I took this picture of the Marina on Kodiak Island at dawn. I wondered which boats would leave the harbor and which would stay where they were - tied to the docks, sheltered and safe.

For most, it wouldn't be a question of whether they could be made ready. The majority were docked because stormy seas were predicted. The boats weren't going anywhere unless somebody decided it was necessary to leave the shelter of the Marina.

Prior to launch a decision is made. Deciding if we're going, is the first step in leaving the dock, but the question of going is buried so deep in the rubric of the launch it's hardly noticed.

It's essential; the decision to launch must be made, or no launch happens.

So the question begs to be asked, "What prompts such a decision? What motivates action? Why would anyone set out to face stormy seas? Why take up the mission and fling yourself into the cause?"

I think the answer is found in one word; that word is "clarity."

When you clearly see what matters most, when you experience the soul-shaking truth and know first-hand the importance of the mission, you do what's required to engage. Knowing what matters most is what matters first, because knowing fuels action. And I'm not talking about mere head-knowledge when I mention "knowing." I'm talking about the personal experience of "knowing" as a deep-unto-deep experience: it's intimate, thorough and personal.

• It's the clarity you describe when you declare to, "know that you know that you know." That clear "knowing" triggers your launch. It's a certainty that fuels you as your mission unfolds.
• It's the kind of certainty that triggered Rob Wegner's decision to serve Michiana at GCC for twenty years. Rob has clarity.
• It's the "knowing" that Sheila and I have experienced for 36 years of marriage, family and ministry together. We have clarity.

Conviction sustains devotion, and conviction is embedded in experiencing God - which explains more than Rob's loyalty or Sheila's fidelity. It makes plain the remarkable faithfulness of God's people across the centuries. When people experience God, their decision to launch is inevitable.

Such was the experience of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, one of the greatest pulpiteers of the 19th century. In 1850, the teenage Spurgeon was converted during a service at a Primitive Methodist church, as a lay preacher spoke on Isaiah 45:22: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.”

Spurgeon described his experience in his Autobiography:

"[The speaker] had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed — by me, at any rate — except his text. Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said, “That young man there looks very miserable”…and he shouted, as I think only a Primitive Methodist can, “Look! Look, young man! Look now!”….

Then I had this vision — not a vision to my eyes, but to my heart. I saw what a Savior Christ was…. I no sooner saw whom I was to believe than I also understood what it was to believe, and I did believe in one moment."

Such vision! Such clarity!

It's no wonder the experience of God transforms our thinking, informs our decisions and demands action. What can we do, but embark on the mission for which we were made? 

So we're launching GCC's Early Learning Center, the Atrium/Commons, the LaPorte Campus, Middle School Summer Camp, SpringHill Day Camps and Mission trips to Nicaragua, Chicago and Michiana.

We have clarity so the decisions are easy...even when the voyage is difficult.

It's time to launch.

 

Luke 5:4b  -   Jesus said, “Launch out into the deep."

My friend Adam Tarwacki took these pictures so we could "mark the moment" when GCC surprised Rob Wegner this weekend. Rob and Michelle have been leading, serving and guiding Granger Community Church for 20 years! For two decades they've loved us, prayed for us and encouraged us along The Jesus Way. It was a high privilege to honor these faithful heroes....and surprising them with an outpouring of gratitude was great fun.

Rob welcomes his beloved Michelle to the platform as all of GCC stands and cheers, celebrating their 20 years of faithful ministry and leadership with us.

Here's a portion of the letter I gave the Wegners this weekend.

"Dear Rob & Michelle,

One thing I’ve learned from reading the Bible is this; the people of God are always blessed when their leaders live with courageous integrity, passionate purpose and loving devotion to God and HIS people. In fact, a congregation blessed by a great leader is so fortunate that the Bible says in 1 Timothy 5:17-18, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”

You’re certainly not an ox, but you are an incredible worker deserving what the church gives you, “worthy of double honor” and a whole lot more.

