Skeúos (σκευ̂ος) Gr. 1. a vessel; 2. an implement

What a Morning!

Well, this morning I left for the office and stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some things for the youth BBQ Saturday and family day on Sunday, when Jen called.  She spoke with that concerned motherly voice, you know the one that makes a father's heart kind of sink because you know that what is about to follow is not going to be good news.  Olivia had fallen against our island in the kitchen and cut her head pretty good.  There was lots of blood and lots of screaming going on.  I left the cart in the aisle at Wal-Mart and rushed home to see how bad it was.

When I arrived it was clear Olivia was going to need a trip to the ER.  Sure enough when we arrived they told us that she would need 2 staples to close the wound.  So after 2 hours, lots more blood, and even more intense screaming we arrived home.  What a day!

Praise God that the situation was not as serious as it could have been.  I was reminded again of the words of James 4 "Come now, you who say "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."  As it is, you boast in your arrogance.  All such boasting is evil."  I had my whole day planned out perfectly and in less than a minute everything was turned on its head.  I think of how quickly our lives can change in a matter of moments.  I wonder how many other Father's will receive phone calls today with much graver news.  So with that I will kiss my precious girls goodbye and head back to work....if the Lord wills of course :-) 

Glad to be home

Being at T4G was spiritually refreshing, physically relaxing, and powerfully convicting. With all that said I really missed Jen. We will have been married 14 years this August and I am constantly amazed at how much closer we become with each passing year.

I remember wondering as a young man in my late teens and early 20’s how it was possible to love someone for life. Sure my parents did and my Grandparents did but they're supposed to. They are “old people” and that’s what “old people do” as if the love and commitment they exhibit today was present from day one of their marriage. This is not the case of course as I have learned. Marriage is tough work. You take 2 sinful, selfish (me more so in this case) people and make them live together under the same roof and then add kids to the mix and you have just created a challenge that surpasses even the most difficult reality TV show, but there is one factor, or should I say person, that makes all the difference; God. 

I have found that we have grown much together during the times when all the hinge pins were well oiled and working together but some of the greatest and most significant growth we experienced as a couple and the growth I experienced personally, occurred during those times when we were hanging on by that one single pin that is our Lord. These proved to be the greatest tests of my love for Him and for Jen and I found that on the other side of these tests, when the other pins were back in working order they functioned even better than before. Now after 13+ years of this “cycle” I have found that I love her more than ever and I cannot imagine how strong my love for my wife will be if the Lord grants us another 14 years together.

So while the conference was an absolutely amazing experience, I am glad to be home with the love of my life.