Friday Coffee with PJ

We are in the midst of our Vacation Bible School this week ... what we like to call "the best week of the year!" It's been quite the week with the facility full of kids and staff. What a privilege it is to introduce these children to Jesus! Today is the final morning (followed by a closing program this evening). I am always ready for the end while at the same time looking ahead to doing it all over again next summer (God willing)! So in the midst of a very busy week ... I managed to put together a post for today. So pour yourself a cup of your favorite brew and join me for a random thought or two. 

1. First as a parent, and now as a grandparent, I am amazed at how different our kids (and their kids) are from one another. For example our first granddaughter was speaking complete sentences well before she turned two. Our youngest grandson, now 2 1/2, is still content to speak one or two words at a time. He would much rather be jumping off furniture or running (and far too quickly for my taste!) down a flight of stairs. My wife likes to sing to him a line from an old rock song, "Wild thing! You make my heart sing!" Ha! But even though all of our grandkids are so very different, we love them all the same! As followers of Jesus, our Master calls us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (in Matthew 22:39 Jesus identifies it as the second "great commandment" preceded only by the command to love God). Bottom line, Jesus is not merely calling us ... but he is commanding us to love those we interact with, no matter the color of their skin or the country of their origin or in any other way they might be different from us. And we are to love them as we love ourselves! That's a high calling and a high privilege. So look around at your "neighbors" today and ask God to show you how you can love them in Jesus' name! You may just make their heart sing! 

2. Speaking of grandkids, we are hoping to take our oldest granddaughter to the Maryland zoo (in Baltimore) next week as her birthday gift. She LOOOOVVVEESSS animals! This will be our second trip to this particular zoo. My wife and I love zoos as well. One of the highlights of my sabbatical last summer was a day spent at the Cleveland zoo. We enjoy learning about the great variety of animals which show just how imaginative our Creator is! To think that even before God created this vast universe and its vast array of animals, he first designed each and every one of them. And he did so without any PHD's in microbiology, physics, biochemistry, anatomy, etc! Wow! What a God! He is indeed worthy of our adoration and praise! 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 
pj