Thoughts this morning

Don't really know where to begin this morning. There are so many thoughts buzzing around in my head.

Quiet morning here since Vicki's still out of town (she had a speaking engagement in Independence, MO). I got up this morning a little after 5am and read awhile in 1 Samuel, wanting to dig a little deeper into one of the points from yesterday morning's sermon here at 1st Baptist Ellisville. The pastor is starting a series about our SHAPE (Spiritual gifts - Heart - Abilities - Personality - Experiences) and spoke a bit about how God sees us. One of the verses he used was from 1 Samuel 16.

Wouldn't that have been an interesting thing to see when Samuel annointed David? I wonder if he felt some serious pressure on him. He, in fact, didn't choose correctly the first time. And that's where the verse from yesterday comes in, about how God doesn't judge us like others do. He looks at the inside...at our hearts. I'm thankful for that.

We really do spend a ton of time comparing ourselves to others. We want to be successful like that guy. We want to have money like "him". We want to have the beauty of so-and-so. The care...the house...the clothes...the strategy...the celebrity...the renown. I guess there are times that we desire the heart of another. But I don't think that happens nearly as often as our desire for the other things...those outward things. And that's the crux of the series that Charles is preaching. I wish I could be there for all of them but we'll be out of town a lot in the next few weeks.

I also got to visit my dad this weekend. They've moved him into a skilled care facility on the other side of St. Louis (much to my chagrin). He looked awful, which is to be expected. But still it's a terrible feeling to see him looking so frail and weak. He continues with the radiation today at 1pm. We'll go visit him tomorrow and then leave town for a couple of weeks. It seems that it's working out such that they'll be doing his scans to check for growth (or shrinkage) the day or so after we get back in town on the 23rd of this month. As always, thank you for continuing to pray for him.

Thinking about closing up here this morning, I'm reminded of the words from Kyle Lake's last sermon. If you don't recall, he didn't get to preach this sermon. He died during a baptism that went horribly wrong. But the heart of his message did go out, even more powerfully than if he'd preached it himself.

"Live. And Live Well. BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.

If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE. Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.

If you bike, pedal HARD… and if you crash then crash well.

Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done—a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed. If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old’s nose, don’t be disgusted if the Kleenex didn’t catch it all… because soon he’ll be wiping his own.

If you’ve recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And Grieve well. At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you’re eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life. Because-it-is-most-definitely-a-Gift."