Tossing and Turning

I had a tough, tough time getting to sleep last night. My body started out still, but ended up tossing and turning. It was the life I was attempting to live as my head lay on that pillow. It wasn't still. It was moving along at light speed.

I was thinking about:

-the wedding plans that need to be made between now and a March 13 wedding day.
-relationship stuff between me and people.
-relationship stuff between my kids and people.
-how dirty my house is and how much it needs cleaning.
-how sweet our time over Christmas was.
-how hard our time over Christmas was.
-how I need to lose weight before I buy a mother-of-the-bride dress.
-how I need to balance the check book and pay bills.
-prayers I'm praying for those I love.
-how sometimes life events turn out better than expected.
-how sometimes life events turn out worse than expected.
-how sometimes life events blindside you.
-how if I trusted God like I should, I wouldn't have issues getting to sleep.
-the attributes of God because I was having trouble falling asleep.
-how I needed to stop thinking about everything so I could fall asleep.

You get the idea. I don't remember the last thoughts I had before sleep eventually and, thankfully, came. The last time I looked at the clock, it was 1:15.

At 6 a.m., when I came into the kitchen this morning and Lou and I chatted about how we slept, I told him about my night. I also told him that today I was going to spend extended time calendaring and making lists of all that needed to happen over the next months so I could get a handle on things.

I then poured my coffee and sat down to meet with God. I opened my Bible Gateway tab like I always do and this was the Verse of the Day:





A lump rose in my throat and I thanked God.

He is faithful to help. He is faithful to his word. 

One step at a time. 
Coming to him. 
Doing the next thing. 
For His glory and my joy.
He will give me what I need.

Don't Waste Your Car Wreck

Elizabeth and 2 of her best friends could have been killed on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Elizabeth, Kacie, Emma

The phone call I received around 11 a.m. that morning could've been very different. It could've been an official voice telling me deeply sad news. Thankfully, the frantic call I did receive was from an alive but sobbing daughter who had just hydroplaned and wrecked.

The girls were on their way to Fayetteville to cheer on the Razorbacks in their last home football game. It was yucky weather - cold and rainy - but they were up for the trip. Three of my other offspring, David, Faith, and Mary Grace, were a few miles further down 71 South in a second car, headed to the same place for the same reason. 

Around Pineville, MO, Elizabeth, headed SOUTH on 71, hydroplaned and did three 360°s before coming to rest T-boned against the guard rail on the NORTH side of 71.

There were no other cars involved. At that terrible moment when they were spinning their way across 3 lanes of traffic, no vehicles were around  - to be hit or, to hit them [shudder].

If there had, this would be a very different post.

But thankfully, it is not. If you could only know how many times I have thanked God for sparing their lives. And, mixed up in the middle of all that, I've wondered "why?"

Why did it all happen like it did? 

I believe God is sovereign, loving, just, merciful, purposeful, gracious, etc. What was/is He doing in all of this? What does He want us to get from this harrowing experience? What does He want us to do with this experience?

This event made me think of a book title I saw once. Before John Piper had surgery for prostate cancer, he wrote this book. I haven't read it, but the provocative title has stuck with me.

And as I've processed the events of last Friday - my daughter and her two friends' brush with death - I've found myself praying two things. First, I thank God again for sparing them. Then, I have been praying:

Lord, please don't let Elizabeth waste her car wreck. 

The day after the wreck, I called Elizabeth and told her some of my thoughts. I told her that God is obviously not done with her or her friends. He has more for them - more to be and more to do on this earth. Their work now is to seek Him to figure out what that more looks like as they go about living their daily lives.

These kind of incidents are checks. It's a mortality check. It's a "what do I believe about God" check. It's a thankfulness check. It's a "I could've died...what am I doing with my life?" check.

These are not light checks. They are weighty, but vital. 

Writing this blog has been a check for me, too. This story had a happy ending, but the next one might not. The next story could have a different title. All I know to do today to prepare for whatever the future might hold for me (and those I love) is to remind myself of the truth and to run into the arms of Him who is the the way, the truth and the life.  I must remind myself (through the disciplines of Bible Study, prayer, and community) of who holds the future and that He can be trusted. And, I must cling to promises like these that God has given through His Son, Jesus.

