October Snowman

The cool crisp mornings of autumn have a way of making me feel just a little more alive. That sudden snap in the air of a new day's dawn makes that first breath as I step through the front door a little sweeter. The arrival of autumn in northern Utah this year was sweeter still. This past Sunday as I rose for the day and set out to join with my church family for our morning service I was welcomed by a surprising yet beautiful blanket of snow and a still falling white sky. It wasn't just a little snow either, by the end of the day there must have been at least 6 or 7 inches in my yard.

Of course this could mean only one thing to my children. We must venture out into the 30 degree air and the 15 mph wind and snow to make snow angels and build a snowman. While I immediately recognized the genius of such a plan we had to restrain ourselves, after all the conditions seemed a little less than preferred for my little munchkins. I did however suggest that the next day offered much more promise for such necessary tasks, which my daughter seemed to accept, however her younger brother wasn't quite so sure.

A bright blue sky with not quite the same bite as the previous day was revealed the next morning. However, it was also Columbus Day which for me meant an additional day off from the regular routine. This of course, as we all know, further meant that I would have a great many things to tend to before the day should sunset. Yet, that was one thing my little ones had no concept of. Instead they were all too aware of the diminishing snow and with it the possibility to craft a snowman. Still, every once in awhile I tend to get caught up in a little too much of me. I can so quickly forget that what is really the most important thing are not the goals or work or things that I must do, but the time spent with those I deeply love. This is something I would have the opportunity to recall well before the days end.

The moment my daughter arrived home from school she knew what she must do, she had angels and a snowman to build after all and my experience in such matters was certainly required. As she was inviting me to join her in her mad dash I had on mind those remaining tasks for that day. It was at that moment that the Lord caused me to realize how rarely the opportunity exists to craft an October Snowman with one of the people I love most in this world. I quickly began to melt just as the snow was also doing. Still, I had one more task to do, so I walked upstairs and but on my boots, hat, and gloves and ventured outside with my little girl and together we made an October Snowman.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. - Luke 12:34

Thank you Lord for teaching me once more where my treasure should really be. May we all grasp the importance of cherishing the moments with our loved ones that we'll never get back...http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=eac4832eebb6a5e40202

The Winding Road

In every national forest or wilderness area that I've ventured into I've traveled upon long and winding roads. The roads themselves weren't really a part of the journey I sought, but still had to be used if the real adventure could ever ensue. Then, each time along the way to the trail heads that mark the entrances into the lands I sought I've realized these roads do in fact become part of the journey. Of course the greatest joys and exhilirations for me are always found on the trail rather than the road, but the road is so very necessary. Without setting out on the pavement I could never reach the point where the soil of the longed for trail begins.

As I began writing this I immediately thought about the Christian believer's way of faith, and that the way of and in Christ is in fact straight and narrow. Let me quickly reassure you that this musing is not intended to be a commentary on the way of belief intended for Christ's followers. Instead this is simply an observation that in the distant, and often recent, pasts that precede the moment we live in there are these long and winding roads. They represent the actuality of the roads we've taken and the ways we've lived rather than what the Lord has necessarily intended. Thank God that Jesus meets us on these roads and points us to the trail heads we've been aiming for, and which He's been calling us to. Yet, let us not mistake that these winding roads are there and it is by His grace that they do in fact wind rather than being one hairpin turn after another.

If the trail I was looking for started when I heeded Christ's call to know and follow him during an Air Force chapel service in basic training then my own winding road started somewhere in my early teens. It was in those days that I was beginning to challenge many of the vitally important truths I had been told, whether about family, life, or God. As with nearly every teen there are numerous factors that contribute to rebellion, but at the core of a young man's heart is a need to be affirmed and highly valued by his father.

I didn't know this back then but my father was doing every thing he knew to do in an effort to be what he understood a good father to be. The long hours my dad would often work along with the difficulty of his labor caused me to take great pride in him as a little boy, but as the years went by I mistakenly began to lessen the importance of his efforts in my mind. By the time I was in my early teens I had been frustrated a few too many times by unmet expectations and missed opportunities, but I lacked the ability to express these to him. So instead I'd become a little more angry about the missed football or basketball games and a little more unwilling to do what he expected of me. Of course each time this happened I'd wind up getting a little further down a road that was not only creating more distance from my father, but from the Lord as well.

There were other influences in those years that also caused me to take a number of foolish turns that actually steered me away from the trail of significance I was trying to find. Rather than glorify lifestyles of hurt and pain, which were characterized by behaviors I knew were both unhealthy and wrong I'll simply say that God's grace to me was very very great. It was because of that amazing grace that the trail guide I needed met me on the confused labyrinth of a winding road I had traveled. As I said the Lord met me in that boot camp chapel service and I knew that if I were going to venture out from that trail head everything before that moment would have to change, and it did. With the Holy Spirit as my guide I realized my responsibility for the difficulty in the relationship with my father and sought to began restoration. He also began to show me the tools and techniques I would need to journey and navigate well on the trail I had finally found. Living on this trail would of course mean that I would never again require the use of any long and winding road.

What is the winding road in your rearview mirror?

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."
Isaiah 30:21