A Long Time Coming

I don't have much to say...just noticing that I have not written here since December of last year. Time sure flies by...

Fall is upon us...although, will Fall be really any different than the non-existent Summer that we had here in San Diego? Here it is, mid-September, and it is sunny and 70 degrees on the Best Coast. Much better than some places getting hit with rainstorms and keeping an eye on building hurricanes that are threatening in the Atlantic.

Fall brings a lot of changes to our household. Even if the weather does not let us know that the season is changing, other things certainly do. All of our kids are back in school now and fully into a routine of homework and other activities. Our oldest is a senior in high school...that is so hard to think about! This next year will bring many changes around here.

Sometimes, keeping track of everything that needs to be done and where everyone is supposed to be gets to be quite overwhelming. On some days, I don't know which way is up! So, as I am constantly doing, amid all of the Fall rush, I am trying to find space to just be. To be in the moment, to think about what brings such joy to my life and to focus, even for a few fleeting minutes, on who is driving this ship. I would not be where I am today without the love, grace and mercy of God. I thank Him every day for the blessings in my life....for my loving wife, my four awesome kids and for the opportunities we have to give back to others.

I think it is good for all of us to look for these moments, maybe even to build them into the structure of our routines. Going full speed during every waking moment is certainly not healthy and I find that I put many things in between me and God when I don't slow down and spend some time praying, thinking and being. If you are reading this, and it hits home, take some time right now to just sit and be. Try to block all of the distractions of life out of your mind and focus on existing. Sometimes it takes baby steps to bring things into alignment...

Psalm 139

1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.