Yesterday, as I walked down the hall, this is the above is what I saw. It is our grand-puppy, Tysen. On the other side of the door was his “mommy,” my daughter, Kristin, who was taking a shower.

Tysen couldn’t wait for her to be done so he could show her how much he loved her (or so she could feed him!).

I thought this was a great reminder about how we can be devoted to our own mothers.

Let’s make this Mother’s Day a great one for our moms! And if you are a mom, Happy Mother’s Day!

Yesterday I had four cubic yards of topsoil dumped on my driveway. That equates to about five tons of dirt. The reason? I had this crazy landscaping idea that everyone in my family thought was nuts. After my first wheelbarrow full of soil, I began to share their opinion.

Monday evening I began this process. After several loads had been moved via wheelbarrow, it seemed like we weren’t even putting a dent in the pile. I was beginning to wonder if we would ever get done. I really wanted to give up because it seemed hopeless. Yet, shovel full after shovel full, wheelbarrow full after wheelbarrow full, we finished late this afternoon. In all, it really didn’t take as long as I thought, but at first the task seemed daunting. (And by the way, everyone loves how it turned out!)

In the midst of my perspiration producing and back breaking labor (don’t you feel sorry for me?), I was thinking of how similar this project is to life. There are things in my life that I know God is working on in me. At times those projects seem so impossible, the goal so unattainable, that I just want to give up. I think, “There’s no way I can change.” Yet, God is not concerned. Shovel full after shovel full, God refines me. He is never in a hurry.

So even if there is more dirt on your driveway than clean areas, let the Master Gardener do His job one shovel full at a time. Before you know it, your pile of dirt will be gone.

Yesterday afternoon I was watching the show Life (on Discovery Channel) with my oldest daughter and my wife. The show was focused on reptiles and amphibians and it was fascinating. I found myself continually astonished at how they captured the incredibly detailed video footage. Quite amazing.

At one point during the hour-long show, the narrator, when describing a sun-bathing lizard, said, “Reptiles are cold blooded so they must warm themselves in the sun because a cold reptile is a slow moving reptile.” Without this renewed vigor from the sun’s rays, they could be in danger from their predators.

You know, the same is true of us. Though not hawks or snakes, we, too, have predators. And we, too, need to spend time in the Son in order to be rejuvenated and protected.