Walking with Jesus

If you are like me... Sometimes you just start writing, without having a clear idea where you are going to go with it. And then you stop... Sometimes you press delete. At other times you just let it flow and hope for the best. We each have an urge to contribute, to share, to make a difference, and to be significant in some one's life. We want to make the world a brighter, better place than it was when we found it. Why? Why do we want to change things for the better? What are we wanting to prove? Who are we wanting to impress? I guess I don't know, but I think it bears some thinking on. I'm pretty sure it's related to being created in the image of God. We are made to make. We are crafted to be crafters. God is a Creator. We are made in His image. We want to make. We need to be makers. There is a MUST within us. We must reflect God. But, what if we don't believe in God; or we believe God is a harsh, vindictive galaxy-eating monster? I can't imagine ...

This weekend, a dance troupe in Abilene is performing. Several of the pieces were created and choreographed by the dancers themselves. One of them is by a young woman who dedicated it to Olivia . I remember first getting to know Hope 13 years ago. I was working as an intern with our church, and we had a fellowship out at a nearby lake. Hope was 3, and just about as full of spark as anyone I'd ever met. She made me want to be a father someday. I baptized Hope a few years latter, and she (along with her sister and her parents) have been good friends to Olivia and me. I just didn't realize how much she was paying attention to our lives. She knows our story: She knows about Olivia's fight with Lupus, about the 5 children we have placed in the Lord's hands, she knows about our love for and belief in her, and about our shared faith in Jesus. Somehow, by God's grace, Hope has seen us turn to the Lord over and over. Moreover, Hope loves Olivia, and that brings me gr...

NT Reading: Ephesians 5:1-17 (Congregation’s version is Good News).    v.10 “Try to learn what pleases the Lord.”    v.17 “Try to find out what the Lord wants you to do.” What pleases God? What makes God happy? What is it that puts a smile on the divine face? What fills his heart with joy? As a Christian, as a follow of Jesus, I want to know. Ephesians isn’t the only place we are instructed to please the Lord: Proverb 16:7, Psalm 104, Hos. 6, Mal. 3, 1st Thess. 4, 1st John 3, and both Corinthian letters encourage us to focus on pleasing God; Col. 1 instructs us to please God in all respects; and 2nd Tim. 2:4 states, “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” This is only a sampling of the many places the Bible refers to figuring out what pleases God and then doing it. Pleasing God is perhaps the most important thing we can do. That’s quite a claim, so let’s ...

I don't have very many words right now. I'm still getting hit by waves, even a year later, just coming off of one, in fact. Olivia prayerfully wrote a blog about our son.I don't have many words, so please read hers . She says what I feel. Guess that's part of the newer depths we share in our marriage. Thank you, Jesus, for Josiah.

I've been busy, but I've also been praying. I pray while I work. I pray while I ride my bike to work. I pray while I study. I pray before I study. I pray about our family. I pray about our country. I pray about our future. But mostly, I thank God for my present. Pray.