Watercolor

I am just learning to paint with watercolors and having great fun.  I thought this one turned out nicely.

Cape Cod 2010

Great Read!

I was inspired to read this after I saw that it received rave reviews from two (former) Gordon professors that I remembered and admired. 

"All of O'Brien's large and human soul is in this book as in none of his shorter ones: father, Catholic, Russophile, Canadian, personalist, artist, storyteller, romantic. There is not one boring or superfluous page. When you finish The Father's Tale you will say of it what Tolkien said of The Lord of the Rings: it has one fault: it is too short. A thousand pages of Michael O'Brien is like a thousand sunrises: who's complaining?" --Peter Kreeft, Ph.D.

This is an epic story of a prodigal and the depth of his father's love.  The father makes a long and arduous journey in search of his son.  The story spans several continents and explores the horizons of foreign lands and the horizons of the soul.  The father, an introvert, who loves books and solitude, finds his faith stretched and tried as he seeks to find that which he lost.

Bread of Life

I've been reading a book called, He Speaks to Me by Priscilla Shirer as part of my devotions. This morning I opened to chapter ten. And how did it begin? With Psalm 46:10, of course. Here are some excerpts. Talking about childbirth and about an epidural - "the anesthesiologist said, 'you were a great patient because you were really still…sometimes…I have to wait until they are quiet enough for me to give them medication, because I can't give it to them while they are moving. As I listened, it dawned on me. Maybe the Great Physician is waiting to give us something. The one with the answer is right here, but the problem is that we won't sit still long enough for him to give us what we need. Speaking of feeding the 5000 in John: "Jesus said, 'Have the people sit down." [Her response was,] "Why Lord? I'm so busy. I have a to-do list a mile long. Why do you want me to sit down?"… I read the next verse "Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated." Don't miss that line…only those who were seated got food…Do you want to be filled with the spiritual food that God has for you?" Priscilla went on to talk about 1 Samuel 3:3 where Samuel was lying down and was able to hear from the Lord and John 6:10 and Matthew where there are grassy places to sit. She was reminded of Psalm 23:2 "you make me like down in green pastures." May we take the time to be still, wait upon the Lord in green pastures, and hear His voice and receive the Bread of Life.

as best as i remember it ... as he shared his dream with me

have you ever had someone tell you they had a dream about you?  a dream with meaning?

it was a first for me. but here is Joe's dream from quite some time ago and how i see it playing out now.

"I want that one" were my words in his dream.  we were driving along with a young boy in the backseat, my nephew?, and we had stopped at a yard sale.  I was looking at some pretty glasses or goblets and chose one.

Joe seemed to think that the dream had special significance and it related to my search for what was next in life.  I did apply for two jobs in the same organization and after the interviews, i felt drawn to one job and not the other.  Thankfully, that was the one that I was eventually offered ... and now here i am one year after starting the job and perhaps two years after the dream ...

God is faithful to grant us the desires of our hearts and to provide for all our needs.  Sometimes we are even blessed with choices and with getting the sparkly, cool things that catch our eye!