Shown Mercy

noun 1. an extended period of recreation, especially one spent away from home or in traveling. 2. the action of leaving something one previously occupied. verb 1. take a vacation  A couple Sunday's ago immediately following worship with our Imago Dei  family, we loaded up and headed to the Outer Banks...  We were loaded up and excited...  The view from our condo in Duck...  Counting our blessings...   "Bless the LORD, O my soul,  and all that is within me,  bless his holy name!   Bless the LORD, O my soul,  and forget not all his benefits,  who forgives all your iniquity,  who heals all your diseases,  who redeems your life from the pit,  who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,  who satisfies you with good  so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."  Psalm 103:1-5 What a blessing to rest...   "The LORD is my shepher...

Good night, good night!  Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow. William Shakespeare ( Pictured above : my girls in the waiting room of Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, NC) Our family said farewell to a beautiful woman this month, Joan Rosaline Meadows O'Neal.  My dad's sister.  My sweet aunt.  At the funeral, (or more appropriately) the celebration of life service, Tony shared an illustration from our recent ten year wedding anniversary trip.  He shared of the evening we set sail from Fort Lauderdale on a cruise ship, went to bed and then woke up, looked out the window and beheld the Caribbean in all its beauty.  He likened that to the passing from death to eternity for the Christ follower.  To the believer, death is like going to sleep here and waking up, not beholding the Caribbean, but a Galilean…someone infinitely greater... Christ Jesus our Savior.    I am so thankful to have had...