oldie but goodie

i'm touched once again as i re-read this beloved old story. you simply can't go wrong with a classic. (but, just because something is old doesn't make it a classic.)

on one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.
"teacher," he asked, "what must i do to inherit eternal life?"
"what is written in the law?" he replied. "how do you read
it?"
he answered: "'love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and,
'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"you have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "do this and you
will live."
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "and who is my
neighbor?"
in reply Jesus said: "a man was going down from jerusalem to
jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. they stripped him of his
clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. a priest happened
to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the
otehr side. so too, a levite, when he came to the place and saw him,
passed by on the other side. but a samaritan, as he traveled, came where
the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. he went to him and
bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. then he put the man on his
own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. the next day he took
out two silver coins and gave them to the inn-keeper. 'look after him,' he
said, 'and when i return, i will reimburse you for any extra expense you may
have.'
"which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell
into the hands of robbers?"
the expert in the law replied, 'the one who had mercy on
him."
Jesus told him, "go and do likewise."

i love you (pix)

you may not be able to tell, but this is israel's sign for "i love you." as many parents are doing, we're working to teach the boys some sign language (for communication skills develop before vocal skills). the "real" sign would have the pinky, index and thumb extended with the ring and middle fingers folded. it forms the sign-language letters I, L & Y--i love you. israel hasn't quite mastered the pinky yet (so, apparently, he can't hold a tea cup properly either), but we know what he's saying.

so, in a metaphorical sense, do we say "i love you" correctly?

of all the people to which you have or should say this phrase, are you doing it the best way to communicate what you are truly trying to say? a popular song of years past revolutionized relationships with the concept that we needed to be shown and not just told that we were loved. you can follow this a long ways.

but, more importantly, does the way we interact with God say that we love Him? so often we only love God when we need Him to fix something. we only love Him when we're in trouble. our actions say we love Him part of the time--the rest of the time is about us.

we know God loves us because He tells us and He did, in fact, define love for us. but, more than the defination, He is the living example.

love is patient - as demonstrated by His patience when we're being selfish.

love is kind - as demonstrated by not smiting us when we're being selfish.

this is just a simple blog-entry reminder to make "you" more important that "i" when you say 'i love you.'

on second thought, maybe my son has it better than i think. by not extending his pinky, he's taking the "i" out of it. at 16 months old, he's already demonstrating that love is about others, not ourselves.

Heavenly Father, i need to Spirit to intercede for me today. i ain't got the words to express what i'm feeling.

more pix

before or since the 4th of july, these brothers have never looked so much alike.
at the zoo. the giraffes were not nearly as interesting as the sparrow on the fence.
picnic at the zoo.
loves to play music (but doesn't seem to be singing along yet)
you've heard of it, now you've seen it--

playing by ear.

baby pix

i know it's been more than a week since i've written, but time alas, time flies when your wife goes back to work. it's been a busy week at our house, so on-line journaling was not the priority.

but, as many of you heard, the baby was diagnosed with reflux. it's funny to listen to rhonda tell of how the dr office melted into that realization. first, when rhonda went into the appointment, she brought it up to the physician, but the physician wasn't convinced. as rhonda continued to recount details of his symptoms, the physician went progressed with her:

• "maybe"
• "possibly"
• "probably"
• "definately"

why couldn't she just agree with us in the beginning? why do hypocondriacs ruin legitmate diagnosis for the rest of us?

anyway, he's got a new perscription and a new formula and a new attitude toward life. we are blessed to have found and been able to treat his condition. and now, we are blessed by a baby with a wonderful sense of peace about him.

and now, for the pix...

learning to grin

i know you can't seem anything except his arm, but he's in the pouch. if you look very closely, you'll notice that the bird is trying to lean in and kiss him.

family wrestling? no, just a pile of love on the living room floor.

he is doing so well holding his head up...

...but only for short periods of time.