Wish You Were Here . . .

I love my bride!

 The heart of this blog has been to not just share things God is showing me, but also thoughts, reflections, and "slices" from our life. In the heart of that I wanted to just share an evening we had the other night, and to say to all of you, "Whether I have met you or not, thanks for reading and sharing and being a part of my life. I wish you could all share our firepit or screen porch or wood stove (which one depends on the season) with us in person!"

For Christmas a couple we are good friends with gave our family a certificate from a "local" grocery store, and we went there the other day to stock up. We have been having unseasonably warm weather here (please pray for lots of rain for us—we really need it), and we wanted to have a special evening around our firepit with the girls. The store had some good looking ribs on sale and we picked up a small rack of them.

Good coffee, good fire, good food, great family, Great God!

When the right night came we lit up our firepit, got a good bed of oak burning, and cooked ribs and a baked potato over the open fire, finishing it with grilling some broccoli when the meat was almost ready. As we sat and enjoyed the meal together the evening got dark and the stars came out and we enjoyed a sweet time, telling stories, laughing, marveling at God's creation and the heavens, trying to find the frogs that were sounding off around us, and keeping the cats from sneaking up on the meat tray when we weren't looking. At times coyotes would call out from the surrounding hills, and an occasional cow would moo or bellow from a distant ranch.

At the end of the evening Bethany and I walked down our driveway, away from the light of the fire, and found the Big Dipper and then, using it as our guide, the North Star. On the way back we saw Orion's belt and I told her how some people think the mammoth star Betelgeuse is dying and could die as early as next year (or thousands of years from now). This led to a talk about people's Myan calendar predictions the world is ending, then about U.F.O.s and different theories, and finally an awesome display of "fireworks" as, before putting water on the fire, I smacked the coals and logs with a stick sending up beautiful, wild explosions of tiny, dancing sparks.

It was a wonderful evening, filled with love, closeness, and fun. It is a joy to be in conversations with our girls where even the silly stuff seems to find its way to incorporating God in it somehow—not forced, but just because He is so present in our hearts and lives. I thank Him for His love for us, for the love of others for us, for love itself, and for the majesty of His Creation. I am including some photos for you to share the evening with us, may we do so in person soon one day!