If Not

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Do you find yourself in a place where the days are growing long and you are growing weary? Are you at the point where you would do anything for a short reprieve? In more simple terms: are you desperate? "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28 These moments or seasons of desperation can take many forms, often in a time of waiting. Waiting for a mate. Waiting for a job. Waiting for an illness or disability to improve or disappear. Waiting for your husband to change. Waiting for YOU to change. So much of the Christian life is played out in this...

It always seems to me That when I get a glimpse And see The man that you have come To be I stop, to catch my breath It was more than enough Or so it seemed To find what you can Only in dreams And yet much more have I Still gleaned From knowing you, my love You captured me with wit And smile Led confidently through Each trial Your strength was growing All the while I've known it all along

Growing up, I had fond memories of my dad singing. He sang in church, in the car, at the table, while he worked, and when he put us down for bed at night. One song I vividly remember was "I want to Be Just Like You" by Phillips Craig & Dean. (My parents listened to the best of the Christian 90s music. . . Rich Mullins, Point of Grace, etc. So many synthesizers. But so good.) Anyway, "I want to Be Just Like You" was a song about a father looking to imitate Jesus so that his son could have a godly example. (I think Rodney Atkins stole this idea some years later.) The chorus ends with "I want to be just like you because he wants to be like me."  The words of this song have been swirling through my head the past few days as I've hit a similar realization with Esther. She wants so badly to do everything I do... exactly how I do it. All the way down the the phrases and mannerisms. It is humbling and frighting at times. As she has recently entered...