3 Dead Snakes and a Billy Goat

Walking down the hall today there were 3 guys standing in the hallway, having a conversation. I didn't know them, and didn't hear what they were saying, except for one phrase. Just as I passed by, one of them said 'Just three dead snakes and a billy goat.'

Having passed them at this point, I wondered if it was the punchline to a joke, but I didn't hear any of them laugh. Turning the corner, none of them looked particularly tickled, nor did they look bothered about anything.

So what did it mean? I may never know.

Katrina. I wonder if that name will continue to be used -- for newborn babies -- as it has been.

You know, when the Tsunami occurred on the other side of the world, it was morbidly fascinating, but in the end it seemed like some other galaxy.

But Katrina practically happened next-door. My wife and I know people who live in Long Beach, MS; brothers and sisters in Christ who have had us in their home; people who have not been back yet since the pre-hurricane evacuation, but who do not expect to find much left of their homes when they return.

I tried on my way home yesterday to imagine what that would be like. My home destroyed. Keepsakes and treasures, and just things I took for granted, gone. I can't go far down that path, even in my mind. Its not real. It can't be. And let's not even get into the what if's about spouses and children dying.

But for those of us who can see the devastation but aren't directly involved, there's a danger as well. In our process of empathy and, inevitably, analysis, we must be careful where we choose to see God in this. You see, I just heard someone say that 'you know, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, too -- and New Orleans was sin city if there ever was one.'

I have to say that this kind of comment makes me really uneasy. I know that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because he told us that's what he did, and he told us why; I haven't heard from God on this one, and until God decides to tell us so, I'm pretty sure he doesn't need us to speak on his behalf.

So as far as trying to find meaning in this, trying to find the root cause -- all I can say is, 3 dead snakes and a billy goat.

B

Prayer of Purpose

Its been a fairly intense week:

• This past Monday evening the Search Committee interviewed the 2nd of our 4 'final' candidates.
• Tuesday evening there was a soldering party at church, prepping to move the sound booth from a very in-the-way spot to a very out-of-the-way spot.
• Wednesday evening the band practiced, and a few of us hung around till ... er ... well let's just say we hung around working on lyrics for a new song.
• Friday evening the band will play at a coffee house in Grapevine.
• Saturday evening the band plays at the Southlake Town Center.

May God give peace to my family as we seek to use our time in the best possible way -- and may He help me ensure that I don't have a habit of giving my wife and children the short end of the stick.

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

Still praying for God to help me know what to do about my job. It's really a good job, but my heart isn't in it, and hasn't been for several years now. Anyway, I've been asking God to talk to me, to interact with me, to show me what He has in mind for me to do, and I think he led me to Colossians and I and II Thessalonians. (I know that's kind of a broad leading, but I'll take whatever He wants to give.)

I've read each several times now, particularly Colossians, and in various translations. And He has spoken to me through each of those books -- lots of very applicable advice, perhaps particularly including advice to stick to the basics of what God has already called me to.

To top it off, if this verse doesn't articulate the prayer I've been lifting to God for approximately 3 years, I'm not sure that any verse will:

2 Thessalonians 1:11 NIV (bold text mine): With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

I hope to be counted worthy of his calling -- and worthy to fully hear and understand whatever He may call me to. I hope, by His power, to fulfill whatever good purposes He planned for me from before I was born, and to obediently carry out every act prompted by my faith in Him.

Been prompted by your faith lately?

B

To My Bride

I married my best friend 6 years ago today. I met her in late October of 1998, and we dated for 9 months before tying the knot in August of 1999. Everything just ... clicked. And it still does. (Love you honey!)

Saturday we had some professional pictures taken at the Botannical Gardens in Fort Worth. If you'd like to see some of them, go to imagesofgracephoto.com , click on Galleries, and then select 'Family' from the list. Also, there are some pictures of Piper in the 'Children III' and 'Hand Tinted' areas.

Shalom,
B

Between Zzz's

Update on previous post: Turns out Piper uses the word 'Bible' (or she used 'Bible' at the time) for anything the size of a book or smaller and made of leather. This includes but is not limited to the leather warranty manual cover on the warranty in the van, and of course my wallet. So when Piper asked me if I had my Bible a few weeks back, she meant my wallet. Possibly not the spiritual prodding from God that I thought it to be ... although the effect was the same: I read my Bible first thing that day. And it was good.

In other news, my family and I have been traveling quite a bit lately, and this week, while I've been off work, we've spent time at the Fort Worth Zoo, the Dallas Aquarium, swimming at the neighborhood pool, etc. Also, I bought the new Harry Potter book last Friday night, and finished it at about 3:30 am Wednesday morning. Frankly, I feel like I'm tired all the time. I guess I need to go back to work so I can get some rest. :-)

Haven't been in the Word much in the last couple of weeks. Need to do better about that. God has been far too good to me, for me not to spend time with Him.

