Blessing of the Pipes

I (John) spent the better part of last Thursday afternoon under the house (now why didn't we press for that home warranty?) attempting to restore the kitchen sink to its previous state of drainage. First trip to Home Depot for a 25 foot drain snake--too short. Try the garden hose--big mess. Change clothes and make second trip to Home Depot for 50 foot drain snake--yes! But, while fishing the snake down the clogged drain, thoughts I had recently subconsciously absorbed drifted into my mind: some 74 million people in India have no bathrooms and no PVC pipes that allow them the conveniences we enjoy every day without a thought. There--staring at those conduits of grace, I was overtaken with a sense of blessing. Just a little encouragement to praise God for His overwhelming goodness in the small things. Hmmm...today I'm going to think about postage stamps...

Our Portraits

In the preface to a book on fasting, I recently read this profound statement: "The neglect of truth followed by its rediscovery often results in its overemphasis." ...AND "Truth is like a portrait, and to exaggerate one feature is to turn the portrait into a caricature of the truth." This may or may not be true of fasting today, but in a larger sense, it struck me that when we overemphasize one aspect of the truth and de-emphasize another, the world gets a distorted view of the truth. May we be faithful to paint realistic masterpieces--not modern interpretations--of the nature of our great God in an array of scenes in different play of light so the world around us will see Him as He really is and want to take up their own brushes and canvases!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Our new home, our new workplace, our new friends--our passion, purpose, and joy.

Chinese Checkers

"Jump". We call it Chinese Checkers. We regained an interest in this--what we consider--childhood game through the expertise of some of our Chinese friends and acquired multiple boards with marbles and pegs. In the move, I found a particularly nice one of these, but one of the pegs was missing so it has been demoted to the box going into the next sale. That is, unless that missing peg surfaces.

In a community of believers, if every peg is there, the "game" can be played, skills can be improved as the pegs are moved in relation to each other, and it's a very satisfying experience. If some of the crucial playing pieces are missing or stuck in one place, the "game" is seriously hindered (an inferior "sub" must be found) or written off as not worth playing. Hmmm...choose your color. Do you want to go first or do you want me to?