Matthews Family Herald

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" from Joshua 24:15


There's this clock on my wall at work. It's not like other clocks on walls out there. No sir, this one is special. Not just cuz it's mine (aw, how sweet) but also because the hour hand is always off. The hour hand always stays close to the current hour no matter how close to the new hour the minute hand is getting. So at 4:45pm, for example, the minute hand looks right, but the position of the hour hand looks like it's still barely past 4pm. I'm likely not painting a great picture of what I'm talking about but trust me, it doesn't look right.

But the funny thing, though, is that the clock is as accurate as "all get out." Once you get used to the strange hour hand, you can easily get used to telling what time it is. But other colleagues before me had already written this clock off. I found it dusty and with an old battery that had been dead for months or perhaps years. (Well, mostly dead. The second hand continued to twitch and that's what caught my eye about it.)

Everyone just wanted to throw it away. (Who ever thought I could make someone cry with sympathy over a clock but I'm about to.) I picked it up, dusted it off, changed it's battery (my eyes are getting misty - with either sympathy or laughter. Not sure. You'd have to have seen Wall-E, I guess) and put it back on the nail it once hung on. Seriously, there was even a little ring on the wallpaper where you could tell it once sat. I gave it a chance, the lil guy, and it has done just great.

Sounds silly but this clock is a lot like me. Maybe a lot like you too. I've got my quirks and I definitely have my weaknesses. There are many out there who would or have already dismissed me as unimportant. But if you just give people a chance, you might find out that they are very dependable, useful, and make a great contribution to your life and to society...like my very special friend, Mr. Clocky.

And hey, it'll save a little money too. I didn't have to buy a new clock.

James Matthews
(in c/o Mr. McClock)


Timothy Ferriss, in his book "The 4-Hour Workweek" gave perhaps some of the best advice I've heard in years and had me laughing today.


He said that while in college, anytime any teacher or instructor gave him any grade of less than an A, he would either visit that instructor in their office after class or at some other time shortly after the grading and go over each and every mistake, point, question of decision, etc., and that he'd make sure that he compiled enough questions and discussion points to make the meeting last anywhere from 1 to 3 hours.


He said this strategy had two outcomes:


1. It helped him to thoroughly learn the teacher's grading technique, mindset, outlook, viewpoints, and prejudicies.


2. It caused the instructor to become much more careful and to think long and hard before finding something that Tim submitted for an answer to be false unless there was truely some firm ground in which the teacher could reasonably count the question wrong and defend their position.


I not only found this advice to be highly valuable, but I also found it hysterical and I laughed out loud after hearing it, several times. I'm grinning as I type this. It made my day.


I'm also thinking about how to apply this elsewhere. In the work environment, for example, persons (including me) are evaluated in writing. Where else could this strategy be applied? I'm not talking about making up false questions, but seriously, honing and training those in authority over you to be careful and to make sure they aren't messing with the outcome of your life through their ratings or comments unless they really have a point and are on firm ground.




I thought I'd share the two books I'm going through right now. One I listen to at home when I have moment and the other I play at work when I'm doing something mundane like punching holes into 2,000 pages of a record of trial.




"The Unemployed Millionarie" by Matthew Morris
and
"The 4-Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferriss




Fahrschule

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"Fahrshule" literally means "travel school" but is understood here (in Germany) to mean driver's education. My sons love the fact that since "Fahrt" means here to travel by vehicle, they can yell out this word in public without the usual reactions they'd get in America. I named this post "travel school," though, because that's where I've been.

When I first arrived in Germany, I had big hopes of getting a little car that I could use for work. Instead, I ended up using the public transportation here for several reasons. The Lord said to :), saves a lot of money, gets me just about anywhere, better for the environment, etc. Germany has an elaborate system of buses, trolleys, and trains. At varying times and in intervals of usually about 20 minutes apart (like labor contractions - not that I've been in labor), there's some form of transportation that will make a stop at nearly just about anywhere. What's so cool is that for one, flat rate, you can use them all and mix or match your way to a destination.

