Memorial Day

I am posting quickly today because - unlike most of the population - I am working on Memorial Day.

There are several items percolating in my mind right now, hopefully some of them will work their way into a post worth reading soon.

It's Memorial Day.

In a prayer I heard yesterday, an aged minister pointed out something of what Memorial Day used to be in small towns across America: high school bands marching for several miles in order to play in honor of our nation's fallen heroes, families gathered to hear accounts of undaunted courage and a strong sense of duty, weepy-eyed old soldiers remembering the sacrifice of others.

Sadly, he also pointed out that those were items from "another age".

I caught a few random moments of a radio presentation produced (I believe) at WMBW in Chattanooga (a Moody Radio affiliate). It was called, "Washed in the Blood" and it centered on the religious awakening that occurred as a result of the War between the States.

In it, one historian pointed out that in one major battle, 23,000 soldiers - young American men - died. To illustrate, he said that if these men were lined up single file, shoulder to shoulder - the line would string out for six miles!

Six miles.

One battle.

I am constantly amazed at the noble service the members of our United States military stand constantly ready to yield.

To those who paid the ultimate price for freedom: today we pause to honor you.

To those still living, who have willingly offered your life in the past, and those who hazard your life even now to maintain the freedom God has shed on this nation now: Thank you.

And to those families whose hearts ache still because a child, sibling, Mom or Dad has fallen in service to this country: we honor you for your sacrifice.

No, Mr. President: John Piper's Response to President Obama on Abortion

This passionate proclamation is truly moving. It's an excerpt from a John Piper sermon. The graphics were from his son Abraham. I think it has been out a couple weeks but I just ran across it on http://www.twentytwo words.com and felt that I needed to send it out to you.

A Rare Appearance?

I have been reading about Samuel, the last judge of Israel.


As I have commented in the past, I am taking a deliberately slow walk through the Bible; my hope is that I will better savor every word and try to get as much mileage as possible out of each line. Sometimes that has been the case; other times I still find myself reading through a passage and walking away unscathed by the Sword.


This week I noticed a sharp contrast between the first and last verse of 1 Samuel 3. This is the account of little Samuel's call from God. At the beginning of the chapter, it is said that the "word of the Lord was rare in those days" (italics mine).


In other words it was very unusual for people to hear from God during that time. While the fact is, that the people had distanced themselves from God and His Word - it seemed as if God had left them.


My Granddad's main form of transportation was his two feet. He traveled all over the southern United States "giving religious talks" in churches, schools, court yards, home prayer meetings and sometimes on street corners during the early part of the last century. And while he would go by bus, or train or hitch-hiking - the staple of his transport fare was walking.


When I came along, he was old and on his occasional visits, he and I would go on what he called a "stroll". This walk would often take us into town, possibly by the bank - where he would sometimes walk up to the drive-thru teller, to the post office where he would catch up on his numerous correspondence and then possibly by the park on the way home.


Once we stopped outside the courthouse in Cedartown, Georgia, my Granddad settled on a park bench there to rest a few moments and I played.

Soon he drifted off to sleep, and I remember feeling as if he had left me alone there. So I began deliberately making noises and playing about in a loud manner in hopes that he would wake up - I didn't like him leaving me alone like that.


I suspect the people of God felt a little like I did in that situation: it seemed that God had just drifted off to sleep and left them there.


At the end of the chapter comes the contrast:



Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD. 1st Samuel 3:21 NKJV

The Lord "appeared again" . . . He "revealed Himself." What brought about this seeming change in God's attitude?

From reading the contents of the chapter between the first and last verses - it looks like the difference was one young man.

Boy- actually - little Samuel was undistracted enough to hear God's gentle calling to him. Then once he had some direction from the old priest Eli, he was willing to respond properly to God's call. Finally - his response required obedience. God gave him something to do and he did it.

What a huge difference a willing heart can make: listening undistracted, responding properly, and obeying fully.

Consider

The pendulum swings.

The proverb says it something like this: "it rains on the just and the unjust"

In other words, life happens.

I am in one of those negative mood swings right now - feel like I have been there awhile.
The fact is that I know most of the negative emotions I am experiencing right now are just things I have built up in my own mind. Fears about falling short, self-pity, nobody likes me ...you know, stuff like that...

