what really made me think. When did God give Israel the Ten Commandments? While they were wandering through the desert. When they had left Egypt and were trying to make their way to the Promised Land. Maybe you're thinking, "So what?" Why is that such a big deal? Here's why. Because each day they took off from traveling - from making progress in their journey from Egypt to Canaan - was a day they lost in getting there. How many of us if we were traveling to Florida for a family vacation would just pull the car over and check into a random hotel for a day of rest, pushing our final destination back by another full day. Yet that is exactly what God was commanding them to do.

There are theological reasons for the fourth commandment, but I want to stay in the neighborhood of the practical reasons. Actually, I want to stick on just one practical reason. I think one practical reason God commands us to rest is because our relationship with those we love most benefits from it. So does our relationship with God. Simply put, I am a better father when I am obeying Gods' command to rest because I am more available to my kids. I rest from my work and I rest from my worries. The word that is used in Exodus 20:11 for "rested" means to "settle down" or "be quiet". You can almost here Psalm 46:10 echoing in the background, "Be still and know that I am God."

At the beginning of this article I said I think my kids like Sunday Afternoon Kevin best of all. I think God does, too. Because for one afternoon, I actually obey the fourth commandment. I rest. And here is what I learn from that simple act of obedience. When my mind isn't filled with all of life's worries I am a better father to my children. And when my mind isn't filled with all of life's worries, I am a better child to My Father.

Alright, that's enough for now. It's getting late and I need to... rest.

My Prayer For Trace Crossing:
God, help fathers spend more time with their daughters. Help mothers spend more time with their sons. Give husbands and wives just a little more time to enjoy one another with nothing to distract. Help us to see the wisdom in your command to rest. And help us to do it.