Soakin' Up Life . . . at a 100 MPH!

Christmas morning is a special time all across our nation.  It's always been a special time for me.  But last night - Christmas Eve - as I was rocking Joshua to sleep a Christmas never became as special as this one. I've celebrated Christmas as a son, brother, grandson, nephew, God-father, uncle, cousin, and husband.  But I've never woke up on  Christmas Day as a father. . .until now. . .no, right now. . .really. . .I just woke up! Last night it really hit me - because of God's miraculous gift that I was holding, I would wake up this morning for the first time and celebrate Christmas as a dad.  All at once a swell of emotion overwhelmed me.  Here was our miracle, lying in my arms.  Innocent.  Dependent. Loving. In his Christmas pajamas.  And I get to share Christmas with him.  I never thought I would get to share this day with him.   Yet, here it is.  All I could do was praise The Lord and thank Him for this opportunit...

It's one of those things that goes around every year on Facebook.  You know. . .the 30 days of thankfulness for Thanksgiving and some even do it for Christmas.  That's cool.  I do read some of them and they do remind me of some things I'm thankful for. Here's something I'm thankful for. . . God loves me! Now before you start nodding in agreement, let me explain how I got to this conclusion. This will be our fist Christmas as parents.  And that's quite a miracle in itself - to read more on this click here .  I was thinking about the incredible opportunity Cindy & I have to share Christmas with Joshua for the first time and the miracle that it is, and the very first thing that popped into my head was " God loves me! " Then I caught myself and realized that yes, God does love me, but not because He thought Cindy & me worthy to be the receptors of a miracle, but because He sent His only Son to be my Redeemer and Savior.  Isn't that why...

This morning I was putting Joshua down for his morning nap.  He was having a hard time getting to sleep so I turned on a CD he got when he was born called Baby's First Hymns: Instrumental Lullabies .  One of the hymns on it is In the Garden . As I was rocking Joshua this hymn started playing and I found myself singing the chorus. The chorus begins, " And He walks with me, and He talks with me."  And, as usual, I started thinking about those words. I wondered to myself if Jesus was actually walking around with me would He be talking or me?  In other words, if He and I were having a cup of coffee or riding around in my truck would I be talking or Jesus?  I know some of you are already laughing and thinking there's no way Mike's listening.  And to be honest, you may be right.  I would hope I would be the listener, but there's no guarantee. What about you?   If Jesus was sitting across the table from you, would you be listening or talking? ...