Sabbath Rest

Saturday is come and gone. I feel like I've had a partial Sabath rest today. I'd really love more. This photo is the view I had outside our home, where I had some time to relax and ponder deep thoughts. Here's what I noticed within myself today. As I committed to "NOT WORK" I realized that I had to give up my worries today because there is nothing I need to do about my problems. These problems will be there tomorrow and now is the time to give myself completely to God's rest. It's also like a short glimpse into heaven. We will finally be at rest, but we may still look back and see all we could have done or what we shouldn't have done. Anyway, in the end it's only possible to rely on God's grace through Jesus. This apparent need for grace became clear to me. In order to take a Sabath, one must recieve grace for all that he or she is not accomplishing on that day. Finnishing projects, paying bills, ballancing accounts, painting the walls, all of these things must bow to the awesome wonder of God's authority.

Genitics and Jesus

You'd never guess that this beautiful young woman is my Mom if I didn't bring it up. She takes very good care of herself and for that I am very proud of her. I hope that she's around for a long time. Come to think of it, she's where I get my good looks, don't you think. So, mother's day is comming up which means another chance to show her how much I love her and it also means that it's time to start the garden. Really what I want to bring up though has to do with a profound though I had while visiting a friend who had just recently given birth to her second child. This baby was so amazing to me and made me realize how fragile life is. Someone once told me that newborns don't understand that they and their mother are two seperate beings. Untill a certain age, mommy and baby are one. I guess it makes sense since they were sharing the same physical space for 9 months. As I was pondering this, I guess it's similar to contemplating my navel, I remembered Jesus words about him and the father. He said that he and his father are one. And that if you want to enter the kingdom you have to become like a child. Wouldn't it be amazing to feel so connected with God that you didn't understand that you are two seperate beings. Who knows, maybe we are more connected with God than we know. What if the westernized God that we worship isn't so disconnected from being part of every part of our being. Maybe east isn't so far away from west. So, to finnish my point, I am who I am and that's how God made me. In his image I shall be. YHWH (I am that I am) is the God of our ancestors and we are made in the image of God. I think that being my mothers son may be a mini version of the metaphore of being a child of God. How cool is that! Maybe that's why [Honor thy mother and Father] is the first commandment with a promise for a long life. As humans, if we can undersand and respect the amazing creative process that God has enabled us to take part in, then maybe we can catch a glimpse of the connection we have with our loving Creator.

Beautiful Day

I know that Rachel and I are going to love living in Phoenix. On Thursday I walked outside and said "Wow, what a beautiful day," and Marlin Hershberger said, "What did you expect? You had better get used to it". I think we will.

Palm Trees

I've always wanted to live where the palm trees grow. I'm putting this one here today because we're moving to Phoenix Arizona. Palm Trees cast a nice shadow and provide shade from the intense tropical sun. This palm tree is actually just providing some forshadowing for my life. Only 2 months left.

Quick Trip

We leave Tuesday for Phoenix. It's going to be hard to come back to Chicago. We're both really excited about moving and starting something new. We both need a change and I know that this experience will literally change who we are. Hey, I just realized that I've had this funny amish beard for over a year now. Huh.

Beauty By Accident

It was mostly an accident if there are any redeeming compositional qualities in this photo. The real beauty was that I ended up in the right place at the right time and took a quick snapshot while hanging over a park bench because Rachel and I decided to do something spontanious on a Saturday afternoon.

Purple Flower

I'll let this one speak for it's self.