Anyway, I recognize it as life just happening.

But this week I happened on a verse that really helped me. I will include it here, just in case some of you may be going through your own "adversity" right now:

In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him. Ecclesiastes 7:14 NKJV

So when the pendulum is on the upswing - it's okay to be happy about that; when there is a downturn - consider.

Consider that God is in charge of both of them.

There is a line in a poem that we hear often recited during graduation ceremonies - Rudyard Kipling's "If" - it applies here:

"If you can meet with triumph and disaster - and treat those two impostors just the same..."

"triumph - disaster"

"prosperity - adversity"

Back and forth the pendulum swings.

Yet God is constant. He is sovereign over every swing of the pendulum

Kick the Can

Did you ever play "Kick the Can" as a kid?

In my neighborhood in Lafayette, Georgia - where there wasn't alot going on - it was a favorite past-time.

We played year round.

During the summer, some family would have a cookout and extra kids would gather so the rest of us in the neighborhood would gather. Before long the familiar clunk of a launched can would be heard and everyone would scatter to find a hiding place.

For those of you that are "Kick the Can" neophytes, the game is similar to "Hide and Seek" with the one caveat being that a metal can is thrown in as something of a catalyst for the game. If a "hider" is able to kick the can before being caught, all those previously captured are released to hide again.

David was probably the KTC champion of our neighborhood: though it was in the pre-Rambo era he would sometimes almost become invisible in a tree or under a leaf pile. He could also produce a blood-curdling scream in order to shake up the "seeker". I'm sure his screams probably produced some angst among neighborhood Moms, too.

David and I were the same age - a year or so senior to the rest of the bunch. Then there was Lisa, Kelly and his little brother, Tommy, Joe and occasionally Eric.

Other kids would join from time to time but that was our core KTC group. We lived in a wooded neighborhood that wasn't conducive to neighborhood ball games but was just right for KTC.

During winter months as the days grew shorter, we could play well after dark.

We often had spats - in fact that was how the game ended most nights. Kelly and Tommy being siblings - would usually get into some argument. Or you could count on Joe or maybe Eric to get angry and go home if they had to be "it" for very long.

But none of the arguments were long-term; we'd be back at some one's house within a few days counting potatoes in order to select a "seeker".

Tonight, R. and I quickly straightened up the yard to some degree and threw some hot dogs on the grill. Later we dined on the patio in the back yard.

Ab challenged AA and I to a game of KTC after supper. Mom - who has developed a penchant for the Nintendo-DS - chose that distraction instead.

So we went several rounds. It has been a year or maybe more since I have played KTC with the kids and they've gotten much better.

We haven't lived in a neighborhood for several years, and I don't know if neighborhood kids still find ways to get together as they once did. But that's one experience I would like for my kids to enjoy: that serendipity that occurs when kids gather and decide to organize something.

I think it is a dying art. We tend to organize and template everything for them, we don't often allow them to create situations in which they have to work together to come up with a plan. Instead we plug them into an organized team sport or arts group and everything is prescribed ahead of time.

They don't have to decide how they will deal with sore losers, or what the ground rules will be (for example: you can't hide inside some one's house), or how you settle disputes - how to forgive and move on to the next game. Come to think of it, those seemingly mindless hours spent crouching behind a tree may have been worth something after all.

Well now, I have spoken my piece and I do not have an ending for this post - no clever conclusion to bring closure to all this rambling about. So I will just end this post in the same fashion that many of our KTC games would end:

"If you're gonna be like that - then I'm going HOME! Good NIGHT!"

Splash

I've been kicking around this idea of "stepping out of the boat" for some time now (see previous post: "Beckon Me"). Today as I visited it again in my thoughts, I began to ask myself (and the Lord) "what does 'stepping out of the boat' look like for me in my life right now?".

I am referring, of course to the story of Simon Peter who was in a small boat with two of his piers (that was pun), during a storm. Jesus chose that time to walk on water and He beckoned Peter to come to Him. Peter took the step and actually walked on water.

In my previous post, I had pictured the other two disciples that were left in the boat as frantically flailing around trying to bail water in order to adjust to their situation - to make the boat livable. They were content - it seemed - with survival; Pete was discontent, he got out of the boat and stepped into an adventure of faith with Jesus.

