|
| No tengo generalmente cualquier cosa importante escribir en Xanga, sino que me siento como deseo escribir algo. Pensé tan en una manera de condimentarla para arriba un poco. No es mucha pero espero que aprecies el esfuerzo. | | |
| I have been knocked off my comfortable pedestal recently. Life has taken many turns that make me confused, frustrated, discouraged, etc. I have cried and I have been numb. Amidst these confusing times I have seen two things that have made me stop and smile -
A wedding in the middle of the worship service between two people older than most newlyweds.
A dear friend having their fourth child and naming her Tallulah Joy.
I do not know the answers to the difficult questions; however, I do know that the world is full of truly beautiful things. Take time to enjoy them.
...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Phil 4:8 | | |
| Easter is a difficult day for my family. Yesterday started off with an amazing object lesson for me. I walked into Lucy's room and there it hit me. She was bouncing all around, smiling from east to west and generally more full of life than anything I have ever seen. Easter is a day of re-birth. Jesus was raised from the dead. There is nothing that that resurrection power cannot overcome. Not my family's issues, and not yours. Rest assured that you cannot overcome without this resurrection power, but with it we are God's army.
On Saturday night at the Easter vigil service my son said a really cool thing that is both funny and true. We had just gathered in the back of the church to re-affirm our baptism and we turn around to walk back to the front for praise and the church is aglow with many, many candles. The light was pretty impressive. Even more impressive to me was my son, he says to me, "Daddy, the church is transforming". I pray that to be true. I pray that when we get close to Jesus we are transformed. | | |
| I have made a couple of observations over the past couple of days, I will share them.
Flowers have long been underestimated in my eyes. It started this past weekend with some casual viewing of the Masters. You would have to be blind not to notice how beautiful the flowers are at Augusta. This pattern continued yesterday when Amy, Sam, Lucy and I visited Longwood Gardens. Awesome! Really beautiful. I love the way that flowers tell a story.
We (see listed party to Longwood) went out with several friends to dinner last night. Deb, Craig, Larry, Marion and Asher joined us for a couple of hours. It is great to be around people that you love and who love you. Our family is indebted to many for their love toward us. Thank you. If you think I am not talking about you, I probably am. Thanks and don't stop! I pray that I and my family can be just as good to you.
God is faithful. If we give God a chance to be good, he will. If we spend all of our time trying to convince ourselves that things suck, we will make sure that they do. Sometimes things do suck and in those times we just need to say 'God, things are lousy, I am sad, hurt, lonely, disappointed, angry, discontented, annoyed, preoccupied, overwhelmed, etc. Please hold me.' I think it is okay to feel whatever you feel, just feel it knowing that God is there.
I am blessed. I have a wonderful family. I love my family and what is even more exciting is that I really really like them too. Being with them makes me smile. My wife is my perfect partner. She sees things so differently than I. I am finally seeing that as a gift.
So in closing I would say - Go out today and enjoy the things you enjoy, appreciate the ones you love, bring God to however you are feeling and know that you are blessed. | | |
| i have received some complaints that my site is not being updated. sorry i'm a loser!
i will provide details on the most important events in my life -
youth staff retreat - the retreat was really good. there were disagreements, tension, hurt feelings, progress, good times, community, love, hope - all the things that really make you feel alive. i am excited about the future of the youth group. if there are any youths out there reading this - tell me what you think about the future of youth group. what do you like? dislike? what would you change? never change? what have you learned most about God because of your time in youth group?
housing - we (my lovely wife and i) have been trying to move for some time now. we are currently under contract to buy a house in the ford's neighborhood. we need to sell our house in order for everything to move forward. please pray that this would happen soon.
marriage - my wife is awesome. this does not mean that she is perfect, what it means is she is for me. i love her and i am thrilled to see where God will lead us. i love the comfort i feel in knowing that we are together in what we face. she is a gift.
parenthood - my children are pretty awesome too. samuel asks for a drink of water before bed the other night. i say no, you will wet the bed. Samuel thinks for a second and responds with, 'But I only want four ounces'. what a gift to have children. lucy likes to be smiley and happy when everyone else is holding her, but when she is ready to throw up she does it on daddy. i guess that is a metaphor for life. sometimes we look happy and presentable to everyone, but when we need to throw up (be vunerable, etc.) we need our dads. i am happy to be her burp cloth.
georgia - next tuesday will be two years since georgia died. it really is lousy without her here. having lucy has been awesome, but she isn't georgia (not more or less, just different). pray for amy and i and sam and lucy. we love georgia and miss her terribly. life is going forward and god has been awesome to us, but sometimes it is appropriate to take pause and remember and celebrate our loved ones who have gone on to be with the Lord.
well that probably suffices for an update. be blessed today.
sorry for the length. | | |
|
