Be With One Another

Email has given us a great opportunity to communicate. Texting has added to our capacity to respond in just a second. Now there are programs or phones that work like walkie talkies that allow you to speak your message. By the time I retire, you will just read my thoughts. Or maybe you had better not do that!

And yet, we struggle to communicate. I think it is a part of the human paradox. We have all the capabilities but still just can't quite pull it off.

I think that is where the intent of the will comes in. You see each day we decide what we will do or what we will say. Oh there are givens in life, but ultimately, it is the decision of our will--or theologians call it, our free will--to choose who to believe or who to trust. More importantly we choose how we will live our life.

I spent this afternoon spending time with two of my four grandkids. They are visiting from Germany. My son-in-law, Drew, is in the Air Force and serves our country there. I chose to lay down all the work that needed to be done and be a grandpa.

It was a great afternoon learning how to communicate. The grandkids are three and one year old. Talking to kids that age is an adventure. My grandson, Caiden, would say something as if I would understand all of it. There were times I had no idea what he was saying but caught all of the emotion of what he was saying. Caroline, the one year old, is at the point where she mimics things you do. How much fun that it is to watch!

We played with dinosaurs. We drew chalk figures on the sidewalk. We ate cookies--cooked and uncooked. The two of them were bottomless pits with more energy than I ever remember having in a lifetime. There is no doubt that tonight that when Mandy and I go to bed, we both will be exhausted. But oh, what a blessing. Their presence in our world is a gift.

I think this is what God must feel with me sometimes. God makes me the focus of the world to hear me yak and spend time with me. God loves to hear the children of the world play with each other. God loves to see our creativity, imagination, and our energy.

As I am writing this, Mandy, Caiden, and the dinosaurs are making pancakes. My plate is being filled. The imagination of a child is truly a gift from God.

When Jesus' good friend, Lazarus died, Martha met Jesus with the words, "if you had been here...." The presence of Jesus would have made a difference. The thought of not being there--maybe that is why Jesus wept. There is great value to spending time with family and friends. The blessing of time is maybe one of the determining factors in life's relationship.

Maybe all this technology is helpful, but it never replaces the ability to laugh and play--putting away all the things that need to be done--just to be with one another. My prayer is that today my grandkids, my daughter and son-in-law felt my love for them.

Take time. Be with one another. Be with God.