lightning blog

During the "storms" of my life, when I was really afraid, I used to wonder if God got tired of me asking for Him...

As I write, there is an intense lightning storm outside. I remember the fear I felt as a child, and sometimes still do as an adult (esp. when I drive in it) during storms. At that age, I was afraid of the noise...but I thought the lightning was pretty. Funny, I was afraid of that which can't hurt you... and that which CAN hurt you I was drawn to.

During the storm, when I was afraid, my dad would come into the room and lay on my bed with me and talk. He would tell me stories of his childhood. He would talk to me about the lightning. We had a game where we "competed" to see who could guess how long it would take between a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. I always loved those times with my dad. Funny, I used to feel guilty asking him to come into the room and sit with me...but he always seemed ready to do it and never made me feel bad for asking...

And now as an adult and a parent, I understand why.

I'm watching my daughter sleeping on her video baby monitor. She is so beautiful and peaceful. She sleeps through the storm. (She gets that from her mom!) Her arms are raised above her head and her stuffed octopus lays at her side. She sleeps in peace.

But there will come a day when the sound scares her...and the flashes frighten her.

And maybe she will call out to her daddy.

And maybe, as she grows older, she will feel silly asking me to come into her room... but I really look forward to those storms. I look forward to the day when I re-assure her...when I tell her I love her and that she will be okay... and maybe she will cuddle into my arms and draw close to me because she feels safe when I'm with her.

During the "storms" of my life, when I was really afraid, I USED to wonder if God got tired of me asking for Him...

Busyness

"Busyness rapes relationships. It substitutes shallow frenzy for deep friendship. It feeds the ego but starves the inner man. It fills a calendar but fractures a family. It cultivates a program that plows under priorities. Many a church boasts about its active program: ‘Something for every night of the week for everybody.’ What a shame! With good intentions the local assembly can create the very atmosphere it was designed to curb."

- Charles Swindoll



"'I am so busy.' We say this to one another with no small degree of pride, as if our exhaustion were a trophy, our ability to withstand stress a mark of real character. The busier we are, the more important we seem to ourselves and, we imagine, to others. To be unavailable to our friends and family, to be unable to find time for the sunset, to whiz through our obligations without time for a single, mindful breath, this has become the model of a successful life."

- Wayne Mueller

Sex for Christians

What does it mean for us to be sexual beings and yet pure? How does a single person (who is created as a sexual being) express their sexuality and still honor God? What boundaries do you all use to determine what is lust and what is not? I know this is a touchy subject (no pun intended) but I have a friend who is a pastor who is wrestling with these issues and wants some feedback.