Today, as I thought about this, I realized that Peter came back to the boat after his encounter with Jesus.

That seems highly significant to me.

Just moments before, he had stepped out of that boat and into the pages of history . . . now he was right back where he started.

Only now, something was different.

Now Jesus was with him.

I have been thinking that - for me - "stepping out of the boat" may mean some monumental change: a revolution of sorts - and it might. But it could also mean going to where Jesus is, so that when He is ready, He can accompany me back to my circumstances.

Does that make sense?

For some time now I have been discontent. That discontentment may be leading me to some major changes in my thinking, in my lifestyle, in my service. . . in my walk.

On the other hand, it may just lead me right back to the same-ole'-same-ole' only with a changed perspective and some Company.

One other thing I noted: Peter did not become a water-walker.

He did not build his remaining life around that one event - spectacular though it was.

According to my recollection, the next time Pete found himself in a boat was after the Resurrection of Jesus. He and the fishing buddies had taken an early morning excursion in pursuit of fish. They looked up and saw Someone on the shore - John (whose eye-sight was probably better given his age), told Pete - "it's the Lord".

With that Peter stepped out of the boat - again.

But this time he took an exhilarating plunge into that cold lake.

He seemed nonplussed.

It was as if he had no expectation that he would be able to walk to Jesus on the surface of the water again. He didn't seem the least bit embarrassed that he had lost the ability to walk on water.

I think Peter wasn't focused on the "glory-days" and that grand event in his past. Instead I think he was focused on what he learned from that event. . . keep your eyes on Him.

The cold waves didn't bother him - He had to get to Jesus.

The water - walking event occurred when Jesus knew that Peter needed it, but it was meant for that season - that one stormy night on the lake. The lesson that Peter gleaned from the encounter was meant to stay with him forever . . . and I think it did.

So what does getting out of the boat look like for me?

I still don't know.

But I do know that when and where I do take that step . . . the stepping out won't be nearly as important as the One to Whom I am going. And the things He teaches me through that event will effect everything that follows.

What will stepping out of the boat look like for you?

Out of the Empty Place

I recently finished the book of Ruth on my journey through the Bible and this week, began to read 1st Samuel.

These two books each begin with a woman in a painfully desperate situation.
Chances are, you may hear about one of these two women today in a sermon.

So in honor of Mother's Day, I will dedicate this post to three very influential mothers in my life: my own wife, her mother and my mother.

Both Ruth and 1st Samuel begin with women that would each play a pivotal role in the spiritual and political destiny of a nation - and when we meet them, they are both having problems.

The book of Ruth is very much about her mother-in-law - Naomi and the Bible gets down to business with the "down and dirty" of her life. She and her husband left their homeland to avoid a famine; in the foreign country her husband and her two sons died.

Naomi returned to her homeland with only her daughter-in-law, Ruth, a stranger to the customs and culture of Israel.

Naomi is bitter and empty.

I tend to think that God cannot use whiners...maybe I don't know what I am talking about, because God used this bitter lady to bring a godly king to the throne of Israel.

But she didn't know any of that was going to happen when she was bitter and empty - Israel wasn't a monarchy at this time - there were no kings.

God, who spoke when the earth was void and empty - and creation exploded into place at His command, often moves with His filling power when there is emptiness.

Naomi (and maybe God, too) played matchmaker in helping to arrange a romance and marriage between her noble daughter-in-law, Ruth and Boaz - a relative of hers.

They would bear children and their great-grandchild, David would become a king of great destiny.

1st Samuel could have begun about the same time as the book of Ruth... I don't have proof, but I think it is possible that Ruth and Boaz's son, Obed, could very well have been a contemporary of Samuel.

But the book begins with another woman in desperation: Hannah.

I don't think westerners can fully understand the conflict and turmoil that can come about in polygamist families. Hannah was a second wife of Elkanah and his first wife was very fertile while Hannah could not bear children.

There's nothing like the holidays to bring out the worst in family conflicts: every year, Elkanah would pack his entire family into the family station wagon and head to Shiloh for a religious feast. And every year, as Hannah sat in the back of the station wagon with the kid that got carsick, she had to endure the jibes of the other wife who was sitting up front with Elkanah.
All because she could bear children... many ... many children - and Hannah could not.

