Sunday

We went exploring Sunday afternoon. 

It was our anniversary and I wanted to see more of Miami. 

We drove down to the design district. No galleries were open and the streets were quiet. 

Wynwood Walls is a small graffiti park betwixt two cafes. 

It was fun to meander through the paintings and guess what the artist wanted to express. 

Most of the art was not signed so I do not know to whom credit is due.

This was hilarious.

He rolled her across the lawn whilst she squealed with delight 

and, I suspect, some measure of terror. 

We visited this swell, nerdy coffee shop, Panther Coffee. They roast their own beans in store, and have every single coffee-brewing gadget my exploding mind could imagine. Their cold brew was exceptional. My husband had a latte with real vanilla syrup. I then realized not only how pathetic is Starbuck's coffee, but how much sugar they use. I digress, but that was good coffee. You have my recommendation. 

. . .

Then we went to a gas station in Coconut Grove. We went inside this same gas station and there was a wine cellar and a superb little tapas restaurant. The doctor my husband is working with recommended it. We shared Ensalada Rusa (Russian salad), Chorizo Tentación (a Spanish chorizo, blood sausage, and botifarra dish), and Empanada de Langosta (spicy lobster).

We had a grand time. The morning worship service was great, got to witness a child dedication and all the women received roses. "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised" (Proverbs 31:30).

"Irreplaceable" Synopsis

Focus on the Family's movie Irreplaceable excellently portrayed our need to fight not only for the family unit, but it being redeemed. Skewed understandings of how sex, marriage, parenting and children correlate are a pervading problem. Focus on the Family, thankfully does not focus too much on the perfect family, but the real Savior. We must esteem God's values as most precious and worth sacrifice. He gave us these human interactions as display of His nature. Want to get an idea of His love? Look at the tenderness in a mother's touch, the strength of a father's character, the commitment of marriage- love unconditional. One cannot deface a master painting without consequence. 


Creator God designed and it is beautiful. But it looks like failure: adultery and divorce, abuse and abortion stare us in the face everyday. All our relationships stink of self-interest and rebellion. The fundamental problem with ideals is executing them with our deceitful hearts that never tend toward truth. Without seeing Jesus in all our relationships, they fail. Truth must take hold of our hearts and quite literally climb down inside us and overhaul the whole system. There will always be miserable, hurtful relationships on earth, but for the one who sees God every situation is another sighting of Him. God has impossible ideals for the family; that is why He comes and does the dying and forgiving and loving for us.
See the preview here:

"Extol Him Who rides on the clouds, by His Name Yah, and rejoice before Him. A Father of the fatherless, a Defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a dry land" (Psalm 68:4-6).

So for the one who hates Christian ideals: I am sorry that we spend more energy defending positions than sacrificing and being misunderstood. We can live with your disgust and scorn, it helps us identify with Christ but know that we are His body and He feels every insult and denial of His goodness. One day you will see God and know He answers to no one and you have no rebuttal because He is perfectly good. Everything we need to know about Him is demonstrated in Christ and He is awesome.

Another Love Story

Another love story of two rather common characters.

Not very long ago in a faraway land lived a girl, who, much like any other, liked dreaming of other faraway lands, finding books long enough to meet her fancy and putting inordinate amounts of cream in her coffee. One day she was intrigued by a dashing blue-eyed fellow; though she thought him to be rather nosy.

Then this particular fellow moved to The Ridiculously Humid country and stared a computer monitor, for a whole year, filling his mind with the great and wondrous facts of medicine. Let this be known to you, that while medicine was on his mind; the girl was on his heart. And if he dare forget, he was a video chat away from remembering.

He traversed land and sea to visit again and entreated the girl of life-long commitment. She was thrilled and the plan-making began. Many months later, much to their wild joy, God showed them married love.

After all the festivities and such, here we are in his parent’s basement.

I do believe this story has great potential.