This marks a special day. Today we celebrate an extraordinary and wonderful occasion.

For twenty years you have served Jesus faithfully at Granger Community Church. You have stood with us during great moments of celebration. You have lead with a steady hand and trustworthy faith when we’ve endured seasons of trial and disappointment. Through it all, you have been a faithful pastor and a good friend." 

 

 

I took this picture and we gave it to Rob and Michelle this weekend. It shows them walking hand-in-hand through a wilderness. In this photo they're trekking a wild place. It's printed on metal and ready to hang.

I'm praying it reminds them that God takes us through such places from time-to-time, but as they hold on to each other (and hold on to Jesus) God will carry them through.

Thanks Rob. Thanks Michelle.

Your faithful ministry inspires us all and we're marking our calendars to join with all of GCC at the Granger campus on Friday, August 24th, to celebrate the two decades of ministry you've give us.

   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 

Romans 13:7b  -  Give respect and honor to those who are in authority.

For all remembering the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in the service of our country, I offer this Memorial Day promise from God's Word. 

1 Corinthians 15:52-57

On signal from the trumpet of heaven,
the dead will be up and out of their graves,
beyond the reach of death, never to die again.
At the same moment and in the same way,
we'll all be changed.
In the resurrection scheme of things,
this has to happen:
everything perishable taken off the shelves
and replaced by the imperishable,
this mortal replaced by the immortal.
Then the saying will come true: 

Death swallowed by triumphant Life! 
   Who got the last word, oh, Death? 
   Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?

 It was sin that made death so frightening
and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage,
its destructive power. 
But now in a single victorious stroke of Life,
all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone,
the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. 
Thank God!

Rosie Walker has been at GCC for a while, serving others and adding the impact of her witness to ours. I'm really proud of her. She nailed her solo rendition of Criminal this weekend.

Isaiah 44:21c-22  -  I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. 

Our friends, Vic & Lisa Shank, are at the end of their asparagus season so they invited us to come up and pick some asparagus. The sun was setting as our Memorial Day weekend got underway with a slow drive over the few remaining stalks of asparagus. Under ideal conditions, an asparagus spear can grow 10" in a 24-hour period, so we gathered quite a lot from the already picked field.

We gleaned the rows for a few minutes, but that's all it took for us to gain a profound appreciation for the workers who pick hours each day of the six or seven week harvest. My back was "feeling it" from leaning forward to collect a few stalks. (Of course, Sheila is a remarkable physical specimen so she was unfazed and could have kept at it until the sun went down. She is Wonder Woman.)

Here's something to remember. If you're going to have food on your table, someone is going to have to do some work.
 

Ruth 2:3a  -  So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.

- Note the Cross atop the more recently built church building inside the ancient pillars - 

Just outside the city of Rome, I set up my tripod and shot the ruins of this enormous pagan temple. It's a remarkable monument to the gods that demanded more and more from their devotees; they took people's dignity, humanity and peace and left them fearful their appeasements weren't sufficient. People lived in trepidation of the gods, wondering if they'd sacrificed and offered enough to stave off their capricious and vengeful wrath.

The pagan gods took, and took, and took and did nothing in return.

These Romans must have been astonished to hear about Jesus, the Son of the One God who came - not to extort more from miserable people living in fear of the gods, but to lay HIS life down for them.

Jesus didn't come to take; He came to give. 

Maybe you’re aware; I’m preaching this weekend on “Failing God.”

I wonder if we fail God when we misrepresent HIS Story.  

• What can we do if we “fail God?”
• What does it even mean to “fail God?”
• Do we more often "fail God" because of bad information that leads to bad decisions, or because we make bad decisions even when we have good information?

I wonder how often someone “fails” God with one, catastrophic, devastating decision. And I wonder how often the “fail” is the result of an accelerating decent down the slippery slope of many small, seemingly insignificant bad choices. 

