28 Nov 2010

Last day of a 5 day trip over the Thanksgiving day holiday encompassing the two busiest flying days of the year (Wed and Sun). I'm typing this at 2.35 am having woken up at 1am, ugh.

I was able to get on the train up to see Mom an Dad on Wed in San Diego which was a great blessing from God. Due to strong headwinds and just missing the van to the hotel, I was late, late, late and literally the last one on the train.

We ate lunch at Polly's pies and then chatted away until I had to take the train back to SAN. Tempus fugit and there will come a day when we will say our last goodbyes on this earth, my parents and I. The thought makes me melancholy and directs my longing to eternity with Christ. How empty life would be; how short; how meaningless apart from Him!

Do thou, Lord, teach me to number my days and give to me a heart of wisdom.

Location:George Washington Memorial Pkwy,Arlington,United States

Thoughts on DG 2010

Just back from Desiring God 2010. It was a great blessing. Highlights:

1. Spending time with Phil, PJ, and Jon. It was great to see them and get to hang out.

2. Kevin DeYoung on the mission of the church. Mr. DeYoung has a knack for clarifying what you already knew, and he did just that in his workshop Friday afternoon on the mission of the church. The bottom line is that, if we are not proclaiming the gospel, if we are not doing the ministry of the word, then we are missing the point of the church no matter how many acts of mercy we are doing. Yes, we should be doing acts of mercy, but no, they should not replace our proclamation of the gospel that Jesus Christ died for our sins.

3. Being present to see the book of essays in honor of John Piper, presented to Piper as a surprise by Sam Storms and Justin Taylor. Quite a moment. I bought two copies. Cheap! I'm enjoying it so far.

4. Being super-challenged by Francis Chan to love those around me as Jesus loved them. If there is one thing I took out of the conference from the standpoint of something to work on, this would be it. We can think all we want, but if our thinking is not grounded in the love of Christ, then we are wasting our time. Something I need to pray about and give attention to - a lot! Thanks, Mr. Chan.

5. Spending time with Cherie. Really fun to get to hang out with Cherie alone for a whole weekend. There's a reason she's my bestie...oh, and my wife too.

6. Rick Warren via video. Mr. Warren had family emergencies—yes, emergencies—and could not make it, but he challenged us by video. The man is a whirling dervish of energy and ideas. Remarkable. Probably the thing I took away from him the most was the importance of vision in the work that we do. Mr. Warren is also an aphorism machine, not to mention having a gift of humor as well.

DEN - ATL (delay) - DTW

Flew DEN - ATL - DTW yesterday. Naturally, we were delayed in ATL due to weather and a late inbound aircraft so we returned to DTW about 1.20 late. I've got some stuff to accomplish around here today—a little study mostly and packing—then I'm off to MSP for CQ. After that is over, then DG conference! Yahoo! Should be fun. Phil, Jon, and PJ Davis are going to be there as well.

Sunday Morning, 26 September 2010

I woke up early—ugh—because I could not stay awake last night, having woken up at 5 am in Laingsburg. It's a vicious cycle. Flew to DEN and then a layover down town. I took my binos and went walking to a park in the middle of town. Saw some grackles and pigeons before finding my way to a beautiful flower garden and running into a new (for me) species of sparrow. They are called Brewer's Sparrows and they only live in the Western U. S. so had I not been in DEN, I wouldn't have seen them. They seemed to enjoy the dirt, like they were taking a dirt bath, and then were kind enough to perch on tall stalks of bushes in the bright sunshine, only a few feet away so I could study them with my binoculars. Very friendly.

Off to ATL then DTW today, then to training tomorrow evening. I'll be gone a week with the Desiring God national conference going in MSP on Friday through Sunday.

Great Egrets on the Move!

We saw a flock of great egrets hanging out in a swampy pond just off of Alward Rd., when we drove by yesterday. They were still there when we came back from Lansing, so I jumped on my mountain bike, and rode in a (howling) wind to check them out. They were real beauties, and so patient as they waded around the pond fishing. I just wish I would have had a spotting scope so I could have seen them better. Egrets only pass through our area on migration south, so it was a real treat to see them.

Sleepy Hollow 23 September 2010

I was out at Sleepy Hollow yesterday, looking for birds. I saw a great blue heron standing knee deep in the lake almost exactly where I had seen one a couple of weeks previously. I snuck around the island to see if I could get closer to get a shot of him. When I got back near where he was (he was actually still there), these two girls were standing in the lake. At first I thought they were drinking, but they were really eating plants from underneath the water. I watched them and the blue heron for quite awhile. Neither one ever reacted to me. It was a glorious God-given moment and one I will treasure. I've decided I like hunting birds and animals with a camera much more than hunting them with a rifle.

New York, 21 September 2010

3.54 am and I've polished off my devotions and still have a little time before I have to get ready to fly DTW - DCA - DTW. Day 5 of a 5 day. Long day yesterday, 5 legs between BOS and LGA. At least the weather was good. I've come into the layover dragging so much that I have barely had time to workout, more less time to go see some birds.

I did, however, see an ovenbird on the way up to Mike's Coffee Truck (a favorite joint. I love the rice, beans, and sausage dinner plate) to get dinner. An ovenbird looks like an olive-colored sparrow with a striped breast. Very pretty fellow, although he was a little leery of me and wouldn't let me get too near him.