I'm up way too late again. I wonder how many blog posts start that way? I'm at a house in Nag's Head in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Funny how God takes things that stand for pain and suffering, like the cross, and turns them into banners for victory. You see I came here for my honeymoon for my first marriage. Neither of us knew what we were doing. We had no business getting maried...both trying to fix ourselves through someone else's affection.
I've been divorced from her for 11 years now. Really its almost a dream of a memory at this point. I'm now married to a partner God has called me to be with. I have two beautiful children, and I am sitting here listening to thunder roll past this incredible beach house I am sharing with friends from seminary for a week. Nag's Head has become a sanctuary of sorts for me.
I don't know that all this has much to do with finding Christ in the unfortunate, except for the fact that we in this group express such deep affection for one another that Christ's presence is undeniable. Members of this crew have in the past year born children without leave or support from the congregations they serve, changed calls to begin new ministries, experienced miscarriages and supported friends and loved ones who battle with cancer. Our lives are better for the knowing of one another.
There was a discussion tonight, rather tongue and cheek about a "half empty glass" comment that I made. Camille said that if you get a smaller glass you wont notice. Chad said that it just meant that I had consumed what I was given. Clint said, "When the glass is finnished, open another beer." We all agreed that we have been given abundant joy, and that is a bottomless cup.
Tomorrow morning, Shawn, David, and I will be interviewing the moderator of the PC(USA) for our podcast. If that aint abundance, well...
Shalom.
Funny how God takes things that stand for pain and suffering, like the cross, and turns them into banners for victory. You see I came here for my honeymoon for my first marriage. Neither of us knew what we were doing. We had no business getting maried...both trying to fix ourselves through someone else's affection.
I've been divorced from her for 11 years now. Really its almost a dream of a memory at this point. I'm now married to a partner God has called me to be with. I have two beautiful children, and I am sitting here listening to thunder roll past this incredible beach house I am sharing with friends from seminary for a week. Nag's Head has become a sanctuary of sorts for me.
I don't know that all this has much to do with finding Christ in the unfortunate, except for the fact that we in this group express such deep affection for one another that Christ's presence is undeniable. Members of this crew have in the past year born children without leave or support from the congregations they serve, changed calls to begin new ministries, experienced miscarriages and supported friends and loved ones who battle with cancer. Our lives are better for the knowing of one another.
There was a discussion tonight, rather tongue and cheek about a "half empty glass" comment that I made. Camille said that if you get a smaller glass you wont notice. Chad said that it just meant that I had consumed what I was given. Clint said, "When the glass is finnished, open another beer." We all agreed that we have been given abundant joy, and that is a bottomless cup.
Tomorrow morning, Shawn, David, and I will be interviewing the moderator of the PC(USA) for our podcast. If that aint abundance, well...
Shalom.
Comments