Thinking on these things . . .

This is my Mp3 player and it contains my entire library of music. Whatever kind of music I want, it’s in there; whether it be some energetic working music, relaxing mellow jazz, or praise and worship (both contemplative and upbeat) it’s in there. But sadly that's not enough because although it's in there I have to be able to get it out to bring it into my life. The fact that I have a repository of a thousand songs doesn't mean much if I can't hear it. Enter, the speakers. I plug them into my player and now there's music! So also is God's Word - it's in there - all that we need for every problem, each question and difficulty, the answer is in there for the book contains God's revelation of Himself. He is both what and all that we need. The Bible doesn't do me much good sitting, unopened, on a desk. I have to plug in to it, only then will its truths be audible in my life. What do I need to tune into today?

Tonight as Katie and I were picking up some groceries we came to the rack with Hot French bread (which wasn’t) and Katie wanted to get some and eat it on the way home saying that she wouldn’t have minded living like the kids in the The Boxcar Children books, only having bread and milk, because bread was just so good! Hmm…I both do the same thing and feel the same way but I know I’ve never shared that with her before. My son is always concerned that he is wasting his time as he weighs everything in terms of how much time is this going to take… and that too sounds very familiar... Are they getting this from me? I read today about the fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Gentleness, Goodness, Meekness, Self-control, – are those showing up in my life because I’m spending time hanging out with my Savior? These are not supposed to be things we’re “working on” as believers – they are the natural fruit of the indwelling of the Spirit. Am I fruitful? When someone witnesses my life do they

For three minutes it was nothing but a merciless beating and then in the fourth the milky liquid responded and became whipped cream. As a liquid I could not use it until it had been transformed into what I needed. Now it was ready. We have no idea of the purposes God has in mind for us. But He always has a reason. Hold onto that in the midst of your three minutes.

One of the fantastic things about having school age children in the number of "new year" days you get in a year. There is the new school year in the first day of school. There is New Year's Day that we all celebrate on January 1st. And then there is the last day of school and first day of summer vacation!!! See what I mean? And every time there is a "new year" day there's a chance to pause and look back. Today I've realized we've made it through another school year. All the projects have been done, and even most of the homework managed to get back to the teacher...! The play is over, the concerts have finished, and a billion soccer and basketball games have been played. Every girl friend problem has been figured out. It's all done. Safely through another year, no matter how overwhelming it was at times we are now on the finished side of it. All the things I worried about, over. All the concerns that made me crazy, settled. Will this start all ove

Tonight was the end of year concert for Katie and her neighborhood Chicago Children's Choir. Apparently it's also one of the few concerts that her brother has attended because part way through he leaned over and said, "That conductor guy doesn't do much does he?" When I asked what he meant he replied, "They already know all the words so all he's doing is standing there." Bless his little tone deaf heart, he's never stood in front of a conductor so he had no idea of how the whole thing works! I can't help but wonder if that's what being a Christian looks like to an unbeliever. They can see we have a God and that we gather together to go to church but that is the extent of their understanding; God doesn't seem to be of much consequence. Ah, but we who have stood in front of a conductor know differently. He must have our constant attention so we can to correctly respond to every nuance of his direction. This is being Spirit lead, keeping

Just as I sat down to eat my breakfast cereal the phone rang. I looked at my cereal. I looked at the phone. Expectations. I expected to eat crunchy and not milk saturated cereal. I was expected to answer the phone as someone was calling me. Decisions. Do I do as I'd planned or follow what someone else has planned? I wonder how many times a day we're faced with that question? How do you decide?

There are these separate, random, and completely unrelated threads that I want to braid together here into a rope we can hold onto tightly. These come from a textbook, a plaque,a movie clip and God's Word. In the textbook I'm reading about God's specific revelation and it says - "Having only observed finite forms, we find it impossible to grasp infinite concepts. In this sense, God always remains incomprehensible . It is not that we do not have knowledge of him, and genuine knowledge at that. Rather, the short coming lies in our in ability to encompass Him within our knowledge." My wall plaque says - "When you come to the edge of all the light you have known and are about to step out into the darkness, Faith is knowing one of two things will happen... There will be something to stand on or you will be taught to fly ." The third thread is a clip from Prince Caspian - before you see it you need to know that the lion, Aslan, was used by C.S. Lewis as a repr

So here we are at the place which has, according to the kids, the best pizza in the world (?!) and I'm being Robbie's wing man. Which means that while he's engaging enemy MIG's on the flight simulator I am standing nearby watching and ready to feed in more tokens so he can keep on flying. So like a mom.... Because this is exactly what we do. We watch and we provide what is necessary for them to keep going, exploring the world, learning and growing and stretching their wings. We are good meals, clean socks, and homework help all putting into them what they need to stay engaged. But what happens when the cup is out of tokens? There is One who stands by us too with a never ending cup of tokens so we too can stay engaged... And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times , having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8 Keep flying. Your wing man's got your back...