One night it became too much for Hannah to bear, so she left the table and went to the place of worship. There she poured out her soul to God.

Knowing that He was hearing her, she didn't have to pray aloud - she just moved her lips.
Verse 10 of the first chapter points out that she was in bitterness of soul . . . a couple of verses later we see that she was in grief.

Grief.

A sense of loss - emptiness.

The old priest took notice of her. He -at first scolded her, because he thought she was drunk - but then he prophesied that her prayer would be answered by the Lord.

And while God did answer that prayer and give Hannah a son - she had, in the same prayer, vowed to give him back to God.

Little Samuel - the last judge of Israel - was born and at an early age he was turned over to that old priest.

Samuel would grow to become known as the "man of God" in the land, and his presence in a village could strike fear in every heart.

Samuel would preside over a major political / spiritual change in the nation. The nation of Israel would reject direct leadership from God - choosing rather to become like other nations and be ruled by kings.

Samuel would eventually usher in the kingdom of Ruth's great-grandson, David.

I am pretty sure that -this side of heaven- neither Naomi, nor Ruth, nor Hannah had any idea of the greatness of their role in bringing about God's plan for Israel and the world.

I am even more certain that they must have thought their roles especially insignificant when all seemed to be anguish and empty bitterness.

Mom's, your role is never insignificant.

Thank you.

(and I know they didn't have station-wagons in the Bible!)

a missionary's heart

I caught the last half hour of a presentation tonight from a couple that recently returned from a stint in Asia.

When they came to the last slide - a picture of their friends, taken at the airport as this family was leaving to return to the U.S. - I heard it.

It was a catch in the voice of the young women describing the scene . . . her husband took over, she couldn't proceed. As he continued, I watched her wipe away the tears.

I remembered a similar incident over twenty years ago. I sat at a dinner a small church was holding for an elderly missionary couple. They had returned after a lifetime devoted in the field. I don't remember his name or where he had come from, I just remember how that old man's voice broke as he talked about the folks he had left behind.

He had been told he was too old, it was better for him to come on home and rest. He cried as he tried to describe how much he yearned to return.

What is it that can capture a person's heart so much as to make them give up willingly the comforts of a familiar culture, nearby family, and the convenience of home?

I think it is the heart of the missionary.
That's the compelling force that draws them away. Furthermore, I don't think that missionary heart will soon let go of its burden.

Paul was one of the first missionaries of the church. All it took was a dream of man calling to him to "Come over into Macedonia and help us!" and Paul and his team headed for Macedonia.
That heart kept drawing him away until he said "I must also preach the gospel at Rome" and he did. That's where that heart finally let him go.

I have never been on a missionary journey - unless you count that stint in Alabama - so I can't fully understand that pull. I guess I always thought of missionaries as living on a higher echelon than the rest of us. Their lives were adventurous for certain, but I could never rise to that level of saintliness.

Tonight as the Pastor rose to close the service, he mentioned how this couple - like many others - had shown us that ordinary folks - like us - could go.

Ordinary folks . . . hmmm imagine that.

A week or so back, a team of parents, teachers and students from the school our children attend, went on a short term missions trip to New York City. So missionaries don't always have to leave their homeland.

Sometimes a mission trip might take you just across the yard to a neighbor's house.

It might take you across a room as Bill Bright pointed out.

Or it could be just down the hall, to the room of your little child.

I thought about my children tonight and how glad I was that they were being exposed to the possibilities of missions.

I remembered that in my own experience: the "Missions" emphasis was usually relegated to one service per year and it was mostly about making a pledge.

I do remember one missionary who came to our church with a slide show; he had traveled to Africa and ate a rat. He didn't travel there for that express purpose - it just came up while he was there. But that piece of information has stayed with me these long years . . . and may have done a lot to frame my thinking.

But tonight my kids had a chance to hear from an ordinary family with kids close to their own age as they discussed their great heart for people that were different . . . .

. . . a great heart that was given to them by an extraordinary God.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

This does not qualify as an official movie critique since I didn't know the actors and I don't remember the director... I only remember that it was put out by MIRAMAX FILMS because the "Coming Attractions" and other movie sales stuff prior to the movie drove the point home over and over.

