My wife, Janaye, only gets more and more beautiful as time goes on. Tomorrow is our 10th anniversary and it keeps getting better. This shot is on the southwestern side of the island on a beach created during the last eruption of Haleakala in 1790. Very rocky, but gorgeous. We are going snorkeling here in the morning.
This is a Silversword. This is the only place on the face of the earth that it is possible to see these plants. They will only grow above a certain elevation and only on this volcano. It’s pretty incredible. When the plant is mature, it will grow a stalk from 3 to 8 feet tall, bloom and then die.
Sunrise off of the summit of Haleakala volcano on the island of Maui. 10,000 ft above sea level. We had to get up at 2:30 to make the 40 mile 2 hour drive from the west side of the island to the summit. Totally worth it!
I’m not sure why I’ve felt so much like writing today, nor why it’s taken until 2:32 p.m. for me to get to the point where I am sitting down and writing. My Macbook has been on the table just waiting to be opened. The boys slept for an hour and a half and yet it is only now that I write.
Micah is sitting next to me watching an episode of the Backyardigans. Some may not like it, but I think that they are kind of cool. The music is good and the stories are fun. You may want to check it out.
I’m also not sure what form this writing should take. In the past I’ve written newsletter articles, blog posts, research papers, book reviews and occasionally a poem. But what should I write for now? I seem to swirling in a whirlpool of in between things at the moment. And this has been a long moment. To some degree it would be easier if there were a clear goal for my writing, and that may be the point. But at the same time I can also see how the simple act of putting the thoughts in my head onto paper, however digital, could be just as good. At the heart of it I think that I am feeling a restlessness that I don’t know how to tap into. I know exactly where I should be going to find rest and peace but I can’t help but feel that Jesus is the source of my restlessness anyway.
It wouldn’t be unlike him to move me into a place where I don’t feel settled and I don”t feel quite right.
I think when we are in these places we too often say that “something must be wrong!” We have this idea, which is false, that because we are following Jesus that we’ll always feel happy and contented. The problem is that when we suddenly stop feeling those things we instantly throw Jesus under the bus! If he really loved me I wouldn’t feel this way, right?
And these kind of thoughts are limited to Jesus followers. Another great misconception is that when we make the decision to follow Jesus we somehow stop being people. I will be the first to echo what Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians about “being a new creation,” but Paul also says in Romans that we are being “transformed by the renewing of [our] mind[s].”
We are suffing nothing except that which is common to man. Billy Graham feels these things, Barak Obama feels these things, Kim Jong Il feels these things. Why? Becasue we are human. We are people who are prone to putting our hope in everything except that which won’t fail us.
I am in the process of embarking on a crazy mission and if I’m not careful I will end up broken battered and smashed on the side of the road. And so will you. We are all on a crazy mission, we sometimes just don’t know it.
We know there is more out there. We’re not satisfied with what we have and where we are. We are frustrated with our progress in our career, our marriage, our life in general. We pin our hopes on someday, somewhere and if only.
Each one of these will fail us. Someday never gets here, somewhere isn’t ever here and if only always goes to the other guy.
Not very hopeful eh? Sorrow is part of our lives. It’s not the best part or a part that we were ment to ever have to encounter but it is a part and it needs to be embraced when it comes and explored for what it reveals. When I feel sorrowful it’s a call to begin looking for and listening to the Spirit of God. He shows me that I’m trying to be good on my own, I’m trying to earn my salvation because of the things I’m doing. That I’m relying on outward behavior instead of inward change.
What is your sorrow showing you? Where are you putting your hopes?
I don’t have all the answers. I’m not sure we could handle all the answers. That’s why we only get to live one moment at a time I think.
What do you think? Lets Conversate…
Into the unknown… this is exactly how I feel right now. Like I’m sitting at the top of a slide and I know it’s going to be a fun ride but it’s dark and I can’t see around the first corner. I’m gonna go anyway…
Late afternoon at First Baptist. It’s a good time because the worship center is lit with the afternoon sun and it’s quiet.
Too long since the last post. This is looking back into the valley over Albion and into the south part of Burley.
First attempt of shooting stars. Janaye and I drove into the mountains south of Burley and shot for an hour. This is the best of the bunch and not too bad for the first time out. I’ll post some more later.
