Walking The Journey

I spoke to a young lady today who shared with me that that time has finally come, her most loved parent has decided to quit the fight, give up on chemotherapy, and enter hospice, at the ripe young age of 48. Stop for a moment and say a prayer for both of them, and don’t worry that you don’t know who the people are, God knows. The conversation jarred my present time to a time so many years ago, watching my own parent slowly walk into the arms of death, to be greeted by the life arms of his God, of his Savior. Momentary sadness and emotional missing of a man I wish I'd know longer, who I wish knew my children, and then the welcoming flooding of joy and peace that he was my dad, that his pain has long been gone, the pain that this young woman and her parent are just now entering. We need regular reminders like this, of just how blessed life is, and how quickly it can all be taken away. But then, is it really ever taken away? I know that my children can tell stories of their grandf...

In reading Billy Graham today, he points out a human irony that is too painfully true. We humans often have a way of rejecting the best and embracing the worse. Do not get me wrong, I realize and greatly appreciate our human quality to embrace goodness as well, such as how the sports and media embraced the tragic accident of Louisville's basketball player Kevin Ware, supporting him and allowing his true character to shine. It seems to me, and I can say this as I reflect on my own life story, that as we dumb down our moral code and accept more of the world's moral code, and dare I say the media's moral code, we allow more of the worse in life to become more of our normal, and unfortunately, the worse overshadows the best and redefines what is the best. We do it in simple ways, in ways we can all look inward to see. We accept language that we once found offensive as acceptable. We allow our eyes to feed our souls what should never be allowed to enter, what we tell our ...

Have you ever watched the wonder and awe of a child?   They seem to have the capacity to believe anything is possible.   They aren’t limited by the knowledge and doubt that comes with age.   They are also not limited to the critical brain and suspiciousness of people.   Children see and feel and dream and think and just be.   Oh how much some of us old people need to recapture that child of days long ago. Children also have the ability to believe what the labels and blinders of age cloud over in time. Children believe that people are fair, that justice applies to everyone, that if you see it it’s yours, and that people who love them will never hurt them.   As we grow, the child hunkers down   deep inside and the skeptic being created by culture and society emerges and takes the reins of the small ones heart, mind, and soul, asking the question, “Is there really anything good and true to believe in anymore?”. The roads I’ve traveled on my journey have...

The day began early, much earlier than I’d desired.   Being the first morning of a New Year, my daughter desired to welcome the first sunrise of a new year personally, as one might welcome a far away friend.   So we woke up at 6:45 am, threw on clothes, and ventured out into the cold morning of January 1, 2012.   Our goal: donuts before the sun came up and to greet a new sun on a new year’s day.     Mission accomplished, we drove back to share our feast with sleeping family at home. As we drove back, the sun appearing over the trees and homes along the way, my excited angel stated, “The sun is lighting up the sky daddy”, to which I replied, “Yes, the sun chases the darkness away into a new day”.   She agreed with my small words of wisdom and we arrived home, sharing a beautiful morning together, while the rest of the world around us slept on.   Joy comes in the morning, in the darkness of the first day of a new year, shining from the excited eyes of ...

Driving north bound on I-75, destination dinner at an Irish pub; I approached a tow truck on the right hand side of the highway. As I came upon the tow truck, I realized that the truck was broke down, dead on the side of the highway. That occurred to me to be rather ironic, the vehicle of rescue needing some rescue of its own. And off I continued to my dinner of fish and chips and whiskey soaked raisin bread pudding and vanilla bean ice-cream. In reflection, irony seems to occur around us more frequently than we might imagine. In my line of work, this occurs on a daily basis. I have walked with people who have discovered life through their own terminal illness. I have seen marriages burst open in renewed love and commitment through facebook affairs and office romances. I have seen life grow abundantly through forgiveness that was never thought to be given. The people who have found God through running from Him into addiction, pornography, power and control, and corrup...

I often use Google maps when I need directions, times of travel, and/or miles between destinations. In fact, I use Google maps to find locations between 2 places of travel. Google maps are also on my phone and I access directions wherever I might be. I use to use Rand McNally, and even though I like that site better, Google is more accessible. But as you probably know, Google maps are not always accurate and can leave out steps. It doesn’t always account for roadblocks and obstacles. We were traveling through Savannah, Georgia over the summer and I relied on Google maps on my phone to show me the way. I also relied on Google maps to guide me to our friends’ home in North Carolina. As you might guess, Google maps was a nice tool but it wasn’t accurate and often “led me astray”. This reminds me of our travels through life. I have found that the only true road map in life is God’s word and His map for my life. In my earlier days, I would attempt to discover God’s will for my...

The clouds looked liked long jagged white and grey streaks, with touches of darker black, which stretched across the skies.   They represented left over’s from the storms of yesterday, and announced the coming storms that will arrive this afternoon.    The sun shone with warmth and life, breaching through the clouds, declaring a new and glorious day.   All creation of nature seemed to be bright with greens and yellows and occasional color of flowers and flowering weeds, which held their own sense of beauty on a cool and welcoming morning.   I don’t know if all was truly brighter than normal or my senses and awareness were in tuned with the Creators creation this morning. “God of wonders beyond our galaxy, You are Holy, Holy. The universe declares your Majesty, And you are holy, holy”, echoes through my mind, the lyrics of a Third Day song.   The word that rings in my head is not holy as much as wonder.   I look around with wonder, of how can all thi...