Palm Sunday, Good Friday

What a pleasant day we had last Sunday, Palm Sunday.

Our good friend and Pastor, Adam, preached a wonderful and challenging word at Riverwest Church. Referencing Mark 8 and focusing on Jesus' healing of a blind man in Bethsaida Adam challenged us to consider three prayers to humbly pray before the Lord.

1. 'I pray, Lord, that you reveal to me the problems with my spiritual vision.'

What are my 'blind spots'? This prayer begins with truly being humble before the Lord, a longing for the Holy Spirit to reveal what it is in our hearts that obstructs our vision of Christ and how we love and serve Him and those around us. Only with humility can we have a clear vision of His Love and Will and in this surrendering relationship can Christ show us his identity through Grace. And with what the Lord does reveal pray that He heals.

2. 'I pray, Lord, that you would help me understand how my blind spots are creating problems in my life.'

Surely Jesus was intentional taking a few steps to heal the man of his blindness. Why? Jesus asked about the state of the man's vision to challenge that man and us on precisely that; the state of our vision. Jesus asks us 'What do you see? Is something improved? Does some impairment still exist?'. And we ask 'What do I want to see? Do I have a 'correct' vision/view of Christ?' Being our Lord and Savior Jesus can heal us without all the inquiry. But He wants an active relationship with each one of us. And He desires us to want an active relationship with Him as well. We need to look for patterns that provide a 'Gospel Gap' that impede a clear vision of the true Gospel. Jesus wants to dig deep and help us create a clear understanding of who He is, but again, we must want it and seek it.

3. 'I pray, Lord, that you would give me a clear vision and a deeper understanding of my blind spots with the Gospel at the heart.'
Today marks Good Friday. Christ's love for us was on full brutal display this day many years ago. His sacrificial love for us gives us every hope that we no longer are subject to our sin but are heirs saved by Christ's blood that we would glorify and praise Him forever. We ought not to want something, anything that would impede our relationship with Christ. His vision was clear for us.

A few side notes Adam made. In v8:14 Christ basically asks 'Why are you concerned about bread? I am the Bread of Life, do you not see!?' Some worldly 'breads' look pretty good and tasty, but beware. Don't miss the true Bread of Life.


After Church I took Daylon down to the park. We saw lots of airplanes and we both were super intrigued with sticks, wood chips and rocks. We were being boys getting our hands dirty. It was glorious and so much fun.

After wards Jeanne prepared a fantastic meal that included me enthusiastically firing up the BBQ! Uncle Josh came over, we all gorged, Daylon soon passed out for the night after his fun filled and exhausting day. But Jeanne, Josh and I continued our day playing a game of Ticket to Ride and a game of Acquire all the while filling our hollow legs with apple pie. I can easily say that this last Sunday was perfect.

Today, Good Friday, Christ's crucifixion day, a super dark and sobering day to say the very least. But Sunday, His resurrection day, an exuberant day to say the very least. We are looking forward to the party! Happy Easter everyone!

A Few Photos

A couple of weeks ago Jeanne, Daylon and I headed up to the Seattle area for the weekend. We celebrated Joandy's Carter turning one with a mega party! And we spent some fantastic quality time with my parents. There lives a cool little park just a few minutes away from where my folks live. My mom, Daylon and I ventured over there for a some playtime and pictures. Daylon digs swings (hinted at that in my previous post)! If left on a swing for just the right amount of time he gets pretty relaxed and sleepy. And Daylon rocked one of his wicked fun hats as well!

The next two photos are of Daylon from last week. The first is our little man throwing out a 'peaceful' gang sign from his happenin' car seat. The second photo is of him at one of his favorite spots at home; at the love seat playing with his cars. Notice in the second picture Daylon sporting new soccer gear!

A couple more of me and Daylon from last week playing around making faces. I really don't know where Daylon gets his goofiness. And he's wearing his Big Ed's Flap Jack Shack t-shirt. Yeah, splatter dabs! I love that shirt!

The Month of March

The last month has been busy.

Rob, Rachel and their boys came down the weekend of the 11th and what a weekend it was. Rob and I shared our birthday celebrations over some rad food adventures. Rob had a strong list of foods he wanted to try while he was here and I loved every one of his ideas. So we went with and off his list. And the girls were relieved not to worry about cooking =). A sampling of our conquests (Rob, chime in if I've missed something) :

- Pok Pok. Um, yes. If you haven't tried this place (related to the restaurant Ping), go. Go as soon as possible. Asian cuisine. And they have fantastic drinking vinegars. Sounds odd but they are goo-oood.
- Cheesecake Factory. For dessert. 'nough said.
- Sterling Coffee. Local roaster. Their cafe is next to Trader Joes up on 21st and Glisan.
- A birthday weekend wouldn't be complete without donuts from VooDoo. We had some buttermilk bars, Ol' Dirty Bastards (simple glazed donut with crumpled oreos on top drizzled with peanut butter) and a Memphis Mafia fritter (think the Dirty Bastard but with an apple fritter). Yes.
- Barista. They are a touch more expensive than Stumptown cafes but oh so worth it. Mochas with dark chocolate.
- PB&Js Grilled. Rob and Rachel's first experience with one of Jeanne's and my favorite food carts. A previous post of mine on the cart.

I think you all know that I run. Over the last year or so I've become pretty serious about it, enough to be consistently running 5 miles 4 to 5 times a week. Ironically running isn't something I find completely enjoyable by itself. Being in shape and healthy has always been important to me so stepping up the running regime was something I anticipated to be an eventuality for myself as I get older. But there are two things I have found that I do enjoy about running. First is the time it gives me one on one with the Lord in conversation and prayer. And second it gives me the ability to run in events such as the Hood to Coast last summer and most recently the Shamrock Run. How and why do I enjoy running races if I don't like running itself? Hmm, I don't know. I just do. I get cool shirts. Maybe that's why. I'm hopeful that I can participate in Hood to Coast again this summer and in the PDX marathon later this Fall. I guess there is a third thing I enjoy as a result of running. Jeanne digs the leg muscles.

The 25th marked Jeanne's and my 11th wedding anniversary. 11 years gone by way too fast. We left Daylon with Grandma for a night as Jeanne and I took off for the Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, Washington. The lodge is settled on a ridge above the Columbia River. The photo to the left doesn't do justice to the wonderful view the lodge provides. We really didn't do much except relax. We relaxed, ate some food, played some board games, relaxed some more, watched Cake Boss and slept. Grandma, thanks for watching our little man. And Jeanne. I love you. You are more beautiful to me every day. How could you possibly be with me? The Lord. All the Lord.

And finally, Daylon. He's getting so big. Coming up on 2 years old already!? Him and I go on walks often and if the weather permits we'll head down to the playground area by our home for some swinging and climbing on the Jungle Jim. We did so a few days ago, and as you can see from the video Daylon is swinging on his own (with super parental oversight of course). He was a little anxious but had fun!