“Ugh, I need my stretchy pants,” I mumbled as I shuffled back to my desk. Two words, people: Uncomfortably Full. Not ‘happy’ full. Not ‘let’s take a nap and hibernate like a bear’ kind of full. Not even ‘Thanksgiving is the greatest day of the year’ full. This is a ‘full but unsatisfied’ kind of full. If a double cheeseburger and cheesy bacon fries with jalapeno jelly doesn’t leave you satisfied, then what will?

Matthew 4:4 (NLT) “But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

One of the more insidious temptations we all face is to go it alone, do it yourself, take care of #1, get all you can while you can. Or as it was presented to Jesus, ‘Just turn these stones into bread.’ Take a shortcut, and short circuit satisfaction.

Donnie’s Cheeseburger Paradox: A cheeseburger is one of the most amazing and satisfying things on God’s earth. Yet, all the cheeseburgers in the world won’t satisfy what you really hunger for.

You could insert your favorite food instead of cheeseburger. You could substitute in anything instead of ‘cheeseburger’: drugs, or sex, or the approval others, or money, or fame. Anything else, and the statement still holds true.

Takeaway: You’re more than a body. You’re more than a bundle of neurons and impulses. You are also spirit, and your spirit hungers for God. Lucky for you, His kitchen is always open. I hope He fills you with good things today and this weekend.

“Look at that idiot! Pick a lane, dude. Any lane, just pick one,” I said.
The guy was perfectly centered on the white line dividing the two lanes of traffic. Driving right down the middle. I couldn’t believe it.

Ok, honest sharing time: I may have a small road rage problem. I’m not a screamer, or let’s show this guy some sign language, or completely lose-my-mind-crazy kind of road rager. Don’t get me twisted up with those guys. I’m a ‘let’s vocalize in a normalish tone that I’m unsatisfied with your driving’ kind of road rager. Maybe it’s more Road Disapproving than Road Raging. I get behind the wheel and boom: I turn into that grouchy old guy you know, and that you try to avoid.

I’m generally a pretty laid back guy, but we all have our buttons. People doing less than sensible things while driving is a button I have to look out for. The slightest thing can send me into ‘Let’s Call this Idiot an Idiot’ land. What’s worse is that I believe I’ve taught my daughter the ways of the rage.

“Oh! Come on, look at that guy, daddy. He does not need to be driving!”
I felt so bad. And she was so little. Four or five years old- maybe even younger. It was like the synchronized swimming of driving disapproval- a beautiful, awful, harmony of judging others whilst we judge not upon ourselves.

John 21:22(NLT) “Jesus replied, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.’”

“Just stay in your lane! Why is that so hard for you!” It’s hard because it is hard. It’s hard not to get distracted. It’s hard to stay focused.

“Hmmm, what’s he doing? Snap! That’s good. Maybe I should do that.” Nope, stay in your lane.
“Did you hear what they’re doing? Man, that’s not good.” Nope, stay in your lane.

Takeaway: Jesus addresses the issue head on with Peter. “…What is that to you? As for you, follow me.” With distraction comes ineffectiveness. Don’t believe me? Try having a conversation with a loved one and have your TV or radio turned up as loud as it will go. It won’t work. Today, really every day, boils down to one thing: following Jesus. Don’t let anyone distract you from your task.

“Get wrecked, brother!”
Savage. He looks sweet. And he is. But he’s savage. His hair sticks up in the back. Always has. He has these big brown eyes and long eyelashes that women swoon over. He dotes over his mom. He’s a very sweet boy. He is a sweet, handsome, considerate, observant, brilliant, talented, ruthless savage.

“Savage? Really, Donnie?” you may ask.
Yes, it’s a strong term…that’s why I used it.

Doubt the theology of original sin? Doubt that everyone has the capability to do terrible things? Play Fortnite with a tween. Seriously. Any adult who thinks that we are all born good and sinless should play video games with a child. You will be mocked. You will be mercilessly slaughtered. And the background music to that slaughter? Giggles.

Giggles. Squealing giggles of delight, and then, “Get wrecked, brother!” My son loves playing the video game Fortnite. He plays with his friends. They can talk to each other through the game platform, so you’ll hear giggles and squeals of excitement and then “Get wrecked brother!” Or “wait for me, brother.” There’s a lot of ‘brother’ thrown about.

