Notes from the Narrow Road: Observations from a pilgrim traveling along The Way

We have about 80 adults in our church taking Experiencing God right now. This is the first time for most of those folks. They just completed the week that talks about how God pursues a love realtionship with us. Two concerns tend to surface about this time in the study. First, how can I be sure that God is speaking to me? The study asks me to write down testimonies of how God has spoken to me and led me in the past, but I'm having a hard time. Is there something wrong with me? As I shared with the group last night, God has spoken to you and still does. Usually the issue is our attentiveness to the voice of God or our ability to know that it is God speaking. We have doubts, not about God, but about our ability to hear and know God's voice. Sometimes we have experiences which we believe were of God but we have a hard time putting it in words. First, keep asking God to reveal Himself to you - to speak to you in such a way that you will know it is God speaking and you wil...

Today is Michael's birthday. He is two. For your own safety, don't call or come by the house today. Kim isn't dealing well with this birthday. His first birthday was bad, but now that he is two...well, last night Kim was upset about losing our baby. I thought, where's he going? That was the wrong thing to say. We took Michael to the dress rehearsal for the Easter Cantata. I thought he would be interested in the people and the music for a little while and then begin to run up on the stage and become part of the show. ("I don't remember a little boy at the crucifixion! Who's that?") But Michael sat very still and watched the whole thing. He called Pilate a "bad man." He was a little disturbed by the Via Dolarosa. He didn't like what they did to Jesus and was concerned when they carried him off after he died. He seemed to feel better about everything when Jesus appeared after the resurrection. I can't help but wonder what he...

Let me begin by continuing my thoughts about the Oyster Fest Parade. Perhaps what I got a kick out of most was the band being pulled in a flatbed trailer as they sang "Jolene." Classy and family friendly. I'm not sure what is more unsettling, that they were singing that song or that I recognized it instantly. So, I don't have the words to describe how excited I am about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull . I kid you not. I watched the preview for it the other day and I felt like I was 11 years old again. It was the same feeling I thought I would get when all the new Star Wars movies came out, but they were largely disappointing. But as soon as I saw Indy's shadow reach down and put on that familiar fedora, I was hooked. I was 10, about to turn 11 when I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark . When it was over my heart was beating so fast I didn't know what to do with myself. I hardly slept that night because I was so excited (and freaked out - those guys...

Last week illustrates some of the differences between north Texas and south Texas. For instance, I am already mowing my lawn and treating fire ants. While it has been cool, it has not been winter, at least not what I am used to. Here's a picture some friends of ours from Sherman sent us that shows what should be taking place this time of year. Yes, children, that white stuff is called snow. In case you can't tell, it is almost nine inches of snow. While they were having winter, in south Texas we were having Oyster Fest. In reality, Oyster Fest was no different from most carnivals or fairs I have been to, except the parade. I thought the parade reflected Rockport/Fulton beautifully. I have never seen so many boats being pulled in a parade before. Nor have I seen so many floats entered by resorts and RV parks. And it felt a little like Mardi Gras, with all the beads flying through the air. But I enjoyed every minute of it. We went with a large group of folks from the chu...

Not long ago I finished reading the book Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk . I thought the book was fascinating, and gives wonderful insight into the lives of those who battle melancholy (not clinical depression) and those who experience depression as a natural part of the grieving process related to the tragedies and losses of life. As I battle the ongoing depression I feel over the miscarriage almost a month ago now, two things about Lincoln help me greatly. First, he never denied the way he felt or acted as if something was wrong that needed to be healed or fixed. There was no attitude of "keep your chin up," or "Buck up, little trooper," and Lincoln never tried to pull himself up by his bootstraps and soldier on. He hurt. He was moody, he was sad and grieving. He was distracted and distraught. During his presidency it was common for people to think that Lincoln was incompetent and didn't know what he was doing. But those opinions were ne...