Mike's Spot On The Wall

• Good Friends:
  Some people say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I don't buy it. I've had to move quite an unbelievable number of times in my life and I would just lose track of my friends each and every time. Moving became for me a synonym for "starting from scratch and not knowing a soul". Whenever a friend moved away from me I figured the same thing would happen. They would forget me.
  Then there was Dave (our fabulous host here). Dave and I met at NAIT and we continued to be friends after our graduation (another "start over" type event).
  Then Dave moved.
  I helped him pack. I doubt I really expressed to him how much his friendship had meant to me over the years or that I thought I would likely never see him again.
  But Dave surprised me. He didn't let me slip into the oblivion of forgetfulness. He phoned me, planned get-togethers, and made me feel, well, loved.
  He arranged for us to meet at Tim Horton's this weekend and we talked about old times, new times, and why I had an armadillo in my rectal cavity about Planned Parenthood but what we said wasn't really important. What was important was that he took the time out to see me, of all people, and make me feel that I was someone important in his life.
  If I fail to make it plain I'll just say I love ya Dave, you minister Christ's love to me in a way that makes it live.

Mike's Walk

• Even when I stumble:
  It's hard for me to read the bible some days. I see more of me in king Saul or Esau than David or Paul. I can't understand why God wants anything to do with the likes of me. I mean sure He used a donkey but….
  We had our Wednesday morning prayer group meeting this morning. Normally this is a good thing and it should have been a good thing today. I asked for prayer today for my walk, which had stumbled into the old sin again, and my finances, which are looking reddish. But after they prayed for me I had to leave the room. My heart was broken not only over my sin but after my dreams and hopes for a life which would be pleasing to Him and seemed impossible now.
  All I could see were my failures.
  And yet…
  Even in that dark time He was still with me. He stayed by my side while my facades crumbled away leaving only Him and me. I don't know where God is leading in all of this but after today I know, at a much deeper level than I knew before, that I will not be traveling alone.
  Psalm 139:
  ¹ Lord, you have examined me and you know me. ² You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. ³ You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. ⁴ Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. ⁵ You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. ⁶ Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding.

  ⁷ Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? ⁸ If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. ⁹ If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, ¹⁰ you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. ¹¹ I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, ¹² but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you. ¹³ You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb. ¹⁴ I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart. ¹⁵ When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there- ¹⁶ you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began.

  ¹⁷ O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! ¹⁸ If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. ¹⁹ O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone! ²⁰ They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name. ²¹ O Lord, how I hate those who hate you! How I despise those who rebel against you! ²² I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies. ²³ Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. ²⁴ Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way