The Love of a Father

Steven Curtis Chapman was on Good Morning America this morning. In case you missed the news about six months ago his 17 year old son, Will Franklin, accidentally hit his five year old, Maria, with the car and she died. The family has bonded together incredibly, using their grief to promote hope.

But the moment that astounded me was when Steven was recounting the actual events of the accident. Will Franklin had gotten out of the car to see what happened to Maria while Steven ran and scooped her up in his arms. He jumped into the still running car to take Maria to the hospital. As he was pulling out the drive way he rolled down his window and yelled "Will Franklin!"

His son turns and looks at him, tears streaming down his face as the reality of what has happened hits him. Steven looks at Will Franklin and says "Your father loves you son."

If the love of a human father can be so amazing, why do we limit the love of a heavenly Father? There is nothing our God can not forgive!

Minnesota Trip

Some of you know, I went to Minnesota this weekend to see my friends Bob and Emera get married. Here were a few of the highlights of the trip:

- Sitting in the Newport News airport from 6:00 - 10:45. Have you ever been to the Newport News Airport? There is ONE restuarant, two televisions, three vending machines and four gates. There is NOTHING in that airport. As a result of our delay, we landed at the Minneapolis, St. Paul airport at 4 a.m., picked up our rental car and drove to the Holiday Inn we had for the night where I slept for a whopping 1.5 hours before I had to get up to head to Bob's place in Long Prairie.

- I picked green beans out of a back yard garden and ate some of them raw.

- I was the adult driver for a 15 year old with a learner's permit. For the first time ever, I felt like an adult. (We did not get in a wreck or get a ticket.)

- Heather Perry and I got to play with a waterfall.

- I went through a town called Brainerd. At 11 p.m., after 1.5 hours of sleep, that was hilarious.

- Out the back door of the cabin we stayed in, I had a spectacular view of Lake Superior.

- I ate Wild Rice Pancakes.

- I ran along the shore of a lake.

- I sang outside at a wedding with a guitar player who forgot every chord in the song and admitted it to me after we were finished.

- The girl who sat next to me on the final leg of the flight had just been mauled by a cougar three days before. Her stomach and her legs were covered in stitches and bandages. Needless to say, we talked the whole hour and a half until the plane landed.