I wonder how often we choose to flirt with a distraction, one hand holding the Anchor of our soul and the other reaching for a thrill, a diversion or a fling with Danger. I marvel at our ability to imagine we can embrace two polarizing options without consequence. I wonder why we’re blind to the peril of losing our grip and falling away, "failing" the ONE who didn’t fail us, betraying God as we turn our backs on His Church and leave The Way of Jesus for another.

I wonder if our biggest "fail" is rejecting the God who saves us, and serving gods that destroy us. Does our biggest "fail" come from refusing to accept the Truth: that the Way to live the Life we were made for is found in Jesus, the One who laid HIS life down for us?

 

John 10:10-11  -  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

- Crucifix - San Sebastian Catacomb Basilica - Rome - 

 

GCC’s current weekend series is sobering.

My contemplation of its topics: Failing Others, Being Failed by Others and Failing God led me toward conviction and repentance. My preparation to preach on these topics prompted more study, more prayer and a ruthless examination of my own life. It's been an arduous month.

I don't want to fail God. 

This morning I was reading about the faithful witness of the early apostles. Whatever they faced, they stayed faithful.

They didn't fail.

I came across the passage in the 5^th Chapter of Acts describing how the apostles were once brought before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest, who admonished them: “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.”

The response of the apostles was astonishing. Peter and the others replied: “We must obey God rather than men!”

When I read those words I felt the power behind their bold statement. I marveled at their courage. I tried to imagine what it must have been like for them to oppose the political power and expectation of their nation’s leaders. They did not cave to the pressure.

Their courage stirred me.

Hours later I read some news about our friends at Notre Dame and marveled at their response when pressured to bend thier beliefs and conform to powerful political expectations.

It seems Notre Dame is numbered among the forty-three Catholic dioceses and organizations across the country that have announced religious liberty lawsuits against the federal government to challenge the Obama administration’s contraception mandate.

Whether you favor that action, or abhor it, theirs seems a bold move.

Notre Dame president Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., said the lawsuit was filed “neither lightly nor gladly, but with sober determination.”

“We do not seek to impose our religious beliefs on others,” he explained. 

Rather, he offered, “we simply ask that the Government not impose its values on the University when those values conflict with our religious teachings.”

According to University of Notre Dame Law Professor Richard Garnett, whose teaching and scholarly research focus on constitutional law and religious freedom matters: “These lawsuits are not asking the courts to endorse the plaintiffs’ religious views, only to respect and accommodate them. Religious institutions are not seeking to control what their employees buy, use or do in private; they are trying to avoid being conscripted by the government into acting in a way that would be inconsistent with their character, mission and values.”

Legal Newsline reports:

One of the other controversial aspects of the federal mandate - other than the requirement that Notre Dame and similar religious organizations provide in their insurance plans abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization procedures, which are contrary to Catholic teaching - is that it also authorizes the government to determine which organizations are sufficiently "religious" to warrant an exemption from the requirement.

According to Fr. Jenkins, the lawsuit is about “the freedom of a religious organization to live its mission, and its significance goes well beyond any debate about contraceptives.” 

"This filing is about the freedom of a religious organization to live its mission, and its significance goes well beyond any debate about contraceptives," Jenkins said. 

He cautioned that when the government determines “which religious organizations are sufficiently religious to be awarded the freedom to follow the principles that define their mission,” the nation has started down a path that could lead to “the end of genuinely religious organizations in all but name.”

Wow.

• Is theirs the right course of action?
• Is this what must be done?
• What will come of this?
• What must I do in light of this? Something? Anything?

These are the questions weighing on me as I prepare to preach this weekend about “FAILING GOD.”

 

John 9:39-41  -  Jesus then said, "I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind." Some Pharisees overheard him and said, "Does that mean you're calling us blind?" Jesus said, "If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you're accountable for every fault and failure."

