Let It Be?

It was a pleasant morning.  As I settled into my easy chair to spend some time in prayer, a melodic chorus began to play itself in my head.  The song was a runover from the day before, when I’d spent some time in a park with a local musician friend.  One the songs we played was the Beatles’ iconic “Let It Be.”

“Let it be, let it be, let it be...”  The words ran through my head.  Looking out my window in the coolness of the morning, I watched the neighboring wall turn from gray to yellow as the sun rose, and the moment felt sublime. Let it be...

Wait, what was I saying?  Let it be?  No, no, no!

I sat up straight, shook the cobwebs from my head, and realized the lie I'd let myself buy into.  Let my life, my city, my neighbors be?  No way.  I was up early to pray for just the opposite.  I am beseeching the Spirit of God to move through my city in a powerful way, because I care too much about it to let it be.  It is He who will bring to light, who will humble, who will provide, who will save.  I can choose to live in line with that, serving my neighbors and sharing the truth of God, his love, and his redemption.  Or I can choose to let it be.  The apathetic within me wants to choose the passive route and mellow out, let it be.

But I can’t do that.  I won’t.

Random Photos from Grandparent Visit

Grandparent Visit

Bibi and Papi (paternal [grand]parents) came to visit, hooray!  We had a ton of fun with them.  It was a beautiful thing to watch them play with the kids who simply came alive.  The past couple weeks have been full of days they will remember for a long time to come.  We (mama and daddy) enjoyed the break, allowing ourselves to rest some while the grandparents did their work :).

So what did we do?

...there was much baseball played:

...numerous picnics and cookouts:

...playgrounds:

 

...swimming pools and beaches:

 

...presents, presents, presents:

 

...and a giant wheel!

 

Thanks for the memories, Bibi and Papi!  We'll miss you, so glad we were able to share our lives with you locally.  Welcome back anytime (bring more baseballs).

Trip through Greece

In typical French fashion we've had a summer full of travel, visitors, and sunshiny stores-closed take-it-easy fun.  I'll start with Greece, a beautiful place with great people (who's accent while speaking English may be my favorite).

Much (nay, most) of our time in Greece was spent as this couple, relaxing on beaches or poolside, watching waves lap in or tracing boats in the distance.  Never in a hurry to get anywhere.

Many of our non-American neighbors spend their lives convinced that air-conditioning will make one sick while we laugh at their sweaty neanderthal ways.  But as it turns out... we had air conditioning at every hotel in Greece (not all of equal effectiveness) and every one of us four got sick.  Maybe there's something to it!

This little girl took quickly to the warm pools of Greece.

So this is vacation, huh?

Winding streets, white walls, little shops.

I really wanted to buy a house on a Greek island and paint it something other than white with blue trim. Would probably start a riot.

Stairs and passageways. Stairs and passageways.

Ancient town. Rocks. Not white walls.

To Athens we go:

Our last night we spent out an outdoor café next to a church around which kids played. Sawyer even ordered his dinner all by himself: chicken on a stick with fries, bread, and a water. A perfect ending to a great trip.