We are looking forward to New Year's day at the Zockoll household. Many of my former students from around the region will be coming and stopping by to say hello, sip some coffee and sit by the fireplace and tell me how their lives have progressed since we last met. I've always loved having old friends come by, and tomorrow is going to be an especially happy time for us.-----------
As I was moving things into our new home, I happened to find a large framed photograph of my old youth group from back in 1992! many of these young people have families, I find myself saying. Bobby, Michael, Laura, Mark (who now works just down the hall from me) Amy, and all the other wonderful teens I knew from years back are now on the wall of my study.
-----------------
I was chopping off some branches from the Christmas tree in order to wedge it through the back door, rather than taking it through the double front door and risk all of the needles covering the floor. maybe I should have re-thought my strategy. As I was cuttinng through a branch, the knife slipped and gashed open my left-hand index finger's knuckle... I was bleeding all over the kitchen counter, trying to get the flow to stop. For now I have a beautifully deep red scar running across my finger, but thankfully I did not hit a muscle or nerve. I was truthfully panicked for the first few minutes when I realized I could have messed up my writing/typing ability for good.
-----------------------
I'll tell you a secret:
I desire so much to seek the Lord in song at our church services, that I often try to find ways to avoid looking around and being distracted. No offense to the choir or songleaders up front, but I want to worship the Lord without being given a pattern of actions or emotions. I used to close my eyes but found that disconcerting for some reason. My secret is that I take off my glasses and sing with eyes wide open. My eyesight is good enough to see the vague outline of the words on the screen but bad enough that I cannot make out the features of anybody more than three feet away from me. In this visual haze i can find quiet rest and solitude to sing and enjoy praise to the Lord.