Because I am His, He promises to never leave me or forsake me. Matthew 28:20
Because I am His, He promises to strengthen and help me. Isaiah 41:10
Because I am His, He promises the Holy Spirit will lead me into all truth. John 16:13
Because I am His, I am valuable to Him. Matthew 10:29-31
Because I am His, if I am brokenhearted, He will be near. Psalm 34:18

Thank you, God, for sparing Elizabeth, Kacie, and Emma.

And, Lord, please don't let them waste their car wreck.

Morning Thoughts

The other morning, I was writing in my Journible the first few verses of Luke 5. 

The simple act of writing words in longhand makes me slow down and notice them a bit more. Not only do I see and read them, I feel them.

Catching my eye and stopping my pen first were the words at the beginning of verse 1:

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God... 

I noticed "pressing in" because one of the pastors I listen to, Matt Chandler, from The Village Church, once used a phrase that carries the same idea. He talked about "leaning hard into Jesus." (He was talking about hard times when he used it, but that word picture of leaning hard into Jesus spoke to me. If our soul can have a posture, that's the one I want.)

The crowd was pressing in. I tried to picture what that must have looked like - the crowd of bodies pushing, jostling, manuevering - doing whatever it took to get close to Jesus so they could hear life giving words. 

Don't we all want to hear lasting, life giving words?

I immediately asked myself if I was pressing in to hear the word of God.

Am I hungry for it?

Am I taking steps to make sure I'm getting fed the word of God?

There's not too many things that are lasting, but we are told that God's word is.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

                                                                                Isaiah 40:8

It's worth pressing in for.

I continued Journibling, and shortly wrote the words found in verse 3:

 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land.

When I wrote "put out" I couldn't help but wonder if Simon Peter was just a little "put out" that Jesus asked him to do that. 

The fishermen were coming off a long night of work with nothing to show for it - and they still had to clean up. Cleaning up was what Simon was doing when Jesus made this request. Simon does as Jesus asks, and apparently with no grumbling. I guess letting a guy sit in your boat is not that big a deal.

But then we are told (verse 4) that Jesus makes another request of Simon - and this one requires more than a seat from the tired, just finished working all night and just cleaned his nets, fisherman.

And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

Another invitation to "put out." 

Another opportunity for Simon to be "put out." 

And this request does elicit some vexation on Simon's part. Verse 5 records it.

 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

Was Jesus serious? Simon had just cleaned the nets. Couldn't Jesus have said something about going back to put out before he'd spent all that time cleaning up?

But Simon did what I hope I would've done.

He stated the obvious and then stated what he was staking his life on.

Simon did an immediate compare and contrast and thankfully, chose well!  

Simon didn't sugar coat reality. They'd had a lousy night of fishing. But because he trusted Jesus and his word, he chose to not be put out (and eventually, lose out). The tired fisherman chose to take the clean nets back out and put out in the deep. He didn't know it when he cast those nets over the side of the boat, but he was in for the catch of his life with the man who would continue to change his life.

It was all so worth being put out for.

Pressing in to Jesus, putting out into the deep with Jesus - time with Jesus - is always worth it.

An Unbroken Record

In my attempt to really clean things out this summer, I ran across some old journals. If there's anything that will cause the cleaning process to come to a screeching halt, it's finding old journals.

My poor kids. I was thoroughly enjoying my walk down memory lane and just knew they would too. As soon as I read something I thought was poignant or hilarious, I'd corral who ever was close by and made let them enjoy it too. 

One such entry prompted a picture and text to my oldest son and his dad. I don't remember this moment 18 years ago, and so I'm very thankful I had written it down. 

Luke, then 8, lived and breathed sports

Can you read it? Here's the translation in case you're cursively challenged like some of my kids:

12-9-97
10:40 pm
Lou just told me the following. 
      When he was putting Luke to bed, Luke asked, "Do you think Barry Sanders will ever pass Walter Peyton's all time rushing record?" Lou answered, "I don't know, but I know I love you." Luke kind of giggled and smiled. And as Lou was about to leave the room, Luke said, "And that's one record that will never be broken." Lou said back, "You're right!"

