WEEKLY THOUGHTS...

Sept. 29

HE KNOWS ME...

One of the biggest steps in my young christian life was moving from God loves the world and others to a understanding that God loves me personally and knows me.

It was always easier to see how God could love someone else. At times I did not even love myself, so how could an awesome Holy, Powerful God love me. Besides isn't he busy with a vast universe. I am only a spec in that universe, surely He would not even miss me if I were gone.

How wrong I was! God did know me and He had singled me out as uniquely important as He has with us all.

"You have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit down and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways, before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.

Psalm 139:1-4

As I opened to God in my daily life, He revealed how much he loved me and how well he knew me. I am not just another number to God.

There is a beautiful passage in Isaiah 49:16 that reads "See I have engraved you in the palm of my hands" That passage looked forward to the cross where Jesus' hands were permanently engraved with nails as he was put on a cross. That scar bears my name so to speak. It was for me that he went to the cross. I am engraved int he palms of his hands.

Knowing this changes the way we live. It is to higher purpose than survival we are called. We have been created and uniquely designed by God to fulfill His purpose upon the earth. In even the smallest ways of our daily lives we impact the present and prepare the future.

WEEKLY THOUGHTS...

Each of us asks these questions at times:

Am I really important in the grand scheme of God's design? Are the little details of my everyday life important to him? Is there purpose for my life beyond what I am currently living? How can I discover my purpose in life?

This past week I was hit square in the face with some of these questions. Since Michele and I left full time ministry in 2007 we have questioned at times: are we really where God wants us right now? We believed we heard from God when we moved here.
It has been a really great move for all of us especially our younger children (who are now in high school). We have been blessed with some great friendships, we love the schools here, we enjoy our community. Yet, there is still a calling to purpose on our lives that we have not been living out in a large way.

The result of prayer and time with God gave birth to a Bible Study that we are hosting in our home each Sunday night at 7pm. 1319 Ridgefield loop Round Rock (Teravista)

I have found that my life makes the most sense when I am in my purpose. Getting Amanda Ready for college next year, we have looked over the various degree plans. There is so much she can do, but what was she created to do and be? That question requires that we spend time with God in prayer and examining his words to us: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart, I appointed you. (Jeremiah 1:5)
I have reminded her of that passage as we have examined her gifts and desires for clues to who God created her to be and what He wants her to do. Examining our talents, gifts and desires is a good beginning point. God made you and I unique. He also equipped us for the purpose to which we are called.. "for we are God's workmanship, which God prepared in advance for us to do". (Eph. 2:10)
Your design is divinely inspired! Everything you need to succeed is in you by design. Putting God first is the key. As we let him lead us we will move from doing a job to fulfilling a purpose.
Take time to thank God for your design today. See you Sunday.

Alan and Michele

A PERSONAL PSALM

There is so much I want to say and yet the words are not readily available. As if my head and heart have been blocked from communication. At times like these, I press forward with the "pen" so to speak. in hopes that the blockade will break and the words pour forth more freely.

Robert Frost wrote: "something there is that does not love a wall.." I could not lay my hands on the poem but as I remember it he talked of how the frozen ground will swell and send the upper boulders of the wall tumbling to the earth. It is as if the earth rebels against the building of a wall between neighbors. Robert Frost captures the human delimit. We build walls for protection, only to discover that they need constant repair and in the end, for the most part must be torn down all together so that we can live in community. We were never intended to live alone.

The grand discovery of life is when independence slams into the broken heart. When we discover that we need outside of ourselves we are closer to God than ever before. Very recently. I have had the collision. My independence has slammed into brokenness. At the point of this writing , I am not sure what the outcome will be. save a deeper. closer walk with God.

I have been here before, it is familiar ground. The shadow of the mountain looms over me as I walk through the valley. God has upset my wall. Its boulders are tumbling down. There are new paths for me to walk and this is my motivation. I have nothing to go back too. I have no more walls to hide behind.

Stripped of title. old friendship, security. one can only present oneself. I have talents, abilities, accolades, but in a new place these things are unknown and unproven. Somehow it is good to be in this place. God's voice is more easily heard, there are fewer distractions. A familiar hope is stirring within a desire to reconnect with original purpose. I am closer to God now and it is comforting.

What is just over the mountain? My mission and purpose are moving me forward and I am grateful for the valley as I press for the mountain top.

