Thursday, June 24, 2010
Be Still
Psalm 46:10 - "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the Earth."
On the last day of Trek two years ago, we were directed to find a spot away from everyone and be alone with God in His creation for three hours. This was my view from my spot. When I think about being still before God this is the image that comes to my mind. 
Steven taught the Men's Class on Tuesday and BTW - there are all kinds of "cool" but seeing your son who is a young man teach is really cool. He did a great job in facilitating discussion and had great timing with his humor. Sorry, I'm bragging now.
Any way, his class was on being still before God. Does anyone else beside me find that difficult? As the kids say, "I'm not going to lie," I'm a worrier, a planner, and a frustrated logistical planner. I find it hard at times to turn my brain (I'm sure some of you wonder if it's ever on) off, be still, pray, and listen to God. In education its popular to say that we're preparing life long problem solvers. Trouble is as we all know, there are some problems that we cannot solve. Its at those times as Phillip Yancey said in his book on prayer, that we pray so that we can include the mysterious in our lives.
That requires us being still and knowing that God is the Lord of this Earth and our lives. Its something I'm working on as we speak.
On the last day of Trek two years ago, we were directed to find a spot away from everyone and be alone with God in His creation for three hours. This was my view from my spot. When I think about being still before God this is the image that comes to my mind. This is the rock that I used as both a pillow and a seat. You can see my Bible, a pair of glasses, my day pack, and my water bottle. There are times when I want to run back to that spot.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Start Blogging
Well, to my legions of adoring blog fans, I'm back. Feel free to send money if you missed me. This past couple of weekends have been very eventful. Two Sundays ago, we had a rare Sunday evening service. The occasion was a "Dinner (done by Barb) Production (done by Lee) Fund Raiser" to benefit our trip to the Mid-Ohio Valley Work Camp and our week of Bible Camp. It was a night of skits, testimonies, and worship. Steven, Sabrina, Matthew, Mark, David, and some of Matthew's friends did an outstanding time in leading our worship. Pictures at the bottom of this post.
Matthew and David playing. 
My shark.
The time honored practice of the "shark throw." Notice air-borne shark in the upper right hand corner of the picture.
Last Saturday, "Hurricane Chuck" and his daughter, Janel, took Steven, Kristin, and myself out to the beach on the Kennedy Space Center property. We were their for about a half hour and then it started.
"Bonnet sharks" started feasting on our surf casted menu of crabs. There is an interesting sequence of events that happens when one lands a shark. Of course the first step is bringing the shark up onto the beach. Usually one will venture out into shallow water to assist the angler by grabbing the shark's tail. They usually respond to this type of treatment by thrashing, urinating (I can only imagine the puns here), and at times throwing up.
Once the shark is secured one must remove the hook, hold up said shark for the obligatory picture, and then do an imitation of an Olympic hammer throw. Yes, we return the sharks back into the ocean so as to lessen our carbon footprint. Hey, anyone want to body surf? I didn't think so. O.K, thanks for reading and here are the pictures:
Steven singing and leading our worship.
Matthew and David playing. Steven's shark.
My shark.The time honored practice of the "shark throw." Notice air-borne shark in the upper right hand corner of the picture.