We've got lots to do, so I'm teaching my granddaughters to haul rocks. With so many construction and renovation projects at hand, it's time to raise up GCC's next generation of hard-hat-wearing workers, so we're on it.

Matthew 9:37  -  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."

It Is Well
 

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought

My sin, not in part but the whole

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul

It is well, it is well;

through the storm I am held;

It is well, it is well with my soul It is well, it is well;

God has won, Christ prevails;

It is well, it is well with my soul

 

1 Peter 2:24 -  "He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

  

 

I've been preparing myself to preach this weekend. The topic is difficult. I'm studying and praying, asking God for help as we wrestle with a very challenging issue: What do you do when someone fails you? It's one thing to fail yourself, but what do you do when others fail you?

Several hours into the study I began to feel its effects; a sadness swept over me. The more I thought about the impact others have on us, the more I sank. When others fail us it hurts. When people fail us, our hurt can turn to anger and depression. It doesn't have to, but it can.

Our response is predicated on our faith and focus. What we believe effects how we think and how we feel. That's one reason God so often interrupts the downward spiral of our self-pity and turns our thoughts toward Him, an intrusion theologians call "prevenient grace." ("Prevenient" grace is grace that "goes before." The Fall had such terrible effects on us that we are unable to believe or respond positively to the gospel. "Prevenient" grace simply restores the freedom of will to choose either for or against God.)

God did something like that for me yesterday when I was sinking down under the weight and fatigue of failure. 

I was down, but God lifted me up.

When I was down, thinking about failure's consequences, God turned my thoughts away from my disappointments and back toward Him.

God sent me this little bird, and with that gift, He shifted my gaze. I was reminded of His goodness. I remembered He is always faithful, even when others aren't. His little bird pointed me back to Him. 

I don't see these birds very often, but much to my delight, a Scarlet Tanager flew down to chase insects when I had my camera nearby. Before God's little bird soared back to the heights of the taller trees (where these beautiful birds are normally found) he munched a green bug.

Photographing the "green bug in the beak" was special because of the Scarlet Tanager's secretive behavior and preference for the forest canopy. 

Here's a spontaneous shot of a very random moment made possible by the prevenient grace and goodness of God.

Exodus 13:19a  -  God said, "I will make my Goodness pass right in front of you." 

I love our team.

Every person on our staff couldn't be with us a couple of days ago when we toured the new Atrium/Commons at the Granger Campus. Even so, I'm glad to have this picture of some of the greatest people I've ever known.

Our staff is awesome.

Romans 13:7  -  If you owe someone respect, respect that person. If you owe someone honor, honor that person.

These butterflies are quite common in our area, but I never cease to be amazed at the delicate beauty and intricate detail with which God created them.

If this is merely the creation, how awesome is our Creator?

 

Psalm 66:4-5a

 

No, this isn't a scene from a scary movie.

GCC's Staff Team got to see "behind the veil" yesterday. Halfway through our weekly staff meeting we toured the new Commons/Atrium.

We're shooting for a fall "grand opening" and as everyone keeps their pledges up-to-date we're clipping along at a great pace. Remember. We're doing this project without incurring any new debt! The work is being done as the cash comes in.

If you're current on your New Normal pledge, keep up the good work! If you're a little behind, do what you can to catch up. If you haven't made a pledge, how about offering a one-time-gift and helping with this important aspect of GCC's outreach to Michiana? The value you're adding is huge.

At last, we'll have some space to sit with friends and unveil the truth of the knowledge of God... together. 

2 Corinthians 4:3  -  But even if our Gospel is covered up with a veil that hinders the knowledge of God, it is only hidden and veiled to those who are lost.

 
-  Mark Waltz explains next steps at LaPorte  -

After months of prayer, process and exploration we're resolved to launch a new campus in LaPorte County.

