Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Responsibility

When you reach those days in your life where you run out of steam, who do you blame? When you feel that your spirit isn't growing as it should, what do you do?

Some people blame their circumstances. We start looking for books, education, knowledge, facts, plans, procedures.

But I still find myself in this funk. I don't have anyone to blame but myself. I have the wonders of the universe in the palm of my hand, and yet I do nothing with them. No wonder they've gone stale.

But what do you really do when thing get stale? If it were anything else in this disposable society, you would throw it away and start over. Some people think they can do just that by leaving families, running away. But in the end you still have the same life you've always had. Ironically, you have to learn to live with the life you've been given. And if you've let that life get stale, you have to find some way to put freshness into it.

But this doesn't get us any close to a how. How do you re-fresh your life? Honestly, I don't know. But I intend to find out.

Saturday, August 21, 2004

Bedtime Prayer

May God watch over you,
and keep you safe.
May He give you a good night's sleep,
and sweet dreams.


This is the prayer that I pray over my 10 month old son every night when I put him to bed. And I mean every word of it every night.

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Sadly saying goodbye

We have friends who were almost at the end of their adoption process, when it fell through at the last minute.

These are some great people, and if 'deserving' was ever a word to describe 'parenthood', then they are more than deserving. I don't know why it fell through.

I'm not just talking about the why of technical legal reasoning. But the deeper "Why did God let this happen?" The same "Why?" we feel when anyone dies, about the war, about terrorist attacks, about car accidents.

That not an easy question, and I don't have an answer to it. I don't think there is a simple answer to it. Many times, after a trial you can point to the good that happened because of it. But what in the midst of it?

I guess that's where faith come in. We cannot see the goodness in our situation, but we believe that Jesus will not let us down. We trust in the invisible promise that "all things work together for the good of those who love Him, and are called according to His good purpose."

Invisible, but as solid as a Rock.

Thursday, August 05, 2004

Long Day

There are those days when the tasks ahead seem insurmountable. It is as if the world is trying to bleed you dry of your life and joy by dumping its full weight on your shoulders.

I have to remind myself that God is my Rock in turbulent times. He has a habit of making the impossible happen, even in my relatively insignificant troubles.

While the obstacles ahead of me are not nearly as vast as the Red Sea, even that parted for God's children. God will get me through the hard times. His strength shines in my weakness.

I can only hope that when the obstacles are past, and God has placed me above them, that I have the strength to credit Him as the true source of my strength.

Monday, August 02, 2004

Father's Day

Daddy

Lift Me Up High
Toss Me to the Sky
Let Me Sit on Your Lap
Just So I Can Take a Nap
Oh the Things We Can Play
Just the Two of Us All Day
Will You Tell Me a Story
Of Adventure and Glory
And Carry Me on Your Shoulder
Before I Get Any Older
Daddy I Love You
Only You Will Do

-=-

My wife wrote that poem and framed it with a nice black and white picture of me and my son as my very first Father's Day present. He's nine months old, and I Love him dearly. It was the sweetest gift I've ever received, and I felt I had to share it with the world.

So, world, enjoy it!

Sunday, August 01, 2004