a fresh look down memory lane ...

On Saturday, just because the promise of Spring exploded with 70+ degrees and sunshine, we drove to Newport to do the Cliff Walk. After parking at First Beach, I noticed these kids frolicking on the sand. It brought back so many memories of Sean, Cil, Pat and Becky playing on the beaches of Cape Cod.

It always started with running in the sand, then the shoes and sox were off. There was always a promise that "we're only going in to our knees." I always carried wet children home after they'd discovered that swimming was more fun than wading. We all knew how it would end; and it was part of the fun to see just how long they could hold out before the call of the water was just too much.

It's good to see that kids really haven't changed -- that there is nothing quite as much fun as a good run in the waves and flirting with getting completely soaked.

While we were in the Dominican, our friends in San Francisco de Marcoris taught us a song about swimming in the river of God. The verses say that I don't want to just get my knees wet, my shoulders wet; I want to swim in the river of God. We should be impatient with anything less than to be completely immersed in His love and His presence.

The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:14 - 16 "because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."

I am mindful that as much pleasure as I took from watching my kids play on the beach and flirt with just how wet they could get, my heavenly Father takes so much more. He is watching to see just how deep we will get in the river of God's love. I know He smiles when we come up soaked in the Spirit!

Keep the faith

Richard

they that wait ...

In the movie Chariots of Fire, the Scot, Eric Liddell, preaches from the prophet Isaiah during the Sunday of the Paris Olympic games. The text is so familiar -- "yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary" (Isaiah 40:31) It is the marathoner's favorite verse and an encouragement to all who feel that they have given their all.

Recently, I had a chance to hear a friend talk about waiting on the Lord from a different perspective -- it isn't passively setting back and thinking positive thoughts. It is an active wait -- the kind of waiting that a birdwatcher in a blind engages in. You wait prepared, in a chosen place, because you expect to see a remarkable bird. Those sights are never seen by those who are not willing to rise early, to prepare and to set and wait. The reward is that you see what others miss. Photographers know the same truth about sunsets -- they pass quickly and only those who recognize the signs of a glorious sunset ever capture them.

On our return flight from the Dominican Republic, I found myself at Miami International Airport waiting for a flight back to Boston which was delayed because of East Coast weather. The windows faced west and I saw this glimmer in the sky -- there was a sliver of what is called the "golden hour" which back light the control tower. I spent the next half hour taking pictures of the glory that the Father shows us -- it renewed my spirit. If my heavenly Father provides such beauty which, like the lilies of the field, is here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will He show us when we spend eternity with Him! It is the certainty that greater things are coming; and that seeing Jesus face to face is greater than the most amazing moment we shall ever have on this planet continues to excite me.

At the end of the sunset, I saw a sky painted red and gold by my Father's hand -- He rewarded me for waiting upon Him and gave me the object lesson in active waiting. It is all about recognizing the signs of His coming and being ready to join in His work. If you don't look for the first signs of the golden light, you might just be in Starbucks waiting for a coffee when His handiwork is on display. As for me and my house, I want to see His glory -- I can get a cappuccino any day.

Keep the faith!


Richard



P.S. Remember the advice that Eric's father gave him ... "Run in God's name and let the world stand back in wonder"