The Banzai Chronicles

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope— the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.

—Titus 2:11-14

The passage above hangs on the wall of my home, in the bathroom of all places. Must confess not spending much time with it (the verse, not the bathroom— I'm sure I'm about average in the regard to the latter), to the point of not even knowing who wrote it until I looked it up this morning (it was Paul). But it speaks to me today.

Session lasted until 22:00, an hour's improvement over last week. Weekly meetings that have pared down to three hours have gotten seriously out of hand. It was a good meeting, however, and I came away with a little more responsibility and, hopefully, a lot more control. In essence, I'll be taking on project management for the Session, tracking their milestones and keeping them on task. To have them ask me to do so was an honor, and though it may mean more work, it will almost certainly mean less confusion. That's a trade I'll take any day.

Relationships are difficult. Sometimes what it means to be a friend is just the opposite of what it feels like it should be. I get confused, tired, frustrated, afraid, and sad. Yet my course remains clear. Do what love requires. Be faithful to Jesus.

I'd be a liar to pretend that I'm doing this consistently. In my private life I've been falling on my face— it's little wonder that I'm ineffective in speaking the truth to those I love. I need to be changed. That's the real message here.

Laine wrote, "I think of every day that passes as one day closer to Seattle. Is that wrong?" I hope not. To have the Littles here with me would be an amazing blessing. It's how I always thought it would be, deep down.

One tick of the second hand, closer to midnight.