"I came that you might know life, in all of it's fullness!" - JesusThis morning's - short - post is a reference back to vacation. The best vacations are more than rest, they're restoration - meaning the experience is in a sense reconstructive. Rebekah and I enjoyed one another immensely, and it was the quality of enjoyment that always adds up to knowing one-another better today than we did before the trip.
That's why the picture (above, left) is a good one for this post. We made a deliberate effort to get to Jacksonville in time to see our nephew Jared (the one who is constantly schooling me at various games) play soccer. Rebekah is sitting field-side with niece Jordan, sister-in-law Heather, and niece Sarah. Do you notice anything about how Rebekah is watching the game?
Well, it's not hard to miss! She's cheering, and encouraging Jared, and she's not just doing it with her voice, she's doing it with her entire self! She's 100% there, in the moment, with 100% of herself thrown in.
That's Rebekah in a nutshell. If you only know her via attending church on Sunday mornings, you might wonder if the animation, the energy and the passion that characterize her preaching/teaching/leading is merely a "preacher-persona" for the occasion? But one of the awesome things about my wife is what you see in the photograph: Rebekah is, always, insatiably alive - that's a definitive fact. Her enthusiasm for life, and the way she lives faith out loud is authentic; it's one more reason this thirty-one years and counting adventure of marriage is in a constant state of renewal.
This is Derek, recommending life, and living it out loud the best that I can!
As always - PEACE
Picture of Rebekah, below, taken on top of Mount Washington, New Hampshire, two weeks ago... Picture, above right, taken in Jackson, NH, the next day.
3 comments:
I would have to say you captured her well - full of life, enthusiasm, and engagement in the moment. It seemed to me like you both came back from vacation very much restored - Rebekah more so. Praying that God will grant you both a very fruitful season in ministry.
Yep! I always think of Rebekah with 5 feet into life! She loves it; she rejoices in it; she shares it; she embellishes it; she IS life. Love her immensely.
You are a fortunate man, and we are a lucky congregation!
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