It’s been hot and humid here, but the balmy early mornings, waking up to the whir of fans, remind me of vacation in California. I wouldn’t mind going back sooner than later.

But speaking of visits to that wonderfully sunny state, I’m so proud of Julia. My mom said this:

“We were totally proud of Julia. She received many encouraging words of praise from attenders in the audience — members of the LA Guitar Quartet, for instance. Comments on her tone and intrepretation. She had worked very hard on the latter and really excelled.”

She got to play for the LA Guitar Quartet! How very, very cool!

What wonderful opportunities the Lord has opened up for her. It’s a great testimony to sowing and reaping. She’s been a great steward of her [thousands of!] talents.

And today she’s playing tennis with Dad. I can only imagine playing tennis at a perfect court on a perfect day.

Yay for her!

…birthday, Julia.

On worship:

Our bodies naturally reflect what affects us. I cringe when a glass of milk is about to be knocked over; I open my arms wide as my daughter runs to greet me; I jump up from the couch with my hands upraised when my team scores the winning goal; I gratefully applaud unselfish acts of service; I cry when a friend’s child dies. Is the church the only place where our bodies can’t express what our minds are comprehending and our hearts are feeling?

. . . Some think it’s hypocrisy to express honor towards God physically when they don’t feel anything in their hearts. On the contrary, it’s only hypocritical when we act a certain way to give others a false impression of our spirituality. A better response is to acknowledge our lack of desire for God as evidence of our innate sinfulness, and to begin to fill our minds with truths about His kindness, mercy, holiness, grace, and goodness, especially expressed to us in the Gospel. We then act in faith, trusting that God will give us a greater passion for Him. (source)

And one of my favorite lines:

So our goal must be to help people hear, see, and understand the right things.

For anyone who wonders what I’m thinking when worship starts at 10:30, that’s it. I’m thinking, “If we could see You better today, Lord, we would be changed. Help me to declare Your truth in a way that opens the eyes of hearts.”

When we see differently, we act differently. All of life — everything we do — is a response to what we believe to be true. May the great Truth, the reality of Him, penetrate our hearts in such a way that we live up to our name: people of faith.

Snippets from my day:

— Mama and four sisters brought piping hot blueberry muffins and coffee over for breakfast — and totally surprised me!
— Three hours of work at the church was brightened by the company of the new girl.
— I walked with my sister and the new girl for over an hour — in the misty rain, through rolling green hills and rich brown fields.
— For a couple of hours, I sewed, uninterrupted.
— I started and finished and liked an entire book in one day.
— My baby apparently was learning how to do chorus-line kicks and somersaults while I read the book.
— And then I got a nice email from my far-away friend who makes me feel like the miles won’t ever get in the way of our “best-ness.”

Nice. All very nice. A “crowns you with lovingkindness” sort of day.

“It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night…” –psalm 92

For some real winning music, go here.

“When Taylor Hicks is crowned the ‘American Idol’ champion on Wednesday night, he’ll have a long list of people to thank. First and foremost among them should be the people responsible for writing Katharine McPhee’s original song.” (source)

Gotta love when you get dealt the worst cards of the deck.