Thanks to our good friend Nate Loucks, pastor of State Street Church (the generous ones who gave us a place to have our meeting this week in LaPorte), Tuesday night was awesome. When we announced the decision to launch the new campus, scores of fired-up visionaries broke into applause.

As we raise the B.A.R. in GCC's New Normal we're convinced the number of people being the church in their neighborhoods, schools, cafés and communities seven days a week will outnumber the number of casual Christians just going to church. 

Our focus isn’t limited to celebrating rich church traditions. It’s on biblical necessities and people in need. So we're going where people live, work or play—physically and virtually. We’re launching churches and missional communities, delivering essential spiritual education, training and mentorship to help build capacity and confidence.

That's a big part of what The New Normal is about - helping Christ's-followers reach their neighbors, families and friends with God's love.

What's next for LaPorte?

Starting June 4th, we're meeting every Monday night of June and July to prepare for the launch of weekend services this fall. We don't yet know "where" we're meeting, but we are meeting and you're invited to bring some friends along for the ride.

Acts 10:42  -  He commanded us to preach to people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.

- Photo by Dustin Maust -

I looked in the mirror this Mother's Day morning. It seemed the wise and prudent thing to do, considering it's Sunday and I'm preaching this weekend. 

The face looking back at me wasn't the same as the one Sheila looked at on our wedding day. More lines. More cracks and crinkles and crows-feet. More sags and bags. Even after I shaved the stubble off, I wasn't much to look at. It was the best I could do with what I had to work with, but it was a far cry from the face of Sheila's husband back in 1976. 

Things change.

But as the years have taken their toll, Sheila's love for me and our children has only grown deeper. She's amazing.
   Her grace and beauty astonish me.
   Her devotion inspires me.
   Her diligence astounds me.
   Her love is to die for ... and I will.

I'm married to the most wonderful, faithful, gracious and devout woman I've ever known and I'm honored to be her husband. 

Happy Mother's Day Sheila. 

I love you.

 

Proverbs 31:28-29  -  Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”

 

- Sisters: Angela Keim & Amber Cox -

God blessed my daughters and granddaughters with great moms.

My girls each honor their mother and they are worthy of honor themselves.

This is indeed a "Happy Mother's Day."

Proverbs 13:22  -  A good life gets passed on to the grandchildren.

This will be my 42nd year leading some aspect of Middle School summer camp. I love camp. I spent last night with the Camp Counselors, GSM Staff, Band, Tech Crew and Help Crew preparing for our week at SpringHill. These are photos from the evening.

Students from our Granger Campus and Elkhart Campus are able to go together, in the same week, to share the same fun and faith-building experiences. Registration is OPEN and you can sign up now.
 

                   

Thanks to the generosity of the people of GCC through the Christmas Offering, a large portion of the bus cost has been subsidized to help lower the cost of getting students to camp in northern Michigan. 
 

GSM is continuing its partnership with SpringHill Camps in Evart, MI, to have middle school camp at their amazing camping facilities. We're talking about multiple high ropes adventures, paintball, a water ropes course, three Blobs, an insane zip line and the most outrageous water slide you've ever seen.

                  

It's not only the counselors who make preparations for the week. Parents need to prepare too, so I wrote a letter to the parents to help them get ready. 

 

 

Preparation is underway. Camp will be awesome! 

2 Timothy 2:21  -  Those who make themselves clean from all those evil things, will be used for special purposes, because they are dedicated and useful to their Master, ready to be used for every good deed.

My brother-in-law is Dr. Joel Hunter. I admire him. He has my absolute confidence. I trust his courageous faith and remarkable intellect to inform his leadership. I trust his love for Jesus to empower him for the path God asks him to walk. He is brilliant. He is God's man, my sister's husband, my mentor and friend.

The President of the United States asked him for help. He didn't ask him to join a particular political party, adhere to a philosophical position or shrink back from his mission and responsibilities with Northland - A Church Distributed. As I expected (and as I would have encouraged him to do) he accepted the invitation and spent the last few years offering POTUS pastoral guidance, personal friendship and the perspectives of a professorial and orthodox evangelical with the track record of astounding pastoral success. He doesn't make decisions for the president; he speaks with him; and he prays.

