Still Puzzled...

I'm thanking God for friends today. I had one of those amazing conversations with a great friend and brother in Christ last nite on the phone. It was one of those convos in which you can really see the God in someone. I love that. It is a beautiful thing when someone knows what you're going through with some struggles because he has been there before or recently. And that's just how Jesus was, is and will be: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are -- yet was without sin" [Hebrews 4:15]. How encouraging that is. Speaking of encouragment, I also had some seemingly out-of-the-blue [or were they?] emails from friends in my box when I checked it today. In the words of Weezer, "hip, hip." I suppose that isn't really a memorable song lyric [from "Island in the Sun"], but I digress...

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." -Hebrews 3:13-14

That whole passage is speaking to me right now, because encouragement is huge. I know I need it. One reason I think this summer is showing to be so difficult is that I don't have tangible community -- my group of close friends -- at my fingertips to whom I can talk about anything and everything. I've really been blessed by the encouragement, concern and just straightup listening given to me by some great friends, and they know who they are. Words can't grasp it. "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity" [Psalm 17:17]. Thankfully, with all the friends I do have and who show me love and care, I have One who is more than enough. "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" [Psalm 18:24].

Today I went to the library and read for a long time after my cavity filling, which was painless and my clear, white filling is not detectable at all -- so forget I ever had one, aight? But I read for a long time -- magazines, mostly -- then checked out a few books I hope to pore over to some degree in these 2.5 weeks I have until departing for Traverse City. I also had opportunities to play tennis two of the last three days, and that was highly enjoyable. Played better than I expected to after such a layoff. Man, I used to be a bruiser on the court, but I'm getting back in it. The French Open started Monday in Paris... France! I'm sure this elates no one in Indiana but me, but I love watching Grand Slam tennis. So that's great.

I'm also getting back in the swing of actually spending time reading the Bible, getting into God's Word. As one of my friends matter-of-factly pointed out, it's the best tool for life that we/I have at hand, so why not utilize it? It would seem a foregone conclusion. Foregone conclusions are not my forte, I've found. I need flares sent up for me to recognize a sign, and God's providing that. I'm looking forward to immersing myself in the book of Hebrews, an ultra-meaty book of the Bible and perhaps the most intellectual, although I'm sure some would argue that. I think I'll be staying put in Hebrews 1 an 2, maybe 3, for some time. There's a lot to digest here. I look forward to that, as I look forward to just finding God again. As David Gray sings so honestly, "All this running ain't no kind of freedom."

I'm too tired to run, so I'm crawling back -- and I want to have the faith to know that the One who holds the storm will bring the sun.