S-U-R-R-E-N-D-E-R

On Sunday my father-in-law, Randy Hopkins, brought down the house and brought tears to me eyes as he preached a sermon entitled "SURRENDER: Okay, I Give Up!"--a message delivered straight from his heart to the congregation of Trinity Mennonite Church. I'll just summarize some of his points below although I wish I could streamline the sermon in a podcast form for you to hear. He really should preach every Sunday. Sorry, Dad, if I butcher some of your words to rehash your points! I did my best to take notes...


Salvation is the start of surrendering. (John 12:23-26).
Unpack struggles in your life that lead to stress. (We need to get deeper to the root of our problems and resist being band-aid Christians).
Release unrealistic expectations. (He never heard the words, "I love you" from his father even though he desperately wanted to but he had to let go of that expectation from ever happening, forgive, and move on).
Relinquish control of your life. (Dad spoke of IMPACT moments in his life, one of which recently occurred during a family member's funeral. Mom's niece in Michigan suffered the death of her baby and while Dad's mind was preoccupied with the practical hindrances of traveling there to attend the funeral (gas $$$, time, etc.), Mom wanted to go. Upon arrival, they realized the baby's father was not even present, but Mom's niece approached her and said, "Of all people, I knew you'd be here." At that moment Dad realized her niece saw Jesus in Mom and any thoughts of practical hindrances washed away.
Enlist scriptures to your mind. (The enemy isn't stupid and he'll put defeatist repetitions in your mind if it's not wall-papered with scripture. Boy do I know how true that is!)
Never trust in your own gifting.
Dare to believe God will take care of you.
Endure the hardships.
Responsibility for who we are. (Dad shared a story of meeting Franklin Graham and asking him to pray for him. Graham instructed him to surrender his requests to the Lord instead of having another person pray for his needs).

After the service, the kids and I talked about Dad's sermon. Laney said, "I'm surprised Grandpa would do that since he's kind of shy." I said, "Yeah, he's a lot like your Daddy." Laney responded, "No, Daddy is really talkative. He just talks, talks, and talks." I exclaimed, "Are you kidding me? I think your Daddy is definitely shy and not talkative." Laney said, "Trust me. I've been living with my Daddy for 9 years. I know he's a talker."
Well, I guess everything is a matter of perspective. Case in point: Max piped up, "I would hate to live in the middle of nowhere." I about died of laughter (as we passed a cornfield to drive to Monical's Pizza). I said, "Buddy, I hate to break it to you, but we do live in the middle of nowhere!" Too funny! I've got to take these kids to a city!