22July2016 Quickshot: 8ight

We're celebrating this kid's eight birthday today.  Our family....the world...wouldn't be the same without him!

ثمانية

11June2016 Quickshot: Amara

Amara is one of 2,350,000 Syrian refugee children. We can't wrap our minds around a number like that but we can wrap our arms around Amara. She's squishy, and beautiful and amazing and adorable and...you get the point.

9July2016 Quickthought: Reckless Hate

2 thoughts:

As we witness such suffering around the globe, from Texas to Baghdad, Baton Rouge to Indonesia, I find myself wrestling with one of our family’s purposes, “How can we overcome evil with good?”  Can we agree that the source of these events if evil?  Not oppression or brutality, not even racism.  All of these are but symptoms of a very real evil that pervades this planet and if we’re honest, we sometimes feel less like overcomers and more like the overcome.

Like you, we are simply heartbroken by the events of this past week.  Death and fear and fighting and division, oh the division.  These things have that effect on people, right?  Everything within me longs for the return of Jesus, for our loving Father to transform this broken mess into something beautiful again.  It’s one of those gut wrenching longings as we yearn, YEARN!, for this precious promise from Revelation 21 to take place:

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”

He is going to wipe away every tear, every single tear from our eyes.    

     There have been a lot of tears this week.   

No death!   

     There has been too much death this week.   

No mourning!   

     There has been too much mourning this week.   

No crying or pain!   

     There has been so much crying, so much pain this week. 

 We are ready for a change.

6July2016: Quickthought from Ataturk

Two thoughts from Ataturk:
1. Life is a vapor. It was business as usual less than a week after the attack that left 43 dead, 200 injured. Our lives are fleeting. Do something of value.
2. Life is a vapor. Those we come in contact with today could be gone tomorrow. Share something eternal before they meet eternity.