I don’t know how the whole ‘brother’ thing got started. However, I do remember turning to my wife and asking, “Brother? Baby is there something you need to tell me?” She laughed. I get laughed at a lot. I’m used to it.

John 20:17 (NLT) “…But go find My brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.'”

I thought I only had two children, but maybe I was wrong? So I did what any self respecting man would do, I asked my son about it.
“Brother? What’s going on with that, Bud?”
“Well, we’re brothers in Christ,” he said. He’s not wrong. Smart kid. Ruthless savage, but smart. True story.

Jesus called his disciples, the ones who believed in Him and put their faith in Him, His brothers. This verse always stops me in my tracks when I run into it. Brothers! My Father and your Father, to My God and your God! We are not what we think we are or what we appear to be.

In Christ Jesus, you have a family- a glorious family. You have a strength- the same God who gave strength to Jesus strengthens you. You have an inheritance- a glorious inheritance that was won for you and cannot be taken away. You have a future- the same Father and God who raised Jesus will raise you. To take up your cross is to be raised up with Him who bore it first.

You have an Awesome Savage Big Brother who loves you. Savage? Read the book of Revelation. Ain’t no savage like Jesus. Robe dipped in blood, the Supreme Commander of Heaven’s Armies. He is going to mess your enemy up!

Takeaway: Maybe you’re having a great week, or maybe this week has already been ruthlessly savage towards you. I hope that it’s going great. Either way, I want to remind you that you’re not alone. There is hope and refuge and strength in Him. In Jesus, you are of the household of God Almighty. You have brothers and sisters who share your hope. You’re not alone. You are going to make it.

There I am, on my deathbed. I’m old, ancient old. I’m surrounded by my wife, and kids, and grandchildren. They’re smiling at me, and crying a little, but trying not to. There’s a faint repetitive beeping sound in the background somewhere. A beautiful little girl pushes her way up to my bed. She looks just like my daughter. Her hair smells like my daughter’s hair when she gives me a hug.
“Grandpa?”
“Yes, baby,” I say.
“You were right,” this sweet angelic little girl says. The rest of the family looks worriedly at each other.
“Right about what, sugar plum?” I ask.
“We’ve been hiding things in the fridge from you,” she says through her little kid sobs. “We run and sneak to get to the fridge before you and hide what you were going to get, then we ‘find’ it for you. Grandma taught us to do it.”
“I knew it!” I say as I throw off my blankets, jump out of the bed, run to the kitchen, open the fridge, and there it is. There it all is: ketchup, pickles, cookie dough. Everything I could never find before. It’s all there. I’m not crazy, after all.

It’s not me. Can’t be. Why can I never find things in the fridge? Oh, but when anyone else looks in there for the same thing, it was behind the milk the whole time. I don’t get it. I’m a reasonably intelligent, fully capable man. There’s no other logical explanation for why I can never find anything in the refrigerator. Has to be some elaborate practical joke that my family has carried out for years. I’m on to them, though. Behind the milk, you say? Yeah, I know your games. I’m on to you jokers.

John 20:15 (NLT) “…Who are you looking for?”

After Jesus was crucified, folks went to his tomb, and surprise surprise, He wasn’t there. That’s where they left Him, but when they went back- an empty tomb.

Takeaway: To find what you’re looking for, you have to look in the right place. If you want peace, or joy, or forgiveness, or refuge- you have to look in the right place. You won’t find good things in dead places. So often we look for peace in unpeaceful places, joy in places that can offer only distraction, life in places that can offer only death. Jesus calls to us, “Who are you looking for?” What are you looking for? Are you looking in the right place?

If you’re looking for life, for living and good things, it has been my experience that Jesus is where you’ll find them. I’ve found them nowhere else. But, if you’re just looking for something in the fridge, check behind the milk. Trust me.

My wife is funny. True story. She had her wisdom teeth removed a few years back. In the recovery room, she sang the national anthem, ending it with ‘Play Ball.’ Classic.

We met while doing a play, which seems fitting. Like a great play, our life together has laughter and tears and twists and turns and changes of scenery and location.

Before I met the sassy gal who would be my wife, home was mom and dad’s house, mountains, streams, trees, fresh air, curvy mountain roads. And after? We started dating, and then we got married, and a strange thing happened. The idea of home got kind of fuzzy. Home became less and less an easily definable location. ‘Home is where the heart is,’ and I just wanted to be wherever she was. I wanted her to be wherever I was. It didn’t matter where she was; if she was there, then it was ok with me.

