To God be the glory

Just got back from prayer meeting. Had a really good fellowship with the Lord. One of my aunties from Samoa led it this morning. What a blessing to have new voices of servants of God bring His message. Our theme this morning was remembering the love of God. That from His love, all blessings flowed. She said sometimes we forget where the blessings come from. We must always remember that everything we have we received from Him. Our possessions, our abilities and our lives. We are to return those blessings to Him in service.

We have been blessed this month with a fundraiser that exceeded our expectations. The program was extremely well received. It's almost enough to give you a big head. But this morning's theme was a great reminder that we are nothing without the love of God. His grace enabled us to be reconciled with Him. We must humble ourselves and use all of our God-given abilities to return the glory to Him. Sometimes when we think we are 'all that' as the kids say, it's always nice to be reminded where the true source of our success comes from.

The youth are very succeptible to this mentality. As young people, we think we are invincible and the world revolves around us. We forget that to live for Christ is to live for others. As we continue to prepare for our Labor Day mafuataga, may we remember that we are ambassadors for Christ and we should reflect Him in all we do.

I can wait

In this fast paced world, we become impatient if we're asked to wait. We want things now. We judge good service by how fast they are. We hate having to wait and extra minute at the drive thru. We wait impatiently for thirty seconds as the computer ramps up or as we wait for pictures to upload. And that most anxious of waits, as we give the cashier our credit or debit cards and wait for he 'approval.' There were many times in my youth that I would say a hundred silent prayers while waiting for the answer from the cash register. LOL Good 'ole college days. They seem so far away. It seems like an insult to us to be kept waiting.

The Bible is different. The word wait is more an attitude than an activity. To wait on the Lord is to trust the Lord. The Biblical concept has more to do with trust and faith. Sometimes God has a reason for making you wait. He took the Israelites through the desert for over forty years and made them wait to enter the promise land. He made Paul wait in a prison in Rome. The lesson seems to be that if we truly trust in God, then we can wait patiently for His timing.

There are times we want God to hurry up and answer our questions and solve our problems already. It seems like our prayers go like this: please do this and this for me. Oh and by the way, can you do it by next Monday because I really need it before the weekend. It's like we are putting God on OUR timeline. Our church has been waiting for over a year to have our building renovated. We have faced one delay after another. Our loan was disapproved. Then it was approved. Our blueprints were approved, then they had to be readjusted. We are becoming more and more impatient. Sometimes we wonder if there's ever going to be a new building.

When I get discouraged from waiting on plans to materialize, I go back to Isaiah's words. He said that those that wait on the Lord will be blessed. We will have our strength renewed. We will run and not be weary. We just need to trust that God has our best interest at heart. It takes a lot of faith to wait. It's human nature to want things now. It's the person of faith that can say, I can wait.

Stand in the gap

When the Israelites where under attack from the Babylonians, God asked people to come and stand in the gap of the crumbling walls of the city of Jerusalem. He wanted to find someone to come and stand in the gap before Him to justify why He should save His people. He found no one.

In today's world, spiritual walls are crumbling all around us. Sin and temptation are all around us. And they seem to be taking straight aim at our leaders, particularly are spiritual leaders. When the devil sees that a person of God is winning souls for the Lord, the devil attacks that person relentless. He uses our flesh to entice us. Some of the leaders have fallen to sex, alcohol, gambling, greed. You name it, the devil will use any means to bring down a person who stands strong for the Lord. That's why it's important for us to stand in the gap for these leaders. Lift them up in your prayers that God sends down an force of protection for them. They are the most vulnerable to attack. The devil knows that if the shepherd falls, many in the flock will become discouraged and will stray from the Lord. So please keep God's messengers in your prayers. Stand in the gap fro them.

But also stand in the gap for each other. If you know someone who is vulnerable to attack, stand in the gap in prayer for them. If someone you know has weaknesses that the devil can exploit, stand in the gap for them. Reach out in encouragement for them and let them know that we are praying for them. Some of us are called to minister. Some of us are called to be missionaries. Some of us are called to prophesy. And some of us are called to be prayer warriors and to stand in the gap for His people.

Compartments

Today [Saturday] was a really long day. Have you ever had one of those days where it seems like it happened in sections? Let me 'splain as my students would say. It's when your day has different compartments and they don't all necessarily fit into one another. OK, let me go at it another way. I always start my Saturdays by going to prayer meetings at 6:30am. I've found it a great way to start my weekends for about ten years now. The only times I miss is when I'm out of town or when I'm working. But those are far and few between. The irony is that I'm not a morning person. I HATE mornings. In fact, after I've brushed my teeth and put on my clothes, I feel like the day is done because the hardest part is over, getting out of bed.

