Aurora Borealis

The world is not spinning out of control.

Sometimes it feels like it is. I watch the evening news and wonder, "What is going on? How has our society come to this?" War. Senseless violence. Murder. Drugs. Guns in schools. Abortion. Legalization of gay marriage.

The reality is, this is nothing new. God created the man and woman in His image and blessed them. One lie from the tempter, one fateful decision, one bite of fruit, and a cold-blooded murder one generation later.

Quite simply, man is messed up. We have done this to ourselves, and it has been the same story for millennia.

I wonder, if Adam and Eve had a magic mirror that could have shown them the consequences of their sin, if they would ever have plucked the forbidden fruit off the tree. Death. Pain. Suffering. Grief. Seemingly senseless tragedy. And all of those things we see on the evening news. A world gone mad because of sin.

And then, last night, a precious gift. Lights, dancing in the sky, in brilliant reds and greens. Aurora Borealis, with the sparkling stars peeking through.

As I gazed up into the stunning night sky, I thought of a rainbow and a promise. And I felt God saying to me, "You fret over too many things. I'm still on My throne, and the world will never spin out of My control."

Wait... It's Fall Already?

Do you ever look at the calendar, realize what the date is, and wonder, "How did we get here already?"

We're in the middle of our fourth week of school, and I just have to pause and say, "Wait... it's fall already?!"

Where did the summer go? How does time pass so quickly? And when did my son become a middle schooler?

I had a list of things I planned to accomplish over the summer, when I was supposed to be less busy because I wouldn't have school to worry about. That list included blogging more... obviously, that didn't happen!

The summer was as busy as ever, but it was a good kind of busy. And although I never accomplished my goal of cleaning the house from top to bottom, light fixtures and all, I did accomplish something much greater.

Our family was able to spend several weekends camping, including a special weekend with my parents, my sister's family, and my brother's family. We also decided to spend a week in Mackinaw at the end of the summer so that we could walk the Mackinac Bridge on Labor Day.

There's nothing like putting away the computers, television, Blu-Ray, and cell phones and simply enjoying each other and the world God gave us. I'm grateful for modern conveniences, but I do think they often get in the way of what our true priorities should be. I am grateful that we invested the time into our family, and especially these memories with our boys.

Here are a few highlights:





The seven cousins being goofy during our Kirkland family camping trip.









The girls: Lauren (my niece), Melissa (my sister), my mom, me, and Wendy (my sister-in-law)






The boys with their grandpa. We went to Stony Haven Campground in New Era. My parents were able to rent a cabin that was wheelchair accessible, so my dad could come, too.








Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes














Our favorite putt-putt golf place in Petoskey. And, yes, Lukas is picking the pirate's nose.









Geocaching on Mackinac Island










Walking the Mackinac Bridge