It's kind of perfect right here on the eve of Father's Day. 

I share this not because my Lou is a perfect father. I share this because he's not a perfect father. He's a good one, but he's not perfect. 

But he is a father that unconditionally loves his kids - and they have absolutely no doubt about that. And that knowing - that security - is a great gift from a father to a child. 

It's a gift all of us imperfect parents can give our kids. It's a gift my dad gave me, and one I've watched Lou give to our kids. 

I'm so very, very thankful.

Oldie but goodie of Lou and the crew

Deceiving Yourself

Snoopy always calls it like it is.

We smile at that comic strip because we all get the point Mr. Shultz is making. So funny!

But other lying? Not so funny.

Like when I lie to myself.  

What?!? 

The Bible warns that the potential to do just that is inside me.

Really? I mean, who gets up in the morning and thinks, "I'm going to deceive myself today! Yep, gonna tell myself a couple of big ones. That'll make everything go better!"

Who does that? 

No one.

The thought that I can deceive myself is seriously terrifying.

I was reading in James 1:19-27 and was struck as never before by those suicidal words which are written, not once, but twice in that group of verses.

James 1:19-27New International Version (NIV)

Listening and Doing

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Oh, how I do not want to do that. I don't want to listen and then forget. I don't want my religion to be worthless.

So, what to do? How can I keep from doing to myself such a dastardly deed as deceiving?

Thankfully, in this same group of verses, we are given help. Look at verse 25.

25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Two words in that verse hint that it holds a key to defeating self deception: 

Freedom and Blessed. 

Deception never involves freedom or blessing. Truth always does. 

What then are we to do to have freedom and blessing (and to battle the tendency to deceive ourselves)?

"Look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continue in it - not for getting what they have heard, but doing it..."

In other words: Read your Bible - carefully, seriously, consistently, persistently, intently. Then, do what it says.

It's that simple.

Well, it's simple to write. It might be slightly harder to do. 

But, if you are a Christian, you don't do this alone. You have the Holy Spirit to help. (John 14:26) You have virtual encouragers, like me, writing stuff like this to say, "Keep going! Keep trusting! Stay in the Word!" You have real live encouragers around you in your local church and/or small group cheering you on to keep fighting the good fight of faith. 

Fight the fight against self deception by looking intently into God's word and asking Him to help you do what it says. 

The result is freedom and blessing.

The result is truth telling. Truth telling me, truth reminding me - equipping me - to tell myself the truth.

And that thought isn't terrifying. It's terrific.

Back and Forward

As long as I'm glancing and not gazing, it's all good.

Back at the past, that is.

That's the theme God's been driving home to me of late. And, He's used Moses, Timehop, and Easter to do it.

I'll start with Moses.

I'm studying his life this spring through Bible Study Fellowship. (Two thumbs up for BSF and their method of study. Highly, highly recommend). Moses is nearing death, and he is giving the Israelites, who are poised on the brink of the promised land, his farewell talks. Some of his words have to do with where they've been, but more of his words are to prepare them for what is ahead. I highlighted these words on page 1 of the notes BSF printed about this very thing.

"There are brief looks back to where the people had come from; then, the focus shifts forward again. The land to which God was leading His people and the future He had promised them always takes center stage."

When I read those words, I thought of a quote about where our focus is that I've heard somewhere down the line.

Glance at your circumstances. Gaze at God.

It doesn't fit perfectly - the past is behind you and circumstances are before you - but those words from BSF and that remembered quote made me start pondering my focus. Am I focused more on where I've been or where I'm going? Do I look more at my circumstances or at my God?

The routines of life beckoned after reading those notes and thinking that quote. But a "focus" pot was now simmering on my mind's back burner and it tagged along when I got busy doing what I normally do.

And, one of the things I normally do?  Check my Timehop.

In fact, every morning, an alert pops up on my lock screen.