Anyways, I am like the youngest person in this group. By about twenty years. Seriously, the person closest to my age is my mom and she's...well never mind she comes on here sometimes. LOL But you know what? It's actually kind of cool to hang out with the elders of the church for a couple of hours on a Saturday morning. I know, call me weird. And the meditation in the morning is awesome spending quality time with the Lord and singing the old LMS classics. It always gets my weekend off on the right foot. We go to breakfast afterwards and enjoy some good fellowship. Like I said, my Saturday are like compartments. That was compartment one.

Compartment two is going to school afterwards to work on getting my room ready for school on Monday. I met up with some co-workers and went over our lesson plans for the week and all the other teacher stuff we had to do. These guys are all palagi professionals who had no idea what I was just doing a few hours earlier. I spent a couple of hours with them.

Compartment three came when my sister visited me at school to go over the program for our upcoming Labor Day mafutaga. But before she could come, a good friend of mine dropped in for a visit. He's a fellow local boy from back in Hawaii. We reminisced about our times in high school and how much trouble we were for the teachers. I mean HE was for the teachers. LOL I guess being in a classroom brought back memories for him. When my sister came he left shortly thereafter. We got a little planning done, but before we knew it it was time for pese.

Compartment four was pese. I sang in the choir and sang very well, if I may say so myself. We went over our play list for tomorrow. Again these different compartments were totally separate from each other. Each of them play a big part in my life, but each different. After pese we finally met with the other leaders of the youth group to nail down the plan of action for the mafutaga. I believe we got it down.

Finally headed home, after 14 hours and on to compartment five. The most important compartment, spending time with my wife and daughter. It's been too long. I've talked to my little girl four times on the phone, but it's not the same. We spent about an hour together before my wife reminded me we had a date. So off I went to compartment six, the movies.

As I'm sitting in the movie theater, the prayer meeting that started my day seemed like it was last week. But it was still in the same day. Saw a really good movie, "Time Travellers Wife." Very thought provoking. It' about a time traveller, duh. But the movie evokes some important questions. Who controls our destiny? If you could, would you rather find out about your future or let it unravel on its own? Very poignant picture. Not something I'd see on my own, but with the love of my life next to me, it was very special. OK, I'll admit, I really liked it. Plus the main characters have a daughter the same age as Perise so off course I projected everything that happened to the little girl to my daughter and...well, I guess you'll just have to go see the movie yourself.

Then it's back home and on to the blog to unwind about my day. They aren't always this varied. Some days I'd spend all Saturday at one place. Today just wasn't one of those days. And it's still not over. There may even be a compartment...what number are we up to now?

A tough call

I've shared with you over the last month or so some of the changes that my family has gone through. We went up to New Mexico to help my brother in law's fiance move down here to Texas. We had her stay with us while waiting for her apartment to open up. We also had to deal with a death in the family.

But perhaps the biggest change we've had to deal with was taking in two children from our church who were looking for a home to go to. They were from a troubled background. A four year old and a one year old. As I've described in past postings, we weren't given much notice. We got a call on a Friday evening saying if we didn't take them in they would be put into the system and they could end up anywhere. My wife and I looked at each other and said, "we'll do it since it's the best thing for the kids to stay around family."

From the beginning, it's been a real struggle. Our daughter is also four and an only child. She's used to having the run of the house. She knows our rules and generally abides by them. She's no angel by any means, but she follows the rules. The four year old we took in was a struggle. She was thrown into a new environment and struggled acclimating to our rules. And our daughter was always happy to be the big sister. The problem was the girl didn't want a big sister. In other words, they clashed. Constantly. What contributed to the problem was that the state gave us guidelines as far as disciplining the children that we had to abide by. These guidelines were different than our guidelines. My daughter picked up pretty quickly that she was treated differently than the other girl. And so did the girl. My daughter questioned why we didn't punish the girl as did her.

To make a long story short, the arrangement wasn't working out. It seemed as if we were putting out fires everyday. And all our free time was spent running around getting things ready for the kids' school or daycare. We were also struggling with the notion of what would happen to the kids once they left us. Were we wasting our efforts in trying to stabilize them if they were returned to the environment that caused the destabilization. But the thing that concerned us the most was the toll it was taking on our daughter. She was beginning to exhibit some of the defiant behaviors that we saw in the four year old. And she was becoming more and more agitated and frustrated everyday. In fact, after one incident in which I had to punish her, she asked me if I still loved her.