John 14:3 “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”

I had to wait. Waiting is the worst. We didn’t live together before we got married. We didn’t even live in the same state for a while. I was still a young college kid and working on school. The job prospects in my home state weren’t that great, so she moved back to South Carolina, got a job, found an apartment for us. This was before video chat and IMs. I don’t think I even saw a picture of our first apartment before move in day. And then the big day came, and now wherever she is, you’ll likely find me close by.

I want to be wherever Jesus is. Just like my gal prepared a place for us to start our lives together, Jesus is preparing a place for you, so that you can be with the one who loves you.

“Good grief! Are you ok?”
“Bleck! Yeah, I’m fine, why?” I answered.

It happened every game. I can’t remember a game where it didn’t happen, and I wasn’t much good to anyone until after it was done. Honest Sharing time: Hi, my name is Donnie, and I’m a nervous vomiter. I hurled with much velocity before every little league football game I ever played in. True story

I’ve always been a little guy, but at that age, everyone is little, so I was pretty good at football back then. But I’d get crazy nervous before every game. It was just something I couldn’t shake. Right before the first play of the game, or right after, there’d I go. It must have really freaked people out to see some kid just erupting vomit after cracking heads with somebody.

Romans 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

But after I’d get it all out, I was good. It was like I had to go through that, or get that out of me so that I could calm down. And after I hurled, I was good. The suffering at the beginning of the game didn’t matter at the end after I’d been tackling and blocking and helping my team.

Suffering, unfortunately, is unavoidable. But there’s good news! There is also glory. There is glory in your future.

John 17 22-23 (NLT)  “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. ²³ I am in them and you are in me.”

The same glory given to Jesus awaits for all his followers, that we may be one with Him and our Father. One with the bright and shining Glory that created us. Man, that’s worth a little nervous puking now and then.

“Take my boots and beat me to death with them.” Nobody took me up on it. Things never go according to plan.

A ten mile march in, an overnight, some curve balls thrown by those wily Drill Sergeants, and a ten mile march out. Too easy. One last field training exercise, and we’d be graduating Army Basic Training. Things never go according to plan in the Army.

Donnie’s Law of Planning and Logistics: If things go according to plan, somebody missed something or somebody is lying. True story.

Ten mile march to the training site- Check. But, we arrived at our training site to find another unit was already there. Somebody goofed up. We’d have to march to another site. A goof up put us marching another ten miles. Twenty miles total, with a full ruck.

Another ten miles- Check. We were cannibals. Pain Eaters. We ate it up. Everyone was strong. Nobody dropped away; nobody fell back. We got to our site late, and started digging fox holes spread out over a ridge. Then came one of the coldest, most miserable nights I’ve ever experienced. Frost on your sleeping bag; frost on everything.

Drill Sergeant curve balls and simulated artillery- Check. Training exercise- complete. Now we get to march twenty miles back to the completion ceremony. A pace was set so we wouldn’t show up late. Never show up late. Show up on time, or don’t show up. Don’t show up late.

The march back, it wasn’t bad, at first. You get in a groove. There’s a rhythm of sloshing canteens and boots on pavement and breathing. I counted trees. I thought about what you’re going to do after graduation. I thought about seeing my wife, sleeping in our bed instead of an Army bunk, sleeping the whole night without going on fire watch. Sleep. I didn’t notice that people started falling back. They were slipping. Finally, something caught my eye. I saw on of the most animal gorilla-strength things I’ve ever seen.

“Wait, is he carrying two rucks?” I said. He was. Ruck on his chest; ruck on his back. He was across from me in the other column. “That’s pure animal,” I whispered to my battle buddy. It was. Pure Animal.

“She’ll fail if I don’t.” That’s all he said. And then I saw her behind him. She was obviously hurting. Forty miles over two days with full packs, sleeping or trying to sleep in the freezing cold. She was a little gal, hardly 5 ft and barely 100 lbs on a good day. It was taking its toll. ‘She’ll fail if i don’t.’ I’d missed it; wasn’t paying attention. I was too much in my own head.

Galatians 6:2 “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

I still shake my head in disbelief when I think about that. It never occurred to me to carry someone else’s ruck. Never thought to look. And I’m sure the same thing happens every day- going through life without noticing that someone could use a hand, or a smile, or a kind word. So, if you see me daydreaming or counting trees when someone is hurting, poke at me with a stick or something. Take my boots and slap me with them. I want us to all finish this race.

