The righteous flourish lie the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him Ps. 92:12-15

I was watching coverage of Hurricane Ike, like many were last week. I don’t know what it is about me, but I notice odd things: maybe because I’m odd to begin with. The cameras were panning a part of Galveston beach. You could see buildings knocked down, debris flying around and the rain being blow absolutely sideways. Then a palm tree came into sight. The wind was relentless, yet, there stood this palm tree being blown, but not blown down. He was just standing there minding his own business doing what palm trees do.

In a strange coincidence, (yeah, right) the Lord led me to this passage. That palm tree had probably been there for years and years, seen many strong storms, and yet, he still stood his ground not bothered by this storm either. It was as if I heard the Lord say, “Hey, old sap (Diane often calls me that) keep on going. I’m not done with you, yet.” Let’s all keep going for the Lord until He plants us in His courts…in Heaven.

Love to all -Chris

p.s. Is this the most amazing baby ever? Go Eli!

Yard of the Month

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness self-control; against such things there is no law. GAL 5:22-23

A few nights ago I was watching season two of the show 24 (best show ever-except for Gilligan’s Island) and I heard Diane come in from outside and yelling, “Honey, I need you for a minute.” Well, I thought this better be good to tear me away from Jack Bauer blowing some bad guy away. She took me to the street to look back at a sign that had been stuck in our front yard. YARD OF THE MONTH! We had to laugh because we’ve been in this house and neighborhood for over 15 years. We waited patiently and finally, we received our reward. BIG WHOOP!

I really wish the list of the fruit of the spirit didn’t include that ugly “patience” word. I don’t have much of it. I want to know right now, this instant what God’s plans for me are. Wanting to be able to plan my own life is more like it. We have to wait on the Lord as Is. 40:31 says. But I must admit I’m not very good at it. It's sort of like waiting for the honey to come out of the jar to go on your sopapillas. Yum! (sorry, Tex-Mex humor) PATIENCE TAKES TOO MUCH...PATIENCE!

Silly I know, but remember…wait on the Lord. He’s always on time!

Ya’ll are the best! -Chris