Dear Sons and Sunshine,
I was thinking about connecting the dots. I have said to you often that all things are connected and although I believe that, I know that, I often forget it nonetheless. You remember the story of Joseph revealing himself to his brothers? Judah connects the dots…He confesses that all the calamity, is because of what they had done to Joseph all those years before. He connects the dots. He then does two things that when I read them brings me to tears. First, he confesses the evil he had done. God is so gracious and long-suffering with us. Look at how many years it took to bring Judah to repentance…and yet theLord never forsook him. And then, he offers himself for Benjamin…Judah’s life for Benjamin’s life. He offers himself as the substitute for his sins and the sins of his brothers that another might be set free. Judah finally becomes the true picture of his greater descendant, our Lord Jesus.
I see in Judah, God’s kind work of grace and I pray that for you; The work of grace that teaches us not simply to know the gospel of God, but to live the gospel, to have the reality of Jesus coming out of our mouths, our hands and our feet. And I am thankful for the Lord’s long-term approach with us all. But I also stand in wonder at how the Lord weaves our stories into His greater story and how He connects all the dots of our lives so that they will be a testimony to one thing, His glory in the salvation of sinners…God’s glory in your story and mine.
I love you all and miss you deeply.
May your father’s God bless you and keep you.
Dad
Friday, August 10, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Christ As Bigger Than Our Storms
Mark 4:33-41
With many such parables hespoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his owndisciples he explained everything. 35 On that day, when evening hadcome, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as hewas. And other boats were with him. 37 And a grea twindstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he wasin the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Bestill!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Sons and Sunshine,
It is good to be back home. Being away for longer periods of time gives one an appreciation of God's work in far away places, His word of creation and redemption, but coming home gives a renewed sense of the story He is writing in your own life, and for this renewed sense I am grateful.
I was thinking of you all when I heard this passaged preached while I was away. The disciples had advantages the others did not have. Jesus spoke to them differently, as we read he explained everything (34) but only to his disciples did he do this. So there was knowledge of Jesus. He called them to follow Him, which they did, (35) and He brought them into intimacy with Him, as He did for no others. (36) They had knowledge, obedience, and intimacy. Often times it seems we Christians can be pretty pompous with that information. We have knowledge of Jesus, we are following Him and He is with us always. But what happens next? Storms. One might be tempted to think that this is not to happen with those who are close to Him, that we are immune from suffering, fear, and loneliness, but that is not the case. They were afraid of the storm, those disciples, but they were MORE afraid after Jesus calmed it, afraid of Him. Sons and my dear Sunshine, Jesus must be bigger than the storms and He brings them so that we might learn that, as all disciples must. As great as the storms are, and as painful, as frustrating and confusing, Jesus works in their midst so that we are more afraid of Him, of displeasing Him, of being away from Him, of doing things our own way, than we are of any and all the circumstances that He allows to come. Did you ever wonder why or rather how Jesus could sleep in a storm? He knows He will not die in this storm, and He knows that because He knows how he WILL die...on a cross, outside of Jerusalem. He will accomplish the salvation of sinners and nothing is going to stop that, and because He knows redemption is His purpose, He is at peace in the most difficult of surroundings. You too must rest and be at peace. Nothing can stop or thwart the redemption Jesus has won for you, nothing.
I am reading a massive novel called A Father's Tale. It is of a father going to Russia to find his missing son, it is powerful for many reasons. I have learned a lot about the Russian Church and our brothers and sisters in that land. In the story I read of a Russian Orthodox priest and a Roman Catholic priest who met in a communist prison camp where they were tortured for years. I realize this quote loses something if you are unfamiliar with the story, but I wept through this section:
Because he had obeyed the call of God, because he had been willing to lose his life, he had gained his life.” “Not without suffering.” “Not without unimaginable suffering. Life always has a cost, you see. For him it cost not only the years of imprisonment, the loss of the monastery, and all he had worked for as a young monk, but the destruction of his brethren as well. This was the most terrible suffering of all. It cast him into the test that had afflicted the bishops and metropolitans. Should they have compromised in order to save the lives of the flock? Or should they not have compromised, thus condemning the flock to more severe persecution and possibly extinction? Now he asked these questions of himself. Was the blood of his brothers upon his head? Had his pilgrimage to speak the truth in Moscow been an act of disguised spiritual pride? Had others been forced to pay for his heroic gesture? With many such questions did the devil torment him.”