So my wife and I made one of the hardest decision we've ever had to make. We decided to return them to Social Services. There was a large part of me that keeps questioning whether I did the right thing. My wife had a lot of doubts. Were we giving up too soon? Were we not upholding our Christian values of being our brothers' keepers? But in the end, we made the decision that was best for our daughter and best for the children. In fact, best for EVERYONE involved. They would now be in a stable household that has professional foster parents that have been trained in caring for special needs children.

As we dropped them off at the office, the four year old kept asking if she has to go look for a new house now. She asked if she was leaving because she was bad. I told her no. We told were going to a family that can better help them than us. I told her to say her prayers every night, which is something new we taught her and to look after her brother. It broke my heart, but I knew that her new home is better for her and her brother.

Failing the test

I read a story once about a class of seminary students who were given an assignment to preach on the Good Samaritan. The story about how people passed someone who was in need. Many of the people who passed this person in need were from the same tribe. The person that finally stopped to help was a person from another tribe, the Samaritans.

As they were on their way to deliver their sermons, they raced across campus. Their professor had arranged for someone posing to be in need to be ask them for help as they were going to class. Fearing they would be late, none stopped to help. When they got to class all delivered superb sermons. Theologically sound, supported by wonderful anecdotes and quoting all the major theologians and even a few contemporary figures. When the professor got up at the end of the sermons, he announced that they had all failed the assignment. Addressing the shocked group of seminary students, he explained what he had done. All hung their heads in shame. They knew the Gospel story of the Good Samaritan inside out, but given the real world opportunity to act on it, they failed.

As Christians we must realize that our faith is not abstract. Its not a code written on a piece of paper to be memorized. It is surely to be memorized, but most importantly it should be acted upon. Knowing the Gospel does no good if you don't put it into practice, work out your faith. So today, put your faith to work. Look for someone who is in need. A neighbor who needs a hand. An elderly person who needs companionship. A young couple who needs financial help. Our world races around us most of the times. Often we find that 24 hours is just not sufficient. But let's not be in such a hurry that we pass by a person in need whose burdens we could help lighten.

A step of faith

I often hear people who say they want to give their lives to Christ, but they're scared that their lives would change too much. They say there's too much they don't know or understand. So instead of acting, they remain frozen. They confess there love for Christ, but say they are afraid of failure and sliding back to their old ways.

I am reminded of the story of Joshua. The people of Israel had to cross the river Jordan but it's waters were raging. In fact, it was flood season and there was no way to cross it. But God told Joshua to tell the people to take up the ark of the covenant and cross the river. As soon as the feet of the people touched the Jordan, the water receded.

God wants us to come o Him, but He can't make us do it. And He also demands that we take the first step, to step out in faith. The water didn't start to recede until their feet touched the water. Until they left the comfort and security of the shore. We get into a comfort zone that anytime we are asked to leave it, we become tentative. There are areas in our lives that we're afraid to change. There are times when we know what the right decision is, but need a little nudge to get there. Faith isn't faith if everything was black and white. Faith is when there are shades of gray, yet we see black and white.

God is waiting. He's ready to pull back the flood waters and lead us into a new land - a land filled with His peace and true contentment. But we MUST commit. Let's trust Him with every area of our life. Let's take a firm hold of His hand and boldly step off the shore.

Family Nite

It's been a frantic week in my household. Trying to get the kids registered at school, looking for day cares and doctor visits were a handful. Added on top of that was our Youth groups annual fundraiser. We have one major fundraiser a year that funds all of our ministry needs. Needless to say, we need to raise a lot of funds to last us for the entire year.

This year the kids decided to do a show with dances from around the world. We usually do dances from Samoa or other Pacific islands. They've had practices for the last two weeks. A lot of our youth are in school and don't have jobs. So we decided to ask for donations for our fundraiser. Our goal was $8,000. I didn't know how we could make it. But God opened doors and windows that we never knew about. About $2000 poured in from donations from former members and parents of members. We were able to raise $2500 during our food sales. And then our dances raised about $6500. Praise God. Just when we doubt, God shows us what He can do.

