An Amazing Fam

As you could tell from my post here, I haven't been exactly full of joy lately. In fact, Shari would tell you that life has been rather tense, depressing, and downright lousy for a very few, but very large reasons. So Friday night was a big night with the youth group, which went very well. At the end of the evening, I walked out to my car exhausted, and simply ready to go home and crash. In the car I found a little bag of goodies which wasn't there when I went into the church. As I unpacked it, I found all sorts of notes from my family. Mark had drawn me a picture with a great saying in it. Michael said he was praying for me, then asked for $10. Matthew and Benjamin also had notes in there. All of my boys expressed their love for me, how much they miss their time with me (see tomorrow's post), and that they hope I get a deer soon (I was going hunting the next day - Saturday). But it was my wife's card that really encouraged me. It was an amazing reminder that, no matter what God's timing is perfect, and He is the One who cares for us above all, and whatever happens, He's in the midst of the storm... and she's walking through it with me, too. I love that woman, and am so thankful - again - that I married her. Then, to top it all off, they bought me the latest CD from Casting Crowns, "The Altar and the Door." This is probably my favorite group right now. The lead singer's a youth pastor, which is an added bonus, but, because of that fact, they tend to write songs that are real. One of my favorite of those songs is, "Voice of Truth." It's amazing. I've embedded the video below. "The Altar and the Door" have some great ones, too, including a very convicting song, "Slow Fade." If you have a program that you can at least listen to a song or two for free (like Rhapsody), I highly encourage listen to that one. It's one of the key songs off the movie, "Fireproof" (see my review of that here).

Thanks, my family, for encouraging me. I am so glad I'm your dad/husband, and I appreciate the reminder to put my time where I say my values are.