everything that's on my mind

(as if there's not already enough people doing this)

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

 

The world around me

I've been watching some of the coverage of hurricane Katrina. The power and destructive force of hurricanes (as well as tornados and other storms) is always compelling to watch. They march across the waters, then hit land and level everything it their path for a while, and gradually start losing their strength. The amount of destruction they can do in such a short amount of time is astonishing. I've seen some of the news footage and stories on television this morning before I left for work, and to see what has happened in New Orleans, Mississippi, and elsewhere is staggering. I pray for these people in them midst of their loss and pain.

A couple of years ago, we had a rough storm come through Huntsville, Alabama, where we were living at the time. This had quite an impact on my daughter, who was old enough to start noticing such things. During the storm, we were watching local stations that were covering the weather non-stop, and so she watched as the weather people discussed the weather, pointed at radar maps, and the like. As a result of this, she became very interested in weather-related topics, and
The Weather Channel became her favorite television channel. It always made me laugh that a 4-year-old was sitting in her playroom watching TWC instead of The Disney Channel or Nick Jr. Instead of Blue’s Clues, Dora the Explorer, or The Wiggles, she’s opting for Stephanie Abrams, Jim Cantore and Doppler radar.

During that time, we began watching "Storm Stories" every night on TWC, usually together. There was usually a new storm every night. One night a hurricane, another night a tornado, then the next night a flood, and you heard to stories of the storms themselves and the people who endured them. One week was especially interesting, as they had "Tornado Week" with different tornado stories every night. Once again, you saw the sheer power of storms and what they can do to cities, people's homes, and people's lives.

So often, it seems, we get accustomed to things in this world and the way it works. Storms are still frightening, but I think sometimes we get used to seeing the destruction through news coverage, and the stories about what is happening in such areas after the storm, that maybe we do not consider (or at least not for long) the power behind what has happened, especially if it's not directly affecting us. This is not just true of the destructive side of nature, but also the beauty of the world around us. We often fail to notice the awe-inspiring world we live in.

I just finished John Eldredge's book EPIC : The Story God Is Telling and The Role That Is Yours To Play. Here is a quote from this book:

We have grown dull toward this world in which we live; we have forgotten that it is not normal or scientific in any sense of the word. It is fantastic. It is fairy tale through and through. Really now. Elephants? Caterpillars? Snow? At what point did you lose your wonder of it all?

While he's not talking about storms here, it stands true for storms as well as the beauty of nature and other wonders of this life. Too often, we're too busy to stop and consider the world around us, created by God for us, and really take in the majesty of God’s creation. I've not yet been to the Grand Canyon, but I hear it's a breathtaking sight. I've been to the mountains in Colorado on snow-skiing trips, and it's magnificent. I've seen the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean waters, and they are amazing. I've stood in western Madison County in North Alabama, on a clear, sunny day with a blue sky and a few white clouds here and there, and observed the beauty of something as simple as a clear sky.

But it's not very often that I stop and consider such things. I hope that I can do that more, that I can teach my kids to look around at the beauty of this world God has given us, and that we can together stand in awe of it all.

Monday, August 29, 2005

 

Falling down

Yesterday morning, as we were getting ready to leave for church, my daughter had gone upstairs to get her Bible from her bedroom. I'm there with my son and we walk to the bottom of the stairs to see if she's coming down yet, since we're about ready to walk out the door. She's about halfway down, and suddenly, her foot gets caught on her dress, and she falls to her knees. I froze a split second, and it looked as if she'd caught herself. She was closer to the wall without the railing, so she's on her knees with her hand on the wall, trying to hold herself up. But it wasn't enough. She falls forward and then onto her side, and rolls (or bounces) down about 5 or 6 steps before she stops, just a couple of steps from the bottom step and the "baby gate".

My 17-month-old son, frightened by the whole scene, begins screaming. My daughter is crying as well, as I'm opening the gate and helping her up. She was fine other than being a little scared and having a small carpet burn on her leg. But it was still frightening, for all of us. It's one of those moments where you see something bad about to happen but you don't have time to stop it. It all happened in about 2, maybe 3, seconds, but all sorts of thoughts were going through my mind during that short time. Later, as we were talking about it, perhaps over lunch, she made the statement that "It's a good thing daddy was there to save me."

Truth is, I didn't do much. I couldn't do much; I was too far away. I could only get there in time to help her up. I would've done anything to keep her from falling, but I can't carry her myself every time she needs to go up or down the stairs. She has to do it on her own, and there's always the chance that she'll fall.

