Two Years

Sharing a sweet memory from September 19, 2009.  Happy Anniversary Matt and April!

Remembering Life

September 11^th.  It is a date among 364 others on our calendar.  In the wee hours of the morning on September 11, 2001, we didn’t know how significant that date would become, or how we would stop short in the years that followed whenever we heard it spoken.  Today especially, ten years later, as we hear radio messages and watch television programs recounting the events and recalling the sorrow we felt as united Americans that day, we can’t help but remember death and destruction. Things changed.  We can count, and keep counting, the things that changed because of that moment in time.

This morning, I had the sweet privilege of seeing a baby girl named Phiona become a child of God.  This precious life, adorned in a beautiful gown, knew nothing of what our loving God was doing for her in that moment.  She didn’t have to know.  She was not deserving of what was happening to her, just as no sinner merits so great a gift.  Phiona was the direct object of the verb in the sentence “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  I baptize you.  Phiona did nothing.  We are all helpless without Jesus Christ, no matter how old we are.  In his great mercy, Jesus, the Lamb of God, redeemed each and every one of us, whether we realize it or not.  It is during our Divine Service of Baptism when we are reminded of the comforting words of our Savior, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”  (Matthew 28:18)  Therefore, we can abandon any thought that we have any power.  We have nothing except that which Christ alone gives to us.

So today while being reminded of death, and of dreadful acts, and of humankind’s sinful struggle with false authority and power, we, united in redemption, can redirect our focus to life -- the eternal life which we are given in Christ Jesus.  We can remember Saint Paul’s words to the Philippians, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” looking forward to that blessed day when every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Almighty God grant you blessings in abundance on this day and every day!

Boys and Wheels

I celebrated Labor Day this past weekend in east central Missouri with my nine year old grandson, CMS, at the home of my parents.  It's always nice to have a change of scenery, and I had been wanting to take him to the lake with me for a weekend -- no [other] girls allowed.  His household has enough estrogen to sink a ship full of rhinestone tiaras and pink feather boas.  Since his dad has been working long hours six days a week, C was long overdue for some scratching, spitting and other manly pursuits that girls just don't appreciate.  Thankfully, the weather was warm enough for him to swim for a little while on Sunday, but the real highlight of his weekend centered around wheels.

If he wasn't begging his Aunt Cathy for a ride on the four-wheeler, he was driving his pal, Daisy, around on my father's golf cart.  I really enjoyed seeing him spend some one-on-one time with his great-grandpa as a shade-tree mechanic's apprentice.

The cart seemed to work just fine before the tinkering, but the aroma of gasoline was apparently too tempting and beckoned them to do a little fine tuning.  Well, I guess it did ... but I'm just a girl, so what do I know?

C and I agreed on our way home that the weekend didn't seem to last long enough.  Nevertheless, it was long enough to make some memories.


We sure had a grand time.