Life is Good!

Man, I had a great weekend! My dad came to visit me from Ohio. He got into town a little late due to some car issues, but he made it Saturday morning. It was fun getting to see him meet Colin. Almost everyone on Marcy's side has met him, but my dad was the first one on my side to do so. We had a fun weekend of doing very little. Hey, we live in Cape, so what do you expect? I also preached my last sermon in the series I have been working on called, "What you talkin' 'bout, Jesus?" While I certainly enjoyed preaching, it is nice to have that extra workload off of my shoulders. And to top it all off, my dad and I went to Busch Stadium last night for the Cardinals game. Our beloved Indians were in town, so we snapped up tickets. The stadium is great, and our seats - section 164, row WC - were awesome! They were plastic fold-up chairs placed just behind the lower section, so we were actually able to move them around and lean back in them. Very nice! And to top it all off, our Tribe laid a serious butt-whooping to the Cards, 10-3. Too much fun!

Brennan Manning and Kisses

Now, if that title didn't catch your attention and imagination, then you are simply not alive. Last weekend, our church had the privilege of hosting Brennan Manning for our weekend services. He is booked solid through 2008, but through the fortune of a church cancelling his visit with him, we were able to land him to speak while our pastor was on sabbatical. And what a blessing it was! He gave three distinct messages at each of the services, all focused on the theme of God's amazing love and grace. If you have read any of his books, you will find this theme to be unsurprising, as many of his writings - The Ragamuffin Gospel, Abba's Child, Ruthless Trust, etc. - have this as their central theme. During one of his messsages, he referenced a particular translation of the story of the prodigal son. This translation, when it gets to the part of the story of the father greeting his son upon his return, says that the father, "...couldn't stop kissing him." What a beautiful way to read it!

Rewind now about two months. Colin had just recently been born. As I came into contact with friends and acquaintances, many of them would ask, "So, how is it being a daddy?" My reply to many of them was, "I just can't stop kissing him!" Almost word for word what that translation read. I guess this being a daddy thing is just a glimpse of the overwhelming love that the Father has for me. It means so much more now...