If it's ready, I'm ready.

Timehop takes me back to this date, one year ago, two years ago, and so forth - for as long as I've been on social media - and shows me what I was up to.  It's a completely delightful daily walk down memory lane.

That simmering "focus" pot just rumbled a little - Timehop just joined the stew.

Not condemningly, though. Just mindfully.

Glancing is what you do on that fun app.  I smile, and thank God for the (mostly) good things I'm reminded of there. He has been faithful. Where that app takes me is not a time and a place I find myself wishing was back, but a time and a place I was glad I was in.

Ok, sometimes I might wish those "easy" times were back.  Sometimes, today's hard makes me either morph yesterday's hard into easy, or it makes me forget yesterday's hard completely. But I try to remind myself as I look at pictures of my smiling, adorable children that yesterday really did have its share of hard. I swallow any lumps, and go on.

Easter week 2015 rolls around. I didn't realize it at the time, but my focus pot was about to start boiling.

My Lou and I have been celebrating Easter together since 1987. We've been taking the family Easter pics since the early 90s.

If my friends told me they liked my hair, they were lying.

Since our youngest was born in 1998, Easter activities have been fairly predictable for two decades.

We'd get messy and artistic and dye eggs.

 We'd dress in our new Easter outfits and go celebrate the Resurrection with our friends at church.

Mary Grace's hat and gloves -- on point

"Can we do a silly picture?' Always the question at the end of the "real" picture.

We'd eat a special Easter lunch and then hunt Easter eggs.

Sorry, Hannah...couldn't find one of you hunting!

As I type all that and glance at those pictures, I'm smiling. I'm smiling because I'm tempted to write just how much fun it was - and stop there. Don't get me wrong. It was fun. Those were precious, precious times. But as I think back to those times, I know they weren't easy and innocent like they sometimes look in pictures. I've forgotten how much work it all was and how tired I know I was. I've forgotten the sibling squabbles I had to referee because somebody found more eggs than somebody else. I've forgotten how somebody got upset with me because things weren't going exactly like they had thought they should go. I've forgotten how under appreciated I felt at times when all I was trying to do was make sure everybody had a good time!

(Yikes. Maybe I haven't forgotten like I thought I had.)

This year looked quite different than those Easters. Four of our six kids were home, which made this mama happy. We did like we do when we are all gussied up for Easter and took pictures.

There was fun conversation around the lunch table. I like my adult children a lot. But as sweet as this Easter was, every once in a while, in the middle of it, I found myself thinking back to Easters past.

Now there's nothing wrong with thinking about the sweetness of past events in your family. I know that. But I also know my heart, and I could feel it longing a little bit for those days - gazing at those days in my heart - as if these days were somehow lacking.

These days are not lacking. This day, this moment in time, with these people, at the age they are, is right where I'm supposed to be. It wasn't better back then. The past was what I needed then and the present is what I need now. The past makes this present even more sweet. They are both a gift from the hand of God.

And God is using the past and this present to prepare me and you for the future. He has good work for us to do!

We are to glance at the past for joy, instruction, and encouragement. We are to live, prepare, and hope in the present. And we are to focus on and follow God into the future.

This is what I preach to myself when I'm tempted to think my past was better (happier, more fulfilling, easier) than my present. This is what I preach to myself when I find myself staring at pictures of times past and almost aching for those days back.

He wants me to glance at my past, but gaze at Him and be doing the good work He has for me to do!

I remind myself God was faithful then and He is faithful now and He still has good work for me to do.

He has good work for you to do. In your family, in your community, and in your world. Work that matters for eternity.

So let's glance at the past, remember, and smile, but let's gaze at God, rejoice, and...get busy.

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

Through Thick and Thin

Oh my.

I kind of can't believe I just wrote a poem about my weight, but I did.

You can thank our Hannah. The other day, my beautiful 23 year old married daughter sent her dad and me one of those fun, "remember this?" texts where she included a picture that had shown up on her timehop. It was taken in 2008.

Glad it's blurry. Blurry adds 10 lbs, right?

