QUESTION OF THE DAY #3:What is your favorite exercise?

There are so many exercises, and where do you start?  Walking and bicycling are among some of the very best around!   You just can't do them all, though.  I'm retiring from hockey to take up weightlifting with my son, who  is a freshman in high school and playing football!  In fact, I'd get way less exercise if it weren't for him!  It is certainly time well spent, exercise or not.  I used to lift weights in college, and I did it for a bit about a half dozen years ago.  It sure feels good to be doing it again!

Of course, there is more than just physical exercise.  Playing chess, reading, puzzles, and even writing blogs are all good exercises for the brain!  We need that kind of exercise, too!

Did you know that God is our Trainer?  It's true.  Each challenge in this life that we face is a way to be strengthened. Paul put it this way: "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:3-6)

Now spiritual exercise isn't always about suffering, to be sure, but isn't it good to know that even when we do, it can be used by God to build us up?

So what is your favorite exercise?  Running?  Kayaking?  Something else? As you talk through these questions of the day with  your loved ones, it is my hope that your relationships with your loved ones are built up too!

QUESTION OF THE DAY #2: What was your favorite toy?

Lego's, hot wheels, jacks, dolls, bicycles, teddy bears, all of these are great candidates for favorite toys. My favorite toy as a kid was the "green machine." It had four wheels and pedals and was green! It was like a kid-powered go cart! It was great. We used to "whip out" at the end of the driveway and head to various parts of the neighborhood for our adventures. This was back in the day when kids could just go out and play! It seems to me somehow things have changed.

It's good to be an adult, now, but there is something important about being a kid. It is a time to learn and grow and have those adventures. It is a time of imagination. Ever wonder why Jesus tells us to have a childlike faith? Our growing and learning never stop, and our imagination is sparked to live as disciples of Jesus. More importantly even than that, we are called upon to place our trust completely in Jesus, and not in ourselves. This doesn't mean a life of passivity and resignation, however. It does mean that each day an awesome adventure waiting to unfold in the freedom that comes through Christ's love!

So, what was your favorite toy? Be sure and leave a comment and share your thoughts all about these daily questions. I look forward to hearing from you soon and to writing my next blog tomorrow!

QUESTION OF THE DAY #1: What do you see when you look up at the stars at night?

Some people are scientific about it. They ask, is there life out there? What IS out there? What are the stars made of, and how did they get there? Maybe they even think about the vast distances involved and the time it took for light to reach the earth. 

Some people are romantic about it. They think about loved ones, family and friends, living or deceased. Some people even make a wish when they look up at the stars. For me, it's usually some profound thought that catches me by surprise. Also, I always wonder if those far away are looking up at the same stars that very moment, too.

Thousands of years ago, David looked up at the stars and wondered about God and about people--about how the two can possibly relate to each other. He said a prayer recorded in Psalm 8:3-5, "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor."

In the English Standard Version of the Bible, this has the heading "Divine Majesty and Human Dignity." I like that! The stars remind us that God is simply awesome in power and might, but that is not all! God also made the stars for us and calls us to be caretakers of His creation. There is dignity in each person because God put it there. In fact, this verse is also a powerful reminder that Jesus also became human to restore us to the way God first created us! Maybe I don't look up at the stars and think about this nearly enough, but the next time they're out, you know I will.

You are invited back each day for a new question of the day!