A Week at the Outer Banks

Returned today from a wonderful week on the beach with my wife & her family. We were about 8 miles north of Corolla on North Carolina's beautiful Outer Banks. Perfect weather, lots of good food, great company, and my very beautiful, tanned, 6-months-pregnant wife by my side...sheer delight. Thank you God for a safe & happy vacation. (oh yeah, seeing the dolphins on Friday evening was especially cool.) Something about the beach just screams out God's goodness, His presence, His creativity, His power, His majesty (sunrise/sunsets), His provision. To think His thoughts about me outnumber the grains of sand is completely humbling.

And congratulations to my sister-in-law Michelle Bond who wed her beau Brad Auler on Wednesday evening in a sunset ceremony. Guys, thanks for letting me be a part of your special occasion! Brielle, you were the perfect maid of honor! :)

This week was body-surfing, castle-building, Euchre-playing, mouth-stuffing, non-stop fun! The wild mustangs of Corolla are quite fascinating, and we got pretty close to one of the pregnant ones on one afternoon walk. The chestnut mare was expecting, so I think she let us get so close because Jaime was expecting...mothers have a special way of watching out for one another.

Watch for pictures of the trip as soon as I can figure out how to post them.

Reentering the Blogging Fracas

Why the long sabbatical after my first & only blog entry? Early dementia.
For the last 2 months, I have been trying to remember my username and password. I finally got a new one. Now I can return to the entire blogging fracas.

And I wonder, does anyone else ever wander if their blog has anything helpful or useful for anyone else?

Each day brings highs & lows, some are worth writing about.
Today, my wife & I decided to skip our childbirth class since she had recently pulled a muscle in her back while moving a LARGE dresser in our bedroom, lovingly preparing it for me to paint while she was visiting friends/family in Dallas. Thanks honey! But next time, I'll be happy to help you move the heavy stuff. We leave for a week's vacation in the Outer Banks on Sunday, so we're both hoping some extra rest & time on the heating pad will heal her back before we leave.

The high was that we had some unexpected time at home. I took advantage of this bonus time to play the piano. I played scales and some old pieces I was required to learn during seminary. It was so fun. Music always helps me make sense of life. The way the notes go together (or not, as is often the case with my playing) helps me sort through the ups and downs of life. The last song I played was "Break Thou the Bread of Life". What a great piece, in the key of D, not too difficult...but with great start & finish & a highpoint.

Thank you God for allowing your Son...the living Word...to be broken for us, that we might know you better!

PS - Talk about Batman begins...as I was relaxing on our patio this evening, after my piano retreat, I saw SEVERAL bats frolicking in the air space above our home. I guess the mosquito population took a big hit this evening. Bats are freaky enough by themselves...but when they travel en masse, it's a bit spooky. By the way, they make small squeaky sounds like baby birds when they fly so blindly about.

Take the Challenge!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

My first blog entry...a quote from one of my favorite authors about what it is we're trying to accomplish with "church".

My thanks to Scott Sager for recommending Elizabeth O'Connor's book Call to Commitment, from which this quote is taken.

"If we are to accept the challenge of the crisis of our times, we, as Christians, must know that the world's deepest need is for saints. These are people who can give themselves in ways which seem fanatical to those who live by the usual ethical and moral norms. These are people who live normally by the second mile. It is not sporadic with them. They have thrown the familiar "duty" maps away. They are utter fools for Christ's sake. They are always finding some little cruel cross to climb up on. They stay there and suffer even when the people deride them and mock them, and thereby they stay closer to Him who stayed on his cross until he died. Now, if Christ be not God, they are utter fools, but if Christ be God, then they are the only sane people in the midst of the insane."
"These people are a people who will throw themeselves into the breach between the peace and healing of God and the loneliness, anguish, and terror of the world's lost. They stand as a bridge between man and God, willing, even eager, to become ground grain, broken bread, crushed grapes, poured-out wine. They are willing to be fed upon by the earth's hungry until those hungry ones can feed directly upon Jesus. The world has always needed such people, and it has survived because, here and there, there have been a few such people. But the point now is that the world is not likely longer to survive unless there are many such people - unless you become such a person and unless I become such a person."