Give yourselve six minutes to smile at this video. :)

what an awesome day ...

Honesty with God in the morning, that carried into a day-long conversation ... some delightful gun-practice ... sitting quietly at Meijer Gardens, listening to the rain on the greenhouse roof, and birds flitting around in the leaves overhead. Then dinner with a good friend and a rousing game of Tetris.

Just about perfect, actually.

Except getting home and discovering I had a smear of gunpowder on my forehead. :) I knew some of the brass hit my forehead ... just never thought to check and see if they left any residue behind.

Maybe they'll think I'm Catholic, and practicing ahead of time for Ash Wednesday? :)

Promises Kept

There has been a lot of sadness lately, in my life, and the lives of others ... marriages and friendships and ministries not proving to be what they promised to be. Failures every-ole-where, including in my own life.

This world is chaos. Has anyone noticed? In the grander scheme of politics and world events, and in the lesser scheme of "I can't consistently make my bed before leaving the house in the morning."

I've been focusing a lot lately on how messed up it all is, on how messed up I am.

This morning, I was thinking of two words that make the greatest-possible difference ...

"But God"

People are unfaithful, and unreliable (including me), but God ...

Finances are uncertain, but God ...

My life might be a disaster, but God ...

He keeps His promises. Always.

Always.

We've had some good preaching in Genesis and James, and I was thinking of how that related.

Last night, we talked about how Joseph, when he was in prison, continued to believe in what God had showed him through a dream years ago when he was just a boy. He didn't lose faith that God would bring it to pass, such that he told his fellow prisoners that "with God is is the interpretation of dreams." His circumstances didn't cause him to doubt what God had showed him back when the sun shone, and he was the apple of his father's eye. What was true then was also true in prison.

And when he told the story of what brought him to prison, he chose to leave out what would, to me, be the most significant fact. He didn't say "my brothers are at the root of what brought me here." Wouldn't the failure of those I loved best be at the foundation of my thoughts as I mouldered away in the dark? He chose to trust God, and not to be bitter.

All of the James messages have been such a blessing, and today I was re-thinking some of the ones at the beginning of the book. In chapter 1, it says to "count it all joy" when we "fall into various trials."

First of all, how many of my problems are entirely of my own making? Do those count as "trials"? Or simply "I'm an idiot" situations? It says "fall into" ... to me that phrase seems to include things that I've brought on myself, yes? We're said to "fall into" sin, and that certainly is of my own choosing.

So, when I recognize the mess I've gotten myself into, can I "count it all joy" because "the testing of your faith worketh patience"?

I can count it joy, in that I can give it to God. He will accept whatever mess I've created, and meet with me in it, and "give wisdom liberally and reproaches not."

What a wonder that is. How many others would be willing to take whatever convoluted situation we hand them, and say, "let's work through this" as opposed to, "how, exactly, could you have been such a moron?"

He keeps His promises.

"All things work together for the good of them that love God, who are called according to His purposes."

He keeps His promises.

Let the one who asks for wisdom, ask in faith, not doubting.

He keeps His promises.

I saw a rainbow this morning, the sign that, thousands of years ago, God promised never to destroy the world with a flood again.

No matter how we fail Him ... and we do ... all of us. He keeps His promise. And the signs of His past faithfulness are EVERYWHERE, quietly reminding us of His goodness, His love, His mercy.

Thankful, humbled, today, and ... hopeful.

He keeps His promises. Always.

Flowers

Sunnyslope Floral, with whom we do business at work, always does such a nice job for us.

And occasionally they surprise me with flowers ... like they did this week!

What's funny was the questions from people coming up to my desk afterwards.

"Where did the flowers come from?"

"From the flower shop."

"I mean ... who gave them to you?"

"The flower shop."

:)

Fun with Guns

My cousin and her husband had a few folks over today to shoot and for a delicious lunch after. It was such a treat! I really love the chance to learn from folks who enjoy their subject and are good teachers, and there was a lot of that opportunity with these folks!

The lady in the pink had taken the same introductory class at Silver Bullet that I took last year. She was considering buying a gun, and so she had the chance to try all different kinds today. Jeff & Maria did this for me last year - got out all manner of handguns so I could get a feel for the different types. It was a great help!

My cousin Maria, looking incredibly intense about the position of these particular buckets.

Maria's husband Jeff (with the beard) and their friends. (whose names I won't use, since I'm not sure how comfy they are with the internet!