Now It is the Lord!

I have been enjoying the daily readings of A. W. Tozer this year and today's devotional referenced these two little phrases that perfectly sum up the journey my life:

Once it was the blessing;
Now it is the Lord!

I once spent too much time chasing windmills of blessings from God. And upon catching them, found them to be incomplete and devoid of satisfaction. These days, I'm much more interested in knowing The One who is willing to give of Himself to me so that I might become more like Him each day. I'm learning that it is in the abundance of quiet relationship that my life is changing, transforming, growing.

Settled

O the sweetness of being settled in Christ Jesus
And in His purposes for my life.
My heart is still
Even though the world rages about me.
I am His...and He is mine!

God's Eternal Self-existence

Father! the sweetest, dearest Name.
That men or angels know!
Fountain of life, that had no fount
From which itself could flow.

The vastness is not young or old,
Thy life hath never grown;
No time can measure out thy days,
No space can make Thy throne!

-Frederick William Faber

One Blessed "Old Man"!

One Saturday evening, my family and friends surprised me with a fantastic surprise birthday party. I was shocked, overwhelmed and overjoyed when my youngest daughter appeared from the crowd. Thanks for driving through the storm, Naomi and Ronnie!

Thanks to everyone who came and for the lovely cards and remembrances. And Jeff, the fixodent was funny - really funny!

I am one blessed "old man", that for sure!

Carving My Benefits in Stone

Today I turned 50 years of age. What? It can't be true! But it is reality for me.

This little story illustrates how grateful I am for all of you remembering me today with such warm thoughts and greetings:

Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand, today my best friend slapped me in the face.



They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone,



'Today my best friend saved my life!'



The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”



The friend replied 'when someone hurts us we should write it down in sand, where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.
”

Today I'm carving my benefits in stone. Thanks, everyone!

Deep Change

I sense within me a profound change occurring.

This change is not about style, tools, or verbal acuity.

It's about forgetting what I know and discovering what I need to know in order to experience a deeper change in the way I do life and lead the church.

Thank you for your insights, Robert Quinn!

Pain and Joy

Ah, the pain and joy of growing closer to the One who makes all of living worthwhile.