At first, I kept trying to "manipulate" or "play" the system with different combinations of travel modes and locations in order to try and get home faster. But no matter which way I chose to go, I'd either arrive at the same time anyway or end up being late because of unfamiliarity with new surroundings, etc. It reminded me of how I used to switch lanes while driving in a traffic jam (stawberry ones are my favorite, Grape ones I cannot stand), only to find that the lane I moved to ended up being the slower lane later on. Grrr! (Yes, I just said "Grr.")

I was thinking about how that all ties into walking with God (not the labor contractions and strawberry jam part). He also has a plan for our lives that plays out each day through an elaborate and well-orchastrated series of circumstances. It's so tempting, and I think we all try (at least sometimes) to find a way to get what we want (stawberry jam, for example) our way (by going into labor, perhaps) or to speed things up (hurry with that bagel, this next contraction could be "the one!") or change the outcome, but in the end, we just make things worse when we do that. (Honey, I can't believe you just ralphed stawberry bagels all over the delivery room people!) We have to trust what God is doing, how He works, and how He has things unfold and realize it's okay. We'll get to where He wants us to go and no need to try and control the situation and bend it to our advantage. That's what I learned at Fahrschule today, mama.

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The Greatest Force on Earth/Die größte Kraft auf der Erde

I've been listening to an audio book co-authored by world famous singer, Stephen Curtis Chapman and by Scotty Smith, Stephen's pastor. It's called "Restoring Broken Things" It's theme is that the expansion of God's Kingdom is summarized in the title of the book. Each time any of us makes a move to restore something from brokenness and back to wholeness, we are expanding His Kingdom. I couldn't help comparing this with current military events and to the justice system. To illustrate it in a personal way, I would rather have restoration than justice if someone hurts me. Rather than punished, I just want that person to choose differently, to apologize and make amends, and to restore the relationship. That's what God wants from us, right? Otherwise, He wouldn't have sent His son. He chose restoration over what we deserved. But would it work in the justice system? It's a hard call but it's why the death penalty makes me uneasy. Why? One person is worth however much it costs to give them the chance to eventually be reached, to come to terms with what they have done, to be restored unto Jesus, and to perhaps made an impact in the world before they die of natural causes. How? By perhaps writing a book or answering newspaper interviews, or who knows. I know this, love, God's love is the MOST powerful force in heaven and on Earth. No revenge, no wrath, no evil, no darkness can ever defeat God's love and those who choose it over retaliation. Certainly, if it's called for, it's not our place. "Vengence is mine, says the Lord, I will repay." Choosing it,expressing God's love, I mean, means a greater personal sacrifice, it means needing more patience, and it might mean watching what looks like things going the wrong direction and losing for awhile. But in the end, absolutely NO force can overcome and be victorious over God's love.
-James D of Germany