But we watched a movie last night; the movie was called, "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". We do not have cable or dish so what we watch we get from NetFlix (hey, do you think they might sponsor me if I mention their name again?) and this movie sat on our kitchen counter for the better part of a week before R. and I watched it.

It could be because of the movie's foreboding subject matter (the Holocaust) . . . but more likely it was because our lives have been tail-spinning at a frenetic pace for too long now (remember, for us "tail-spinning at a frenetic pace" equals having to leave the home one weeknight after supper to pick up a gallon of milk at the Walmarts).

Anyway, we got to it last night.

I really prefer something lighter on Sunday nights. When I was a kid, we often came home from Sunday night church to watch Bonanza and eat leftover roast beef sandwiches, but occasionally we would catch something funny or it would be an episode featuring Dan Blocker - those were the nights I liked best.

Well I knew that a WWII movie would not be light fare, but we watched it anyway.

Aside from the fact that the family in the movie was supposed to be German and they spoke with distinctly British dialects, the movie was pretty good.

It's about a family led by their father, a Nazi officer. When they move to the country, the parents have a hard time explaining to their eight year old, the concentration camp that is almost in their back yard. And they have a hard time justifying their harsh treatment of the Jewish people.

Bruno - the little boy in the picture - sneaks away to the camp (which he - in his innocence mistakes for a "farm" where people wear pajamas) and befriends a boy his age who resides on the other side of the barbed electric wire.

The movie provides very good insights into how the people of Nazi Germany fell back on propaganda to justify their atrocities. At one point the boy and his sister are instructed by a tutor who explains how that every negative thing in their society is due to "the Jew".

It made me realize once again, that there is a real danger when a society closes its eyes and ears to the truth and began to buy into propaganda. When those with the positions of prominence began to point out certain segments of society as "evil" or "dangerous".

It is a very fragile truth that cannot withstand the confrontation of opposing views - in fact it is not truth at all.

If you haven't seen the movie, I won't spoil it for you. But suffice it to say, the message of the movie is a heavy one and a burden not easily borne.

We must be careful that we do not buy into the ideas that "people who earn bonuses are evil or greedy" or that "troops returning from Iraq or Afghanistan could be particularly dangerous" - just because they have some strongly held beliefs about what the freedom they laid down their lives for should look like, or that "Christians in America are intolerant", or people who are against abortion are scary ... and the list goes on and on.

Remember that the Truth does not get defensive when questioned - it just shines brighter.

Phatdippin' Rap

My Brother-in-law is opening his swimming pool. It seems a little early but certainly the days of summer of just ahead.

If you haven't developed that "savage-tan" yet or if your idea of solution to Swine Flu fears was to consume mass quanitities of bacon and ham in order to build up your immunities - here's an idea for you....

Beckon Me

God uses conflict to bring things to the surface.
When I am conflicted, attitudes and habits that I have heretofore managed to tuck away neatly, bubble to the top.

If you disagree, then take husbands and wives for an example: when there is conflict it is not unusual for one of the two to bring up some completely unrelated, past injustice. Perhaps it is a forgotten anniversary or something about her mother. It seems to come out of no-where.

The conflict drew it out; conflict will do that - that is why I believe it is one of God's tools that He uses to sharpen us.

Today, I found myself in conflict. Though it was sparked from circumstances around me, most of the conflict actually resided within me. It emerged from my own feelings of not measuring up.

I almost immediately made it a point of prayer (for me that is much more effective than muttering my complaints to myself or anyone else that will listen as I smolder).

I went back to prayer a number of times during my drive home and during my run this evening.

That's when God seemed to tie together a vast array of stuff that I have heard or read or discovered over the past year or so.

I heard Dave Ramsey recently talking about people happening to their life instead of waiting around for things to happen to them.

That bothered me when I first heard him say it - because it was true. Furthermore, I am afraid it is often true of me. More times than not, I have waited around hoping something would happen to me.

That connected with a devotion I heard a few months ago in a meeting - it was about Peter getting out of the boat and how it was better for Jesus to smile and say "where was your faith?" - than to have never stepped out of the boat.

I think I have heard sermons or teachings or other devotionals given on that same subject in the not too distant past. I decided that I have a tendency to stay in the boat.

