We’ve sung this song by John Marc McMillan at church the past two weeks called “How He Loves Us.”   It’s some very powerful, truth-filled lyrics about the indescribable love that God has for us.   Not to mention, it’s the first song I’ve ever heard “Sloppy Wet Kiss” fit in as a lyric.  

I’ve been moved this week to just seek my Savior in a new, very deliberate way.  My posts from a few weeks ago are very much still in the fore-front of my mind as I continue on this journey into the new and unknown.   We are what has begun to feel like just days away from meeting the heavenly gift in our son – and I can’t imagine the feeling that I will be experiencing during that moment when I get to first hold him.   Even now, the gift of just getting to feel a tiny kick has begun to really blow my mind on the love of God, as being seen through this child, that the day he is born is just going to be unbelievable.

As we were driving home tonight, along Clyo Rd, we had two deer jump out in front of us.   One galloped in the median along side of us.   I screamed out the moment I saw them, they were right there.   I’ve heard of just one deer vs vehicle accident that the  deer didn’t go down with out massively damaging the car.    But even in that fear, I was still singing from church “OH…how he love us.”   And as we gotten home I’ve really gotten to just sit in front of the lyrics again, I feel like our afflictions (distress) were eclipsed by His Glory tonight especially, and what a wonderful feeling that is.

I pray that wherever you are, no matter the stage of life, no matter the road your on – that your afflictions (pains, sufferings, and distressed) are being hidden by His glory.

Here’s the song:

Last weekend my dad, brother, and I went on father-son backpacking trip for the first time ever.  We had done a lot together with scouts, but never just the three of us.  My brother asked us to plan a trip as our Christmas present to him, so we said sure.   It was exciting to plan and do.  I hadn’t been backpacking since Glacier in 2004.    Kind of sad I know, but nonetheless life has been busy and taken me some other directions.    I was excited to spend the weekend with these men, to talk about life and just hang.   We don’t always do that enough. 

We made a game-time switch in plans and header east instead of south, away from the rain, and ended up at Raccoon Creek State Park in PA, just north of Pittsburg.   It seemed like a quiet park, but had a nice loop around the outer edge of it that would give us a 20-mile loop to hike around over the three days there.   The hills were much smaller, but for a group of guys who hadn’t been backpacking for a few years, it was more than enough.

We rolled into the park around 1:30, and were on the trail by 2 Friday.   We hiked 7 miles to camp that night.   It was a good hike.   My brother is in as best shape as any of us, and had no problem leading the pack.   The climbs challenged me and dad, but we made to camp before dark, and ate a hearty helping of instant mash potatoes, stuffing, and canned chicken.   We had a small fire, but ended up getting ready for bed at 8:00 as the sun had finally passed down over the top of the ridge.  

None of us had been sleeping well.   We had been laying on hard floor of an Adirondack (a three-sided shelter) for nearly four hours, and each of had probably been awake more than we had slept.     At one point I asked dad the time, hoping that the night was almost over.

“It’s 12:20”

“Nooooo!” It was like the worst answer I thought I could have gotten.  I was in shock.    The night was still young, which means we still had six more hours before we could even get up and begin hiking. 

I think I finally fell asleep, but they didn’t much.   My brother stayed up by the fire all night to keep warm, and by morning we decided that the best thing for us would be to hike out early.   4.5 miles later, we were at the car by 10:30.  All in all we did roughly half the trail, but had some great laughs along the way.   Can’t wait to go again.

On the way home, we stopped by the Warther Carving Museum in Dover, Ohio which was simply amazing.   

I was sent this video about two weeks ago, and keep thinking about.   Not just from what I have heard about Africa, but in a lot things.     I live in a world where I constantly find joy in meeting my wants & desire, when so many around me are struggling to meet their needs.    I think there’s a lot of things in the video below that I need to focus on.