You Have To Celebrate

Saturday morning was just one of those God ordained days.....

I went to bed Friday night between 1 and 2- we had a great football win which clinched the region championship. The only tough part was seeing one of my dearest brothers coaching on the other sideline and coming to tears over how much I miss him. It was a beautiful sight to see our players, parents, and students giving him hugs and well wishes. It was fun to see he and his son talking to reporters about coaching against each other. So I went to bed with my heart full....

I slept late... almost 8:00! I woke up happy because for the first time since school started, I did not have Saturday school! But from the time I opened my eyes until the time I went to sleep on Saturday, I just celebrated... it is a stream of consciousness.. it goes in pieces like this.

My opening prayer almost every morning is Gal 2:20- "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." It is a reminder that this day is a gift and my life is a gift- how do people really live without the good news of the grace of God?

I started the morning on my front porch- a cool part of our new house. The weather was fantastic- the right temp- the right amount of freshening breeze- the right cup of coffee- and my ipad.. I read from an app called Glo Bible- the first chapter of Ephesians- there was a cool phrase that made me stop. "- to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ" (Eph 1:10B).

I then read a few chapters in "Hope Unseen" the story of Capt. Scott Smiley who lost his sight in Iraq. Amazing story!

The celebration continued as I started out a morning run- I had my iphone in ipod mode and every song hit me just right:

One inspiring song has always been Bruce Springsteen's My City of Ruins... when he starts singing 'Gonna Rise Up' and .."with these hands..with these hands I pray Lord, I pray for the grace Lord..." it gets me going.

I was taking in the glory of a fall morning- crisp air, the backdop of a blue sky, the leaves of color- breathing and sweating and praising the Creator of such glory and joy!

Mile 2 the song by Casting Crowns 'Let my lifesong sing to You'. Mile 3 had some fun songs by Journey and the Cars. Everything felt orchestrated by the Maestro- He wanted me to feast and revel in His goodness- to suck the marrow out of life- and it is only a taste of what will come one day...

Lisa joined me for miles 3-6. It was a good time of enjoying the day- even though the hill at mile 5 was tough.

We had a great lunch of fried chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, and Edgar's cookies for dessert!

Then it was off to Samford for a 2:00 football kick-off. The beautiful weather stayed perfect and the pageantry of college football on a manicured campus is always vibrant. Saw good friends- saw my daughter Julie smile as big as Texas as she cheered.

We picked up the Pita Stop for dinner- chicken and steak kabobs. I had DVR'd the Bama game. And loved fast forwarding through the commercials. Trent Richardson's run in the 3rd quarter was amazing!

And finally, this tired guy got in bed... the peace in my heart- the joy on my face. My evening prayer always ends with Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to those who are in Christ Jesus."

Sunday morning... you get up excited to worship- how can I not?

I know that there are dark days that God ordains- I know there are just average days... but I loved every minute of last Saturday... You have to celebrate and you have to thank the Father... how can you not?

Thank you Lord for bringing it it all under the unity of Christ! I am a blessed man!