The story comes from Matthew 14:24-29

But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. NKJV

I prayed that God would help me get out of the boat.

This scene was played out in an Easter Passion Play in which I was once involved. I remember that in the way we portrayed the scene, Peter stepped out of the boat but the other disciples stayed in the boat working desperately to bail out the water that the storm was tossing there.

They were struggling, trying to make their situation better - never considering that a better solution would be to get out of that boat!

That is so me. I sort of pride myself in my ability to adjust.

Now let's take a look at Peter, cause I think I know exactly what he meant when he said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water" ... I think he was saying that he knew Jesus could empower him to walk on the water but he wanted to be sure that was what Jesus WANTED him to do.

Did you ever feel like something might be the right thing to do, but you weren't sure if it was the thing God wanted you to do at that time?

So life was happening to those disciples in the boat, and they were struggling to get used to it. But, Simon Peter happened to his situation and stepped out of a miserable safety into a breathtaking adventure.

On top of all these intertwined concepts was the overriding idea that I have held for the past couple years - that godly discontentment is okay with God. In Numbers 27, God commended the daughters of Zelophehad, because they were discontent when the law cut them out of receiving the inheritance of their father. They were discontent and they went to Moses, who went -in turn- to God.

This all seemed to be pointing to the fact that I need to stop waiting around and start happening to the world around me.

But how can I be sure that God wants me to step out of this boat?

That's when I started praying like Peter - "Lord, beckon me! . . . beckon me, call me out of this boat! . . . beckon me to Your adventure!"

One Year's SoJourn

Well it was one year ago today that we launched SoJourn with the Inaugural Blog . One of the things that most concerned me about beginning - was fear that I would lose my follow-through.

I am glad the practice has lasted this long. I thought that I would offer an evaluation at this point and also record some of the affects resulting from this blog. In addition, I'd like to address the original reasons for the blog and how they are holding up.

Here are some negatives that I believe have arisen due to my blogging:

• I do little or no journaling. I have journaled sporadically over the past 13 years or so and this year, my journaling suffered. I did express a great deal of my thoughts here however, there are some things I don't talk to you guys about so they went unsaid or unwritten.


• Reading - as chronicled in a recent post - the number of books I read over the past year was much less than most previous years. I am working on that.


• I am learning that family time can suffer without deliberate action from me. Unless I am careful - this practice will take away too much of my time and attention which I owe to my family.

One of my four reasons for beginning the blog was to create. This has provided an outlet for creativity (though you may question that). There are many nights I have gone to sleep with a sense of satisfaction because I felt that I had had something worth saying and I had said it in a creative way.

In looking back over my writings the past year, there are some I really enjoy re-reading and think that God must have really had His hand in the works since the writing seems to go beyond my abilities.

Then there are some that are embarrassing.

That being said, I am not sure how well we're doing in the area of - to craft.

To communicate was another reason to begin the blog. I am a little surprised at myself that I want people to read the blog. I had originally hoped that I could be content with just the exercise of writing - not worried about whether it was read or not - not so. I view readership stats from time to time and it often effects the sense of value I place on the blog.

I still want to write things that will encourage others and things that are worth reading.

My last reason for blogging was to learn.

I think I have been challenged to take on some new tasks which may have also served to crowd out some of those items mentioned at the top - inspired more fully by my children I have taken up the guitar and also began running er- JOGGING.

The past year has been a transitional one for R. and I: we stepped down from a Bible teaching role we had been allowed to fill for eight years. We have also been in something of a transition from one fellowship, style of worship and tradition to another. We are still not sure exactly where God is leading with this transition, but we have enjoyed the freshness and the challenge we are finding in the journey.

In our extended families we have had challenges this year - my Dad's debilitating open-heart surgery and R.'s Mom's ordeal with breast cancer.

So R. and I are in the midst of some learning opportunities. Since we are SoJourners and have not "arrived" yet, we are not certain at this point, how many lessons have actually been learned. Perhaps one day we will be able to look back and see God's Hand.

In short (oops too late for that!), the year has certainly been a different one; one with light and dark shades and this blog has been a part of that tapestry. I am glad for the opportunity to share it.

If you just happened by today or have been a visitor from time to time ... thanks!