Romanced by God

The wonderful thing about prayer is that you can do it anytime and anywhere. I like to talk with God when I'm driving to and from work. Sometime I just praise Him, other times I vent. This morning, as I was driving in, I asked God to kiss my soul…to give me something beautiful. As I would glance over to the eastern sky, I saw a beautiful display of colors as the sun continued to rise. That was His kiss.

Have you ever though of God as being a Romantic? He is the biggest Romantic in the universe! Just look at His creation. The earth is full of all things romantic. Sunsets and sunrises, star filled night skies, the full moon, Lake Michigan waves crashing along the shoreline, wild flowers, trees and grasses, red-tailed hawks, horses, white-tailed deer, and the most beautiful of all creation…woman. Yeeeeeees, that's right ladies, you are the Crown of Creation. Creation just is not complete without you. So yeah, God is indeed a big Romantic and Master Artist.

So the next time you are outdoors or just looking out the window, pay attention. God is romancing us all the time.


Here some more for your reading enjoyment:

Name-->Identity-->Purpose

A Moment of True Beauty




Empowered with His strength and captivated by His beauty,

Tom

A time of Beauty

Yesterday was my birthday and as a gift my parents gave me tickets to see Celtic Woman along with my wife and sister. I gotta say, these ladies of Celtic Woman are indeed captivating. My heart was, for that time, alive! Having a passion for music myself, especially this kind, really excited my soul. I wish I could have met at least one of these ladies face to face. They really are giving the world something beautiful and captivating. Part of me wished I could've been up there with them, playing on a drum. From a previous post, a few years ago I would have had a hard time seeing something like this. I can honestly say I've taken some big steps with Christ since. I still feel the wound here and there, but I can give it over to Jesus. It's true, I wish I could be play a drum or my bari sax and get paid for it. It would be awesome if I could do the thing that really makes me come alive inside and get paid for it. Alas, this world just won't allow it. I thank God for community concert bands.

I can hardly wait until I get to play in His orchestra after He takes me home.

I got an interview!

Yes, I got an in-person interview with Haworth in Holland, MI. It's for a position that isn't too much unlike what I'm doing now with Bosch. I hope all goes well, which I have a good feeling it will.

FYI, I've begun to also blog over on RansomedHeart.net So feel free to check that out was well.

Just this afternoon, I've had the most intimate moment with Jesus. I believe I'm finally learning how to open my heart up to Him, invite Him in, and truly feel His presence. I can't believe I've missed this before. The emotions that I feel transcend words. I certainly feel joy. The rest is just, well, wow! In that moment, I asked Jesus if this job at Haworth is the one I will fill next and I see His head nodding 'yes'! I trust Him. Only time will tell now.

empowered with His strength and captivated by His beauty,

Rhythm Warrior

To truck or not to truck...only time will tell

From my last post, I wrote that my current job will be eliminated sometime in 2010. So far, I'm still working. I am aggressively looking for a new job though. In my search, I have seen there just is no demand for one with my background. Dang! Hmmm, now what?

After some prayer and meditation and time, I have become enthusiastic about truck driving. So right now I'm researching it. I don't know if this will become my next job or not, but I do trust that God will deliver. I can say that I'm ready for a new challenge and a new kind of job. Life is indeed an adventure, you just never know where God will take us next.

Faith: Grown from a small seed

It's been a while since my last posting here. Things have been rather busy since the arrival of my little baby girl, Julie, on September 17th. What a ride it has been. Little Julie had a rough start to life. Long story short, she spent the first 3 weeks of her life in the hospital. She didn't get to come home until October 8th. Those 3 weeks certainly drew me closer to God in prayer and meditation. When I least expected, God showed up.

This week I learn that my position at Bosch, which I've held for the past 12 years, will be eliminated in 2010. ZOW! I can honestly say that I wasn't surprised. The automotive industry is in a slump. I now have plenty of motivation to find a job elsewhere. My wife and I would love to move up to the Fruitport, MI, area where she grew up. I do have hope that God will show up just at the right time.

All this experience has tested and grown my faith. I like to think of faith as like a tall oak tree. Such a tree takes several years to grow so big and tall. Faith is the same way. Faith just doesn't happen quickly. It take a lifetime to grow, and starts from a small seed.

I don't know what will happen next or how. I do know that God is waiting for me there. So I continue to trust Him...and that's faith.

countdown to baby

Well it is indeed been quite a while since I have posted anything here. The reason is simple, I'm an expecting father and have been spending most of my free time with completing the nursery and other little home improvement jobs to prepare of the coming baby. Right now I have a little time to breath and think, "Where did the summer go?"

The nursery is for the most part completed. The room has had a complete makeover. New carpet, new paint, new molding, new baseboard, the entry door to the room rehung to swing into the room instead of out, there is a door the leads into a closet with steps leading up to the attic that I've sanded and repainted and now needs to be rehung, the crib is completely assembled and ready for baby to sleep in, the new dresser is assembled and filled with baby clothes, the old armoire closet has been completely sanded and repainted white and is reassembled and filled with baby clothes and other things...WHEW! I'm whipped! I do have to say this room is the best looking room in the house.

The due date for baby has been set at Sept. 8th. Realistically the baby could be born any day now. According to my wife, when you hit 37 weeks you have come full term. Well we are certainly there now. All I can do now is wait.

The anticipation is going to drive me nuts LOL!

this world v. Grace

Yesterday I wrote an e-mail with some thoughts that I felt are rather profound. I wanted to capture those thoughts here.

Yeah I know, it's been a while. I'm gonna be a father you know...excited and scared at the same time. I'm with Eldredge...I'd describe this as both Epic and Intimate. Epic in that I know there will be challenges, or battles to fight. Intimate in that to behold such a tiny human being that I dare say God fusses over all the tiniest details to get everything just right.

I just read your latest blog entry. I've come to conclude that the single-most difficult concept to comprehend of God is His beautiful, wonderful, and amazing Grace. Just breath that in for a moment. Grace.

We grow up in a culture and society that says, basically, you have to earn everything. You don't get anything for free. We live in a world that indeed rewards people, especially young people, for their accomplishments or achievements. So those who don't accomplish __________ or achieve ____________ (fill in the blanks) are basically told they are of little or no value. I remember Dr. Bob pointing out that we're called Human Beings, not Human Doings. This would certainly give answer to why so many people rush around so fast. It's so they can accomplish as much as they can so as not to lose any "value".

However...you look at God and His amazing Grace and we see the complete opposite! When the world says "you don't have much value because you don't accomplish much", Grace says "you have an immeasurable value!" Grace says we don't have to do anything to win His favor because His favor is already ours, and this is so because of Jesus Christ! The world puts so many qualifications that must be met in order to receive this or that. With Grace, there are no qualifications or accomplishments or achievements to be met. Grace is ours...freely. The world may say, "you have to qualify to be allowed in our club." Grace says, "come on in, right now, right where you are at!"

It is my daily prayer that God will continue to wrap His grace around us like a blanket. In the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, "it surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds us together."

You don't have to prove anything. You don't have to accomplish or achieve anything. You can just simply be.




wrapped in His amazing Grace,
Tom