Leadership for the Church

One of the reasons why I have not posted recently is that I was in the Sawtooth National Forest of Washington on an Outward Bound Mountaineering course. We were 7000-8000 feet up in the mountains where the air starts to get thin and there is indescribable duty. I took quite a few pictures and some of them turned out very good. There are snow-capped peaks, rocky ridge lines and golden mountains…..I posted the pictures on Facebook. One of my good friends responded to my pictures by stating that she could “see the handprint of God” in the beauty of the landscapes.

A few days later we were eating lunch with the family and looking at the pictures again. Their daughter looked at the pictures and commented that “she could not see the hands of God”. She was looking with her physical eyes and not her spiritual eyes. Something that happens to me all the time.

“God, may I look at all of your creation….people included…..with spiritual eyes and not physical, so that I can see all of your handiwork in your creation.”

Well big news at our house. We moved our daughter into college for her freshman year. It is sort of hard because she is the baby. The boys are college grads with good jobs and wives. Now our baby goes off into the world. It is a moment I have been looking forward to for several years…….

A time to concentrate on my lovely wife!
A time to meditate more on the Word of God!
A time to learn new things!
A time to experience life anew!

It is also a time to feel the weight of silence and loneliness?

What do you do without the kids around? How do you fill your time when you are not chasing your kids activities? How do you learn how to cook for two when you still have not mastered cooking for less than 5?

How do you manage the BIG changes and seasons in your life?

This past Spring I visited Colorado for the first time.  I was only there for a couple of days, but did get the chance to go for a spectacular run.  The picture to the left was taken with my cell phone, so the quality is not that good, but it almost looks like a painting.  This is the Garden of the Gods, a Nature Preserve near Colorado Springs.  This trail in particular ran along an approach to the primary rock formations that are the Garden.  If you could see just to the left of this photo you would see the snow cap of Pike’s Peak in the distance.  It was breath taking.  I ran for about 10K with my lungs burning from the altitude the entire time.  It was just so amazing to be able to run in this place of intense beauty.

Image via Wikipedia

Life is a run in the Garden of the Gods!  There is extreme beauty all around us, but there is pain that accompanies the beauty.  We run as if at altitude for the first time, our lungs burning from the lack of oxygen.  We run as a person experiencing sights, sounds and spectacular vistas, if we simply open our eyes.  It took going to the Garden of the Gods and reflecting on that landmark day to realize that I see the same beauty when I run around my house or my job.  I see spectacular things that have become common place, but no less beautiful.  The animals on the trail, the fish in the streams, the people running, skating, biking…..all enjoying the abilities that God has given.

As the Apostle Paul taught, we must look with eyes that are not only physical, but spiritual and I might add….emotional, intellectual, spiritual.  We have to see the beauty of the moment even when we are sweating, hurting, our lungs screaming for air and our muscles crying for relief.

I want to be open to see the beauty in every moment.  I want to find God and His goodness in every painful event.  I want to find a reason for faith in every moment of doubt.

More to follow….