DON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN

My work van has a remote starter, which is pretty awesome this time of year. Being able to stand in the warmth of my house on a blustery winter morning, push a button that starts the vehicle, and then climb into a warm van 10 minutes later is pretty cool. When the vehicle starts the horn honks, the engine fires up, starts rumbling, and the parking lights stay on. The process is anything but subtle.

The past few mornings have gone like this - I start my van and continue getting ready for the day. After brushing my teeth, I grab my lunch box and head out the door. The van is parked outside in front of the garage door. Opening the garage door is a squeaky operation when it’s frigidly cold. Walking around the front of the rumbling vehicle, each footstep crunches on the frozen snow. One particular morning as I stepped toward the driver’s door, a scared rabbit darted out from under the hedges…which, in turn, startled me. I laughed it off, thinking to myself how weird it was that the rabbit didn’t scare away from the other commotion happening around it.

The same thing happened the next morning, and I was startled yet again. Day three, you ask? Yes, and both the rabbit and I jumped…again. Eventually, the rabbit wised up and found a different bush to sleep under - I’m glad it did because I’m not sure how much more my nerves could handle.

Romans 7:14-17 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong, it is sin living in me that does it.

TAKE IT ALL IN

Hello winter! You know, the time of the year when it’s dark when you leave the house for work in the morning and dark when you get home too. Yesterday morning I drove an hour and a half southeast to a job site that I’ve been to many times. The area is very scenic and because I’m heading southeast in the morning, it also means I’m driving directly into the sunrise.

The first 30 minutes of the drive was busy as I weaved my way through traffic in the dark. Soon I was out of the city limits and ready for a casual drive for the next hour. While heading down the highway I noticed the horizon was starting to get light as sunrise was nearing. A heavy line of clouds was drifting east toward the horizon and it appeared as though it was going to block out the sun. Good news for me because I don’t care to spend the next hour driving directly into the low hanging winter sun. A short time later, the line of clouds was just about to the horizon and the sun was just starting to pierce the earth’s crest. I love sunrises, and this one was quickly turning into a beauty right before my eyes!

Realizing this was going to keep my attention for a while, I figured it would be safer to pull off the highway and enjoy it. As the sky turned a glowing powder blue, the clouds started to change from gray to orange. Soon the sky was a brilliant amber and the clouds were turning pink. The horizon skyline narrowed as the clouds drifted closer the edge. The clouds took on different shades of purple and were cascading down to a burning pink line at the horizon.

This would look a lot better at the Omni Theater

I whipped out my phone and began taking pictures. Looking at the sunrise, then at the pictures on my phone, then back up to the massive sky, I realized it was impossible to capture what my eyes were seeing so I decided to put the phone back in my pocket and just take it in. Ten minutes later it was all over, and I was back on the road. Sometimes, we need to put everything aside and just take in the moment.

Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.