Huh?

Tis better to have fished and fallen in, than never to have swum at all.

So pray we all !

Two brothers, ages 7 and 4, fussed in the backseat … as brothers do.

Mom asked them to please knock it off. With a bit of grumbling, things quietened down and after a time they gave in to their tiredness and slept in their booster seats.

On arrival, Mom slid open the passenger door … and saw what the oldest had written on his MagnaDoodle … “God help me be good”

Amen

Adam, have you met Methuselah?

If you take the timelines of Genesis literally, then Adam overlapped the lifespan of Methuselah by over 200 years. I wonder if they knew each other?

And since Methuselah overlapped Noah by almost 600 years, Noah could have known creation stories only one person removed from the source.

I wonder if that was any motivation during the building of the boat?

Not Much

Oh ... I've had a few thoughts since that last blog. I just decided to listen more.

A Fellow Traveler - A Journey Finished

Papaw ... Coleman ... finished his journey home on January 8, 2005. The last years were terrible physically; but, refining and reassuring in their spiritual aspects.

I have learned from a master teacher how to meet adversity. It's good to see faith lived. Coleman's wife, Nan, continues to journey with us on this side of the veil ... she, too, is a master teacher.

God ... may we be attentive to your instruction. You have surrounded us with so great a cloud of witnesses.

Dance Instructor

King David danced in wild abandon for the Lord. 2 Samuel 6:20-22 It embarrassed his wife, Michal. Her embarrassment and her chiding of David ticked him off something fierce ... "And Michal, daughter of Saul, had no children to the day of her death."

But the point of my post is this ... In matters of worship style, why are we embarrassed for others? ... or is it that we are embarrassed by others? ... it's not about us! David was saying "I" will celebrate before the Lord.

What brought this to my mind was the invitation (or directive) from my 3 year old grandson ... "Papa, come help me dance!"

And I did dance with him in what passes for wild abandon for a 62 year old grandfather. I think we might have been dancing to "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less" ... it mattered not, he was in the Spirit.

I found this to be very instructive ... not the dance steps, but the heart with which he expressed his love for what was going on inside himself. I was not the least embarrassed for him or by him. That seems right ...

Thanks for the instruction grandson.

Compassion is a child

My co-father-in-law ... my daughter's father-in-law ... has Altzheimer's. He has become increasingly affected by it, since this is approximately his 10th year into the disease. We went to church together for the better part of two decades, watched our children grow up together, said our "what ifs" about my daughter and his son marrying (but don't tell the kids), and then celebrated together when they did marry seven years out of highschool and after going their separate ways (geographically) for all those years.

And then the onset and confirmation of Altzheimer's ... just about the time we should have been co-grandfathering he was hustled down a different path. He still enjoys his grands, but it hasn't been the rolling in the floor, let me teach you how to fish, kind of enjoyment.

We visited him today. He is wasting and limited in his ability to acknowledge that he knows you, and unable to talk ... he always had the appropriate observation and comment on the situation at hand ... but, no more.

I frankly do not know how best to deal with this ... it certainly is not about me, but I feel somewhat awkward.

Then I watched our 5 year old grandson naturally and effortlessly deal with his Papaw. He smiled and stroked his Papaw's hair ... lovingly held his hand, and kissed him.

Compassion is a child who already knows the God connection we all have and sees his Papaw with a grace that is unfeigned. Compassion is a child who loves his grandfather without having been showered by that man with all the expressions of love Papaw would have wanted to give. Compassion is a child that teaches ... may we be sensitive to learn.