Sons and Sunshine, there will be suffering, for their must be. And it isn't always so easy to know what the Lord requires of us in the storms...it just isn't so simply. So we must, you must, and I must, keep Him close, very close, we cannot afford for a moment to stray, or to wander.
I love you all, and miss you with my heart.
May your father's God bless you and keep you.
Dad
PS-Always remember, whenever Satan cannot entice you into direct evil, he will try to allure you into passive evil.
With many such parables hespoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his owndisciples he explained everything. 35 On that day, when evening hadcome, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as hewas. And other boats were with him. 37 And a grea twindstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he wasin the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Bestill!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Sons and Sunshine,
It is good to be back home. Being away for longer periods of time gives one an appreciation of God's work in far away places, His word of creation and redemption, but coming home gives a renewed sense of the story He is writing in your own life, and for this renewed sense I am grateful.
I was thinking of you all when I heard this passaged preached while I was away. The disciples had advantages the others did not have. Jesus spoke to them differently, as we read he explained everything (34) but only to his disciples did he do this. So there was knowledge of Jesus. He called them to follow Him, which they did, (35) and He brought them into intimacy with Him, as He did for no others. (36) They had knowledge, obedience, and intimacy. Often times it seems we Christians can be pretty pompous with that information. We have knowledge of Jesus, we are following Him and He is with us always. But what happens next? Storms. One might be tempted to think that this is not to happen with those who are close to Him, that we are immune from suffering, fear, and loneliness, but that is not the case. They were afraid of the storm, those disciples, but they were MORE afraid after Jesus calmed it, afraid of Him. Sons and my dear Sunshine, Jesus must be bigger than the storms and He brings them so that we might learn that, as all disciples must. As great as the storms are, and as painful, as frustrating and confusing, Jesus works in their midst so that we are more afraid of Him, of displeasing Him, of being away from Him, of doing things our own way, than we are of any and all the circumstances that He allows to come. Did you ever wonder why or rather how Jesus could sleep in a storm? He knows He will not die in this storm, and He knows that because He knows how he WILL die...on a cross, outside of Jerusalem. He will accomplish the salvation of sinners and nothing is going to stop that, and because He knows redemption is His purpose, He is at peace in the most difficult of surroundings. You too must rest and be at peace. Nothing can stop or thwart the redemption Jesus has won for you, nothing.
I am reading a massive novel called A Father's Tale. It is of a father going to Russia to find his missing son, it is powerful for many reasons. I have learned a lot about the Russian Church and our brothers and sisters in that land. In the story I read of a Russian Orthodox priest and a Roman Catholic priest who met in a communist prison camp where they were tortured for years. I realize this quote loses something if you are unfamiliar with the story, but I wept through this section:
Because he had obeyed the call of God, because he had been willing to lose his life, he had gained his life.” “Not without suffering.” “Not without unimaginable suffering. Life always has a cost, you see. For him it cost not only the years of imprisonment, the loss of the monastery, and all he had worked for as a young monk, but the destruction of his brethren as well. This was the most terrible suffering of all. It cast him into the test that had afflicted the bishops and metropolitans. Should they have compromised in order to save the lives of the flock? Or should they not have compromised, thus condemning the flock to more severe persecution and possibly extinction? Now he asked these questions of himself. Was the blood of his brothers upon his head? Had his pilgrimage to speak the truth in Moscow been an act of disguised spiritual pride? Had others been forced to pay for his heroic gesture? With many such questions did the devil torment him.”
Sons and Sunshine, there will be suffering, for their must be. And it isn't always so easy to know what the Lord requires of us in the storms...it just isn't so simply. So we must, you must, and I must, keep Him close, very close, we cannot afford for a moment to stray, or to wander.
