We are counting
Our many blessings today... and
Praising our God
For HE has blessed us
With incalculable riches
In and through the person of Jesus Christ!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Best wishes from us to you and yours.

My weekday routine gets me up around 5:30 AM for an early bike ride. A quick glance at the thermometer outside the kitchen window this morning affirmed it was only 18 degrees Fahrenheit. Hmmmm, a bit colder than I expected! (That pic is a bike-ride sunrise I saw earlier this fall. Cool huh.)

I'm generally hesitant to get on the bike below 20 degrees--it's a matter of keeping my fingers warm!! But just yesterday I'd purchased a new pair of winter (actually ski) gloves planning to use them for riding. A ride in this weather would tell the tale. So, in part for the sake of discovery and in part just because "it's what I do," I rode east along Clear Creek into central Arvada (CO, from Golden) to meet a good friend for coffee--a super idea. As it turned out my fingers were pretty cozy inside those glove's Thinsulate(d) finger tubes; not a disappointment.

Coming down a tall hill separating the Clear Creek and Ralston Creek Valleys, I avoid a busy intersection to meander through feeder streets of a large apartment complex. Today they were curiously clogged with tenants' cars set in crazy configurations--many double and triple parked right on the street. "What's this about; were the drivers all drunk last night?"

Woops! There's yellow caution tape stretched across the street! Beyond that point there wasn't a car on in sight--anywhere! I guessed the street had been treated with a new topcoat, now dry, so I stopped, dismounted, and carefully ducked myself and pulled my bike under the tape, remounted, and coasted the final two blocks before ducking, again, and crossing Kipling to Starbucks.

The experience was an interesting reminder. Stopping to duck under the tape was uncomfortably inconvenient--especially given the speed I generate coming down the hill! Yes, I was talking to myself. But life is like that. Interruptions, discomfort, departures from our " plan," curious surprises that make no sense,...all part of a day's mosaic. So today's reminder is probably something I've said to my boys a time or two: "Don't get your underwear in a wad!" God is in charge--whether it's construction tape across the street or precious Princesses (click here) laying in a coma in the hospital. Life has meaning because GOD IS. Because of what He's done historically through Jesus Christ we know he loves us. John 3:16. Trust him; praise him! "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart...(Ps. 19:14)" do exactly that today and every day.

Here's a compelling little love story:

Once upon a time there was this handsome young Prince. His name is Nathan. OK, like I said, he's a young Prince trying to find and make his way in life and (just like the rest of us) figuring much of it out as he goes. Not unlike his brothers, he aspired to leave his own personal signature on both the people and the things he touched inside his family's kingdom--BUT also beyond the boundaries of his parent's influence. He chose to measure himself and to, in-turn, be measured by the every-day challenges that many "commoners" face. So, he modestly albeit understandably discounted the privileges reserved just for "royalty."

Nathan soon took a job. He juggled it with college--for a while--and in the course of his own ongoing self-discovery displayed good people skills, strong management abilities, good self-discipline, and an inquisitive mind with natural business savvy. He was promoted to leadership (management) and soon decided it was an appropriate time to leave the family's castle.

Oh, yes, I said this was a love story....
In the meantime an insightful first cousin introduced him to a "friend"--a young woman named, Laura. Laura is a beautiful young Princess from yet another royal family and a distant land (but not too distant). As his cousin suspected, Nathan was soon and predictably smitten by Laura's graciousness, intrigued with her charm, and captivated by her beauty and brilliance.

So, as this story goes, passing months have warmly embraced them. Their relationship has matured and deepened. "She is radiant sunshine when it's dark," he explains, and those relatives and friends who know her well--but even people who have merely just met her!--are quick to agree.

Despite the predictable surprises that accompany romance's heart-knitting efforts (...and who really knows...maybe it's because of them?!...), these two have become closest friends..."soul mates" they say. To their friends and family members alike I understand they have rehearsed a shared love with a deepening respect for one another. They have voiced the possibility of a united life in a shared and dream-fulfilling future. I, for one, only know that a loving and faithful God is the One who can design and decide where this fun relationship may in fact take these two. Ahaa...we'll wait and see.

Last Friday (November 4th) Nathan and Laura arranged to spend a fun early afternoon together in what turned out to be a warm, sun-kissed downtown Denver. He later described those moments with words like, "Some of the most fun we've ever shared"...or something to that effect. Then, around 3:45 PM they embraced and parted so each could get to different work sites--Laura turned and walked across the downtown after she helped Nathan board a bus for his ride back to Arvada.

Nathan got a call while he was at his workplace. Laura had been struck by a Light Rail Train as she crossed the street near Spear Blvd at Stout Avenue in downtown Denver. She was alive(!!) and had been rushed to the hospital in critical but stable condition. The news rocked him to his knees.

Please follow this developing story (click here) ....(then also click here)...then please pray with us for Laura, her family, her friends, and for God's gracious healing hand on Laura...our Princess...and all these lives. "Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God...Romans 11: 33-36.

Dick

PS: Yes, Nathan is my (our) youngest son.