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Ich höre auf eine Audio-Buch mit dem Co-Autor von weltweit berühmten Sängerin, Stephen Curtis Chapman und Scotty Smith, Stephen's Pfarrer. Es heißt "Wiederherstellung der Gebrochenheit" Das Thema ist, dass die Expansion des Reiches Gottes zusammengefasst im Titel des Buches ist. Jedes Mal, wenn einer von uns macht einen Schritt, um etwas aus Gebrochenheit wiederherzustellen und wieder zurück nach Ganzheit, erweitern wir sein Reich. Ich konnte nicht umhin, einen Vergleich dieser mit den derzeitigen militärischen Ereignisse und der Justiz. Um es auf eine persönliche Art zu illustrieren, möchte ich lieber als die Wiederherstellung des Rechts, wenn mir jemand weh tut. Anstatt bestraft, ich will nur diese Person anders zu wählen, um sich zu entschuldigen und sich bessern, und die Beziehung wieder herzustellen. Das ist, was Gott von uns will, nicht wahr? Andernfalls würde er seinen Sohn nicht gesendet haben. Er entschied sich für die Wiederherstellung über das, was wir verdient haben. Aber wäre es Arbeit in der Justiz? It's a hard nennen, aber es ist, warum die Todesstrafe mich unruhig macht. Warum? Eine Person wert ist jedoch viel es kostet, um ihnen die Chance, letztlich erreicht werden, um die Bedingungen mit dem, was sie getan haben, kommen, wieder hergestellt werden zu Jesus, und vielleicht hat diese Auswirkungen in der Welt, bevor sie eines natürlichen Todes sterben. Wie? Mit vielleicht ein Buch zu schreiben oder beantworten Zeitung Interviews, oder wer weiß. Ich weiß das, Liebe, die Liebe Gottes ist die stärkste Macht im Himmel und auf Erden. Keine Rache, kein Zorn, kein Böse, keine Finsternis kann je Niederlage Gottes Liebe und diejenigen, die es vorziehen Vergeltung. Sicherlich, wenn es gefordert, es ist nicht unser Platz. "Die Rache ist mein, spricht der HERR, ich will vergelten." Die Auswahl ist, Ausdruck der Liebe Gottes, ich meine, bedeutet eine größere persönliche Opfer, bedeutet dies, brauchen mehr Geduld, und es könnte bedeuten, beobachten, was aussieht wie die Dinge die falsche Richtung zu verlieren und für eine Weile. Aber am Ende, absolut keine Kraft überwinden kann und über die Liebe Gottes siegreich. -Jakobus D. Deutschland


Today I had the joy of helping my three-year old son, Nathan put together one of his favorite "Thomas the Train" puzzles. I started right away using the same method I normally use, which is to build the borders first and fill in from there. I also frequently compare what I'm doing with the puzzle to the picture on the box. Watching Nathan put the pieces together made me smile and remember what it was like when I was his age and had no technique or method yet developed.

I watched him trying to force two pieces into fitting together that didn't belong together. I would have to calm him down and gently convince him that this was not the way it works. The puzzle "is what it is" and we have to submit to making what belongs together go together. I realized how much doing a puzzle was like serving God and walking with God. We have a big picture to frequently compare who we are and what we are doing to. That big picture is the life Jesus lived, the Book His words are captured in, and the Spirit He guides us with. We have our agenda that we are constantly tempted to force into being in spite of the Maker's guide and plan. We have to submit and put things where He wants them in our lives no matter how much we wish for that other thing to "go there." We are truly happiest when we are ordered in His fashion and after His design.

Finally, we can't always see the big picture. When working a puzzle, I notice pieces that belong together. I I put them together and notice that other pieces attach to those two. As I'm building this smaller portion, I'm not always yet able to see how that cluster of pieces fits into the overall puzzle, but God has allowed me to put them together. My son has his cluster and I know his pieces fit into the big picture too but sometimes I can't yet tell where. He builds, I build and we both work together. I see a piece and share with him and he sees one that I need. As long as our pride doesn't stop us from cooperating, we build the big picture together and, like I was able to coach, comfort, and encourage my son, God is there to mentor and guide us as we do our part of the big puzzle He has designed for all of us.

SNOWY SEASON

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We've been getting heavy snow here in the Neckargamund/Heidelberg general area (heavy to us, anyway) and so the kids have been having some great fun. I have to admit that it's very pleasant and calming to look out and see a blanket of white over everything. The air becomes so clean, crisp, and cool in my lungs; very refreshing! And so quiet outside. Quieter inside as the kids are out out playing in it! :) There's a lot to be said for quietness. Yes, I intended the pun that time. Seriously, this home has a peaceful quietness I can only recall experiencing out at Nonny and Pawpaw's and then at one other place we visited once off in the country years ago. And there's this old, wind up clock that's so nice to have as background noise when Heather and I sit on the couch, soaking up the silence and having tea.

Our wonderful Grandparents/Landlords came to visit recently and they provided me with some pictures from their visit that I'd like to share. Micah and the kids are quite amusing characters at times and they put together this jolly rendition of Mr. Snowman.

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