I love you all, and miss you with my heart.
May your father's God bless you and keep you.
Dad
PS-Always remember, whenever Satan cannot entice you into direct evil, he will try to allure you into passive evil.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
In the Name of God, Set Up Your Banners
Dear Sons andSunshine,
Many different thoughts and feelings running through my mind, especially when I can’t send them to you more often than I am able during this week, “at sea”. But I was reading to Mom the Psalms and came across this one, “May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans. May we shout for joy over Your salvation and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.” Psalm 2:4-5
You are all in aplace of knowing your heart’s desires and making and chasing plans, perhaps wonderinga bit, “what does all of this mean…what will come of these days?” I think the middle part of David’swords are the most important: “…May we shout for joy over Your Salvation…”Regardless of the plans, regardless of the day’s circumstances and even regardless of all that we don’t know, that we can’t figure out, we can rejoice over the salvation of our God! We can rejoice that we know that all things are working for and toward that end, rejoicing! Being glad, for our God has known us, He has come to us and made us lovely. I was thinking about that time when the disciples all came back so excited because the demons had to obey them whenthey speak in the name of Jesus. Jesus tells them in effect, yea, yea, that is great, but what you should be rejoicing in this; that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. Those other things change, life changes, and it is not all so rosy, but this never changes; the Lord our God has claimed us. Our hearts can desire…we can make our plans, but all are in the shadows of God’s great salvation. That is why you can pray your petitions as David says with confidence.
Sons and Sunshine, I pray the Lord will fulfill all your petitions. But more than that, that you will set up your banner, the flag that defines who you are, Whose you are and what your purpose is, in the name of our God. I love you all and miss you deeply.
May your father’s God bless you and keep you.
Dad
Saturday, July 28, 2012
"Look, He Comes, leaping upon the Mountains"
Sons and Sunshine,
It is early here and the house is quite. I was thinking about a couple of verses this morning, perhaps they are not directly related but nonetheless rattling around in my mind. In the Song of Solomon 2:8 we read, "The voice of my beloved, look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains bounding over the hills." I am convinced that the Song is about romantic love between a man and woman but it also has poetic application to the love of Christ for His Bride. Mountains and hills are often used in the Bible as a reference to our troubles, hardships and difficulties. I love the thought of Christ leaping and bounding over all our troubles to get to us, to get to those He loves. One of the most sad scenes in Braveheart is when Muren is strapped to the post about to be killed and she looks to the hills for her savior...but he doesn't come. Ours always does. He will come. Sons, and my dear Sunshine, we must sing with the Psalmist: "I lift up my eyes to the hills. from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made the heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved he who keeps you will not slumber." (Psalm 121:1-2)
The other verse is from Psalm 4, "But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him." Dear ones, He has made you godly, His blood, His sacrifice has placed you into the reality of righteous, holy and godly. And then, He has taken your lives and set them apart for His purposes, His joys, to do what He desires. That is why the Lord hears when we call to HIm, that is why the Lord hears when YOU call to Him; You are His, body and soul, He has made is so, and now He has purpose for you, workman who need not be ashamed. So, it doesn't matter how small or seemingly insignificant the task might seem, or who sees, you live, you work, you play, you laugh, you cry, you serve, for the One who has set you apart, and that which is unexplainable is that there is joy in this like there is in nothing else in this world...to be, what He has made us to be, set apart for our King.
Mom and I board tomorrow, I have been told there may be little to no electronic communications available...please know that even if you don't hear from me through the marvels of technology, the Lord will hear your names from my mouth daily and your mother and I keep you in our hearts.
May your father's God bless you and keep you.