Watch this video. It will help you pray for the president...and it may prompt you to join me in praying for my brother-in-law as well.

By the way, the Associated Press has misquoted Joel. That's why I want you to see his actual words here. Notice he does NOT say he politically supports the president. Thousands of articles carried this misinformation because they were AP sourced.  

 

Obama's spiritual adviser disappointed in stance on gay marriage: MyFoxORLANDO.com

 

You can also watch this interview Hunter did Thursday afternoon with Megan Kelly.

 

1 Timothy 2:1-2  -  First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 

Pay attention and you'll see what lies just beneath the surface. Eventually it'll come up and you'll see it. What was hidden is then exposed. What was concealed is then revealed.

President Obama has surfaced his views on gay marriage.

He has concluded that same sex couples should be able to get married. His opinion isn't hidden; it's exposed. He's not concealing what he wants. He has revealed his personal views. 

That clarity helps, don't you think? 

You no longer need to imagine what's going on beneath the surface. You don't need worry that you're lending credence to an outrageous conspiracy theory: that the president is pro gay-marriage when he has so often limited his support to legalizing civil-unions between same-sex couples. When he surfaced his views, speculation ended. 

You may have sensed this coming, but you weren't sure you were seeing what you were seeing. A few brief glimpses of his position put us all in a difficult situation. Advocates for gay-marriage were frustrated because they wanted him come right out and say it. Advocates for marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman faced mocking and ridicule if they suggested the president was for gay-marriage.

I recently mentioned I thought the president was for gay-marriage. I was told, "How can you say that? You're lighting the match and fanning the flames of a fire that doesn't exist. He hasn't ever said he's for gay marriage. Don't put words in his mouth." 

Well, now he's said it, and with his statement (made without the counsel of my brother-in-law, his spiritual adviser) the debate on what the president wants ends....and another debate begins.

For those who care, the United Methodist Church's position is crystal clear. Last week the General Conference of the UMC (its only authoritative body) declared: 

"The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching. We affirm that God’s grace is available to all." 
Book of Discipline - Paragraph ¶161F

God is at work. HIS grace is extended to all.

Everyone is invited to accept God's invitation and adjust their lives to join HIM in HIS work. So let's continue offering grace to all: encouraging everyone to abandon immorality, impurity, greed, filthiness, coarseness and idolatry. Rather than participating in the unfruitful deeds of the darkness, let's walk in love as children of Light.

Let no one be smug or proud; let no one feign and posture with the imagined spiritual superiority of religious elitists. Love mercy. Walk humbly.

Don't think for even a moment you don't need of the grace of God, that you're somehow better than anyone else, or that you wouldn't be desperately undone without God's grace and mercy. God saves us; we can't save ourselves.

Peter said it this way:  

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

Here's my view: God loves us right where we are but loves us too much to leave us there. As Jesus leads us out of darkness into a new life, issues once hidden will surface. What was concealed will be revealed and when that happens we'd be wise to follow Jesus, even when it means we must adjust our lives to do so. 

   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Ephesians 5:1-13  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

       But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

       Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.

A pause in the midst of my studies made space available for a random thought.

"This Mother's Day will the the first Mother's Day of my life without my mother." 

I won't be buying flowers for Mom this year. I'm not shopping for a gift. For almost six decades I did, but not this year. Mom's gone now. She went ahead of me and is numbered as "one of the saints in the light partaking of the inheritance of God." She doesn't need flowers from me now; she is in the presence of the Giver of all good and perfect gifts.

One day I'll join her there.

Meanwhile, here's advice you didn't ask for: 

While your mother lives, bless her.
As long as you live, honor her.

 

Hebrews 12:1-2  -  Since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.