A Grand Day

Today was one of the sweet moments in life, mingled with a little sadness.

You see, our son and his family are staying with us in Alaska while he is working. And today was Quaid's 9th birthday!  Oh, the excitement. It has been going on for days.  "Only 3 more days, Grandma."  "Grandma, this is the last dinner I will ever eat being 8 years old." "Grandma, when I wake up I will be 9!"

So sleep was hard in coming last night, and it was an earlier than usual morning.  But the sun did rise. And Quaid DID turn 9. And what a fun day it has been.  A special breakfast, and then a scavenger hunt led him to his present from Nathan and Elizabeth. His own set of golf clubs.  "Sweet," was the word used!  And then the guys all joined the Coke family for an afternoon at the driving range.

Meanwhile, the girls (and baby Conlan) came to Grandma's house for a knitting party and luncheon. We ended up having much more of the luncheon and never did get to the knitting. The guys returned for cake and ice cream. Now it is pizza and a slumber party.

The sadness?  Steve was not here to enjoy it all. But he is on the road, somewhere probably around Dease Lake (ha, you need an atlas to look up that one) and heading to Alaska in the convoy.  Four men from Wisconsin are graciously helping with this big move.

Oh, and then we had such an exciting call from Ruth.  Kaylie just became a freshman, and ended her junior high school career with a straight "A" report card- 4.0 GPA.  Way to go Kaylie.
Then there was Ryley, who just learned he excelled at his math course this year!  Way to go Ryley.  An expert in geometry now.

So my thought for today end with the gratefulness that comes from family. And some of you reading this are also part of our "adopted" family. So thankful for all of you, and for the special time in life when we can be a part of our grandson's special day.  Signing off to go eat.....PIZZA!

Soul Depths

Soul Deep....While Wearing out Soles...

It is summer in Alaska and the birds were filling the air with their music well before 3 AM. I laced up my running shoes around 8 AM and headed to the Matanuska River, and my new "tradition" for the morning.  My new blue shoes have barely worn soles, making it a special pleasure to begin the habit of a daily run.

Today, however, I stopped near the shore of the raging river that is daily climbing the banks with the grey silt-laden waters. I paused in my run to visit with a youth pastor. As I chatted with him I met another member of the congregation. Soon we were engaged in conversation.

It began with the usual formalities, "Where do you live?" "Do you have a family?" "Do you walk or run every day?"  Quickly our conversation turned to things belonging to the spiritual Soul rather than the footwear I was sporting.

We talked of the deep soul pain of man. We talked about people in general, but thinking particularly of those without an intimacy and a relationship with the Creator God. She asked if I felt that one of the deep soul wounds came from hopelessness.  Immediately I was taken back to another Soul conversation with Mike Matthews, and I responded, "No, I do not think that hopelessness is the deepest soul wound. I think that the hopelessness comes from something deeper. I think that, for many people, it is SHAME that is the soul wound.  Then you become hopeless, but I think that shame may be the deeper wound."

As I've pondered this today, reading in the book of Job, I think that Shame is a profoundly powerful emotion that drives a sharp wound into the deepest part of our soul. And shame can result from so many circumstances- things we have done, guilt, things done to us, robbed innocence. And we cannot remove the shame alone. How good that we have a Creator God Who is relational, powerful, and so willing to remove that shame from our souls.

So, what do you think?  Is Shame the deepest soul wound, or do other things go deeper?

Christianity and structure..

Is prayer enough?  Do we need structure? Does strategy prevent God from working? If it is used in business, than can it ever be good for Christian organizations?

Funny how odd these sound when we actually see them in print, but we often function as though they are true.  In fact, I wonder if we don't all have stories (narratives) that we can recall, or even rehearse, that might support one or all of these statements.

The problem is that it does not seem to square with Scripture. Or even how God works.
Read the book of Nehemiah.  Here was a drama that included a successful outcome, but only after adequate prayer, humiliation, use of human resources, and strategy.  And they accomplished God's Will for their time.

Or read through the Genesis account of Creation. Hm, seems that God thought things through pretty strategically. The animals didn't appear before the air, or the waterfowl before the water. Or anything before there was life-giving sunlight.  Strategy.

Then there is the building of the Temple. God gave incredible detail to King Solomon, and everything was accomplished according to this order and this plan.

So, the next time we shrug off the thought of structure or strategy and hint at it being unspiritual, I guess we need to go back to The Book.  And maybe it is a good thing to learn from other professions and adopt what will work for us, and help us fully accomplish some of the things that God has laid before us.  Seems that strategy and structure is scriptural after all.  And SOUND!