My morning spot at Laura's place
Here I am again. A new morning, pre-dawn, hot cup of coffee, journal, Bible, laptop…
This morning finds me in a guest spot specifically set up by our daughter, Laura at her house for me – because I do this. Because I’ve being doing this for years and years and everyone I know knows I do this, especially anyone who has ever put me up for a night.
May I never tire of it.
This morning I pray for Laura and her husband Michael along the line of these verses I selected for them….
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God. (Psalm 92: 12-13, NIV)
Later we will visit a church they want to check out. I pray they find a “house of the Lord” to root into, belong to, flourish with. Perhaps a family church like Grace Chapel where Cindy and I belong and where Laura particularly synced with the Lord during middle school where dear friends Tony and Heidi Cece lead “Breakaway,” our middle-school ministry then?
Cindy and I are still firmly rooted there, like a palm tree, like the cedars of Lebanon. May we never tire of Grace Chapel. Sundays there are the high point of every week along with other Grace Chapel moments between Sundays.
I flipped back through my journal to revisit what the Lord spoke to me about last week. God always has a lot to say and this week, I captured several thoughts in my journal…..
- Friday – An impression I drew from God’s declaration about Israel in Isaiah 22:14, “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for,” after which I jotted, “then Jesus came and did it.”
- Thursday – Notes that fed into a message to a Facebook friend about a quote he shared from Bruce Springsteen’s new autobiography, Born to Run. While Springsteen credits family, faith, work and being Italian as under-girding his life and work, he’s a self-avowed agnostic so maybe faith isn’t so much a factor even though God’s grace is essential for him or any of us to endure and triumph. However, when God gets no credit, personal toil and dogged determination takes most of the bows.
- Wednesday – “Everyone Invited” is how I titled notes for 1 Timothy 4:10 “we put our hope in the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe” – more layers for a thought theme developing in me. I agree to the “all” but how does it fit with election? Lately I arrive at God sovereignly knowing how we choose. Return to this later.
- Tuesday – Notes from pastor Doug’s Sunday message from 1 John 2: 3-11 that I titled “Obedience/love litmus test. I underlined “if you know, you show” than jotted James 2: 14-26 in the margin. Well done, Doug. Again.
Another week of listening and drawing near to God. May I never tire of this.
Road Report rose directly from the fertile soil of this field I pray I never tire of – intentional time each morning with the Lord. Expressions I’ve shared out of this hour over the years – poems, prayers, ornaments, articles, essays, and letters prompted some recipients to encourage I try my hand at blogging.
Friends Todd Waller and Dan Rose set me up and I launched in April 2012 with more than a little trepidation about whether I could consistently generate content. Turns out content isn’t a problem but finding time to write and then getting myself out there is.
I’ve continuously written something somewhere since I was 15. Although I have shared some writing and other creative work over the years, Road Report is the first attempt to put ideas out that are accessible to anyone. Even so, faithful readers are few so Road Report is presently more like playing guitar in a room with the door open. Visitors are welcome but most don’t stop by for a listen.
Faithful Road Report followers, thanks for looking in each week. For now, it’s just us few and the Lord, a kind of message practice perhaps?
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning. (Psalm 130:6, NIV)
May I never tire of this.