Dad
It is early here and the house is quite. I was thinking about a couple of verses this morning, perhaps they are not directly related but nonetheless rattling around in my mind. In the Song of Solomon 2:8 we read, "The voice of my beloved, look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains bounding over the hills." I am convinced that the Song is about romantic love between a man and woman but it also has poetic application to the love of Christ for His Bride. Mountains and hills are often used in the Bible as a reference to our troubles, hardships and difficulties. I love the thought of Christ leaping and bounding over all our troubles to get to us, to get to those He loves. One of the most sad scenes in Braveheart is when Muren is strapped to the post about to be killed and she looks to the hills for her savior...but he doesn't come. Ours always does. He will come. Sons, and my dear Sunshine, we must sing with the Psalmist: "I lift up my eyes to the hills. from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made the heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved he who keeps you will not slumber." (Psalm 121:1-2)
The other verse is from Psalm 4, "But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him." Dear ones, He has made you godly, His blood, His sacrifice has placed you into the reality of righteous, holy and godly. And then, He has taken your lives and set them apart for His purposes, His joys, to do what He desires. That is why the Lord hears when we call to HIm, that is why the Lord hears when YOU call to Him; You are His, body and soul, He has made is so, and now He has purpose for you, workman who need not be ashamed. So, it doesn't matter how small or seemingly insignificant the task might seem, or who sees, you live, you work, you play, you laugh, you cry, you serve, for the One who has set you apart, and that which is unexplainable is that there is joy in this like there is in nothing else in this world...to be, what He has made us to be, set apart for our King.
Mom and I board tomorrow, I have been told there may be little to no electronic communications available...please know that even if you don't hear from me through the marvels of technology, the Lord will hear your names from my mouth daily and your mother and I keep you in our hearts.
May your father's God bless you and keep you.
Dad
Friday, July 27, 2012
A God that Grabs us by the Hair
Sons and Sunshine,
A few years ago when mom and I were in the Vatican Museum we saw a very famous sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. I didn't think too much of it then only that I knew it was famous but I was reading this week a description of it that really sunk in, I wish I would have thought about it when we were there. The sculpture is of the prophet Habakkuk and an angel. The prophet is holding a packed bag, kind of like a suitcase as if he is traveling somewhere, and his movement is forward, as if he is going somewhere in a hurry. However the angel has grabbed him by the hair, as if lifting him to heaven. "There is something about that image that is so apropos to us. Some of us are very much on our own way, walking in a very different direction than God would have us walk. We need to be redirected, to be pulled by the hair, if you will, up into the heavens to see what Habakkuk saw (1:1)—a vision of God. For only a vision of the triune God can produce this kind of faith, this living, walking, moving forward, lifted high, trust-in-God-even-in-adversity kind of faith." (Douglas Sean O'Donnell)
I can think of many times in my own life where the grace of God has grabbed me by the hair, so to speak, because I have set off on my own way or to do His work in my own way. I think of each of you and can see the same grace of our kind Father. That grace that has had to wound you to heal you, to halt your progress so that you might look heavenward and see the narrow path that faith calls us to walk. I am thankful for those kind wounds in my life and I am thankful for them in yours. Those are the kind of blows that we praise Him for, that we realize were necessary and that we shudder to think what might have happened if He were not so kind as to grab us by the hair and cause us to look heavenward.
I love you deeply...this day the reality of being away from you seems thick, but I commit you again to our Father's care.
May your father's God bless you.
Dad
GK. Chesterton once said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
A few years ago when mom and I were in the Vatican Museum we saw a very famous sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. I didn't think too much of it then only that I knew it was famous but I was reading this week a description of it that really sunk in, I wish I would have thought about it when we were there. The sculpture is of the prophet Habakkuk and an angel. The prophet is holding a packed bag, kind of like a suitcase as if he is traveling somewhere, and his movement is forward, as if he is going somewhere in a hurry. However the angel has grabbed him by the hair, as if lifting him to heaven. "There is something about that image that is so apropos to us. Some of us are very much on our own way, walking in a very different direction than God would have us walk. We need to be redirected, to be pulled by the hair, if you will, up into the heavens to see what Habakkuk saw (1:1)—a vision of God. For only a vision of the triune God can produce this kind of faith, this living, walking, moving forward, lifted high, trust-in-God-even-in-adversity kind of faith." (Douglas Sean O'Donnell)
I can think of many times in my own life where the grace of God has grabbed me by the hair, so to speak, because I have set off on my own way or to do His work in my own way. I think of each of you and can see the same grace of our kind Father. That grace that has had to wound you to heal you, to halt your progress so that you might look heavenward and see the narrow path that faith calls us to walk. I am thankful for those kind wounds in my life and I am thankful for them in yours. Those are the kind of blows that we praise Him for, that we realize were necessary and that we shudder to think what might have happened if He were not so kind as to grab us by the hair and cause us to look heavenward.
