A prayer for my son...

I pray you grow up knowing you are loved. Your Mom and I may not be perfect, but there is nothing we wouldn't do for you, and sacrifice for your welfare. I pray you appreciate and respect family. Aside from Christ and His church, it is the most important thing you can live for. I pray for good health for you as you continue to grow, and that you would take care of the body you have been given. I pray you are a reader. Always expand your mind, and never stop learning. Readers are leaders! I pray you are a lover of music and the arts. Whether it be music, writing, drawing, photography, painting, or acting, always stay creative, and find the beauty in everything. I pray you are a positive person, and see things through the joy that Christ affords us. I pray you will always respect and take care of your Mom. As much as I love you, there is a bond between you two that I could never duplicate. Never let circumstances in life break the love that you two have. I pray you have a heart for people who need hope. The needy, the poor, the hopeless. Be a rock for them and always give yourself for their cause. I pray you love the outdoors. God created all there is for His glory, so delight in it. Hunt, fish, play ball, hike, camp, get dirty. Enjoy creation, and always take care of it. I pray you enjoy history, and the things of the past. Appreciate good quailty craftsmenship and old relics. Talk to old men. Learn from the past. Revel in the simplicity of it all. Sometimes it's better to slow down so much that the past catches up to you. I pray you are a leader. And not just a strong-willed person that gets recognized, but lead son. Know who you are, Who's you are, and have a cause. And lead. I pray you are a true man. Learn to fix stuff, be decisive, respect women, be handy, take charge, have some common sense. You were created in God's image, and He is strong, a warrior, powerful, protective. Be a man. I pray you respect others. Always know what you believe, and stand firm in that, but respect other's viewpoints. Love conquers all. I pray you always have one definitive source for truth in everything you seek and do: Scripture. We will try to demonstrate for you the right way to live, try to model good examples for you to model your life by, try to instill good moral for you. But we are sinful, and we will fail you. Always go back to the source of truth. He will never fail you or let you down. May all you do be grounded in His Word. I pray you and I will always be friends, but that you would understand the disciplenary role that I will be forced to take sometimes. I want to be your best bud, but I have to be your Father first and foremost. But I will always be here for you to talk to. And lastly, and most importantly, I pray that the Spirit is starting to work on your heart right now, even at your young age, to prepare it to accept the good news that is the Gospel. Ultimately, it is the most important thing in life, and the most important decision you will ever make. Follow Him, and don't turn back. This is my prayer for you...

the Artist

This silence with it's calming voice beckons me in. It's here that I see clearly, without hinderance, without indulgence. Just my soul, and there, no deeper, yet deeper still, yes there, springing from the very fibers of my core is He. The Lover. The Artist. And with broad strokes He moves, weaving the tapestry of my being with the detail and prudence of a master artisan. It's here that that I am transformed. It's here in the silence that I center my thoughts. Not around and idea, for He is the origin of thought. Not around a concept, for He is source of premise. No, but it is deeper. A calming reality that cannot be fully grasped; a conscious that can only be marvelled. Thoughts, that as lofty and ambitious as they may be, still, are considered but imperceptible when compared to His nature. But nonetheless I am drawn, not by a force of haughty ambitions, but by love. A love woven in the very tapestry of my being. He created me in His image, and it is the Master that beckons me here. I am drawn as a bride to her groom, longing for such intimacy as I have never experieced. And it is from this wellspring of beauty that I delight in. It is this foundation that I am anchored in. He is the origin of all that is lovely, all that is good, all that is. He is the origin of my being, of my soul. And it is here in this silence that I am still, and delight in Him.