simply grateful

The story: We had just returned from a game drive at a nearby game reserve where we saw plenty of animals.  As we finished I was tipping the driver and Heather was walking with Karissa (our youngest) as the other two kids ran ahead to a nearby playground.  As I turned around I saw Makayla and Elijah already on the swings and a monkey trotting (do monkeys trot?) towards Makayla.  Initially I thought the monkey thought she had food and was going to beg for some.  However, when I saw it was going for her I was about 50 feet away and yelled "HEY, HEY!" to the monkey trying to distract it to no avail.  It ran up, grabbed her arm and bit her on the upper portion of her arm.  The bite punctured the skin in two places and could later clearly see a red imprint from where the monkey bit down.  The monkey, seeing me coming on fast, took off and I put myself between the monkey and the kids as Heather got them all away.  We yelled for some of the workers an...

I can imagine how he felt… Having just received news that he didn’t really understand..or like. Disappointed… Confused… Lonely even though he was with a dear Friend… Maybe even angry… Longing for different news… Sitting there…looking in His eyes…wondering why… I have always been intrigued by the story of Jesus restoring his relationship with Peter. Peter had failed Jesus by denying him three times. Jesus was on the shore seeking to reinstate one of his closest followers. He asked Peter three times if he loved him(Jesus). Of course, Peter responded in the affirmative. Peter may have failed the Lord, but it is clear through reading the gospels that Peter truly loved Jesus. Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep. Then, Jesus went on to basically tell Peter that things are not going to end well for him. Peter responded by looking around and seeing another disciple named John. After hearing the foreshadowing to his own life, he asked Jesus, “What about him?” And Jesus responde...

How about an animal skin for the new year?  I’m not big on New Years Resolutions, but I do like to take the end of each year and evaluate where I am at, what I need to change or start doing, and make some goals for the coming year.   One of my goals for this year is to read through the Bible again.   Being day number 1, I started off with the first three chapters of Genesis.  You are probably already aware that those chapters deal with the creation of the world and everything in it.  How appropriate that on the first day of the new year, I read of the first day ever!  I read of the creation account, including man and woman.  Of course, you are probably also aware that the first 3 chapters include what we call “The Fall of Man”, or the first sin.   Eve, seeing  “...that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise...” took its fruit and ate and gave some to her husban...