August 20, 2014 KURTS DAILY MUSE Horn of Joy I have a customer and friend who has been playing his french horn with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for more than 42 years. You might think he would be a disciplined, somewhat serious person. He is quite the opposite. His good-natured, affable personality is infectious. Whenever things dont go his way, when most people would gripe and complain, Paul just shrugs his shoulders, laughs and does the impossible. Perhaps that is what has made him so successful. Perhaps that is why they used his face, with his nose covered in white sunblock on billboards promoting the DSO summer concerts. His faith and joy in Christ are a decision, more than a feeling, which he uses to keep him centered in Gods will. Although opposites attract, his wife is just like him. Jody is very accomplished in the world of education, has been published 14 times, has opened two private schools, is in demand as a lecturer, and has overcome a battle with cancer. You would think she would be all business. But shes just like her husband - warm, caring, funny, people-oriented, and very giving. Now, Ive said all that because we often have pictures of what it takes to be successful - the hard-driving ivy-league school graduate who sets goals and achieves great honors through intense workloads, blah, blah, blah. But then you meet my friends who smell the roses along the way, make each person feel like they matter the most, and talk about the Lord as though Hes standing right next to you. Its enough to make you think twice about your witness for the Lord, and whether you are missing some of the more important gifts of being a Christian = love, joy and peace. Then he [Nehemiah] said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh. 8:10). By the Way: If your strength is found in the joy of the Lord, you can eat the fat and drink the sweet, and be more than a conqueror through Him who loved us. For Jesus is the horn of our salvation whose love you can toot 24/7.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 12:05:57 +0000