Tulsa, Stream in the Desert, and Pepperdine are now all in the rearview mirror. I loved each one, but I also love the sense of pressure being over. They all came in the wake of such an intense experience following the wreck. I am emotionally and spiritually drained.
I won’t be home for Sunday morning, but Highland people will be blessed by my absence! Probably the best lecture given here this year was by Randy Harris. He’s going to preach that message again Sunday morning at his home church (Highland). Once again it felt like God allowed the two of us to team up. He preached on Peter’s denial (John 18), and I spoke on his restoration (John 21).
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I have many answers to my question from yesterday. But here’s one of my answers: my mom. If I opened my eyes after incredible failure, I’d want to see her.
I’ve been nurtured for the 48 years of my life by an amazing woman. Articulate. Bright. Compassionate. Deep faith. And strong. Very, very strong.
I remember as a boy — maybe 12ish — hearing an older girl who lived next door say, “Your mom is the most beautiful woman I know.” I said, “Huh?” I’d never thought about that. She was a MOM, for crying out loud. But I later realized that she was right.
She has twice watched her sons grieve. People don’t often realize how great the grief of grandparents is. But they get hit twice: they suffer the loss of a grandchild and then they have to watch their own child hurt. Mom’s been through this twice.
Since retiring as a newspaper editor, she has been active in mission work, going several times for extended stays in the Ukraine. Now she’s back in the classroom, taking Spanish at the local college.
One of the greatest blessings of my life is that I am my mother’s son.
Happy Mother’s Day.
Tonight I preach on John 21.
Let me ask you this. If you had just done the unthinkable, if you had just come to your senses and realized what a mess you’d made of your life . . . and if you were lying on your back, eyes closed in anguish wishing it were only a dream . . . and then if you opened your eyes . . . whose face would you like to see?
Happy 05-05-05. We only get a dozen of these (triple dates) per century, so enjoy!
I’m here in Malibu, trying to be quiet at 4:00 in the morning West Coast time. Others are sleeping — either that or they are in their rooms trying to be quiet so they don’t wake others up.
Many things to look forward to today, but I’m especially glad to be able to go to dinner with my parents. They came here two years ago for the first time. The Pepperdine lectureship is like the old Lay’s potato chips commercial: “Bet you can’t attend just once.”
Have a great Cinco de Mayo. Que la gracia del Senor sea con ustedes para siempre.
Here’s an article I wrote in the Christian Standard about Megan. (Also, go read the 16th comment to yesterday’s blog. After you read Courtney’s note, go hug your kids!)
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Fifteen days until “Revenge of the Sith.” May the Fourth be with you.
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Off to Malibu. Sweet! (Weather permitting, of course. Thankfullly, we’re having lots of rain in Abilene right now.)
Yesterday was a big day at our house: Chris was able to go to school for the first time since the wreck (Jan. 16) without a wheelchair.
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Years ago when we were trying to produce a good, welcoming brochure to Highland, the ministers met around a table to go through as many from other churches as we could. I looked through one from Louisville, went through several more, and then came to one in Little Rock. I said, “Can someone hand me that one from Louisville again?”
We held them side-by-side. Both had the exact same family on the front. A beautiful, smiling, Hallmark-card kind of white family who looked like they stepped right out of a Dillard’s catalog.
They were models! They didn’t belong to either church, I’m sure. Probably the man and the woman weren’t married, and the kids weren’t theirs.
But they were the kind of “family” the churches wanted to portray on their brochures.
“When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers, or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.” (Luke 14:12-13)
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A few websites I’ve mentioned lately at Highland:
Eternal Threads (the ministry of a woman from Highland to help women in poverty in India)
International Justice Mission
Compassion International
This is Pepperdine week. It’s a tough gig: staying at the Mallmann House with Darryl and Anne; looking out to the mountains, the Pacific, and the islands; eating at John’s Gardens for lunch; my daily journey to walk the Stations of the Cross at the Serra Retreat Center; and hanging out with some of my best friends in the world (including a quick retreat at the end with Darryl and Leonard).
Once again I’ll be doing the class with Zoe in the afternoon and then the Friday night keynote (John 21).
I started teaching at the Pepperdine lectureship in 1986, so this is my 20th straight year. Jerry Rushford asked me to do my first keynote there on a Wednesday night in 1987 (Acts), and then the opening (Tuesday) night in 1989 (Exodus).
Through the years, it’s been a source of great renewal. I love the mountains, the ocean (especially when it isn’t HOT), the salty breeze, and the incredible colors of the flowers and trees.
So really, it’s two things: it’s being with great friends, and it’s a bit of creation theology.
To say nothing of the seafood. (But on the other hand, I haven’t found a place there with decent guacamole.)