Blonde Antithesis

I’ve been thinking all day about how quickly life can change. In the blink of an eye - a phone call, a conversation, an email - in a split second everything can change…

Life is such a beautiful and miraculous gift…but, so fragile too.

Your baby can become ill (please pray for my nephew Kael), and your world can revolve around his health and care. Your spouse can leave. A loved-one can die suddenly…

In a given day, a myriad of possibilities can unfold…some beautiful - some devastating…

It can seem so random…so out of control. I don’t want to pretend that I have all the answers to the obvious questions that these situations bring up - “Why do bad things happen to good people?” - but, I do believe that God has a plan…

It’s just that sometimes in the midst of the surreal unfoldings of these life-altering moments, it can seem like there is no plan…no sense…no mercy.

I do know that we were not created to live like this. We were made for the Garden…for living in harmony and beauty to bring joy and praise to our Creator. We were not made for this harsh and barren fallen-world.

So, this side of Heaven, we live in our fragile state - being “precariously perched” above the next moment of exhilaration…or disaster.

But, no matter how random or out of control life can seem, we are never outside of the reach of our Father…our Creator who made us to live in harmony and beauty…

• Please pray for the Vaught family - specifically, for Lauren. If you know Diane, then she has probably prayed for you. She has comforted you if you’ve experienced a loss. God has used her to speak His grace and mercy into countless lives in the midst of grief. She needs us to do that for her now. Please pray for her daughter, Lauren. Pray for Divine Intervention…pray for strength and healing. Just pray. God knows. God hears.

We need each other.

Thank you, in advance, for your prayers.

Peace…peace.

What a beautiful day.

C3 Day at Moss Park was wonderful! I’m too tired to properly express what it meant to see all of the C3ers come out to have fun and witness new Christ-followers professing their faith through baptism….

It was beautiful to stand on the beach and witness such a profound declaration….

It was beautiful to see families having time together….

It was beautiful to watch a community of faith connect with each other and deepen their friendships…

It was beautiful to watch children running and playing and learning that church is about love…and can also be about having fun…

It was beautiful to see the gorgeous tapestry of diversity that is C3….it was like a Florida sunset - breathtaking!

Moss Park is special to me. I remember going there as a child. When I hear the cranes, I’m right back…I’m 10 years old all over again. It brings back many happy memories…

Now it’s even more special to me. It forever will remind me of C3…of new Christ-followers being baptised on a day that was supposed to be filled with thunderstorms…of little children laughing and playing…of a church family just being…

…and being happy just to be!

It was a day to remember.

Thank you so much to all of you who shared it with me…

Peace.

So, ALL the kids were home today. The girls are wrapping up their spring break, and the boys are just beginning it…it’s so convoluted that they don’t have the same time off!!!

My sister came up from Ft. Lauderdale with her two beautiful boys, so….

…of course we met at “Morning Glories” for pancakes that are bigger than your head. I didn’t eat them, though…I’m trying so hard to be good.

The weather is so gorgeous now…I love springtime in Florida!

We finally ate at the Ikea restaurant. It was phenom. I had salmon, and paid fast-food prices for it! But it was hard to leave without getting a hot dog and cinnamon roll…it’s like a tradition! But, I have that “tradition” for too many places around Orlando…Lowe’s, Home Depot…Uncle Louis G’s…and anywhere else that sells them. (At Lowe’s I get TWO with Sauerkraut !! )

Okay, this blog is turning into too much of a confessional…I better sign-off before it gets any worse.

Wouldn’t want any of my real secrets to get out!

Peace.

I’m still feeling the poetry…suffering from my “condition”. I still haven’t written anything, though…

I decided to read instead - and who better to read in times like these than the psalmist. So, here is one of David’s “poems”…songs….prayers - that I kept returning to:

Psalm 143 (New Life Version)

New Life Version (NLV)

Psalm 143

A Prayer For Help

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord. Listen when I ask for help. Answer me because You are faithful and right.
2 Do not find Your servant guilty, for no man living is right and good in Your eyes.
3 For the one who hates me has made it hard for my soul. He has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me live in dark places, like those who have been dead for a long time.
4 So my spirit grows weak within me. My heart within me is afraid.
5 I remember the days long ago. I think about all You have done. I think about the work of Your hands.
6 I put out my hands to You. My soul is thirsty for You like a dry land.

7 Hurry to answer me, O Lord! My spirit is becoming weak! Do not hide Your face from me, or I will become like those who go down to the grave.
8 Let me hear Your loving-kindness in the morning, for I trust in You. Teach me the way I should go for I lift up my soul to You.
9 O Lord, take me away from those who hate me. I run to You to be safe.

10 Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Let Your good Spirit lead me on a straight path.
11 Give me new life, O Lord, because of Your name. Bring me out of trouble because You are right and good.
12 In Your loving-kindness cut off those who hate me. Destroy all those who make it hard for my soul, for I am Your servant.