For the second Saturday in a row, it was rainy and chilly...and for the second Saturday in a row, I was determined not to be deterred from playing outside. It was wet and it was cold...and it was the highlight of my weekend. I'm thankful for kindred spirits who aren't too grown up and come out and play in the rain with me. Granted, it's not everyone's thing...but there is something sweet in letting the raindrops kiss you as you play with brothers and sisters, enjoying the day that God has made.

I've been thinking a lot today about grace and laughter. Out on that field today where we were kicking the soccerball...there was a lot of both. :) For years I have been trying to just bite the bulle and finally buy "Abba's Child"...while my folks were here for my birthday a couple weeks ago, they bought it for me...tonight, instead of working on hermeneutics, I started Abba's Child...and I ran across this quote: "To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." (E.E. Cummings) I thought it was an interesting quote...God made us each so uniquely...I sit here and think of the people I know and I am so thankful for the ones that are genuinely just "themselves"...they inspire me the most. This all made me think of the song that Norah Jones sings, "Seven Years"...

"Spinning laughing dancing to her favorite song...a little girl, with nothing wrong, is all alone...Eyes wide open always hoping for the sun...and she'll sing her song to anyone that comes along....Crooked little smile on her face, tells a tale of grace...that's all her own."

I guess I have just been considering laughter a lot lately. Life gets hectic...we get serious...and then laughter is far removed...I really like Brennan Manning and his philosophy of life and grace...and in his book Ragamuffin Gospel he says, "...We are overcome by the ordinariness of life, by daily duties done over and over again. We secretly admit that the cacll of Jesus is too demanding, that surrender to the Spirit is beyond our reach. We start acting like everyone else. Life takes on a joyless, empty quality. We begin to resemble the leading character in Eugene O'Neill's play The Great God Brown: "Why am I afraid to dance, I who love music and rhythm and grace and song and laughter? Why am I afraid to live, I love life and the beauty of flesh and the living colors of the earth and sky and sea? Why am I afraid to love, I who love love?"" Ever been in that place? I have. And it wasn't so long ago that I was in the depths of it. Thank you, God, for grace...and for laughter. I have some buddies who, if I ever just need to lighten up and laugh, I know they will provide. They are breaths of fresh air in my life. I hope everyone has those people in their lives.

Random thoughts tonight and all a little deeper than I am letting on in this blog...but I just find myself thankful for the outpouring of God's grace and how true and abundant life is found only in Him. People say that following God is boring...but when I look around at my brothers and sisters in Him...and where He leads us all...I find that each day is a new adventure...there is nothing boring about this life.