First and foremost, we welcome BABY LEVI WAYNE BAGWELL!!!! Woo hoo!!!!
For the last nine months, I've been praying for "Baby Bagwell"... who's surprised Merry Grace had to be complicated and not tell us his name!!!
But, what a sweet thing it is to finally put a name to this baby boy! To put a name to all of the prayers!
Whether Abram to Abraham or Jacob to Israel or Simon to Peter or Saul to Paul, all throughout Scripture, we see that God cares about names!
So little Levi, your name means something! And you have a purpose on this earth, amen!
On Saturday, I spent less than five minutes watching Jeanne play pickleball...
In between points, she would look up to the trees, hoping to see the hawk that was squawking above us.
Another time, she heard the Covenant students on the court below us cheering, and stopped to say "ah, I love that sound."
Was she distracted? Not focused?
Nah, she's still a really good player!!
But rather than solely focusing on her pickleball game, she became aware of the small sources of beauty that surrounded her.
This morning, I had communion at church for the first time in TEN MONTHS (I know.... at least you know now so you can understand why I have been so SINFUL!).
Remember the moment after covid that we were finally able to return to church and experience communion together and it felt so special?
That's how I felt today... I had been so excited to have communion. On the drive to church, I thought to myself, "hmm it may be a weird thing to be looking forward to??" But then I quickly realized... it is something to celebrate! That we have a Father who is willing to cleanse us of our sin and allow us to join in the Lords Supper alongside Him and our community.
And not to mention, communion at Rock Creek is probably my favorite thing I have ever experienced in a church - it is beautiful. Families and friends all go up together in a group, kneeling in their own small row, and the sound of the elders' prayers and giving of the bread and wine fills the room.
As I looked around, listening to the beautiful hymns, I couldn't help but smile...
A kid in the row behind me randomly decided to confidently and loudly sing along... but was quickly shushed by her mom.
In front of me, Jack poked Emma and nodded for her to look at the girl up front putting the empty communion cups on her toes. And the brother sister duo started laughing.
A Dad in a bathing suit?? walked up with his family to receive communion.
Rather than solely focusing on my sin, I became aware of the small sources of beauty that surrounded me.
Do you see it????
Wild huh!!!
If you looks realllyyy closesly....
I made a mountain disappear!!!!
Just kidding, it wasn't me!
Nor did God remove it!
It was FOG that covered it!
Imagine a random, out of town person driving across Veterans bridge on that foggy Monday morning, and then never coming to Chattanooga again.... they would literally not know Lookout Mountain was there! The home of Adeline and Debbie!!!
Sometimes the beauty that surrounds us is not as obvious as a hawk squawking above or a kid loudly singing in church...
There are times when it's harder to find the good. The seasons in life when our minds feel foggy and cloudy.
Even in those times, may we be confident that there's a mountain hiding behind the fog!
We are currently reading Exodus and this week, the constant theme has been the Israelites complaining to Moses....
"Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?"
"Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
In glimpses of scarcity and fear and doubt, they would rather return to harsh slavery and be under Pharaoh's rule... And if we are being honest, compared to their current circumstances, in the moment, maybe that does seem more appealing and even safer...
But then you remember the bigger picture... that it is all a fulfillment of the promise that God made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And you gain better perspective.
The Israelites had fog clouding their vision... they couldn't drink the bitter water!
God cleared the fog by making the water sweet!
The Israelites had fog clouding their vision... they had nothing to eat!
God cleared the fog by providing bread from the sky!
The Israelites had fog clouding their vision... they had no water to drink!
God cleared the fog by rushing water from the rock.
God is ALWAYS doing so much more than we can even attempt to comprehend... and definitely more than we can see... through our one set of eyes out of the billions on earth... that don't even compare to what God can see!
All around us,
The hawks are squawking!
The Covenant students are cheering!
The kids are innocent and full of child-like joy!
There is a mountain behind the fog!
What are we paying attention to? May we be quick to have an awareness of the small sources of beauty that are always surrounding us!
Two homework assignments for the week:
1. Listen to the song Starting to See by Fount!
"When you pay attention, you will see you will find Him in everything. He's all around you. Are you starting to see it?"
2. List out five things you see or hear this week that bring you joy!!
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