In ligther news, I got an email from Kristen, and we’re going to work something out to have a visit. Fun!

My dad came in for the weekend. He lives in Arizona, but goes to Washinton, D.C. for business often. Every few months he’ll come in early or leave late, so he can spend the weekend with us.

We had an okay time. Saturday was a very rainy day, so we didn’t go out as we had planned. But he got to play with his granddaughters, which is always nice. Our conversation is always pretty superficial. We think in very, very different ways, so it’s difficult to have any real, edifying conversations. And when I say different ways, I don’t mean he’s a baptist (actually, he goes to a methodist church) and I’m Reformed. I mean, I value what the Bible says and he doesn’t.

He saw The Real Lincoln sitting on my shelf. He asked if it was a Southern book, and I said it was. I described it as “documenting all the ways Lincoln broke the law and disregarded the Constitution”. He said “Every president does that”. I answered, “But not every president is lauded as the greatest president in the history of our nation for it, though”. He started, “Well, guess what?” but that was the end of it. He didn’t tell me what. I think he was going to say something along the lines of “sometimes that is what is necessary”, but instead it was just silence. I’m glad. I didn’t want to argue with him about it.

I’m finding it more and more difficult to honor my dad as God commands me. He certainly knows many things that I don’t know, and I ask him for advice about various situations I find myself in. But, I always have to second guess what he tells me, because I have to reevaluate it in light of God’s word. I wish I could have more confidence in my father.

Some of our friends here in Lynchburg have wonderful, model families. Three generations gather together for celebrations and feasts. I’m jealous of that. I wish my family or Megan’s was like that. But they aren’t. When our visits with either are more than two days, I about explode. But those families… our friends that have what we want… They truly are models.

I hope for the day when my grandchildren (or great grandchildren!) gather around our table to celebrate all that God has done for us.

When are the rest of these lectures by NT Wright going to be up?