Friday, September 19, 2008

Uncertainty

Anne's horizons had closed in since the night she had sat there after coming home from Queen's ; but if the path set before her feet was to be narrow she knew that flowers of quiet happiness would bloom along it. The joys of sincere work and worthy aspiration and congenial friendship were to be hers; nothing could rob her of her birthright of fancy or her ideal world of dreams. And there was always the bend in the road!
"God's in heaven, all's right with the world," whispered Anne softly.
Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery
A Bantam Book, pg 308-309
"I stand upon some dreadful brink, and it is utterly dark in the abyss before my feet, but whether there is any light behind me I cannot tell. For I cannot turn yet. I wait for some stroke of doom."
The Return of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien
A Ballantine Book, pg 259
A part of us feels as if something is spiritually wrong with us when we experience circumstantial uncertainty. But that is precisely what Jesus promised us when we are born of the Spirit and start following him. Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: adventure.
Wild Goose Chase, Mark Batterson
Multnomah, pg 2
And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you...
Acts 1:7-8a, KJV

Monday, September 1, 2008

Can't a Dad Brag???

This will probably be the only time I post in this thing, but my kids really impressed me the other night. We have been in the practice of memorizing a portion of scripture for quite a while now and quoting it on the last day of the month to each other. Last month we were finishing up Proverbs 3. Well, in order to finish it up, we only had to quote verses 25-37, but everyone took it upon themselves to refresh themselves from previous months and quoted the entire chapter (except me--bummer).
It was a pretty good night, so I took everyone to Sonic for a shake to celebrate. The carhop couldn't believe it when I ordered 12 ice cream products. He repeated the number several times before he realized I was serious.
This month we're starting a passage in Mark, we'll see how that goes. They just keep surprising me. Being a dad is really a pretty good job.

A proud, and somewhat chastened dad.