-
Now, I'm going to let out a dirty little secret about me... When I was growing up... ok, I still do this... the first page I reach for in the newspaper is the comics section. Yes, even today... even before the Sports page. I love the comics.

One of my favorites of course is Peanuts and good 'ol Charlie Brown, and one of the quotes that I love the most from Charlie Brown is "Happiness is a warm puppy" (when he's hugging Snoopy). So, seeing as though I'm in a very content mood now (having nothing to do with going to the beach tomorrow... NOT!), I figured I'd provide my own little "happiness is..." list from my experiences.

Happiness is...

"Chillaxin on the beach with a good book and the sound of the waves crashing in your ears."

"Toasting to awesome friends over a good bottle of Spanish wine."

"Getting an encouraging handwritten note in the mail" (even better when it's laced with perfume)

"Having your friends compliment you on a great dinner party after working hard to make sure everything is done right."

"Reading a good book at Starbucks"

"Laughing histerically for a good five minutes after getting a witty e-mail zinger about hairdressers in Hardees." (don't ask... lol)

"Hearing about the how God is opening doors and reaching people at a place where you're about to travel on a mission trip in a week and a half."

"Getting a big hug after a long and tiring day."

"Feeling the jeans that used to hug your butt sag as you put them on" (oh yeah - had that feeling today! :-) )

"Resting in the love of Jesus knowing that all of the stuff the world throws at you cannot possibly steal your joy."

"Hearing a new song on a CD and replaying it in the car until you know all the words and can sing it with Casting Crowns (ok - so you know the CD now) at the top of your lungs in the car."

"Massages, enough said."

"Witnessing God's creation in all it's glory... it's especially good in Banff, Alberta :-)... I'm not partial at all."

"Witnessing your school BEAT THE H*** outta your hated arch rival screaming in joyful bliss with 86,000 of your closest friends and high-fiving people that you just met and probably won't ever see again." (11/18/1999... I was there. A&M 20, t.u. 16)

"Great worship music."

"Moments where God intimately speaks to your soul."

................
More to come... this was a fun blog to write :)

chris <><

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is it time to drop the "Jesus" of the Chosen?

-
  Back in 2020 (Yes, THAT 2020), with all of the negative that came out of that year (and we lived in Colorado and experienced much of it), one seemingly bright light that came into our lives was this crowdsource-funded streaming digital series about the life of Jesus that was starting to gain attention on social media.  It was (and still is) called "The Chosen."   I'm not sure if it was out of curiosity, boredom, or out of the hope that something good would come out of the year we were living in, but we started to watch the first season that streamed on YouTube.  This program, which is the brainchild of Dallas Jenkins (whose dad Jerry Jenkins was the author of the Left Behind series books), was a creative project aimed at expressing the stories of Jesus in the Bible (and we find that much was made up... more on that later) in a modern format mimicking a "bingeable" Netflix series.  The production value was excellent.  The Chosen, especially given the limited bu
Read more

After the Red Sea: A redeemed people that didn't trust (or love) their God (Exodus 16-17)

-
The newly freed Israelites, after having seen God's mighty works in Egypt in rescuing them from slavery and delivering them through the Red Sea... You would have thought that they would be full of worship, praise, and love for God who did this deliverance on their behalf. Well, they did, for a hot second (Exodus 15). Immediately after being delivered, they break out in song on the other side of the Red Sea and sing praises to God. But it's not soon after, that they start complaining. I mean, they complain (or "grumble") a lot. "And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “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.” - Exodus 16:2-3 "Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us
Read more

Issac, the Patriarch of Peace

-
  Devotional thoughts for today. "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." - Romans 12:18 A little about my morning methodology. I typically choose a section of the Bible to meditate on during each year, and this year I'm reading through the "Torah" (or the first five books of the Bible, which are foundational not only to Jews but also to our Christian faith). Today, I was reading in Genesis 26. Genesis 26 mostly covers the life details of the life of Isaac. Isaac doesn't get much press, being sandwiched in between Abraham and Jacob in the Patriarch line, but he is significant nonetheless. More is written about what is done TO Isaac vs. what Isaac himself has done. However, Genesis 26 gives a glimpse into it. Perhaps the reason for the lack of press (if I can speculate) is that Isaac's life was pretty non-dramatic. Other than the circumstances of his birth, the fateful trip to Mount Moriah, and Jacob's act of deceptio
Read more