I've testified about this before but it never ceases to amaze me what God does in our lives. Where He guides, He will provide. And it wasn't like one or two people donated the majority of the money. It was mostly from $5 donations and $10 donations that members solicited from family and friends. And we had a larger than expected turnout. Hopefully we were able to minister to them in a positive way. The fun and fellowship the kids had was well worth the effort. The fact that they put the program together themselves. The money they were able to raise was icing on the cake. We will put up some video clips later on this week on the website.

It coud be worse

As I was running errands this afternoon, I got a text from someone very close to me. She told me to pray for her. This didn't sit right with me. I texted her back asking what was going on. She said she was just let go from her job. My heart sank. This person has a child and bills to pay. I know in these tough economic times it's hard to find a job. What will she do? What could I tell her to console her?

Later on I attended the memorial service of the Samoan soldier that drowned earlier this week. It was such a sad scene. The man has five children. The oldest was barely over ten. These children will not have a father to provide for them, to protect them, to teach them. The preacher's message was from Ecclesiastes about time. How there's a time for everything. A time to be born and a time to die. A time for war and a time for peace. A time to gather and a time to disperse. He encouraged us to make good use of our time. We only have a finite amount of time allotted us on this earth. Make the most of it. We are not promised tomorrow. There's a Samoan saying, "e fa'i le moto e fa'i fo'i le matua." The young are taken as well as the elderly. Make the most out of your life.

When I saw my friend who had been layed off later that night, I asked her how she was doing. I could see the tension in her face as she explained that she had been job hunting all day. I sat there for a while not knowing what to say. Then I told her, "it could be worse." She looked at me and asked what did I mean. I told her I had just come from the memorial service. I said she will eventually find another job. But those kids have no father for the rest of their lives. When I am in difficult moments of my life, I have learned to count my blessings. It's often difficult to count your blessings when you're in a deep valley of your life. But we have to know that God has blessed us so abundantly. Learning to thank God IN SPITE of our circumstances is a HUGE part of Christian maturity.

Why me Lord?

A Samoan soldier died here this past Sunday. He was at a lake having picnic with his family. The irony of his death is that he had just returned from a fifteen month tour in Afghanistan and then dies on a peaceful lake. His wife said that she had just "let down her guard." She was constantly worried for him day and night and had prayed for his safety day and night when he was deployed. But when he got back, she thought her nightmare of constant worry was over.

By all accounts he was a strong swimmer. His brother said he was a fisherman back home and would dive under water for long amounts of time. They were baffled at how he could drown in eleven feet of water in a supposedly calm body of water with no currents. The only conclusion that I came to was that it was his time. He survived fifteen months in one of the most dangerous places on earth, and yet died at one of the most peaceful, a lakeside. We often don't understand what God's plans are for us. We often ask why this happens or that happens. We look at things and say how unfair life can be. Why would he bring a soldier through his deployment and then let him die as his kids were watching from the shore as he struggled for life.

But that's just life I guess. If life was always fair, I don't know if I want to live in that world. A fair world is a world without grace. So often, if it weren't for the grace of God, I don't know where my life would be now. Sometimes we may never know why things happen the way they do. But the only sure thing in life is that God said His grace is sufficient for me. That He will never put me through an ordeal that I cannot handle. And when the pain becomes too much, that's when He is carrying me, like the poem footprints in the sand. So I once again come to you to ask that you lift up this soldiers' family in your prayers. May God's grace be upon them in their time of need.

Lessons learned at a revival

Our youth group was invited to a revival this past Sunday. At first I was a little apprehensive. I will be honest and tell you that a lot of times I go to Pentecostal services, I always feel judged. I feel like they are preaching to me and telling me that I'm a sinner and unworthy or salvation because I smoke (back when I was smoking), or drink or dance or because I haven't been "saved." I know that not all Pentecostal people are like this, but that has been my usual experience.

And at the beginning of the revival, it was no different. Several speakers got up and said they don't believe in dancing, that they only dance for God. And here we are preparing for our family night with all kinds of dances. I guess I'm going to hell. LOL But then our Worship Team got up to testify through their music. At first I sensed a lot of people there were caught off guard. I could see the look of confusion on some peoples faces. Wait a minute, how can these kids testify about the love of God when I just saw them smoking outside. I heard they went to the Fiji concert last night and then went...dancing afterwards...or whatever it is they do at karaoke. But they're quoting the Bible and testifying about God's grace in difficult times and...this just doesn't make sense.

