Uphill idealist

On my morning run, I was amazed to see a lovely sunrise, cool drips of leftover rain from the canopy of leafy trees, the a marble-like blue and white sky, and four deer with one stomping his left hoof at me as if I was interrupting his breakfast. Maybe I was, but all these things reminded me of the newness of each day and the grace available to swim, soak and live in. What a beautiful dawn of grace. Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. To my surprise, and my delight I saw sunrise, I saw sunlight I am nothing in the dark And the clouds burst to show daylight Ooh and the sun will shine Yeah on this heart of mine Ooh and I realise Who cannot live without Ooh come apart without It On a hill top, on a sky-rise Like a first born child At full tilt, and in full flight Defeat darkness, breaking daylight Ooh and the sun will shine Yeah on this heart of mine Ooh and I realise Wh

After summer vacation comes to an end, it used to be a tradition of school teachers to ask returning students to respond in essay form to the question, "What I did this summer..." While it's still summertime, and the heat and sunshine do not give the slightest hint that cooler weather is on the way; I somehow feel that in the blink of a few weeks mid-August will be upon us and the school bell will be about to call us back to class. So far this summer, I've been spending a great deal of time working directly with youth and families as they prepare to go to LCLC for summer camping sessions. I also have had the opportunities to spend some longer-term time with students by serving as Chaplin at Convo retreat during General Assembly and just a few weeks ago went to LCLC as part of the teaching faculty for the week of Confirmation Camp. It was a great joy, in both circumstances, to spend some quality time with the youth of our church and our greater area. There were times