Poor Marshmallows!

A friend of mine has a great post on his new blog. Please read and enjoy. It's amazing how we go thru these rants and raves as followers of Jesus. We're right - you're wrong. You're so wrong we're going to lock you away. No wait, that's not enough... we'll kill you. As Tim says, "Labeling someone a heretic, a witch or a pagan and burning, boiling, flaying, drawing, quartering or drowning them (not enough room to list all the fun we've had with heretics, witches and pagans) is a sport developed by the church..."

But Tim's point (and the genesis of his post) is this is not a phenomenon of ancient church history. The attitude and what it turns into still happens today. Whether it's the gay marriage issue or abortion, Christian can appear to hate as much as we love. Those issues are incredibly important to deal with but the way in which we deal with them says as much about what it means to follow Jesus as does speaking out.

I'd like to be known as a person of love much more than a person that is right. I hope I am gracious and merciful more than I am known for what I say. I guess I hope I can be a little like Jesus...

And on the seventh day...

Since my last post my family and I spent a wonderful week on spring break in Mexico. Near a little town called Puerto Penasco at the top of the Gulf of California. It was an amazing, relaxing week. My kids had the opportunity to see the ocean for the first time. No TV. Simply play in the sand all day. Look for shells. I got the chance to go sea kayaking every day for several hours. What a great time!

It really reminded me of the importance of rest. Except for holiday times, we hadn’t had a vacation together in over 2 years (since the summer of 2003). Oh, we had plenty of good reasons why not. Our youngest was born during the summer of 2004. My job is extremely busy during the summer (9 months worth of work essentially “happen” during the 3 months of the summer) and our local schools started right during that time in 2005. Those are valid excuses – not reasons. We need breaks. Time away. Time to recharge. Time to get off the hamster wheel as a family and just be. Incredibly valuable time. I needed that time. I now know my family needs that time too.

I guess God knew what He was doing instituting the Sabbath. A time of rest. Amen.