psalms 119:105

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet , and a Light unto my path”

sunrise (not) in reverse

heading up to sydney for a bit . in the mean time , enjoy the sunrise set from atop mount ainslie :

ordination trip – chapter 3 : reception and days’ end

new version of “footprints in the sand”

at some point of our lives , just about everyone would have heard of “footprints in the sand” :

but how many of you have heard of the new version ?

“imagine you and the Lord Jesus are walking down the road together . for much of the way , the Lord’s footprints go along steadily , consistently,  rarely varying the pace . but your footprints are a disorganized stream of zigzags , starts , stops , turnarounds , circles , departures and returns .

for much of the way , it seems to go like this , but gradually your footprints come more in line with the Lord’s , soon paralleling His consistently.  you and Jesus are walking as true friends ! this seems perfect , but then an interesting thing happens : your footprints , that once etched the sand next to Jesus’ , are now walking precisely in His steps .

inside His larger footprints are your smaller ones , you and Jesus are becoming one . this goes on for many miles , but gradually you notice another change . the footprints inside the large footprints seem to grow larger .

eventually they disappear altogether .

there is only one set of footprints : they have become one . this goes on for a long time , but suddenly the second set of footprints are back . this time it seems even worse ! zigzags all over the place . stops . starts . deep gashes in the sand . a veritable mess of prints .

you are amazed and shocked . your dream ends .

now you pray : “Lord , i understand the first scene with zigzags and fits . i was a new Christian ; i was just learning . but you walked on through the storm and helped me learn to walk with you .”

“that is correct.”

” … and when the smaller footprints were inside of Yours , i was actually learning to walk in Your steps ; followed You very closely .”

“very good . you have understood everything so far .”

“… when the smaller footprints grew and filled in Yours, i suppose that i was becoming like You in every way .”

“precisely”

“so , Lord , was there a regression or something ? the footprints separated , and this time it was worse than at first .”

there is a pause as the Lord answers with a smile in His voice . “you don’t know ? that was when we danced .”

“to everything there is a season , a time for every purpose under Heaven . a time to weep , a time to laugh ; a time to mourn , and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:1,4″

(from turn back to God)

(stumbled via terence’s note on facebook)

the history man cometh

from the confidence of his play (of which some would call sheer poetry) , it seems he knew as well as me and everyone else who watches (or even hears about) any pathetic amount of tennis , that when nadal’s tendinitis led to the announcement of his withdrawal , there would be nothing stopping him from getting to and probably winning tonight’s wimbledon final .

simply by appearing in his 20th grand slam final , he will shatter a record set by ivan lendl . roger is the first to compete in seven consecutive wimbledon finals . and if he wins , he will be the only man to have won 15 grand slams (surpassing pete sampras’ fourteen) and he will only be one wimbledon win shy of pete sampras’ and william renshaw’s seven . i think it’s clear that re-earning his number one will merely be a bonus .

apologies to roddick fans – but i don’t think he stands a chance . not just because history hasn’t seen a man play as well as federer , but because so much history writing is at stake here .

that is why i believe it will be his name revealed (again) on the trophy tonight .

and here i thought i was the only one with these hobbies

(xkcd comics)