Tuesday Rambling.  In no particular order, here we go:

Sports

• It’s been a while since I said much about sports.  Going with baseball first, I think the Indians will finish with a better record than the Yankees, assuming the Yankees don’t get any additional offensive help.
• I was really rooting for the Spurs (who really blew game six), but you have to hand it to LeBron.  He truly is the best, and the best usually win championships.
• Rafa Nadal out in the first round of Wimbledon? Ouch!

Growth

• I am really pondering God’s sovereignty.  I am growing in my understanding of what He is doing and in my ability to discern His activity (and conversely, the devil’s plans for destruction).
• Authority is power rightly held.  This phrase, used by our Project Shine speaker Ryan Lawrence last week, taught me much about how to approach God.  Humans trying to say how God should or should not be without consulting God’s Word are trying to use authority they simply don’t have.  Wow.
• Out of a very challenging incident God is teaching me a lot.

Family

• I am looking forward to catching up on some family time this week.  It will be fun to chill out by some water and cook a little dinner together.
• Still no calls for any boys for us to bring into our home for foster care.
• Any parents out there struggle with summer bedtime? We are laying down the law (with reasonable exceptions, of course).  Our biggest need? We still need time when the kids are in bed and we have time to read, relax, and talk without them needing things from us!

America

• I value my personal freedom highly.  I value my spiritual freedom more.  The presence of personal freedom does not guarantee success in promoting my Christian faith.  The absence of personal freedom would not guarantee failure in promoting my Christian faith.  Hmmmm…..
• I truly don’t know what to make of all this scandal.  The best way for me to articulate it is that I think our government is very sloppy in the way it’s being run, yet very strong in the way in which it is getting people to depend on it.  Maybe I’ll chew on that and flesh it out a bit more, but for now that’s a decent summary.