God takes a break ... or does He?

Just read Genesis 2:1-3.

God rested. Do you think He was tired? What about day eight? Did He go back to work, pick up where he left off? Does God still take that seventh day off? How does God rest or take a day off? His job is to be God, so what is He when He’s taking the day off?

Just some of the stuff I think about when I read that kind of thing.

Cliff's Lost and Found

My wife showed me a blog today called Cliff's Lost and Found. It's a wonderful, funny, intense, honest, and candid blog about being a father in a fallen world. It actually addresses some serious struggles in a very serious way, but also reflects the joy and simplicity that life can be when we trust God.

Two things I really like about the blog is how easy it is to relate to and how hard it is to read. It's easy (for me anyway) to relate to the worthlessness and emptiness that Cliff felt, but it's hard to read it because I tend to suffer with people who suffer.

There are a couple of things to consider if and when you read Cliff's Lost and Found. Cliff describes himself as worthless, but he's far from worthless. Even those who refuse God's grace have worth in His eyes; His grace alone, by definition, is proof. Also, things are only ok if you accept Yeshua as your savior (God’s provision for your sin). Life may still come at you sideways at 100 mph, but no matter what happens to you in this life, God’s got you in the next.

It’s the strangest thing…I love Cliff. I haven’t the slightest idea how or why, but it’s on my heart that I love him.

On a final note about Cliff's Lost and Found, for you parents out there, take a lesson from Cliff and watch what you’re letting your children watch. Look very closely at what your children put in their heads; garbage in, garbage out. Also, watch VeggieTales (and sing along). You can learn a lot…from a tomato.

Creation

I read the rest of Genesis 1 today. At first I was a bit “put out” by the task, but I prayed and dived right in. Genesis 1 is such a great chapter. I think I kind of feel like it’s a drag sometimes because almost every time I start to read the Bible, I start in Genesis 1. Consequently, I have read Genesis 1 about a billion times, and it has come to represent an arduous and seldom accomplished journey (I’ve only read Revelation 22 like twice…ok, 1.5 times).

When I read Genesis, I always wonder how God communicated the beginning of everything to a man to write it down. Did He dictate the words? Did He draw him a picture using crayons, so man could understand? Maybe, He showed him, and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

If God showed you the creation of everything, do you think you could capture it and retell it? Could you adequately express the majesty and wonder of God’s power and all of His creation?

Do you think people would believe you?

In the Beginning, Again.

I just started reading through The Bible again (because once is not enough). The first thing I noticed was my desire to find my Bible. I have links to multiple Bible translations online and we have several Bibles around our house, but I seemed fixated on my specific Bible. It stalled the process and almost angered me before I realized what I was doing.

I decided that I knew plenty of places to find God’s holy word, so I grabbed one and went to town. I read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

That’s it (I'll read more later...I promise).

What more do you need though, right? What a great statement of God’s being, power, personality, and wisdom. Before anything there was God, the great I AM. He created all that is seen and unseen. He didn’t just create something for Him: heaven. He created something for us, too: earth. And the heavens and the earth are no joke; they’re infinitely more complex than anything man could ever even collectively imagine.

This one statement alone commands fear, reverence, and humility.

What a way to start! My only regret is that I did not pray before I began my reading. If I am supposed to turn to God in all things, obviously the reading and understanding of the Bible is included among the “all things.” A great start, but I’ve obviously fallen behind and have a lot yet to learn.

Duty Daily

My wife made a good point the other day. She asked me about the content of a specific book in The Bible. I had no real answer. While we’ve both read The Bible from cover to cover, it's been so long since I read that book of The Bible, or any of The Bible for that matter, that I'm at a loss for specific details of its content. I was beginning to wonder why my life seemed to be lacking peace lately.

The most poignant part of my little tale is that my wife’s question to me was with regards to what we were going to teach the children. If we don't know it, how can we teach it to the children? It’s like not having any food in the cupboard and still expecting to be able to feed the children.

As the spiritual leader of our family, it’s my duty to obey God and stay on top of this sort of thing. Starting today, I will be reading a portion of the Bible daily and relaying my daily experience. Sure, I’ll write about the content of the readings, but the initial focus will be on the journey. This is going to be more of a snapshot of the daily journey rather than a detailed description.

I must selfishly admit that this is more for me than for anyone who might happen across the blog. If anyone happens to read any of this, I hope you are blessed by it. Feel free to comment as you see fit (refer to the Rules of Engagement in “the hood”).

Four Daughters and Eight Years, AMEN!

Wow, have things been crazy; four girls...FOUR!

My wife has it worse than me though. I go to work everyday and then she has to manage the house and all four girls by herself until I return (not that I'm all that helpful when I return...but I do try). Of course, God is the center of our marriage/family, but without my wife I'm not sure I'd be able to say that. She is truly my "helpmate" in all things. I love her so much.

Coincidentally, today is our 8th anniversary. It's been the hardest and most rewarding eight years of my entire life. Even when things were at their worst, we still emerged knowing we are blessed.

I can't help but pray that everyone knows the love that I know, and hopefully, somewhere in the world...four godly men are in the making...and if these girls grow up to be like their mother, boy are those four godly men going to be blessed.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Fatherhood

We just had a baby girl. She is absolutely beautiful. When I look at her I see a blessing. I am overjoyed at being a dad. Sometimes I get a little concerned about raising a girl in the world today (lots of crazy worldly values out there…not to mention the predators and exploiters), but then I remember God’s guidance about worrying. There’s more than enough to concern myself with today without worrying about tomorrow. Today I will raise my girls up to know God, and I will have faith that He will be with them tomorrow.