We see rain, he sees light.

One day recently that feeling of majesty took my breath away....literally and audibly....when when I least expected.

On a flight to Virginia, climbing from takeoff on a rainy day until we "punched through" the cloud top, where the sunshine bounced off the top of the clouds.

The more I looked, the more I was amazed. I've flow a few times over the years, but never seen so vividly the bright white enormous puffy clouds agains a bright blue sky, with the second and third layers of clouds above.

I took pictures, a bunch, but couldn't capture that view of heaven in few megapixels.

And to imagine...that view is just a shadow of the reality...what a wonderful, majestic God. We see rain, he sees light.

The horse is made ready for the day of battle

On a license plate traveling from Norfolk to Nags Head during Thanksgiving with the in-laws there was a scripture reference to Ps 27.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" Ps. 27:14,

But in case we wonder what to do while we wait....a few verses earlier David talks about
..."dwelling in the house of the Lord"....v. 4
..."gazing on the beauty of the Lord",....v4.
...."seeking him in the temple"...v4.
...."your face o Lord will I seek"...v.8
...."being taught"...v11

I know these are simple opportunities I could enjoy more than I do. Later in the trip, David (the brother in law) said he really found fishing peaceful. I went out to fish and realized what some of the disciples must have known...part of fishing is prepapring the nets (or the poles), part is casting, but a pretty good portion of it all is ....waiting.

One of my friends sent me a similar verse today

"The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
but victory rests with the LORD." Pr 21:31

There were times of tears, times of worship, and times of openess and grieved hearts. Not all rosey, but definitely worth the trip. When I got back, I got to show the children some of the first pictures they ever saw of many of their relatives.

For the record

She said no,
I called and asked to open the gate...she did not
I tried to provide leadership to my daughters on a small remodel project,
she mocked my description as a crazy request (using gestures) as all the children looked to her for the "right response"

I told her how that made it difficult for me, because while I did not want to be a dictator, or protect my name, I thought it was important for the children to respect leadership and not second guess authority. She said they loved authority, as long as it was from Jesus. Jesus is that you knocking? Does she get to decide? I really was only trying to provided my daughter a leadership opportunity.

I asked to take my children on a hike, she said she had plans, but I could take them in a two hour window that was left on a Saturday after all her plans for the day (from 1:30 to 3:30). They were going to a music recital that I was obviously not invited to, or allowed to go to.

Is it surrender, leadership or wait and watch, create in me a clean heart O Lord.