I'm getting more pictures of Oliver right now than anyone else. I'm surely not complaining. It is fun to see what the little ones are doing.
I love this one song from years ago, one whose lyrics are wholesome. It's one I wouldn't mind him singing.
Today, in my inbox was a weekly email from Lifeway Christian Stores, called nourish weekly morsel. I read so much dreadful news each day, that I welcome a happy story. Think you might like it as well, so I'm copying it here for you.
Watch & Learn
I walked into First Baptist College Station that night during my senior year of college with low expectations. I'd grown up in church and had been really involved in my church youth group once upon a time. I knew all the "right" Christian answers, but I'd fallen so far away from all that that I felt like I was too far gone. God couldn't possibly want me now.
We sat toward the back of the sanctuary, and I remember two things as vividly as if they happened yesterday. The first was that the minute the worship leader began to sing, I began to cry. Like ugly cry. The second thing was that a young guy named Gregg Matte walked onstage and began to talk about how we are called to be children of God and to shine like stars in the universe. (That happens to be in Philippians 2, by the way.) But more than that, he talked about grace and mercy and how God loves more than we could ever imagine. I don't know that it was the first time I'd really heard about God's grace and love, but it was without a doubt the first time I really grabbed hold of it and decided not to let go. It was the beginning of something real for me.
Over the next few months I became friends with a bunch of people who were actively involved with the church's college group. They were unlike any group of people I'd ever known. They talked openly about their faith and made decisions based on what they felt God was calling them to do. I loved spending time with them because, without even realizing it, they were challenging me to be the person God intended me to be and to quit settling for less. They showed me that being a Christian didn't mean I had to spend all my time in prayer meetings and playing miniature golf like I'd done in high school youth group, which was very important to me, because you want to die of boredom? Go play a round of miniature golf.
By watching these people live their lives, I learned what it means to seek God's will for your life. I'd heard people talk about it, but I'd never seen it in action. Especially not with people my age.
It was also during this time that I picked up Max Lucado's book No Wonder They Call Him the Saviorand began to read it. His account of the Prodigal Son rocked everything I'd convinced myself to be true about how God felt about me. I had never before understood how much God loved me, how much he wanted me, and how his grace completely covered every mistake I had made. There's a line in that book that sticks with me even to this day about how God looks at us and says, "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Please come home."
So I came home.
And God, in return, lavished me with a scandalous amount of grace as he not only filled my life with wonderful new friends who encouraged me and loved me but also brought my best friend, Gulley, right along with me as she began to develop a real relationship with God too. We fumbled our way through this journey together as we encouraged each other, prayed for each other, and found ourselves standing on solid ground for the first time in a long a time. Maybe the first time ever.
We sat toward the back of the sanctuary, and I remember two things as vividly as if they happened yesterday. The first was that the minute the worship leader began to sing, I began to cry. Like ugly cry. The second thing was that a young guy named Gregg Matte walked onstage and began to talk about how we are called to be children of God and to shine like stars in the universe. (That happens to be in Philippians 2, by the way.) But more than that, he talked about grace and mercy and how God loves more than we could ever imagine. I don't know that it was the first time I'd really heard about God's grace and love, but it was without a doubt the first time I really grabbed hold of it and decided not to let go. It was the beginning of something real for me.
Over the next few months I became friends with a bunch of people who were actively involved with the church's college group. They were unlike any group of people I'd ever known. They talked openly about their faith and made decisions based on what they felt God was calling them to do. I loved spending time with them because, without even realizing it, they were challenging me to be the person God intended me to be and to quit settling for less. They showed me that being a Christian didn't mean I had to spend all my time in prayer meetings and playing miniature golf like I'd done in high school youth group, which was very important to me, because you want to die of boredom? Go play a round of miniature golf.By watching these people live their lives, I learned what it means to seek God's will for your life. I'd heard people talk about it, but I'd never seen it in action. Especially not with people my age.
It was also during this time that I picked up Max Lucado's book No Wonder They Call Him the Saviorand began to read it. His account of the Prodigal Son rocked everything I'd convinced myself to be true about how God felt about me. I had never before understood how much God loved me, how much he wanted me, and how his grace completely covered every mistake I had made. There's a line in that book that sticks with me even to this day about how God looks at us and says, "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Please come home."So I came home.
And God, in return, lavished me with a scandalous amount of grace as he not only filled my life with wonderful new friends who encouraged me and loved me but also brought my best friend, Gulley, right along with me as she began to develop a real relationship with God too. We fumbled our way through this journey together as we encouraged each other, prayed for each other, and found ourselves standing on solid ground for the first time in a long a time. Maybe the first time ever.
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