the chronicles of sarnia

I got up at 5:30 this morning.  I’ve been looking forward to this day for months.  When I rolled out of bed I could taste my morning breath.  It made me nauseous.  I got dressed in a hurry flew out the door knowing that if I didn’t get some time to really process what was about to happen today, I’d miss out on something truly amazing.

Family from Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota showed for our 2^nd service.  I’ve been praying for a lot of their hearts to have an awakening today.  I honestly don’t know where a lot of family members are at in the journey. I just want to let God use today to wet their appetites for something greater than themselves.  Something you can’t measure or even see with your eyes. 

The band today was incredibly united.  Same wavelength.  Same heart.  Same focus.  I’m not sure I’ve had so much fun worshiping before.  It’s okay to have fun in church, worshiping, right?  ; D

The focal point (for me anyway) was that our daughter Alethia was dedicated today.  Her name means truth.  We (Kristi and I) feel like God wants to use Alethia in the coming years to help reveal truth in people lives and encourage them to see God’s fingerprints in their life stories.  She already does that for me.  God teaches me so much about His heart through her.  She’s the light of my life.  Every night when I put her to bed, I cradle her in my arms, hold her cheek close to mine and ask God to fill Alethia with dreams and desires that revolve around His purpose for her life.  I plead for God’s protection over her heart and mind as she sleeps, that God’s very precense would fill her bedroom as she sleeps in His arms.  I pray for God to help her wake up refreshed for a new day of fun with Mommy and Daddy.     

She turns 1 tomorrow.  July 28^th.  I can’t believe it.  She’s growing up before my very eyes!  There’s so much joy in being her Daddy, but there’s a mixture of sadness.  I know that one day God will allow her to leave my protection.  Everything in me wants to be there to be her rock in times of trouble.  To be the shoulder to cry on.  The one to run to. 

Father, thank you for Alethia.  She is my world.  Tears fill my eyes when I think of the gift that she is.  Lord, I pray as Rick prayed today at her dedication, that she would come to know you at an early age.  I ask that you’d give me the privilege of leading her to ask you into her heart.  As Ephesians 3:17 says, “That Christ would be at home in your heart.”  Alethia was created for amazing things.  Show me how to live my life in a way that gives her a solid root system to grow in the knowledge of your tender mercy.