When the speaker got up, he said he never thought he'd see the day when a mainline, LMS church would have a Worship Team singing at a Pentecostal revival. Praise the Lord. His message was, in my view, directed at the contradictions in my heart. He spoke about how important it is to have a pure heart. He said that the Lord doesn't look at our actions as much as He looks at our hearts and the pure love we have for Him. He said it's easy to come to church and lift up our hands and say hallelujah, but when church is over a lot of us use that same mouth that we had just praised the Lord to curse someone or gossip behind someone's back. In the church parking lot no less. He continued that just because someone smokes or drinks doesn't make them a sinner. He quoted the Bible that it's not what goes in a person's body that defiles them, it's what comes out of it that defiles a person.

Now it was my turn to have the perplexed look on my face. Wait a minute, this is a sermon you usually hear at a LMS church. Am I really at a Pentecostal revival? The speaker went on to say that we would all stand before God and will be judged by the purity of our hearts and the works that we did for God. I was amazed. And humbled. Here I was accusing them of being judgemental, yet I was also judging them and assuming that they all had the same mindset. I learned a valuable lesson and was fed spiritually. Never judge a book by its cover.

My roots

It's been a hectic weekend. On Friday, we buried my nephew. The funeral was really moving. To see the outpouring of love and support was to see the hand of God at work. There were so many people at Thursday family service that it was standing room only. And on Friday, it was packed for a midday funeral on a workday. It became a mini reunion as so many of our friends came from around the state and some from as far away as Samoa. We were all there to help comfort the parents and the family. And to some extent, we were there to comfort each other.
We practiced the unity in spirit and body that Paul spoke about. When one member of the body hurts, we all hurt together. We all grieve together.

It was a unique experience because my brother is married to a palagi lady. Her family were all there. And for many of them, this was their first taste of Samoan culture. And they were really moved and touched. First off was the singing. The choir sang and they really were moved by the voices. Different experience for them. Then they saw how we were like a big family. Most of us were not related by blood, but came out because a fellow Samoan needed help. They were amazed at the cultural presentations and gifts that were exchanged during the funeral and really like the way we came together as a village.

I was proud to be a Samoan that day. Not a boastful, xenophobic pride. But I was thankful to God that I was born into a culture that treasures family and comes together in times of need. The fa'aSamoa gets a bad rap sometimes, often due to misunderstanding the culture or the bastardization of the culture. But at the core of fa'aSamoa is reciprocal living, where we live for each other. When one family is in need, all the other families pitch in. We share our burdens. In many ways, we epitomize the Christian ethos of helping one another, all being part of the same body. The fa'aSamoa and Christianity go hand in hand. I saw it on display, again, on Friday.

Jesus Take The Wheel

I'm a firm believer that the most important ingredient for a Christian is faith. Without it, our belief system crumbles. Faith is a huge part of who we are as Christians. The Bible describes faith as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). In the last ten days, I've really had to lean on my faith to make it through.

I had lunch yesterday with my brother who lost a child last week. Speaking to him was heart wrenching as he shared his sorrow and pain with me. He said the one thing that has sustained him through this is his faith that he will be reunited with his son one day. And he said the pain hasn't gone away, but he's taking it one day at a time. I'm reminded of that Carrie Underwood song, "Jesus Take the Wheel." The chorus goes like this:

Jesus, take the wheel

Take it from my hands

Cause I can't do this on my own

I'm letting go

So give me one more chance

To save me from this road I'm on

Jesus, take the wheel

This is one of the top recording songs in the history of country music. And these lyrics explain perfectly the reason the song touches so many people everyday. It's about a woman who's had a tough time lately and driving home she lost control. Literally, she let go of her wheel and asked Jesus to take over. Metaphorically, it speaks a truth that we can all relate to. It essentially, is a sermon on faith. When we've lost all other hope, we turn to Jesus. That's what faith is. We blindly believe that Jesus will see us through our darkest hours. When we can no longer endure, we let Him take over.

And in the end, through all the shattered pieces that our lives sometimes become, we begin to pick up. But when the car is spinning and we aren't in control, we ask Jesus to take the wheel. And that's the stage I believe my brother's in. He's asking Jesus to take the wheel. I'm just thankful we have someone to turn to in our darkest hours.

