Below is an excerpt from my journal, written while we were on vacation in San Francisco:
This trip is an active reflection of our desire for Owen and Ellie to know who loves them most and whom they should love most. Owen and Ellie (our children), as wonderful and delightful as they are, can not take the place of our marriage and, most importantly, God.
I’m sitting in a cushioned chair, feet propped up on a small wooden table, knees bent, legs leaning slightly to the left. Each time I lift my head my eyes meet San Francisco Bay. I look out our 27th story balcony upon the vast Pacific, dotted with sailboats and surrounded by low-level clouds that look like they will be ready to shower in a few hours. To the right is a small peninsula and to the left is Alcatraz island and Golden Gate bridge in the foggy distance. Straight ahead are the rows and rows of multi-colored condos stacked almost on top of one another. They rise to a point, where Coit Tower stands, straight up, rising above the condos and the surrounding trees to announce its presence. The sounds of the city below call me to business but the Bay beyond to consider God’s blessedness.
O Lord, grant that both Owen and Ellie would have moments and vacations like this, away from the business of life and into the blessedness of living. May they see and savor you in creation as well as in the urban…