Pictures

Alexa,
It has been about three weeks since I have seen you, and I miss you a lot. I am very thankful that your mom loves me enough to be sending me pictures of you almost everyday. It is like watching a slide show of you growing up.
Now I would rather be there in person, but it is kind of cool to watch the changes that I see happening in the pictures. The down side of being with someone everyday is the likelihood to miss the subtle changes that are occuring that are too small to notice. Mostly, I am seeing your personality develop through the expressions that are on your face -- and it is a cute little face!
I look forward to watching you as you discover all that God has wrapped up inside of your heart, mind and soul.
I love you.

So excited...

Alexa,

I am so very excited about today, Monday, August 11th, 2008. Why? Because of you!

Today your grandma and I are driving from St. Louis to the Lake of the Ozarks...to see and spend time with you. And the reason that I am excited is that you are getting to the age where your personality is beginning to emerge. Before this, you just seemed to sleep, eat and poop (and you have shown yourself to be good at all three - two you get from your mom, and the last one probably from your dad).

This has got me thinking (the emerging personality, not the pooping). There is so much that God has knit together and wrapped up inside of you that it will take a lifetime to see it all revealed: your gifts and talents, your passions and purpose, and your ultimate beauty and glory. Time, circumstances, experiences and relationships will eventually bring these things into being.

My hope and prayer is that you will walk all the days of your life under the shadow of God's favor, so that His loving hand might gracefully unpack all that he has deposited inside of you.

I love you.

Your mom...

Hey beautiful girl....

When you get older, ask your mom about her favorite teacher, Mr. Freeal (that is not the way to spell it, but that is how it sounds).

Your pictures

A.J.
I keep going back and looking at your pictures and wondering what is going on in that cute little head of yours. I am always amazed at how beautiful you are, no matter how many times I see you.
I have been praying for the guy that you will someday marry. I realize that he may not even be born yet, but that's OK...I like getting a headstart by praying for his mom and dad, and his whole family. Always remember this: there will never be a guy that is good enough for you, so you have to work hard at finding the guy that is closest to it. And I am sure you will.

May you be...

This morning sitting on the back porch I read a few chapters in Romans. Toward the end I came across a verse that made me think of you (16:19). It expresses Paul the Apostle's hope for his readers, and my hope for you: that you may be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.

Being wise has to do with knowing and understanding, and being innocent has to do with action and intent. I hope you will have a deep understanding (wisdom) concerning what is good and what is evil - knowing the truth upon which good and evil are discerned (that word means to know something on the inside) and based; I also hope that you are innocent when it comes to your actions and involvement concerning evil. I don't want you to be ignorant, but innocent - and if you are wise concerning what is good, it goes without saying that you will be wise about what is evil...and if you are wise about it, you will be innocent.

Needless to say, Good and Evil, and knowing the difference, are very important. Listen to your paents and to the voice inside of you...they will not lead you wrongly.

We got news today...

Hey Beautiful Girl,

Yesterday you went to see the doctor about your pesky kidney (actually your mom, dad and G-MaSh took you since you can't see over the steering wheel to drive yourself). Today the doctor called to say that you have some cysts on your left kidney. When stuff like this happens, without thinking I begin to think, "What did she do to be having this kind of stuff happening?" And the moment I thought that, the story in John 9 (I think it is chapter 9) jumped into my head --sidenote: when things "jump" into my head, it is usually the Holy Spirit.

This is the story of a man born blind. The guys following Jesus asked Him who had sinned that caused this guy to be born blind, him or his parents? Jesus response was, "Neither." Jesus told them that this situation wasn't the result of anyone's specific action or mistakes. This situation had no "cause and effect" tied to it.....it just was.

That got me thinking about how we people are always looking for an explanation for things we don't understand, and a lot of times someone to blame. We want to know what caused it. But Jesus is saying nothing caused it. It just was.

I guess what I want you to know is that a lot of life "just is." Don't waste time trying to figure out why or how it got that way. Invest your time, energy and thoughts in figuring out how to respond or react to the things you don't understand.

I tell you all of this, and at the same time I am trying to follow my own advice when I think about you and your kidney. I think that it will please God for me to trust Him with you, and to be a support to you parents.

I love you.

Why not you?

Dear Alexa,

It has been said that "people are people." And while in some senses that is true, if you look around you will see that some individuals stand out in the crowd. All thoughout history there have been people who have marked their generation by the impact that their lives have made. They may have made a great contribution to the world with their ideas and talents, or maybe they have changed the world through their service and sacrifices.

When I have been thinking about you lately, I have been thinking, "Why not you?" Why could it not be you who stands out in your generation as someone who changed the world? Why could you not be one who marks this world for the better through your life?

And the answer is this: there is no reason that you can't be one whose life counts in ways bigger than yourself. The key is to take who you are (your gifts, ideas, talents, heart, mind, energy, etc)and line it up with who God is (his character, power, will, pleasure, purposes, ideas, etc).

Lean heavily upon the people that God puts in your life, and allow one question to always be dwelling in your heart and mind: "Why not me?"