Sometimes it feels really good to be out of the jungle! 

In The Jungle The Lion Sleeps Tonight

A very surprising Sunday is swiftly drawing to a close in SD. The past 15 hours have sped by with a pleasant harmony in all of my world. Whoosh! God has richly blessed our lives this day! I have no idea why I might find this unusual, that 'is' how lives are supposed to be on a regular basis. Perhaps the completion of so many projects in such a short time, coupled with the lessening of stress levels my wife and I both experienced over the past few weeks has everything to do with how we feel tonight. In my mind I can rationalize the contentment, but my heart tells me that we were a part of something different. Today was spent trying even harder than we do ordinarily, to 'be' at peace with all of our world. It began with rehearsal last evening. For the first time in far too long my wife, Cheryl, and I joined our gifts and talents to offer them in love for our Savior for the morning worship service. We didn't know it was happening when it started last evening at the church. All we knew for certain was that there was work to be accomplished the coming day and it was hot, humid, and sticky in the sanctuary. Even the normal things I do to prepare for the service seemed to press on a mutual urgency to finish the task and get on with enjoying our time together. What neither of us could have known was that no matter how carefully we tried to plan, God had something else in mind. I should have recognized the signs of a restoration day approaching when the cross mysteriously appeared on a painting I was 'not' in the act photographing. It all became clear later what had actually happened, and reason even explains it, but it goes far deeper than reason, as the artist pointed out upon seeing the photo this evening. For three days we have been seeing, without full recognition of what we were being led to discover. If I'm sounding cryptic it is certainly not on purpose, it is the result of needing more time in prayer to process the answers to prayer that we have been experiencing. The pictures of the big cats combined with the backyard full of little cats is somehow a part of the answer. Look carefully at the male below and the female above and you may see what I see. They both appear to have an expression of peace and contentment on their faces. In the back yard there are four little ones curled up with their mama on a lawn bed. On the couch is my lovely bride, cuddled up and comfortable, waiting for me. Across town there is the baby curled up in his seat, protected from mosquito attacks by a sheet of bounce beneath his blanket(we just visited there on our bicycles), completely content in his world. The other people that were a part of today's experience I pray are feeling much the same as the two of us tonight. The song "It Is Well With My Soul" comes to mind, and as usual there are a dozen others flocking in from the wings to join their voices in a rising chorus of praise. The photo above shows the female(lioness?), and I have a hunch she is looking with satisfaction toward tomorrow and pondering the possibilities it may hold for the future. This is as it should be, the female of any species being the more practical minded of a couple. I give thanks for all in our lives and encourage others to do likewise. How was it that other song went? Juke box for a brain says, "Don't worry, be happy!" In Christ's Love, Preacher.