What a beautiful day! A cool front came through this weekend and I love this weather. The humidity is much lower, the day breezy, and the air smells really fresh. (I’m partial to adjectives today.) Seriously, it really was a spectacular afternoon. I opened up the windows and am right now typing in the breeze. It’s peaceful.

Marla’s friend Elle is over for the afternoon. They’ve been playing in the yard since just after lunch, and are having a great time. A few minutes ago they both came running to me with something intriguing in Marla’s hand.

“Mommy, look what we found—this was in our yard!” she exclaimed. “We think it’s a snail.”

Looking it over, I knew I’d seen these long white snails when working in the yard, usually in the flowerbeds at the base of the trees.

I asked if they’d like to look online to see if we could find out about it, and they happily agreed. It took just a few seconds to Google “treesnails” and there it was.

“Hey, that’s it!” they squealed as they ran back out into the yard to play.

Isn’t it thrilling to see our children discover beauty? Learning is a marvelous thing. I’m happy for our daughter, that she is learning about the world around her and the joy of friendship at an early age.

Everything feels like a gift today. The weather, this morning’s worship service, my time with the girls; even this time at the computer have lifted my spirits. Really, it’s been a beautiful day.

Martina McBride - In My Daughter's Eyes (LIVE)

Today I was thinking about how much we see of ourselves in our children. Our sons Daniel and Sam are such wondrous fusions of our DNA and personalities. I love watching them grow as young men, and seeing things that make me think of their Dad and myself.

Our daughter is adopted, and I have often been amazed at how much she seems like us. She smiles like me, resembles Don in the face, and says things constantly that are things we say and do. What I love seeing most is her love and passion for life. It's intoxicating.

I heard this song today and was quickly moved to tears. I hope it speaks to the hearts of my friends who are parents, and my friends who will someday have children.

Blessings.

Looking Up



I took some time while on vacation this summer to sit on the balcony of our condo and watch the clouds race across the sky over the Gulf of Mexico. I tried to get out there most evenings around 6:30 pm and would watch until the sun set. Some nights Don would join me and we’d watch boats, elephants, cars, and fantastical things pass by.

Earlier this week a tropical depression blew through Central Florida. Don was out of town and it was one of those miraculous evenings when Marla went to bed early and our sons were out. I wandered outside and found a breeze blowing at about 10 miles an hour and temperatures in the mid-seventies. PERFECT! Plopping down in a lawn chair I watched the clouds race west across the sky. The winds were so steady that each cloud had a westerly brush stroke as they rushed overhead. I saw a gargoyle, a wolf, a bear, a fish, outstretched arms, and an angel. Lightning periodically lit up the sky to the west and the clouds were almost luminous. It was better than any movie I’ve ever seen. Incredible! I must have sat there for about 45 minutes just enjoying the show.

I think watching the sky is good for my soul. After just a little time gazing at the heavens, my heart is lighter, my spirit more peaceful, and my perspective adjusted. I could do it indefinitely.

Tonight, while looking through pictures of clouds online, I came across a curious website. The Cloud Appreciation Society. They have a great gallery of pictures should you care to gaze.

I’m hoping to get the daughter off to bed soon so that I can sit outside and look up. Join me and let me know what you see.

Immortals

Greg’s passing has prompted me to think about life—how short it is for some of us, and long for others. I found myself thinking in very earthly terms… how long will I live? Will I have a quick end, or will I suffer? I then began thinking about eternity, and wondering what it will be like. All these questions made me turn to the bookshelf and begin perusing through some of the books we were given by friends when our son passed away. One book that I picked up off the shelf is Erwin Lutzer’s One Minute After you Die: A Preview of Life's Final Destination.

I was especially captivated by a quote he included from C.S. Lewis's The Weight of Glory, in reference to Heaven and Hell.

“All day long we are in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in light of these overwhelming possibilities it is with awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of the kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously--no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinners--no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat, the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.”

Immortals… until reading this quote I don’t think I’d ever thought of people in this way. Now, I can’t stop thinking about it. All day long, as I met and spoke with all the people I work with, teach, and love, it was if they all had a radiance I’d never seen until now. I began to think more about them and their eternal lives than about my own. All of a sudden, their journey was important to me. Earlier today I was lamenting to a dear friend how confused I am by death and suffering, yet while I spoke, my thoughts were on her… this immortal sitting across from me, and the fact that we will know one another for all eternity. That everything she must walk through in life is preparation for what the Lord has prepared her to do in the Kingdom of Heaven.

I'm Sad



I’m removing a blog-link from my sidebar at the end of this week-- the personal blog of my friend and coworker Greg Davis. In his blog, Greg set out to journal his battle with cancer with the hope of glorifying the Lord, uplifting others, and processing his own pain. It’s a beautiful blog, and the insights he shares are rich and real. Sadly, there are not that many entries, as Greg’s cancer was diagnosed late in the disease’s development, and his chemotherapy treatments were aggressive and brutal.

Yesterday, on September 11th, Greg passed away. My heart aches for the terrible and painful trial my friend had to endure at the end of his life, for his daughters, and for his friends. He faced it all quite bravely, and was surrounded by people who loved him throughout the course of his illness.

If you’d like to see an example of Greg’s beautiful artwork, follow this link and then choose a video to download (free). One of Greg’s gifts was a love for photography and another a love for poetry. He found a beautiful way to blend the two in the videos.

Tomorrow is Greg’s memorial service. Please pray that God would comfort those who attend and that Greg’s family would be upheld in their grief by Christ. It will be a time of remembrance and goodbyes. For my friend Greg, I'm happy, for "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." 2 Cor. 5:8. For the rest of us, I'm sad.

Prayer


This is an uncomfortable subject for me. Faithful prayer requires discipline, seeking relationship with God in an intimate way and then waiting for Him to work, move, comfort; this can be hard sometimes. First, I need to be alone, and that doesn’t happen very often during the day. I get up really early every morning so that I can get myself and Marla off to work and school on time, and prayer could easily be worked into that time, but how often do I do it? I am mildly successful, but long to be more faithful in my time with the Lord.

I’ve been a Christian most of my adult life and have had seasons in which I’ve been diligent in my pursuit of prayer and others when prayer has been relegated to simply thinking. Prayer is hard.

I was sent a few cartoons about Church life this week, and one of them struck me right where it hurts.




















Ouch!

What a great reminder for me to examine my prayer life (or lack thereof) and begin to reconnect with my heavenly Father in a more intimate way.