Marvelous

Today, I marveled. Many times. Some quickly. Some included lingering. I was led to wonder, admire, and be astonished by the following:

1. It started with my morning reading of Scripture. Hebrews 6:18 focused in on the truth that it is impossible for God to lie. It beautifully portrays us as fleeing for refuge and ,further, our result is 'strong encouragement' and having 'hope set before us'. I began my day with the tremendously inspiring reality that my lost and helpless state has been graciously overcome by a loving Savior. His promise to Abraham still rings gloriously true today. I am in awe of God's abundant grace through His promises to me. Promises that He will keep.

2. Then my lovely bride, Sarah, walked by. What a treasured gift she is to me. My love for her grew in those simple moments. Not because of any big activity or reason, but for thousands of little ones. I also marveled at her seemingly effortless ability to do multiple things at once. What would have taken me half an hour or more (plus all the preparation and planning), she flitted through in mere moments. I am in awe of my wife's giftedness and the way she distributes it so freely among many of us.

3. I was amazed at the power of a decision. And a decision acted upon. For the last few days, I had been wasting a bit of time on my commute just listening to the radio. From cultured classical music to base sports talk. Sometimes bluegrass, sometimes Christian pop culture. But as I left today, I decided that I needed to recapture the oppotunity to invest this time. I popped in a CD on fatherhood issues and within minutes was immersed in a exposition of Psalm 78. Much richer.

4. My sin. Three times today (by last count), I threw something onto my desk at work in disgust and frustration. While there were issues and circumstances that preceeded these episodes, I am mindful of the fact that my far-less-than-appropriate response was front and center. Not that my display of selfishness was merely 'less than ideal' or 'not my best moment', but rather it was ugly pride and self-centeredness erupting out from a petty whiner and complainer. The mirror was hard to look at today.

5. Nothing like children to bring reality back to the forefront. Smiling hugs greeted me after a long day. Curious questions gave perspective. And then we had our family reading time before we put them to bed. One of the discussion points in our book hinted at the fact that even parents die someday. Quietly before lights went out, my son asks me to pray for his comfort in the face of that possibility. How could it be that I am privileged to have the responsibility of leading this family? Joyful awe overwhelms me.

Amazing. Fascinating. Enriching. Invigorating. Considerable. Inspiring. Rejuvenating. Quickening. Stimulating.

In a word...marvelous.

My choice for President is...

I'm venturing into new territory on this one. While I have dutifully and joyfully expressed the gift of freedom granted to me by so many over the years by voting at election time, I have never gone too public with my political views. I am not registered with either major party and have voted over the years for what some might consider a wide spectrum of candidates. Of course, others would say that I am pretty limited in the decisions I've made, but I guess that is all relative.

While I still have fifteen months before I cast my vote in our next presidential election, I believe I have made my choice. I will continue to research the candidates and review their agendas and plans on topics ranging from the important to the silly. But I do believe I have my guy (I guess that eliminates one major contender already).

I actually heard about this relative unknown a number of months ago because we share some unique characteristics in our lives. Instantly he had my admiration in the way he has personally dealt with those similar facts. As I continue to learn about him, he continues to impress me. Truth be told, I haven't done a tremendous amount of research yet, and I haven't read all the basics about this gentleman, so I suppose my choice could change before it becomes official. But so far, so good.

I understand that my opinion and this forum of sharing it will not sway many votes at all, if any. But consider this a pre-endorsement for (drum roll, please)...Mike Huckabee.

I first learned about Mr. Huckabee when researching some ideas on (wow...imagine this!) how we can save healthcare money by stressing prevention instead of shelling out bucks for the latest drug that we hope works. As a Type 1 diabetic, some diet and lifestyle changes that I made have resulted in extremely improved overall health including taking less than half the insulin that I used to take (remember...type 1 meaning my pancreas is kaput). In doing some checking on this idea, I found out that this former governor of Arkansas was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, lost 110 pounds, and now runs marathons! That is my kind of guy!

Since then, I have seen snippets of his platform emerge in the form of other brilliant yet all-to-frequently-ignored ideas like fiscal responsibility (don't spend more than you have/earn), accountability (communities accomplishing what they set out to do together), and living out what is most important in life ("my faith doesn't influence my decisions, it drives them").

Of course, this is a personal decision that every eligible voter will have an opportunity to make. Take note of the candidates and prayerfully consider all the issues that God brings to mind. And then make the wise and thoughful decision. We've obviously got some time before next November.

Read more about Mike Huckabee here