Summer
Awwww summer….you have finally arrived. And you’ve brought your barbeques and swim parties and sunburns and Thursday night markets and walks to the creek and fruit salads and cold showers and 100 degree highs and 80 degree lows with you.
Although the heat can be uncomfortable at times, summers in Chico are certainly one-of-a-kind.


Mmmmm….blueberries

Word of the Day
And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” - Mark 1:40-41 (emphasis mine)
The man with leprosy had no doubt in Jesus’ ability to heal him, but his willingness.
I can just see Jesus’ face after the man says, “If you are willing…” Jesus gently shakes his head in disbelief, reaches out to grab the man’s shoulders, looks him square in the eyes as tears fill his own and says, “I am willing. Of course I am willing! You are my child! You are my creation! I love you more than you will ever understand! I have come to this earth and taken this body only to die for you! Of course I am willing. Be cleansed!” So beautiful!
I pray for a new helping of faith today. Not only to believe in God’s abilities, but in his willingness. I may feel unworthy of His love and blessings and grace and healing, but through Christ I am made worthy - and God is willing.
Unemployed

Love & Time
“They could not remember a time, until now, that forever didn’t seem long enough”


You hear it all the time….
Time goes by so fast….
Remember these moments because they grow up so fast….
Just wait until you’re my age, then time will reeeeally go by fast…
But I don’t want it to go by fast.
I’m in no hurry to see my little boy grow up. When I catch myself saying something like, “I can’t wait until he’s crawling or I can’t wait until he’s walking or I can’t wait until he starts playing soccer or little league” I stop myself. I know those moments are going to get here fast enough with out me willing it so. And instead of enjoying what B is doing right now, I can so easily become focused on all the awesome things I hope he’ll get to do in the future.
But I don’t want the future to get here any faster than it should. I want to experience every hour, every day, every year in the precise amount of time that they require.
Lord, help me to live intentionally. Help me to recognize a seemingly mundane moment as something to be cherished and remembered. Help me to be present. Help me to remember what’s truly important; that playing with my son or taking the time to cuddle with him when he’s teething or overtired is vastly more important than the next item on my to-do list. Father, please continually reorder my mindset and my priorities, because I don’t want to look back on this time and think, “man, that went by so fast that it almost feels more like a dream than real life.”
Remind me of what truly matters God and help me to fully live.
Amen