rock springs bench.jpg

Today. W the lord. A good afternoon.

-ao

Life in the midst

It's 10:33 a.m. I have been with the Lord this morning. Our family has had a "big breakfast" - bacon,sausage,eggs, toast, coffee and milk. It's Monday. It is our "day" together.

Wyatt blessed the meal this a.m. - "Dear Jesus, thank you for Daggy and Mommy...thank you for the food, thank you for..Jesus, thank you for Mommy and Boone...AMEN!"

We ate. We cleaned up. And then it was time for our quiet time - Wyatt gets his little backpack with two little Gideon bibles in it and a mini-journal and a pen. He then starts to whisper as we light candles and open the scriptures. Then - he gets his hockey stick and plays a quiet game of street hockey in the kitchen on the tile floor. The Quiet Time was too much to match this a.m. for Wyatt. I continued to sit with the Lord and hear from him in Psalm 96. Wyatt would come by and smile...and whisper to me...and play. Then, he came up and gave me a sweet little hug. "I love you, Daggy." It was the best. His little hug reminded me as I was stopping what I was doing to embrace my son - this must be how the Father feels! That, as I go to Him, He is always willing to embrace me...He,always, is ready for when I turn toward Him to express my love to the One who loves me relentlessly. It's His nature. It's the joy in my heart: Jesus Christ and His infinite love.

Today: our day...we will be a family together. We will be a body, a community of followers of Jesus - well, our hope is that for Boone and Wyatt. Our hope is they somehow catch it from what they see in us - and that the Holy One of Israel latches Himself onto their hearts and souls forever! We are alive and together...today - it's a sweet day.

Thank you Dear Jesus. I am yours. Today is yours.

Blessings.

-ao

The Story I tell...

 

Kids.  Jesus.

Me.

 

I am involved in something so much bigger than me. I am involved with the Living God.  He is the Lord of all. He has called me to himself. In the midst of this, He has enabled me to have a wife....two kids, and a calling to walk alongside teenagers to invest in them.  The hope?  That they might come to know Christ and follow him.  Mostly, I listen to their lives...to the stories they tell and to the new story we form together as we develop friendships.

I tell stories.  I tell people of a God who loves them infinitely greater than they can fathom....and sometimes I might not even say His name....but underneath it all, I am always telling of Jesus Christ. That is what Young Life does.  That is who God has called me to be. I tell of a YL Leader standing on a hill at football practice....of meeting Jesus in a for-real manner on a hill at Windy Gap, a YL Camp.  I tell of a wonderful embrace...a hug of a lifetime in the barn, at my Dad's house...when I came home.  I tell of a man named Jesus who pierced my soul and said, "Come, follow me...and I will make you a fisher of men.."

I tell of a beautiful woman....one whom I pursued most of my life - and then, it happened..she said yes - we got married. I tell of these two little boys who showed up and have tackled my heart only to never give it back.....but that Jesus is the true gate keeper of my heart and my life.  I am different only due to His love.  His love for me.  His love for you. He makes me different - thanks be to God!

I listen to stories.  I hear of my friend who shows up with a gun in his car - to school.  I hear of a girl who has slept with more guys than she can keep up with and who shows up at YL club only to feel accepted for a brief hour or so - and then back to the rat race of pain and non-trust in her life.  I hear of a friend who wrecked his nice new car as he was drunk..only to tell a lie to his dad and get another nice new car - he still takes pain pills to get high.  I hear of a man who met Jesus on Easter Sunday - who's life was gone..but because of the story told...and a God who changes lives...this man is now:  different.  I hear about my friend in high school who's addicted to his image, taking steroids, dealing with anger, wishing he knew Jesus intimately but struggling to throw away his life - wondering how can God really love him in this way....wondering..waiting.

 

Stories. Everyday, stories. I cannot think of something else that becomes more meaningful than the story we tell of Jesus Christ.  The story of a God who became his own creation...who humbled himself...and took on all of this mess....in order that I might have a new covenant..a new faithful commitment from Him - faith=eternity with all the spiritual blessings in the heavens.

Wow.  The stories.

 

-ao

Scripture this AM

 

"My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God."

                                                              -Psalm 84:2 ESV

"Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.  Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land."

                                                               -Psalm 85:8-9 ESV

 

Lord, today is yours. I am yours.  You are mine.  Allow my heart to sing for joy to you....and that I would hear what you speak to me...to my heart.  Keep me from the things that are not of you. Today - it belongs to you. You direct my path; I take the steps....may I never forget to remember.

Your Peace.

 

-ao

He is Risen!!

The stone has been rolled away...the tomb:  empty.  Jesus has done it. Death:  conquered.  Everything:  changed forever.  Christ has become my sin, he paid the full penalty for all, and today - it comes true that all happened for the scriptures to be filled and Jesus arose from the dead that I may have life! The Cross:  no longer just an "electric chair" insignia, but rather an icon of the trek to forgiveness and eternity with the Father in Heaven...because of Easter Sunday; the Resurrection. 

 

Thanks be to the Father.  Thanks be to the Son.  Thanks be to the Spirit. 

 

They now intervene on my behalf and they are in me...and I am in them.

Easter.  Yes, He is risen.  He is risen in my heart, too - I have gone from death to life; my heart:  from darkness and pain to the Light of God and joy infinite because of Jesus Christ....forever and ever, Amen.

-ao

Bristol Baby!

At papaws

On Poncho the pony. Wyatt the cowboy. Riding w Chacos on his feet.

To my Bride

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.....May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

                            -Romans  15: 5-7; 13 NIV (read aloud at our wedding, August 3, 2002)

 

I love you, Olivia.  Today is your birthday:  March 10th.  You are awesome and I am grateful for you.  I hope today has been great and you have felt loved and cared for on this day.  Our date this past Saturday night was the best!  The Melting Pot.  Dinner. Dessert. Downtown.  The Movie (well, at least we were together..."Confessions of a Shopaholic").  Our conversations.  I think you are a gift to the world!  Happy Birthday to the one whom I love with all I have. 

You are the birthday girl, today - and this day belongs to you.  We all celebrate on this day; Olivia:  she is good.  Olivia:  she is fun.  Olivia:  she is so pretty.  Olivia:  I like her.  Olivia:  her photography is awesome.  Olivia:  She looks great....I just love her.  Olivia:  that's my wife...you're dang right!  Olivia:  with all my heart, Happy Birthday, sweet heart.  You are forever His...and He has allowed us to be one.  May it always be...and on this day - we celebrate for you!  I love you.

Today...the birthday angels are singing, praising God..and honoring:  you!  Happy Birthday to my bride, Olivia.

Wyatt breakfast

Here he is! Cracker Barrell: "Daggy I love Cracker Barrell - Cracker Barrell pancakes are my favorite!"

-ao