First stop, Texas

Jul4

After two days of driving, with an overnight stop in Hattiesburg, Miss., we made it to David’s aunt and uncle’s house in Justin, Texas. The cool thing about their place is that they live in a community of airplane pilots who all have hangers behind, in or as part of their houses. There’s an airstrip all around, and planes come and go throughout the day. It’s an aviation lover’s dream.

Morgan got to experience driving for the first time–in a golf cart. She loved it. The boys drove also, and ran around just loving the fact that they weren’t in a car for 10 hours.

Tonight, the boys went with their cousin back to his home about an hour away, and the rest of us enjoyed dinner and then sat outside in the dry air and breeze of a Texas summer night and watched fireworks exploding all around us for more than an hour. I didn’t even attempt to photograph them, as they never look as good as when you’re there. It was the perfect setting. We didn’t have to fight crowds, and we were far enough away not to be deafened by the booms, and we enjoyed a diversity of scenes from the comfort of our own chairs.

Tomorrow, we start making our way to the Grand Canyon, stopping overnight in Santa Rosa, N.M.

Happy birthday, America. We’re enjoying getting to know you a little bit better this month.

Thankful today for:

426. the freedom of our country

427. our founding fathers and their vision

428. family

429. the sites that await us in the next couple of days

430. that we have the ability to give our kids good gifts

431. watermelon

432. dry heat

433. other people’s fireworks

434. America

Did I Leave Anything Out?

Jul1

Our bags are nearly packed, except for the essentials; 24 hours until we hit the road. We’ve taken great care to make lists and ensure that we have everything we’ll need for a month on the road. But it occurred to me that there are some pretty important things that didn’t necessarily make the list, but God forbid that they be left behind.

Love: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

We’re going to be encountering a lot of people in the next month, and we can leave an impression all across the nation. What kind of impression we leave is completely up to us. We can show that we love each other and are so happy to have this time together. Or we can act like these are the last people on earth with whom we’d want to spend a month traveling. I vote for the former. That’s only going to come by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Joy: “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song” (Psalm 28:7).

So many times we try to find joy in our circumstances, but that doesn’t work very well. Many times, our circumstances aren’t exactly what we want them to be. Our joy has got to come from the Lord. If we find that truth, there will be more laughing than bickering along the way.

Peace: Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27).

In my mind, peace is the opposite of war. War often comes because someone else has something that we want. Maybe it comes from fear that we won’t end up with all we need. Resting in the fact that God has given us all that we need will bring peace to our hearts–and to our journey.

Patience: “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense” (Proverbs 19:11).

This is a biggie. It’s like forgetting your toothbrush if you leave this one behind. Nothing feels right. We must overlook the accidentally kicked seat or whatever other minor irritation would cause us to focus on our circumstances and not on the Lord.

Kindness: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12).

The watchword around our house lately has been “kindness.” Show kindness whenever you have a chance. Say kind words, do kind deeds. That will become even more important as we spend hours on end in a minivan. But how good and pleasant it will be.

Goodness: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).

This characteristic speaks to me of being Christ-like. The hackneyed “what would Jesus do” should always be evident in our lives. It’s not just about doing the right thing; it’s about being the right person–the one God wants you to be.

Faithfulness: “It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth” (3 John 1:3).

This is about doing what God wants us to do, and always following through. It’s about showing good faith. Be a person of your word.

Gentleness: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5).

Boys will be boys, but a spirit of gentleness will avoid a lot of pain, especially to one’s little sister.

Self-control: “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled” (1 Thessalonians 5:6).

‘Nuff said. Keep control of yourself. Don’t react. Be proactive to make sure that your heart and your mind are constantly fixed on Jesus.

The fruit of the Spirit. I can pack all the underwear I want, but if I forget to keep the Holy Spirit in charge of my life, then nothing else I’ve packed will do me any good.

Thankful today for:

420: the opportunity to host another baptism

421. the generosity of friends

422. google maps

423. reliable cell phone service

424. the two upcoming weddings in the family

425. good, clean family movies

And Away We Goooooooo (Almost)

Jun29

T minus three and counting until we head off on our Incredible Journey. Morgan is already packed. The boys don’t return from their Orlando Outreach until tomorrow, at which point there will be a mound of laundry to do before they can pack. And I’ve got a couple of full hampers myself. It’ll get done. That’s the beauty of not having to catch a plane.