Yikes. Not gonna lie. When I saw this I was slightly taken aback at how heavy I was.

And then the memories of weight gained and lost over the years came flooding back. In poetic form. It's one of my little quirks, but I'm glad God gave it to me. Some of you may be able to relate. My hope is you all enjoy:)

Through Thick and Thin

A score and 7 years ago

Some serious vows were said,

To love through all the good and bad,

And forever - til we're dead.

Those words were good, but incomplete.

And this may cause chagrin

But both of us did not say,

"I do  - through thick and thin."

Through thick and thin? What can you mean?

The same as "better or worse?"

Oh no. Not quite. Not even close.

What I mean is called one's "girth."

I started thin like most brides do

I'd cook and eat at will

My zippers still would zip right up!

Oh the glory! Oh the thrill!

Then a very happy happening

Brought elastic pants my way

Nine months of thickness welcomed

"It's all baby!" folks would say.

Well, some left with the baby's birth

And some, it stayed behind.

I guess it'd gotten used to me

And thought leaving a bit unkind.

I let the thickness hang for years,

Which I thought was more than nice,

I fed it every night at 10.

Is ice cream really a vice?

But one day past, I hit that point

When you say, "It's now or never."

I measured all my beloved food,

And exercised more than ever.

The weight, it dropped!

The thickness left, and thinner came to be,

I've got this beat, or so I thought

Oh the joy! Oh, the glee!

I thought that 20 was gone for good.

But since, I've gained half back.

Alright. Ok. But, darn and shoot!

I gave those scales a whack.

The thick, the thin, the thick again.

I know this tune by now

I've sung it loud and proud and strong,

I should really take a bow.

My man, he's watched me sing it

And he's loved my size with grace

I know we didn't vow those words,

But you couldn't tell it by his face.

And yet, I say, what could it hurt 

To vow this weighty truth?

"Through thick and thin," it's a for sure.

We must inform our youth.

Wedding thin

All baby ;)

2013 - Skinniest I'd been since babies 

What Can Happen in a Second

At Christmas, I was given this delightful gift by our Faith.

Thank you, Faith

The first page of such a potentially daunting book looks like this.

I figure the top left corner is a good place to start.

What Can Happen in a Second?

The very first thing that came to mind was that hard day in July of 2012 when my Lou took a tumble on his bike and ended up in the hospital for 6 days. Then I decided that his accident actually occurred over a span of a few seconds, which could possibly be more accurately described as an "instant." Since I felt the question at hand was supposed to be taken literally, I had to (momentarily) disqualify what has affectionally become known as "the wreck."

Going the strictly literal route, I came up with:

a blink.
a thought.
a word. Unless it's a word like "hypervitaminosis," which takes about 1.28 seconds to say. (Yes, I timed myself saying it.)
a cough. The dainty kind, not the hacking, convulsing kind.

There's 4, but as I was going down this literal route, I veered off course pretty quickly, and ended up settling on really the one thing that happens in a second - every single second - LIFE.

That's what life is made of - seconds. Seconds that turn into minutes that turn into hours that turn into
days that turn into years that pass quickly and before you know it, you've lived a life! I could hardly type that sentence fast enough! The urgency I felt at using my time wisely and getting that thought out was slightly intense. My life is passing!!

Of course, we can't live in that urgent, panicked state - talk about a joyless, frantic existence - no, thank you. But we are admonished by our wise, good Creator to consider how we live.

Psalm 90:12 

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Ephesians 5:15-16
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

James 4:13-14 

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes...

Those are thoughtful, serious words, but they are not joyless words.

They tell us the score. It's only when we know the truth about something - that our time indeed is limited and precious and not to be squandered - can we think about it seriously and make sure we are using the seconds we are given well.
For Truth.
For Beauty.
For Goodness.
All of which are wrapped up in knowing and being known by our gracious, sovereign God. That kind of knowing and living brings deep peace and deep joy!

That's the kind of living I want to happen in every second.

