Having lived five mostly good years in Canada, I couldn’t very well put up a post critical of one aspect of the country on the eve of Canada Day and then ignore the holiday; like any place, it isn’t perfect, but Canada’s a great country, and I loved my time there. (The fact that it included our first four years of marriage probably didn’t hurt. 🙂 ) So, to all my friends under the Maple Leaf: happy Canada Day!
Category Archives: Personal
Happy Happy birthday!
Or maybe that should be “Happy birthday, Happy!”—or . . . well, the permutations go on for a while. Anyway, it’s not quite as good as an ambush from the waiters at a fine restaurant (though it is easier on the wallet), but I wanted to take this opportunity to wish a happy birthday and a wonderful year to one of the best people I know, and one of the dearest friends I ever expect to have.“May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.”May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home,
And may the hand of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.”
Ten random things that make me happy
Pauline at Perennial Student posted her list, and it turns out it’s a meme that’s been going around (having started here, as best as I can tell), so I figured I’d pick it up and send it on; a little light-heartedness is good for the soul. Most of these things aren’t really all that random, or unique to me, either, but never mind.
- Worshiping God
- Holding my wife
- A little-girl hug from one (or more) of my daughters
- Playing “my bunny!” with my youngest daughter
- Preaching—when it’s going well
- Singing along with the music while I’m driving
- Rereading a well-loved book
- Baking a pie—if the crust behaves (if not, there is frustration along the way)
- Watching one of my girls learn something
- Sunshine on a windy day
Technical note
For those who may not have registered this, on those posts which have a “Read More” link at the bottom, that isn’t a link to the post page; rather, if you click on that, it will display the whole post right there in place on the main page of the blog. The guy who developed this calls it a “Peekaboo” link.
Thus, for instance, if you’re on the main page of the blog, you’ll see a “Read More” link just below this; if you click on it, you’ll see the rest of this sentence appear in place. Click on the “Summary only” link to return to the shorter display form.
Song of the Week, for a distressed friend
These days, if people have heard of Stormie Omartian, most of them know her for her books, while her husband Michael is primarily mentioned as a producer; that’s a shame, because he put out some great albums of his own, beginning with White Horse and Adam Again back in the ’70s, and a number of fine ones together with her as well. The only one of their joint albums I have is Mainstream, and the tape is dying after a quarter-century, which is too bad, since it’s not even listed on Amazon. I’ll listen to it until it goes, anyway. This song is off that album; as I was listening to it in the car on the way back from work the other day, I had the sense that someone I know needs to hear the message of this song. So, no audio, but up it goes.
Believing for the Best in You
After all I’ve said to try to change your mind,
Are you still going to doubt my words?
You can show me your failures and point out your flaws—
I don’t hear you.
There are two sides to every story,
And glory is on your side;
One hope in every dreamer—the Redeemer;
And that is why
I’m believing for the best in you,
Believing for the best in you;
You’ve got Jesus in your heart, and you love Him so—
Well, that’s all I need to know, all I need to know.
I’m believing for the best in you.You’ve been searching through the garden of your life
For seeds that were planted there;
When I show you the blossoms and point out the vines,
You don’t see them.
You’re looking so hard for the flower
When the hour is still ahead,
And all that is not showing is growing,
And that is whyChorusThe eyes of the Lord are upon you;
He sees what He made you to be.
So arise and shine,
For thy light has come
And there’s no way to hide it from me.ChorusWords and music: Michael and Stormie Omartian
© 1982 See This House Music/Birdwing Music/Cherry Lane Music Publishing Co.
From the album Mainstream, by Michael & Stormie Omartian
This all made more sense on Mountain Time
Staying up to watch election returns, that is; it’s two hours earlier in Colorado. I can’t keep doing this when it means being up until midnight on a school night. (Why do elections have to be on Tuesdays, anyway?)
Political junkie or otherwise, I need to start putting sleep ahead of politics.
Shameless plug
I’m finally starting to get to work on my page on my church’s website; I don’t have a whole lot on there yet, but I do have the texts for this sermon series up. (No audio, though—at least, not yet.) Check them out, if you’re interested; while you’re there, feel free to explore the site a bit. It’s an interesting congregation.
OK, so maybe I’m a sucker
and maybe at heart I’m still the ten-year-old who thought The Lord of the Rings was the best thing he’d ever read (there still isn’t much that tops it) and that nobody was cooler than his Dad, except maybe for the people his Dad admired; and certainly, once a Navy brat, always a Navy brat, and there’s no denying the effect growing up Navy has had on who I am. Whatever you want to make of it, this gets me every time:
I’ve said before that I have long had reservations about John McCain politically; based on the candidates’ positions, he was no more than my third choice in this race. I also have to say, though, that about John McCain the person, though he’s far from perfect, I admire him tremendously. Certainly Barack Obama has proven he can inspire people with his rhetorical gifts (much missed in recent American politics) and the vision he paints (though time will tell what his association with the Rev. Dr. Wright and his race speech has done to the potency of that vision); but I believe Sen. McCain is equally capable of inspiring our country with the ideals he upholds—and the way he has lived out those ideals in the service of his country—and the power of his expression. Maybe a few policy disagreements are a small price to pay for that.
Pray for Zimbabwe; please, pray for Zimbabwe
One of the deep joys of my years in Colorado was the time I spent as a member of the Partnership Committee of the Partnership of Zimbabwe and Denver Presbyteries. The Presbytery of Denver had ended up involved in ministry in Zimbabwe through the work of a couple in one of its churches, and decided in consequence to establish and build a presbytery-to-presbytery relationship with the Presbytery of Zimbabwe, which is part of the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (UPCSA). I was never able to travel to Zimbabwe (though I would have been offered the chance if we hadn’t been leaving), which I regret, but I did have opportunities to meet a few of our partners on their visits to Colorado, and there are a couple whom I consider dearly-loved friends.
Which is why my heart breaks, and has been breaking, for the country of Zimbabwe. I could give you a long list of links about what Robert Mugabe has done to his nation over the last eight years—he was a good leader before that, as long as people kept voting for him, but once the voters began to tire of him, he turned on them; whether he rules well or ill, all that matters to him is keeping power—but I think Peter Godwin summed up the story well enough in the Los Angeles Times, at least for starters. Godwin, who dubbed Mugabe “Zimbabwe’s Ahab,” knows whereof he speaks, as a native Zimbabwean; he’s written several books, including the memoirs Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa and When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa, and still laments what was lost.
The presidential election is this Saturday, and there are those who have hope that maybe this time, the opposition and the international community will prevail, and the election will bring about the end of the Mugabe government. Please pray that it is so, and with a minimum of bloodshed. Please pray for the peace of Zimbabwe.
Does it make me unspiritual
that I get more worked up over my poor Mariners making a disastrously idiotic trade than I do about people rejecting Jesus?
. . . no, don’t answer that . . . I already know.
*sigh*