The Rebel's Song

Well, today is my birthday so I've written a poem about God's merciful gift to me.


The Rebel’s Song

By Your boundless wisdom You fashioned everything;
You sustain and rule over all as our good and gracious King.
To proclaim Your matchless glory, You ordained the skies above,
then You fashioned finite man to rejoice in Your boundless love.

Yet my wretched heart rebelled against Your good and holy reign.
My blinded heart only sought my glory and my gain;
For my flesh—only pleasure; for You—only disdain.

Pretending to be king, I sat upon my throne;
Everyday stealing glory that is Yours and Yours alone.
My heart hardened more, my thoughts became dull;
Nothing could overthrow this foolish rebel.

Why didn’t You judge me? Why not increase my pain?
Why not dash the throne that I so blindly feigned?
Why didn’t You pour out Your just wrath like rain?

Then You opened my eyes, to the glorious thought
that it was Your Son who had died and my redemption He bought.
He knew no sin, never once broke Your law;
perfect in Your commandments, obedient to them all.

Then He bore my griefs; enduring all my pain.
He was laughed at by men; knowing our disdain.
He became sin for me; the one rejecting Your reign.

Father, You crushed Your Son; He died in my stead,
Now you’ve awakened my heart, giving life to the dead.
The cross is not unreasonable, merely beyond our feeble reason;
The death of your only Son atoning for godless treason.

My sin was His pain.
His death was my gain.
Praise be to God for this glorious exchange.

Though You once were my enemy, now You are my King.
I once was a rebel, now Your praises I sing.
Neither the earth nor the sea, not even the angels above,
Can sing the rebel’s song of Your merciful love.

Apple harvesting

Today we went to a nearby orchard to pick some apples.

A great day for a game

On Noah's birthday the boys went to a baseball game. We enjoyed spending time together, tail-gating, and watching the game. Here's a short video of our day.

Tracey's Wedding

This past weekend my long time friend and former roommate Tracey Morris got married. I flew to Winston Salem on Thursday to take part in her big day. I really was blessed to meet all the people in her life who love and support her. She has some wonderful friends. Her husband Carlos is crazy about her and broke from the script of the wedding to just hug her and tell her how beautiful she looked. She was a beautiful bride and the whole weekend was really a blessing. It has been a while since I have been in or even been to a wedding. Just hearing the vows were such a reminder to me of my own vows to Mitch ten years ago (hers were in English and Spanish, very cool, her accent was flawless). As the pastor concluded the ceremony he reminded them that the vows they made to each other would be impossible to fulfill without Christ. This is the very thing I thought as they made them too each other. I thought of how many times in a marriage you fall short of the vows you make to each other. I was so grateful that God forgives us when we fall short of perfection and that Mitch and I have learned a lot about forgiveness and communication over the past 10 years. I know that Carlos and Tracey will learn these things as well over the next weeks and months and years. One of our friends said that "marriage is a sanctifying relationship". Meaning that if we will humble ourselves and seek God's help He can use it in our lives to make us more like His Son. I know that He has done this in my life and I am sure there are many opportunities for Him to continue to work on me that lie ahead. I know that He will do the same in Carlos and Tracey's life. It was fun to be a part of her wedding. I am praying that they will both look to Christ to fulfill their marriage vows. It was a wonderful reminder that I must look to Him to fulfill my vows too.

Noah's poem

Noah

“Dad, guess what?” he asks me excitedly
there’s something on his mind
or something I’ve got to see

He catches you by surprise,
“I’ve got something for you.”
Just a hug with two arms and a smile with his eyes.

He’s the sweetest soul
that you’d ever want to meet
Big smiles and laughter and just under four feet.

He reads and plays, all the day long,
and his little world is filled
with his own great big song

May God bless him with fear,
the very knowledge of Himself
give him eyes with which to see and ears so he can hear

May he never walk in the counsel of ungodly men,
never sit with the wicked
nor camp in their tents.

May he delight in the perfect law of the Lord,
breathing the air of the Gospel
and always brandishing His sword.

Father, please make him like a tree
planted by the nourishing stream
of the life giving water that flows mighty and free

Flowers from our backyard...

Mitch planted wildflowers this year and I love to just look at them, thought you might enjoy them too...

Readers are Leaders and Leaders are Readers...

Noah's birthday

Here are few pictures from Noah's birthday...

All I want for Christmas...

Nathan is toothless up top and I thought it would be fun for everyone to see...

Noah

This Tuesday we celebrated Noah's fourth birthday. Here's a video about our wonderful guy!