A Good Start

I start most every morning with my "quiet time." Since God saved me from my sinful self way back when I was 9 years old - since the blood of Jesus did work in my life - I've known time alone with God sometime during a day was critical. For me, it's first thing in the morning. Because I want to know and love Him more; because I want to "to number my days, that I may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12); because I want to love people more and live well the few short years I have on this earth;  the alarm goes off a little early, and I start my day with God. I read the Bible and I pray. I may have a devotional book handy and Bible websites up and I go back and forth between all those resources.

No two mornings are exactly the same because, well, because, I'm a person and God's a person and we are communicating and communication isn't rote but real and organic. And yesterday morning, it was as real and organic as it gets. He met me in such a delightful way, and I want to share it here.

Because I'm attending a Bible Study Fellowship class, I have a daily reading schedule. Yesterday, it happened to be the day assigned to read the notes provided by BSF on a section we had just studied about the life of Moses. I jumped right into them with barely a "Help me understand this, Lord." However, not far into it,  I felt a check in my spirit. Time with God isn't something to check off a list, but a person to be with. So I stopped and picked up a small devotional book recently given to me by a friend. It's title is His Name Shall Be Called, and it's a Christmas inspirational book that focuses on the names of Jesus.

The fact that it's a beautiful book is a bonus:)

The focus I read was from Jeremiah 50:6

Now for full disclosure.

I read that and causally thought that was nice - and true. Yes, Jesus is our resting place. I even closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to try to think about it all a bit more. The thoughts expressed in what I just read were good, but they hadn't sent me soaring to new spiritual heights. But at least I had attempted a more relational moment. I didn't know it then, but God was going to use this attempt later. He's good at doing that kind of thing.

I went back to my BSF notes, which I love reading, by the way. They are not a chore at all. So with highlighter in hand and cup of coffee nearby, I began.

I came across a discussion of different levels of knowing someone.

While reading this, I thought of someone I know - one of my heroes in the faith, Elisabeth Elliot. I've only met her briefly at a couple of conferences, but I feel like I know her because I've read almost everything she's written. Because she's elderly (she'll be 88 on Dec 21st) and not in the best of health (and because I'm easily distracted sometimes), I decided to quickly check her website to see how she was doing. I stayed there long enough to see she is still being beautifully cared for by her loved ones and to thank God for her many years of speaking to me through her books and lectures.

Elisabeth check done, it was back to the notes.

It was in this next section of note reading, that I marveled at the tender care of God - the One who knows me best and still loves me most. His taking of my feeblest attempts at devotion and my note reading and my quick website check and then more note reading and weaving them all together to teach me about himself is such a gift from His great and mighty heart. At the early hour of 6:30 a.m., my tired face broke into a ready smile when I read the following:

The reference in those words to the "five young missionaries" refers to Elisabeth Elliot's first husband, Jim, and the 4 other men he worked with. I know this story well. Elisabeth told it in her book Through Gates of Splendor, and it found its way to the big screen in End of the Spear and Beyond the Gates of Splendor.

So, in my notes on The Life of Moses, God brings me back to Elisabeth Elliot and her story and strong testimony just a few minutes after I "checked" on her. If that wasn't enough, God topped it off with the words to a hymn written way back in 1895. Words echoing - reinforcing -  the concept that I had tried to grasp during my devotional time.

Jesus is my resting place.

There it was, printed in black and white. Five missionary men sang that song and rested in those facts as they faced a very uncertain future as far as this life was concerned.

We rest on Thee  -  our shield and our defender!

We go not forth alone against the foe;

Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,

We rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go.

I was blown away at this point. I wouldn't let my Lou walk out the door until I told him about it. I'm still marveling at it. It wasn't a happy coincidence. It was God meeting me right where I was. 

He's still speaking to me through these truths. He's reminded me in the day since reading all this, that the living of life on this earth - our future - is uncertain. We don't know it. We don't know the joys ahead. We don't know the sadness ahead. 

But we know the One who does. And we can rest on Him and His sure care and love for His redeemed.

As quiet times go, this one was slightly on the dramatic side. But dramatic or not, it's still a time totally worth getting up for.  Meeting with the God of the universe always is.  It's a good start to a day.