A Lebanese Blessing

May love be the gardener of your years
Bringing forth from your grounding in God
A harvest of wholeness and peace
A bounty of courage and compassion

May your soul tower
with the strength of the cedars
Your heart pound with the power of the sea

May joy rise in you like the mountains,
And may it be a blessing you share
With all those you love,
Who this day make merry
That in you The great love of God
Has found a home on earth

Five Months Ago

This day five months ago my life underwent a tremendous transition. I embarked on a new journey with Cathy. Her home became my home, and mine hers. We vowed to join together in this life as an act of faith in the kingdom of God here today. These five months have been filled with a combination of new roller coaster rides and the delicate hidden changes that happen inside a cocoon. Hallelujah! Praise God for his goodness and the life he gives us to be his new creation!

our Ford Explorer saga

Two weeks ago, Cathy & I drove up Greenlawn Ave heading toward my house, and when we took the left turn onto Cedar, I accelerated out of the turn in hope of fishtailing a little bit on the snow before straightening out, which I enjoy and feel like a race car driver when I do it. This time, instead of straightening out, my Explorer continued to rotate and turn on the ice, eventually sliding perpendicular to path of the road. We were slowing down, but not enough to avoid hopping the curb and giving a tree a little tap. It didn't sound too bad, but when I got out and looked, I saw a bumper bent in, headlights on one side cracked open, and the impact bending a side fender, contorting the wheel well. My heart dropped a little bit, I grimaced, and asked myself and Cathy why I had decided to do that. Approaching the holidays and the wedding, we did not need any new complications. We had a full day planned, so I put it out of my mind and decided I would get a quote on the repairs ...

Marcus & Bekah Nayo!

This weekend 2 friends of mine in the People of Praise got married. Marcus is originally from Togo, Africa, and Bekah is from around here. Marcus has been here for less than a year, after having lived in NYC for awhile. He is in my men's group, and I have enjoyed getting to know him since he's been here. For posterity, here is what I shared with him at his bachelor party. I always have to write stuff like this down, because I cannot think when I'm in front of people. Someday I'll be able to. But for now, I have this stuff written down which makes it easy to save too. It's kinda ironic because you'll only get to see this stuff until I get good enough at it that I don't need to write it. Marcus, if your family were here with us tonight, what would they say? Would they allow you to stay here, or would they try to bring you back home? Would they understand what sort of life you have chosen to live here? What stories would they tell us about you? I wa...

Thirsty

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