I love you deeply...this day the reality of being away from you seems thick, but I commit you again to our Father's care.
May your father's God bless you.
Dad
GK. Chesterton once said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Do Not Forget; Remember
Sons and Sunshine,
You have heard me tell you before how often the Bible tells us to not forget, or in the positive, to remember. Have you ever thought of why the concept of remembering is so important? I think that among many reasons is that forgetfulness is not neutral. We treat forgetting as a light thing, kind of like going 5 mph over the speed limit. (Well, not you Seth, since you not be driving for a gazillion months) A failure to remember is a death sentence and we see it in the Bible over and over again. When Israel forgot the next thing they did was to replace God with idols. And usually, Israel forget and fell into idolatry because of WHAT they forgot, namely, who they were and to Whom they belonged. They wanted to be like the world around them, they wanted to be like the Canaanites, after all, they were having so much fun. This little thing, forgetting, led them to apostatize because they want to be acceptable to their surrounding culture and they wanted, literally the culture around them to accept them.
Sons, and my dear Sunshine, do not forget:
Do not forget the cost that your God was willing to pay to buy you back (redeem) from darkness and death.
Do not forget the Savior, who willingly suffered that you might know the riches of His kingdom.
Do not forget, you have the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, call upon Him...Cry out to Him...He never leaves you, please do not forget that.
Do not forget the faith of your mother. There is no one that I know who takes the Lord and His calling more seriously than she...imitate her.
Do not forget the love of your father. He is not a great man, but his love for you and for you soul...is.
Do not forget your dear brothers and sisters. Time away will help you realize how wonderful they are, how blessed we have been and how enriched
our lives are because of them all.
Do not forget the little Skogens. They too have lost with your leaving, and although they will probably never say, wow do I miss Joey, Seth and Annie, they
feel the vacancy and you know the formative power you have each had in their lives.
Do not forget that the Lord has taken each of you where He has, not for YOU, but for Him. You are to serve HIM, you are to seek HIS pleasure, and you are to do so with every emotional, physical, spiritual bone in your body, nothing else will be enough.
I am missing you already.
May your father's God bless you greatly,
Dad
You have heard me tell you before how often the Bible tells us to not forget, or in the positive, to remember. Have you ever thought of why the concept of remembering is so important? I think that among many reasons is that forgetfulness is not neutral. We treat forgetting as a light thing, kind of like going 5 mph over the speed limit. (Well, not you Seth, since you not be driving for a gazillion months) A failure to remember is a death sentence and we see it in the Bible over and over again. When Israel forgot the next thing they did was to replace God with idols. And usually, Israel forget and fell into idolatry because of WHAT they forgot, namely, who they were and to Whom they belonged. They wanted to be like the world around them, they wanted to be like the Canaanites, after all, they were having so much fun. This little thing, forgetting, led them to apostatize because they want to be acceptable to their surrounding culture and they wanted, literally the culture around them to accept them.
Sons, and my dear Sunshine, do not forget:
Do not forget the cost that your God was willing to pay to buy you back (redeem) from darkness and death.
Do not forget the Savior, who willingly suffered that you might know the riches of His kingdom.
Do not forget, you have the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, call upon Him...Cry out to Him...He never leaves you, please do not forget that.
Do not forget the faith of your mother. There is no one that I know who takes the Lord and His calling more seriously than she...imitate her.
Do not forget the love of your father. He is not a great man, but his love for you and for you soul...is.
Do not forget your dear brothers and sisters. Time away will help you realize how wonderful they are, how blessed we have been and how enriched
our lives are because of them all.
Do not forget the little Skogens. They too have lost with your leaving, and although they will probably never say, wow do I miss Joey, Seth and Annie, they
feel the vacancy and you know the formative power you have each had in their lives.