The Winds of Change

As the fall approaches we are reminded by nature that change is inevitable. The winds of change are blowing across our nation right now stronger than ever before. In just a few years since 9-11 we have seen sweeping change. The way we board an Airplane. The way we look at one another. The way we view national security and so many, many more.
The country I grew up in is vastly different today. My parents never worried about what I was doing on the Internet. I had a small TV in my bedroom and my parents never worried what I was watching on it. At midnight every station played the national anthem and went off the air with an annoying high pitched sound.
I listened to AM radio at night to hear my favorite college team play and then to music that was DJ'd by Wolfman Jack. My parents never worried about what I listened to on the Radio. My brother and I played outdoors mostly, we walked all over town and if we got far enough away from home a hometown citizen would offer to give us a ride home. We left our house un-locked, our cars un-locked and our bikes sitting out in our front yard. The next day they were still there.
It is so much harder to parent today. We work hard to keep up with what is going on in our children's lives. My son was doing a school assignment a couple of years ago that required Internet research. He mis-typed the mans last name and a porn site popped up. We monitor our kids on the Internet. block offensive sites and keep that computer in a public place in the home. We saw what had happened within a few minutes. He felt ashamed and was in tears as we talked with him but it was not his fault.
We are under attack on many fronts in America. Just a few days ago, Disney had to fire a young woman who had a bright future with them because she sent her boyfriend explicit pictures of herself over the Internet and it became public. In recent years what we used to be considered obscene behavior has been glamorized and encouraged by magazines, TV, Cable, the Internet. and our school systems.
It is time for change in America. We need to take our culture back! It is time to get involved as parents in our schools, we need to let our leaders hear our voices loud and clear. We must become ONE NATION UNDER GOD!

What Really Happens in VEGAS?

Some really WONDERFUL THINGS!! Graduation, Baptisms, Great friends, Fun and best of all you can remember evertything in the Morning.

Back to School..

We had a Great Summer but now it is back to school for the two youngest! We all really enjoyed friends and family who were able to come see us at our new home in Austin. No regrets! It is quiet in our home right now. I am working in my office but I find myself a little distracted by the lack of life happening in the home. I am going to go to lunch with a friend out where people make noise. Here is a re-cap of a summer highlight for us.




Recently I took my family and some of our friends from out of state to downtown Austin along the famed 6th street. We took the Duck Boat tour http://www.austinducks.com/ it was a blast. You will learn all about the history of Austin and how it became the capitol of Texas. We finished the evening off at Bess Bistro http://www.bessbistro.com/ (my oldest daughter is a pastry chef there) Bess is owned by Sandra Bullock and is a great way to get the Austin Flavor. A stroll down 6th street will put you in ears shot of some of the best music in the country. Each cafe, bar and restaurant have live music as Austin loves to proclaim itself as The Nations Capitol for Live Music.
The Real Estate Market in Austin remains strong despite what has happened in other parts of the country. This can be attributed to a strong economy in Texas especially in central Texas. Where people work they also must have homes to buy or lease. The strong economy has attracted both investors and new residents from LasVegas, California and Arizona where the real estate market booms have created wealth for home owners in a short period of time. To protect their gains they have migrated to a more solid market where their money has incredible purchase power http://alanmaz.actris.mlxchange.com/



If you want to find out more about owning a piece of Austin feel free to contact me: 512-709-3336 or just email me your questions at alanmaz1@earthlink.net

Have a noisy day!!

Alan

Weekend to Remember

This past weekend, my wife had given me two tickets to the Cowboy vs Bronco's game in Dallas Texas. I am a huge Dallas Cowboy fan from my childhood. My son and I went to the game, my middle daughter came along with us to Dallas but stayed with other family members while we were at the game.

It was my second game in Texas Stadium. By television, I had watched some of the great NFL players of all time play on that field: Bob Lilly, Roger Stabauch, Tony Dorsett, Emmitt Smith and so many more. For those friends of mine who secretly love the Cowboys too, they did win the game 31-20. Looks like this could be a great season if key players stay healthy.

The best part of my weekend however was not the game. It was being with my children. My wife and I are blessed with 3 beautiful children. They are very sweet (when they are asleep) and obedient (when I carry a big stick) but most of all they love each other. Perhaps that will be the greatest legacy that Michele and I will leave behind is the relationship our children have with each other.

I can tell you it has not been easy work to get them to this point. They each have very different personalities. What one loves the other may not care for at all. Zak loves to read, Amanda loves to sing, Mikah loves to dance and cook pasteries.

Sounds like the perfect Circus doesn't it? I am so thankful that they care for each other. As I look around at the fractured famlies that make up America today, I see a vast sea of lonely people. My prayer is that our kids will always love each other and be there for one another.

No matter how old we get or how far we may move away our siblings can make life a richer blessing or a unbearble burden. I am the oldest of 4 siblings and we are close. It would be great to be closer, but I do know that we love each other. Adversity in our life has revealed that time and again.

This weekend, I saw my children love me and love each other. We went to church together and I saw them love Jesus. What joy! When we decided to move to Austin Texas, my oldest daughter did not have to move it was love of family that caused her to move. What a joy it has been to have her close by her brother and sister dearly love spending time with her.

My oldest daughter no longer lives at home and her siblings and parents miss her. She misses us too and often comes over for dinner. When at home now during the day at times I will hear Zak and Amanda upstairs laughing and playing together it makes me smile.

It is not that they never fight it is that Michele and I raise the value of each child and the value of loving each other. We model it, reward it when we see it and discpline strongly when it is violated.