Schedule adjustments

We had just finished Youth group practice Friday night. We are preparing for our annual family night fundraiser. This year the Youth group is doing an international theme. They are doing dances from different regions around the world. That night, they were working on an Indian number. They are also doing a Latin number, a European dance as well as a Japanese geisha dance by the boys. Don't ask. LOL

And then my phone rang. It was a call that would alter my family's life immensely. We were asked to be caregivers for two children from our church. They were going through some problems that caused them to be placed into protective custody of the state. If we didn't take them, they would be placed into the system and could be placed with families from anywhere in the state. In fact, they told us that the families of these kids may not see them again for a while because they could be placed in El Paso, or Brownsville or wherever there was room for them. We didn't have much time to deliberate. It was getting close to eleven o'clock at night. My wife and I looked at each other, said a quick prayer and said: Yes. We accepted because it was in the best interest of the children.

We knew our routines would be disrupted and that our schedules would have had to be adjusted. We work very hard to try and provide a normal schedule for our one child. Now we had to do it for TWO additional children. It had taken us over four years to finally get a routine for our little one and it was constant adjustments an reconfiguring just for ONE child. It was beginning to become overwhelming. As we ran around that night and the next day looking for playpens, high chairs and mattresses, we looked at each other and said. "what have we gotten ourselves into?" But perhaps the person that was making the biggest sacrifice was my daughter. All of a sudden, her space was invaded by two other children. Where she had free run of the house, now she was having to share it. Not that it's a bad thing, but she was just thrown into the situation without any warning or any time to prepare and ease her into the transition. If we were having a hard time, I could only imagine what she must be going through.

I was the serving deacon for communion last Sunday. As I was praying for the blood of Christ, I realized our sacrifice was a shadow of His sacrifice on the cross. Here I was complaining about adjustments to my schedule and whatnot. But at least I wasn't asked to give up my life. At least I wasn't asked to sacrifice my child so that sinners could be reconciled and have a bridge to eternity. I guess I needed the perspective to put things in context. When burdens become unbearable think of what was done for you and me at Calvary. It doesn't mean that my situation will be all peaches and cream. But it does make me realize that there are millions of people out there that have it worse than me. There are soldiers in harms way fighting for my freedom. There are missionaries in dangerous places spreading the Gospel. We each have our calling. I guess this is my family's calling. To do our part to help better the lives of two children. Or as my wife would often put it - "Invest in the children". Please keep us in your prayers. And keep the families of these children in your prayers as well.

To the moon

Many of us remember Neil Armstrong's first words on the moon: "This is one small step for man, but one giant leap for mankind." But few know the first meal on the moon. Buzz Aldrin took a tiny communion kit from his church with him. Aldrin sent a radio broadcast to earth asking listeners to contemplate the events of that day and to give thanks.

Then, in radio blackout for privacy, Aldrin poured wine into a silver chalice. He read, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit” (John 15:5). Silently, he gave thanks and partook of the bread and cup.

God is everywhere. We are told that wherever we are, God is also present. Whether we are in His sanctuary or thousands of miles from Earth on the surface of the moon, God is intimately present with us.

Are you far from home? Are you on a mountaintop or a dark valley? God is just a prayer away. Let me close with one of my favorite all time hymns. Actually, it's just this verse of the hymn. It is so deep and moving in so many ways, that every time I sing it, I get goosebumps.

Just a closer walk with thee

Grant it Jesus is my plea

Daily walking close to thee

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Have a blessed communion Sunday.

Playground memories

I spent some quality time with my daughter and my niece today. Nothing major - just lunch at McDonald's and letting them play in their playground. These two are more like sisters than cousins. They were both students at my parents' daycare since they were born. They were born three months apart and they've been almost inseparable.

After the events of this week, I was almost overwhelmed with emotion sitting there just watching them play. I tried to imagine what life would be like without my little girl. The thought was too much for me. So I just sat there and took in these precious moments. Because anyone of us could be gone in a blink of an eye. Our family is still traumatized by the death of Adonijah, but watching the news tonight, I heard about a girl 21 years old who was killed in a car accident down the road from us. In the newspaper this morning there was a soldier on Ft. Hood that was killed by his wife. And so forth and so forth. We really could be called at anytime. So how should we act? At first I wanted to take my daughter home and make sure she wouldn't get hurt. I wanted to protect her. On Wednesday, every second she was out of my sight, I was calling her name.

But then I came to realize that we can't be with them 24/7. There is no full proof way for us to protect them. And the ultimate reality is that we will all die some day. Most will die old. Some will die in middle age. And unfortunately, some will die at a young age. God has determined the amount of time we spend on this earth. I then came to the realization that the best thing we can do is to treasure all the moments we are given. The things we take for granted, shouldn't be anymore. We never know when our time will be up.