Do not forget that the Lord has taken each of you where He has, not for YOU, but for Him. You are to serve HIM, you are to seek HIS pleasure, and you are to do so with every emotional, physical, spiritual bone in your body, nothing else will be enough.
I am missing you already.
May your father's God bless you greatly,
Dad
The Greatness of Our God
Sons and Sunshine, July 23, 2012
Half of my life is now or soon to be away from me, you have no idea how much a father's heart is made heavy when the Lord, in His everlasting mercy, brings such sanctifying, holy pain. So I have decided to write to the three of you, in the mornings, maybe not every morning, but many of them, my thoughts and my encouragements directed specifically to one half of the greatest blessings the Lord has been gracious to pour out upon me. (Ok, I admit it, this is probably more for me than for you, but please take the time to read them and to feel the heart of your dad, who is a bit sappy, corny and even silly, but whose heart is one with my children.) Some of my notes will be longer than others but between the lines are your father's prayers for your holiness, and the Holy Spirit's making your ready and leading you into holy warfare, for why else are we in this world.
I have been reading about the songs that are in the Bible, the songs our brothers and sisters of ages past, sang, the songs that were given by God Himself to be sung back to Him. There are a few characteristics of those songs, but chief among them is that they “make” God big. The greatness of God is their theme.
Read with me the song of Mary, Luke 1:46-55...go ahead get your bible, I will wait...
We call her song the Magnificat because that’s the first word of her song in the Latin translation. It means (as does the original Greek), “makes large.”That’s what Mary’s song is all about, setting God forth as a large, big God full of strength, justice, mercy, holiness, and faithfulness, this little-in-her-own-eyes teen-ager declares, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”
So, as you each embark on your journey's specific to each of you, but all with the same goal, here is what your father says to you: The first step, the first weapon to be garnered and kept close for all your battles is: The greatness of God. He is great because He sits above you and He is great because He is intimate with you. He is great because He rules the world and He is great because He knows and His Son has experienced each pain of loneliness that might be yours...and that is already mine. He is great because He knows not the wicked but confides, shares His heart, His purposes, His plans with those who fear Him and declare Him great in their lives.
May your father's God, bless you and keep you,
Dad
Half of my life is now or soon to be away from me, you have no idea how much a father's heart is made heavy when the Lord, in His everlasting mercy, brings such sanctifying, holy pain. So I have decided to write to the three of you, in the mornings, maybe not every morning, but many of them, my thoughts and my encouragements directed specifically to one half of the greatest blessings the Lord has been gracious to pour out upon me. (Ok, I admit it, this is probably more for me than for you, but please take the time to read them and to feel the heart of your dad, who is a bit sappy, corny and even silly, but whose heart is one with my children.) Some of my notes will be longer than others but between the lines are your father's prayers for your holiness, and the Holy Spirit's making your ready and leading you into holy warfare, for why else are we in this world.
I have been reading about the songs that are in the Bible, the songs our brothers and sisters of ages past, sang, the songs that were given by God Himself to be sung back to Him. There are a few characteristics of those songs, but chief among them is that they “make” God big. The greatness of God is their theme.
Read with me the song of Mary, Luke 1:46-55...go ahead get your bible, I will wait...
We call her song the Magnificat because that’s the first word of her song in the Latin translation. It means (as does the original Greek), “makes large.”That’s what Mary’s song is all about, setting God forth as a large, big God full of strength, justice, mercy, holiness, and faithfulness, this little-in-her-own-eyes teen-ager declares, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”
So, as you each embark on your journey's specific to each of you, but all with the same goal, here is what your father says to you: The first step, the first weapon to be garnered and kept close for all your battles is: The greatness of God. He is great because He sits above you and He is great because He is intimate with you. He is great because He rules the world and He is great because He knows and His Son has experienced each pain of loneliness that might be yours...and that is already mine. He is great because He knows not the wicked but confides, shares His heart, His purposes, His plans with those who fear Him and declare Him great in their lives.
May your father's God, bless you and keep you,
Dad
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