The whole incident reminded me that God made man knowing that there was the chance we would fall. He gave us choice, and we could choose to do evil. We could choose to fall. And we did. We fell big. The serpent deceived the woman in the garden, and the relationship between God and man was forever broken. In the words of the old television commercial, we have fallen and we can't get up.

Fortunately, God didn't give up on us. When we fell, He didn't move on to something else. He loved us. He loved us more than we are able to love. He loved us enough to make a way to restore that relationship. He sent a Savior to us, his only Son, and made a way for us to have that relationship with Him once again. He is there to help us up. Like my daughter said, it's a good thing Daddy was there to save us.

And sometimes I think I couldn't do that. Sometimes I think of it in terms of other people - people I don't know, who, if I did something so amazing for them, that they'd not be eternally grateful, and would in fact ignore me. I'd say, "Well, that's it for them" and be done with it.

But I have a lot better understanding of how God feels about us when I look to my own children. How could I ever give up on them?? I love them too much. I'd do anything within my power to keep my relationship with them. When I saw the look of fear on my daughter's face as she was falling down the stairs, I did the only thing I could do at that point. I went to her and held her in my arms, telling her it was okay, that I was there with her. When she makes a mistake, does something she shouldn't, or ignores her responsibilities, I always try to make sure she understands how much I still love her, that my love for her is just as great as it was before. Falling down will not change that. And when we fall, as we did in the garden and continue to today, God comes to us as well, sometimes catching us, sometimes allowing us to fall and learn our lessons, but always letting us know that He is there, that He loves us as much as ever, and that He will save us.

Friday, August 26, 2005

 

City on a Hill

Well, besides unpacking, one of our top priorities now is finding a church. Of course, this will be a long process, most likely. We'll be visiting several places, and visiting each one several weekends, so it will likely be a few months before any decisions will be made.

There's one church that we feel is a most likely choice for a number of reasons, but we still plan to go to a few others as well, because we know less about them and maybe we will be led to one of those instead. We don't want to assume we know where we should go and leave God out of it, of course. So, we'll pray about it and visit some churches, and see what happens.

Speaking of churches, a couple of things I've noticed since we came back to Little Rock is a couple of new buildings that have appeared. A number of years ago, a Pentecostal church in North Little Rock built a new building right on the freeway before you cross over the river into Little Rock. At the time, it seemed huge. You couldn't miss it as you drove on I-40 through North Little Rock. And then, when we came back recently, we found that they'd built another one next to it, and this one was so large that the first one could probably fit inside of it. How much money was spent on it, I can't imagine.

Then, we drive into west Little Rock, and find that a large Baptist church in town has also built a new building. It's built on a high part of west Little Rock, and it is also huge, so that it is visible from all over west Little Rock. I call it the "city on a hill". I jokingly told my wife that the neighborhood next to it probably only gets a couple of hours of sunlight every day, because the massive building keeps it from getting to them most of the day.

I mention that because it's been something that I've thought about more in the last year or two. How do churches spend their money? Are huge buildings with the nicest amenities really necessary? What are you trying to attract people to? The building or the Savior? Could the building have been a little smaller, a little less beautiful, with cheaper and simpler features, and the money saved been spent to feed the hungry or help the poor, or in some other way reach out to those who may not feel comfortable coming to such a "nice" building? The popular question from about 10 years ago was "What would Jesus do?"

And that doesn't go just for churches, but for individuals. I'm asking those same questions of myself, because I just bought a new house, too. And I can't help but ask myself sometimes, "Did I make the right decision?"

Thursday, August 25, 2005

 

Moving to Little Rock

Well, I've tried to get this thing started up a couple of times now, but I'm going to try to make this one happen. Since the last time I tried, a lot has changed....

Just over two weeks ago my family and I officially moved back to Little Rock. We left here 4 years ago for Huntsville, Alabama, and have now come back home. I started work here on July 5, and my wife and kids stayed in Huntsville as we were selling our house. Finally, we closed on August 5, and then over here on August 8, and so we got moved in just a couple of weeks ago.

We're very excited about the move. A big change, but back to a familiar place, so not as big as before. I'm enjoying my job, my daugther is enjoying her new school, and we're all enjoying being back in Little Rock and close to more family here in Arkanasas.


It was a bit of a painful process, all of the waiting and being apart from my family. I don't like that at all. I have friends who travel a lot - gone from their family for a week or more at a time. I could never do that. I hated it. I hope I never have to do it again. But thankfully, by the grace of God, that's over with for now and we are getting settled and back into a normal routine of life. The major issues now are getting finished unpacking and finding a new church home.

Well, I've got more things to say, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.... later.

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