Don’t forget to thank my beautiful wife for this picture.

I think it’s easy to relate to the younger son.  I think it’s easy to name the time you strayed from the father to do your own thing.  We all have our stories.  Mine is written all over this blog.  I didn’t even really stray from the father, I had never met the father.  But I surely ran a muck.  I certainly lived my life in ‘reckless and loose living’. (Luke 15:13)  I definitely came crawling back, saying,”I’m not worthy to be called your son.”  I was even greeted with open arms!

What I don’t always consider is my roll as the older son.  That’s a harder situation.  It’s harder for me to sit down and say the times I thought what the older son thought.  Because it’s a mixture of emotions.  He was angry, jealous, and annoyed.  “Here I am sweating and working for my father, without ever disobeying a command. (Self proclaimed task I should add) Yet I never got a party, I never got anything. Now this screw up has come home, after embarrassing our family, sleeping with whores and blowing all you gave him on earthly crap and you’ve killed the fat cow.  You’re throwing a party!  And to top it all off I had to find out from the servant boy!”

That’s a pretty deep complaint.  That’s something that had been thought for a long time.  It really makes you think, had he really been working with no complaint?  Have YOU really been working with no complaint?

The father replies with such a great answer.  He says, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.32 But it was fitting to make merry, to revel and feast and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!”

That’s the end of the story.  Notice, it doesn’t say, “and the older brother joined in the celebration.”  Or, ‘The older brother went in to greet his lost brother.”

It’s open.  I wonder if it’s not open for a reason.  I wonder if it’s not speaking to all of us.  Maybe we are waiting outside, not wanting to go in.  Maybe we’ve heard, “All that is mine is yours,” but we are still trying to shake the anger or pain we’ve experienced.  Maybe we aren’t as prepared as we thought we were to hear the answer our Father had for us.

What are you going to do?  Are you gonna go back to the fields and be angry while the celebration is going on?

OR.

Are you going to go back inside?  Are you going to swallow your pride,  love your brother and welcome him home, (And maybe ask him to tell some stories…. you know he’s got ‘em.)  Are you going to accept that your Father’s answer?  Are you going to enjoy that fattened calf as well?

Well, We went to the Rescue Saturday, it was awesome.  Jeff Foxworthy officially rescued us, but I think we were rescued several times.  To me, most notably by John Lewis, of the Freedom Riders.  Let me just say listening to that man speak was not only insane, but was an honor.  To shake hands with someone of that level, someone who has seen so much in his life, really makes you think about what your doing.  It really makes you wonder if you can’t do just a little more each day. His speech was seriously great.  Fortunately, I was able to catch it on my phone.  So for those of you able to view video check it out.  When ppl start to cheer, turn it down, Because I”m holding the phone and I scream loud.. Enjoy.

It seems like at night, I have a lot more to say.  Too bad my mind can’t ‘jot things down’ as I’m falling asleep.  My brain works about 100 times faster at night, and has 100 more things to say.

So, for this morning, I thought I’d say.

Where in the world is Friday???

Has this seemed like the longest week ever for you?

Maybe I have that.  Or maybe I have non-seperation anxiety.

I am going through one of my phases where I’m realizing just how jacked up the institutionalized church really is.  I read things about ‘church’ and I just can’t believe it.  I lose confidence in churches.  I get VERY cynical about church.  (just ask my wife or father-in-law).  I get so upset sometimes that I can’t even read something good a church does and say, “Oh. Good for them.”  I immediately jump to the negative.

My problem here lately, is I’ve been forgetting to separate the ‘church’ and God.  I keep putting Jesus in this little box.  (With a steeple, some pews, one guy talking, and several hundred listening and taking notes.)  It’s so easy for me to do.  I forget to look at the clouds and marvel in the sheer beauty.  I forget to look at the lake outside of my apartment and watch the water move.  I forget to look at the little gooslings follow their parents around in the spring.  I forget.  I forget to look inside my wife’s belly, and watch that mini-me grow.  In this magnificant time in my life, I’m too busy being pissed off to sit back and enjoy the wonderful beauty of life.

My prayer today is to remove God from the little box.  I want to allow Him in all aspects of my life.  And I want to just… apologize for putting You in that box in the first place. I want to look at all of the small wonders I see on a daily basis and be wow’d.  I want to realize how crazy it is to open this laptop up, and connect to the world.  I want to look at my pregnant wife, and be awed by the fact that she is growing a little person.  I want to open my eyes.  God. I want you to open my eyes.   That’s my prayer for today.  Help me Seperate, help me open my eyes and God, help me see.