My posts in the month of July are likely to be spotty, but I’d love for you to join me on our journey. I will be posting pics whenever I can. We’re excited to see so much of America. I’ve been to most of the states we’ll be seeing, but I haven’t seen most of the sites. I’m looking forward to sharing this experience with my family–and with you.

Have you ever taken a trip like this before? Tell me where you’ve been and what you liked best about it. I’d love to hear!

Thankful today for:

411. GPS

412. cleaning-out-the-fridge meals

413. for my mother-in-law, who will be holding down the fort

414. for my sister-in-law, who is coming to help her

415. for my nephew wanting to spend time with his younger cousins

416. still being able to enjoy lunch outside in the last week of June! Amazing.

417. all the old friends I’m going to get to see. So excited!

418. God’s grand creation

419. a week of outreach for my boys

Which Wolf Wins?

Jun26

We’ve been dog sitting for the past week. Zoey is the same dog who came to swim with Berkeley back in the spring. Now, her family has gone on vacation, and we, along with two other families, are taking one-week stints watching her.

The first place she went has an older dog who really didn’t appreciate Zoey’s company very much. She got growled at a lot there. We have a big black lab that outweighs her by 56 pounds. But they’ve had a lot of fun together.

The next family she’s going to today has a young spaniel much more her size. I’m sure the romping with be epic. I’m also sure she won’t know what to do with herself once her family is back next week.

But looking at the two dogs at my house reminds me of the story of the black and white wolves. Apparently, the Cherokee Indians have a story about a time when there was a terrible argument between two adults, and an old wiseman was asked to mediate. With all the children gathered around to see what he’d say, the old man told this story:

Inside of everyone lives a black wolf and a white wolf. The black wolf is filled with fear, anger, envy, jealousy, greed and arrogance. The white wolf is filled with peace, love, hope, courage, humility, compassion and faith. They battle constantly. The obvious question to the children was this one:

Which wolf wins?

The old man’s answer? The one we feed.

We choose, every minute of every day, which wolf we’re going to let win in our hearts. Will we give in to anger and jealousy, fear, greed, arrogance? Or will we be filled with peace, love, hope? Those sound a lot like the fruit of the Spirit, don’t they?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22,23).

If we live by the Spirit, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

The principle is simple, but not easy: stop feeding the black wolf.

Thankful today for:

399. a week-long play date for my dog

400. this opportunity for outreach to their community for my boys

401. a cleaned off desk

402. a great husband who will run to the store at 9:00 at night to buy milk because we’re out

403. a significant time of prayer last night for the outreach this week

404. less than a week left before we leave

405. a new look to my living room

406. God watering my new little rose bush

407. the near completion of our landscaping project

408. friends returning home safely

409. the promise of heaven

410. that we don’t have squeaky toys in the house for our pets!

 

Hello, My Name Is _________

Jun22

When David and I started having children, honestly, we didn’t think too long and hard about their names. We picked what we liked, then looked through the baby names books to be sure they didn’t mean something weird. We also didn’t tell people what we chose, because we didn’t want the “Oh, that’s an interesting name” response. We feel good about what we chose: their names mean justice, gift of God and bright, shining sea (or German for morning).

I know that some people agonize over their children’s names, wanting the names to reflect what will be true about them in their life. If only we could determine our children’s futures by their names. I would have named my first-born Rich. Just kidding.

People in earlier times carried names from generation to generation: surnames, middle names, last names, maiden names, nick names. What a child is named is with them forever (unless they go to court and pay to have it changed).

Whereas the names we give our children may not always fit them, there is One whose name fits Him to perfection: Jesus.

There is power in the name of Jesus that can’t be denied. An old song I used to sing as a youth goes like this:

At the name of Jesus, at the name of Jesus, we have the victory!

At the name of Jesus, at the name of Jesus, Satan will have to flee.

Tell me who can stand before us when we call on His great name.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, we have the victory!

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

There’s is another song popular today, sung by Natalie Grant. Listen to it here, and have a blessed day.

Thankful today for

393. wonderful worship songs

394. new plants

395. coffee drinks

396. crispy apples

397. the opportunity both my boys have to participate in a local outreach with their youth group next week

398. the anticipation of a much quieter week next week 🙂