A Day of Clarity

I know that I have spoken of 'moments of clarity' in the past and how much they are desired and appreciated although a bit infrequent.

Well, today could be described as a 'day of clarity' or at least a series of those moments.

First of all, I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a day which had absolutely no obligations attached to it. I slept in, made some coffee, and have been sitting on the back patio most of the morning with this view...

My daughter's butterfly net is lying here on the table and I can see a couple of these carefree creatures chasing one another across the yard right now. She would probably love to be chasing them.

Perhaps part of the reason I'm experiencing such clarity today and just a simple awareness of the Spirit with me, is because I 'pulled the trigger' on a tough decision yesterday. On Facebook, I uploaded this photo...

Last weekend, as I was leading a time of worship with some friends on a retreat...and listening to my friend (Joe Noonen) share some insight on the Scriptures...I became quite convicted regarding the way I was spending most of my leisure time. (For those who didn't know that I'm somewhat of a gamer...now you know!) Now I'm not one to think that all such games, books, movies, etc (in the warcraft genre) are spawned in the pit of hell...but I believe there is a plan of the enemy to distract us from relationships. And my relationship with God, with my wife, with my kids, and with my neighbors were all suffering due to the choices I have been making with my time.

So it was like one of those old-fashioned "come to Jesus" moments when I took my hedge clippers and sliced up each cd-rom and it's case...lol! It's ironic that I had warned someone else about the addictive nature of this game a couple of months ago and then promptly re-opened my account and began leveling a new character like crazy. I know...many of you are incredulous at the appeal of such things.

With extra hours (literally!) freed up...I turned my attention towards book 7 in my quest to read 52 titles this year.This is a book I've been hearing about for quite awhile now and wanted to read. I first learned of it through listening to The God Journey podcasts.

My wife Deb got to it first and was very intrigued by it which just made me more anxious to read it. I think it has already been compared (by Eugene Peterson) to the Pilgrim's Progress as an allegory for our time. I would have to agree with that assessment. It has rattled my view of God...in a good way...and caused me to long for a greater experience of relationship with God in the three personalities of Father, Son, and Spirit.

The story itself is quite intriguing and I highly recommend it.