In Memory

We're all missing Dad Herrmann this Father's Day.  This little angel was given in his memory by our Chicago Church family.

18

Can a dad be forgiven if he is partial to his little girl?  This beautiful young woman came into our lives 18 years ago today and we haven't been the same since.

We had a bit of a start that day when the doctor showed us the perfect knot our new daughter had tied in her umbilical cord in utero.  We gulped hard to think of the outcome had she pulled it just a bit tighter.  Cindy worded plaintively what I was afraid to think, "Is she OK?".  The answer resounded in that little room from a doctor sensing our fears, "Very, very OK!".  Truer words never spoken.  She has brightened our life at every turn.

Love you so much, Julie!  Happy Eighteenth Birthday!

Oh, and she graduated high school this week too.  :)

Beating the Heat

We've had some "dog days" and it isn't even summer yet.  This displaced polar bear seems to have the right idea!

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Gen. 8:22)

6/1/86

How do you capture 25 years of life spent married to your best friend?  I doubt that it's possible.  In truth, I fear that too many words might detract more than they'd add.

But I sure love that smile!

"Her price is far above rubies." (Prov. 31:10)

Credit: Ryan Eisenmann, photographer

My Blessings

"Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table." (Ps. 128:3)

I'm a blessed man!

Impact

How far is the impact of a single act felt?  How long does it reverberate?  Does what we do even matter?

Drop a pebble in a still pool or, as above, watch when a fish breaks the surface, however lightly.  The entire pond is affected.  Likewise with each act of faithfulness.

My life today is impacted by choices made by generations of faithful men and women before me.  How will my choices shape the heritage I will pass along?

For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. (Ps. 61:5)

Glory

In I Cor. 15, Paul makes it clear that there are all kinds of glory -- celestial, terrestrial and otherwise.  I kind of like both of the "glories" pictured.

Yet, Isaiah 42:8 is a solemn warning that we must never rob God of His glory. Indeed He will not give it to another.  No robbery when Creation itself sings "Glory!".

Role or Identity?

I'm not sure but would assume that this bee doesn't struggle with role/identity confusion.  Truth is, I inadvertently caught it on short final for the pollen harvest.

We humans on the other hand have a big problem with keeping our roles and identity separate.  We're motivated--and rightly so--to do a good job in the various positions we find ourselves filling.  But does being a good ______ (fill-in-the-blank) mean I'm a good person?  One who is worthy of God's love?  The admiration and respect of others?  Not really.

We recently read the biblical account of the rebellion of Korah during the Israelite's time in the wilderness.  It's an amazing story that fits our modern discontent and tendency to murmur, complain and ultimately rebel way too close for comfortable (a.k.a. distancing) comparison.

What's even more fascinating, and convicting, is how Moses and Aaron responded.  Either could have easily said, "You're right, God--wipe these people out."  Instead, in the face of grievous accusation and rebellion against them personally, they entreated God to spare the people, Aaron literally "standing in the gap" between God and the gainsaying children of Israel.

I'd say their identity was in Christ, not their earthly (even spiritual) roles, wouldn't you?

Every Living Thing

 

"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Gen. 1:28)

Isn't Creation marvelous?

All Creatures Great and Small

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
 --Cecil F. Alexander

If you look closely, you'll see a nut in his mouth!