Taylor is spending most of her Christmas break in Costa Rica this year. Her support letters have gone out and you should be
receiving them soon. If you don’t receive one, you can always support her mission trip to
Costa Rica directly through the Global Expeditions website.
Wendy and I spent Friday night back at the USP Costume Shop volunteering for the beggar’s night rush. We were back there on Saturday morning helping Taylor pick out a costume for her big costume party on Friday night. She narrowed it down to Pocahontas and the Murdered Prom Queen, but I could tell all along that she really wanted to be the murdered prom queen. She and her friends stopped by late Saturday night to show us their costumes. They all looked great!
But the king [David] said to Araunah, "No. I’ve got to buy it from you for a good price; I’m not going to offer God, my God, sacrifices that are no sacrifice." 2 Samuel 24:24 (TM)
So the question is: If it doesn’t hurt, is it really a sacrifice? Should all of our offerings be sacrifices?
God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I cleaned up my act, he gave me a fresh start. 2 Samuel 22:21 (TM)
As David reflects back on his life, and expresses an apt metaphor that speaks to each one of our lives. Life is a puzzle with many pieces: family, friends, education, work, church, activities, interests, struggles, sin, success, suffering and failure. Anyone who has worked a challenging jigsaw puzzle has known the frustration of trying to fit the pieces together, trying to make sense of the strange little pieces that don’t seem to fit together.
There is nothing more frustrating than putting the puzzle together only to find that there’s a piece, or pieces, missing. It’s only when we present the pieces to God that the puzzle begins to come together and the picture begins to have clarity. Only God can complete this puzzle we call life.
I’ve been working on transitioning the Union Street Players cob-web-site to a blog over the past few weeks. It’s looking pretty good! We’ve even got a video clip from last Saturday’s rehearsal, and if you click on the photo album on the side bar, there’s some cute pics of Wendy in there.
Wendy has also got the blog-bug! She has been tasked at work to start a blog for the Goalsetter dealers. You can’t see that one, because it’s a private blog and password protected, but trust me – it looks great and she’s doing a super job!
Friday night Wendy and I went to the Union Street Players Costume Shop to volunteer as people came in to get their Halloween costumes. Wendy organized hats while I organized wigs (I even found a wig that gave me "wendy hair" – see photo). We had a blast watching people have a good as they went through all of the possibilities the Costume Shop gave them.
Our friends Pat and Peg Moriarity invited us to the Country Club costume party. I told Wendy she could go as Xena, Warrior Princess and I could go as Conan …(O’brien).
For some reason, she wouldn’t go for it.
The king was stunned. Heartbroken, he went up to the room over the gate and wept. As he wept he cried out, O my son Absalom, my dear, dear son Absalom! Why not me rather than you, my death and not yours, O Absalom, my dear, dear son! 2 Samuel 18:33 (TM)
David’s son, Absalom, rebelled against him, turned the nation against him, raided Jerusalem, drove him off, and sought his life. Yet, when David hears of Absalom’s death, he mourns bitterly. I might not of gotten that before I was a father. Your kids are your kids. They may do crazy, foolish things and disappoint you deeply – but they are still your kids – and they are a part of you.
Taylor’s support letters for her Christmas mission to Costa Rica are going out today! She’s been working hard at getting all of her ducks in a row, despite a very full schedule (she’s working two jobs, taking dance, babysitting, in the school play, and in the Christmas Post). She got her passport ordered yesterday and her letters stuffed last night. If you have any questions, be sure to e-mail her or give us a call.
What a blessing to see Taylor and Madison put their faith into action, and to see their passionate hearts for God at such a young age!
You can also pray for Taylor’s PSAT test today.
I wrote a play last Spring. I did it for a local playwriting contest and submitted it in the summer.
Good news: I’m one of the finalists.
Bad news: I got the script back last month and it was drowning in red ink from one of the judges. Now I’m down to two weeks to do rewrites and resubmit it for the finals.
I feel a bit paralyzed at the moment. I’ve been letting the judges’ comments rattle around in my head for weeks and have mentally torn the play apart and put it back together – but I haven’t done much more than that. I know I need to sit down at the computer and just start working on it. As Julia Cameron puts it, "just show up at the page".
I’m too busy.
I’ve got other priorities right now.
I’m not ready.
I don’t know where to start.
Maybe the judges were all wrong – it’s just fine.
What if I tear it apart – do the rewrites and it’s worse?
What if I tear it apart and I can’t get it back together?
I need another cup of coffee.
Flickr photo courtesy of Col.Sanders
Whenever someone would treat him with special honor, he’d shrug it off
and treat him like an equal, making him feel important. Absalom did
this to everyone who came to do business with the king and stole the
hearts of everyone in Israel. 2 Samuel 15:6 (TM)
Our children know our weaknesses. A rebellious child learns how to exploit them, and Absalom was no fool. He was well aware of David’s scandal with Bathsheba. He witnessed the way David blew off Amnon’s rape of Tamar. He heard the disgruntled whispers of the people who felt that David was old and out of touch. David had retired his sword to enjoy his palaces and his personal life was riddled with scandal – taking his time and attention further away from the people on the streets. Absalom knew the time was right to feed the people’s uneasiness and steal their hearts.
What an apt reminder that we should never stop growing, and we should never stop seeking out our own blind spots and exposing them to the Light. Our calling is for a lifetime. David seemed content to sit back and rest on his laurels, and it would cost him the kingdom.
Wayfarer 