For now, though, I'm going to bed. Be blessed.
B

P.S. Celeste and I posted a fairly extensive number of new photos on our family web site this evening. Click here to pop in and have a look, and then click on Trip to Grandparents to see the new photos.

From the Mouths of Babes

Every few days Piper casually says a new word or phrase that she has learned, or makes a comment or asks a question that shows that her 23-month-old brain is putting things together more and more. Her vocabulary expanded over the weekend to include ‘I wuv oo’, which is pretty much good enough to melt my heart every time she says it.

But this morning as I was leaving for work she had another surprise for me.

I told her and Celeste goodbye, and gave each of them a kiss (Christian was fast asleep, his first nap of the day). I started to leave but realized that I didn’t have my phone, and I said as much to Celeste as I began to look around the house for it. I finally found it, and tossed another ‘bye’ as I walked past the kitchen on my way to the door, when Piper called a question to me from the kitchen table.

“Da da phone?”

I stopped and looked back, then smiled and said, “Yes, I found my phone, Piper. Bye bye.” I turned back toward the door.

“Da da…keys?”

Stopped again, I turned back toward her. We had never discussed the things I take inventory of before I leave each day, so she apparently had noticed on her own. Wondering if she’d ask about my wallet next, I pulled my keys from my pocket and jingled them where she could see them.

“Yes, I have my keys sweetheart. I love you! Bye bye!”

This time I hadn’t quite begun to turn before she spoke up.

“Da da … Bible?”

I opened my mouth, closed it again, and I think I cocked my head to the side. I don’t normally take a Bible when I leave for work. I often already have one in the truck, and at the office I can always pull up biblegateway.com if I find a few minutes to get in the Word. But did I want to tell Piper that, no, I didn’t have it because I didn’t ‘need’ it? How would that play out as she is putting together the puzzle pieces of words, language, and things going on around her?

And for heaven’s sake, what caused her to suggest that I take one in the first place?

I only paused a moment before stepping back down the hall, picking up a Bible, and returning to where she could see me holding it up.

“Yes, Piper, I have my Bible. Thank you! Bye bye!”

Folks, don’t tell me God doesn’t speak to us today. He spoke to me through my nearly-2-year-old daughter this morning. And need I tell you that when I got to the office today, I couldn’t help but read a chapter and pray before climbing out of the truck and coming into the office? God is good.

Current Events

I can't believe its already 4th of July weekend. This year is really flying by.

Well, thanks to Celeste, we finally have a new family web site set up.

You may or may not have heard about the old one; last fall sometime I found I couldn't log in to edit it, and when I finally contacted the web hosting company they explained that the software they'd had us using had corrupted, that it had been replaced with a new software, and that we could recreate our website from scratch but we would not be able to edit the old pages (at least, not easily) because they were built using the corrupt, outdated software.This was, of course, quite frustrating, and at this point we're planning simply to try to get a copy of the old site (with its hundred or more pictures, etc) onto a CD for posterity.

Anyway, Celeste found a web company called Parent Shack (hop in my Chrysler its as BIG AS A WHALE!), and it is pretty much focused on pictures only (none of that other stuff about bios on Celeste and me, etc, which we never updated anyway. So check out our new site by clicking here.

Other than that, I've begun to read Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, and it certainly has me thinking. I'll post more on that shortly, but there's a question that's really bothering me right this minute: why is it that Don Miller, Brian McLaren and others who seem to be on the cutting edge of Christian spiritual thought these days are all so far left leaning from a secularly political perspective?

That will probably be the topic of an upcoming post, but if anyone out there happens to have an answer to this question, or even an opinion, I'd love to hear it.

Grace & Peace,
B

Surrender

If you've read my blog before then you are probably aware that I have been dealing for some time now with general frustration with my current job, and at the same time I believe God's last direction to me regarding my career was to stay put.

I've complained about this, and I've literally begged God to give me some new direction. I'm well past the point where the best part of my weekday is when I leave the office -- not even walking in the door to see my family is so energizing as walking OUT of the building where I work. I find myself cruising Monster.com, Dice.com, the US Government jobs website, etc etc etc, although even when I find something that is a possibility, I am reminded instantly of the last time that I ran ahead of God. Let's just say that when God convicts me of something, he's really good at it.

So today's blog is just a textual white flag of surrender. Its not what I want, but I will choose to be content in my circumstances. I still believe God has a bigger plan for me than this job, but I'll bloom where I'm planted until he decides to move to a different part of the garden.

So help me God.
B