“You look like one of those Eastern European war-lords or something…I mean it’s a good look for you,” he said.

That guy. Some guys, on some days, you just want to punch them in the throat. This was one of those days. I was wearing three coats, two pairs of gloves, a neck wrap, armored riding pants, and sporting a very classy bright orange backpack.

“Oh, no,” she said. “Who is riding a motorcycle in this weather? Is that you?” The little old lady. She’s a sweet ole gal. Always says hi, always asks how my kids are doing. Always tells me to put the motorcycle away. I feel no compulsion to punch her in the throat.

“uhh…Yes, mam. I’m that guy,” I answered. I mean, I couldn’t lie about it. Not to sweet old lady; not as I’m dressed as a Eastern European war-lord seconds away from throat punching a very nice man who made a very accurate observation. I did look like an Eastern European war-lord. It was a good look for me.

Until recently, I rode a motorcycle. Every. Day. It was my daily transport. Rain, cold, heat- it mattered not one bit. I was that guy you’d see in the middle of winter riding a motorcycle; that guy who’s riding in the rain, looking like a wet cat. I say ‘that guy’ because there’s usually only one or two of us in any given town. We’re like the Sith. ‘Always two there are. No more. No less.’

Riding in the winter was the worst. I’ll take rain. I’ll take heat. My ride to work was short, but in the winter time it was a suffer-fest. Twenty Six degrees. That was the coldest I rode, and I was pretty sure I was going to die of hypothermia before I ever got to work.

Why did I do it? For me, at the time, it was worth it. Those perfect spring and summer mornings when the birds are singing, those fall evenings when the leaves are changing and the sun is starting to set- on a bike, you’re outside in it and a part of it. It’s glorious.

Romans 8:18(NLT) “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.”

Takeaway: In Jesus, you have a glory waiting to be revealed. You may be suffering now. I get it. Life can be a suffer-fest at times. But it is worth it. You can do it, because He is there and He will help you. The God of All Glory is on your side, and He has glory for you. Even more glorious than a goober like me smiling like a possum while riding a motorcycle on a perfect summer morning.

“Oh good. DJ sent me another picture of his pasty-white-hairless-man-boy legs. Fantastic.”

I have weird friends. This is how DJ says, ‘Hey, what’s going on man. My job is cooler than yours because I get to wear shorts every day.’ He’s weird. There’s no excuse for this behavior from a reasonably sane full grown man. Unacceptable. Makes me laugh every time. True story.

I was in theater when I was younger, which explains away some of my earlier friend choices. Maybe. Theater people are weird. You have to be a special kind of weird to get up in front of people, in a costume, say words you didn’t think of yourself, and then (hopefully) accept applause for it afterwards.

I didn’t put two and two together at first. It took me a while to realize that maybe the reason all my friends are weirdos is that I am, in fact, a weirdo.

Who your friends are says a lot about you. To enter your friend circle is to be like you. Your friends probably like what you like, laugh at what you laugh at, eat what you like to eat. If your friends are weirdos, well, you get the point.

John 15:14,17 (NLT) “You are my friends if you do what I command…This is my command: Love each other.”

‘Hey, Jesus, uh, who’s your friend over there?’
‘Oh, that’s Donnie. Weird dude, but we’re cool.’

Takeaway: I want to be known as a friend of Jesus. But to be His friend, to enter His friend circle, I have to be like Him. He loves you, and He wants Life for you: full flavor life, unchained life, a wild and dangerous and holy life. True story.

“Ah, yeah, great, let me just dump out this pitcher and splash water all over my crotch so I can look like an idiot and be awkward around people for the next hour until it dries.” Nobody says this. Nobody does this on purpose. Water happens.

John 16:33 (NLT) “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

I’m going to say it. Trials are garbage: Nobody wants it, but everybody has it. Trials are like exercise, and people who say they like exercise are filthy liars. Don’t trust them. Kidding. Mostly.

I pray that as you start this new week that you will take heart, be renewed in your heart, have strong heart and assurance in Him. Trials are part of the path, so keep walking. Trials are garbage; keep walking.

The Bible tells us this ride is full of bumps, and bruises, and peace, and glory, and joy, and real life. Not artificial sweetener life. Real life. Never stopping life. Take heart. Laugh; laugh at yourself. Laugh at me if you can’t laugh at yourself (I get extra points if you do). Take heart. He has overcome the world; we are on His path, so we will overcome, too.