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Seven years ago ...

Revelation 15:1-4 April 30

those who serve other tirelessly 10704.30

And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints. 4

Psalm 7 – Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjaminite.

O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.

Martha turned in her paperwork for the daycare job she starts a week from today (YAY!), and bills are finally – largely Martha's bills – caught up; we will make it work!

Leading up to now …

I chose to leave in “largely Martha's bills” in my reprinted written journal entry from 2007 to show that I was at fault, often, in the early years of our marriage and didn't hesitate to let people know it by deflecting the blame on someone else. Please forgive me for that; I didn't see our marriage as much of a team effort in those days (often several days at a time) and just after we'd signed the papers and moved into our house two and a half weeks before, I was still getting used to this new dad thing with Sarah and our second child was on his way (check the date, Jeffrey was born in July 2007). Now I see it as more so and I hope Martha and I are way less adversarial!

I came across a Bible verse from Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not see are true.” To me, it means that just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it's not there. I can't see hope or faith but I know I still have it. I can't see God, but I know he's always with me.

Still got several confirmation students' excerpts from church to post this week – some are more AHA! moments to me than others, but I've got to wonder what I would have said on a one-page “statement of faith” when I was fifteen years old and completing my ninth grade school year. I got baptized at Beulah Baptist Church the previous year – still got the certificate – and I'd made the decision to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord (to be “saved”) a month or two previous, but I don't remember my faith outside of church being much more than background noise. I don't remember being an especially nasty purpose and if I remember correctly my original impetus to seek salvation was to find a purpose for my life. Essentially, why was I living and what was I living for?

Belonging to a church or community of faith is one of the best decisions I can make. It is a place I can go to feel closer to God, the congregation members, and also a place I can get actively involved in and share my God given talents. I think that I am ready to accept ownership of my journey through faith that my parents began when I was baptized.

I will miss Bob Hoskins. Not that I knew him personally, but when I read this morning in the news that he'd died I had to collect myself. I knew his most prominent (to me) role as Eddie Valiant in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? but could also recall him as Nikita Khrushchev in Enemy at the Gates and Captain Hook's first mate Smee in Hook and as much as I pay attention to actors, actresses, and other celebrities, he's one of the handful I actually liked. A character actor who was not a character, if that makes any sense. Someone who doesn't have to be the standout to be outstanding.

My parents continued in their promise given on my baptism day to continue my faith journey – by bringing me to Sunday School and placing the scriptures in my hands and bringing me to worship. As part of my faith, I'm trying to live the Bethany Mission Statement: I am alive in Christ. I am loved in his grace, and I am living to serve and proclaim.

Last night after Martha and the kids picked me up from work, we went home to a delicious dinner of homemade pot roast with potatoes and carrots that we'd had cooking in our crock pot all day. And today's title refers to the new job she'll be starting Monday with the same organization, Trinity Health, but her last day as a courier – the job my wife has held since December 2010 – in tomorrow! Changes are good.

In life and death we belong to God. Jesus proclaimed the reign of God, preaching good news to the captives, eating with outcasts, forgiving sinners and calling all to repent and believe the gospels.

Anyway, we settled in with dinner and caught up with one of our (and now one of our kids') new likes on television – but we watch it on Hulu for free via our laptop, so we're a week behind – Once Upon A Time. I'm personally gratified by the return of Smee on that show due to the Dark Curse cast by the Evil Queen being undone so he's no longer a rat, but the current storyline has twists and turns that are so masterful and yet so … twisted, really.

Faith to me is complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Which is the faith I have in our God. God has a plan for everyone. I have faith in God's plan for me.

Up to the last episode we watched “Burning Through” we finally learn Zelena the Wicked Witch (based on the character from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but here she's learned magic from Rumpelstiltskin and turned the Wizard into her first Winged Monkey and more) has embodiments of various characters' brains, hearts, and courage and is one step away from casting a time travel spell that would let her change HER past and consequently that of so many others. And the implications of THAT would be mind-boggling … for if you change your past, aren't you changing what makes you you and in effect you'd cease to exist? Do magic-users think such things through?

Have I thought some of these things through, David