A Dash of Salt

Our Very Happy Day

Last Saturday we celebrated the wedding of our daughter, Audrey, to Chris Reid.  What a wonderful day it was.  Needless to say, we are very happy for them both.  God bless you, Chris and Audrey!  And to Chris we say, "Welcome to the family!"  Here's our bunch surrounding the lovely bride and handsome groom, and thanks, Linzy, for the beautiful pix of Audrey and Chris.

Hungry Blog Monster

As you may have noticed, I've not been too faithful feeding the blog monster lately.  I've got lots of excuses.  Suffice it to say that my plate is really full with preaching and pastoring at the Chapel and seminary classes: Church History II (Reformation to the Present) and Pastoral Internship.  Hopefully there will be some interesting posts next week.  Thanks for your patience.

Shout It from the House Top: The Roof Is Done!

So we finally finished putting on the new roof shingles yesterday a little while after lunch.  It's been a good but hard week working on this project.  Needless to say, it took much longer than I thought.  It's now done, praise the Lord.  We're waiting for a good, hard rain to see if there are any leaks.

I'm grateful to the Lord Jesus for several key blessings during our roofing experience.  We had terrific weather.  It got hot in the early afternoon, and a few of the days we had to stop because the new shingles warmed up and became soft.  But we learned to go with the flow.  We had no rain at all.

We had no injures other than a few minor blisters and scrapes.  No one fell off the roof!  No one was hit by falling objects other than a small piece of scrap shingles. 

We had a great time working together.  Believe it or not, I had help from 16 friends over the course of the week!  And on top of that, Ben, Jeremiah, Luke, and Charissa also pitched in between their classes and work.  Gracious Dawn provided lunch each day and made sure we were all drinking enough water and Gatorade.  Sometimes it was just me and the kids working.  On Labor Day there were 10 of us working on the roof!  It was a bit chaotic at times, but the fellowship was fun.  We Morgans couldn't have done it with the help of our friends.  Here's a few photos from our roofing adventure.  Just click on the picture to enlarge it...

Bruce and Don replacing plywood sheets on the back of the roof.

A man and his new circular saw...it's a beautiful thing.  (I'm cutting the slot for the ridge vent.)

Some of the Labor Day gang: Earl, Steve, John, Pierce, and Mr. Mastermind, Wayne.

Frank cheers as the new roof is almost completed.  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.

Peak Performance

They sure didn't teach me how to do this in Pastoral Theology class!  Today, Friday, and Saturday, I and some friends will be replacing the shingles on our roof.  Assuming we can put them on without injuring or killing ourselves and without causing the roof to leak, we should save more than half the cost of hiring a contractor to do it.  The weather forecast looks promising for the next several days, so we should have the project completed by the end of the day Saturday, Lord willing.

Don Upchurch wanted to know if I had ever had Shingles before. 

Update 8/31/07: Our first day went well.  We (Bruce Fleharty, Don Upchurch, Steve Grim, my son Ben, and me) got a lot done.  All the shingles were removed from the back half of the roof and large portion of the front side that's very steep.  We spent a good bit of time unloading the shingles when they were delivered. So far it hasn't rained.  Hard work + encouraging fellowship + accomplishment = a very good day.)

A Love/Hate Relationship

Who or what do you love most of all?  Thoughtfully read Luke 14:25-35 and focus on vv. 26-27.  What do you think Christ means when He demands that his followers “hate” their family members?  Can you reconcile this command with other scriptural teachings that require us to honor our parents and family?  What do you think Jesus means when he tells us to even “hate” ourselves?  Why does Jesus deserve to be loved first and foremost in our lives?  How can one pick up his or her cross and follow Jesus?  What does this vivid word picture mean?  What would it look like in your life?

Several weeks ago I referred to this passage when writing about the Hard Sayings of Jesus.

Mother's Day

A very happy Mother's Day to the three mothers who mean the most to me...Lynda (my mom), Nancy (my mother-in-law), and Dawn (my wife and the mother of our five children).  God bless you...I love you.

Some blogs I've read this week related to Motherhood.  For those who are hurting this Mother's Day (HT: Justin Taylor)...Mother's Day and Infertility.  Mother's Day and Grief.  Mother's Day and the Wayward Child.

NYC, Philly, and More

Dawn and I had a great time in NYC and Philadelphia on our anniversary adventure.  "The Phantom of the Opera" was terrific!  We hiked all over Manhattan and took in so many sights.  It really was a wonderful time being together in the Big Apple.  We've already started talking about what we'll do next time we're there! 

And it was a blessing to see our daughter, Audrey, and her boyfriend, Chris, after visiting the King Tut exhibit in Philadelphia ('twas quite cool, indeed).  Audrey treated us all to lunch in a cozy little tavern, and then we did some more sightseeing!  In between New York and Philly we stopped in and saw Dawn's sister, Sandy, and her husband, Dave, and their growing gang of kids. 

While on the road, Dawn and I took turns reading outloud Peter Scazzero's new book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, getting through the first three chapters with some thoughtful discussion on how it applies to us.  I'm happy to report that the house and cars where still in one piece when we returned and that our kids had actually cooperated with each other while we were away.  Here's a couple of photos (L to R, Dawn at the Majestic Theatre [not our limo...rats!]; Rockefeller Center; Us and TR at the AMNH; Doin' the Tut Strut).  Just click on them to enlarge then change the zoom level at the bottom of the new window that opens so you can see them on your monitor...

Lessons We're Still Learning in Marriage

Our Silver Anniversary has prompted me to ponder lessons from our marriage...

• The secret of making a marriage work for the long haul (and ours has not been that long...our next door neighbors have been married for 70+ years!) is keeping our commitment to one another and the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit.
• The best marriage advice I ever received came from my dad just a few days before our wedding when he reminded me of Colossians 3:19, "Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter [harsh] against them."  It's easy to become bitter and harsh toward your marriage partner, and that's why forgiving one another quickly is so important to marital harmony.  This has greatly helped us.
• Asking God to love your spouse through you works.  He loves Dawn perfectly.  He knows what's best for her.  My selfishness distorts my perspective and weakens my willingness to serve her.  When I ask Him to love her through me, He does.
• Communication is the life-blood of a healthy marriage.  Dawn and I still have a lot to learn about communicating biblically with one another, but we are making progress.  Ephesians 4:25-32 is an important passage to us.
• Before we got married, college friends of ours who had recently tied the knot warned us that marriage takes work, and they were right.  We have indeed found that it's hard work to clearly communicate, solve problems, rear children, and submit to one another in love.  But the work is worth it when we see our relationship grow stronger, happier, and more holy.
• I definitely married out of my league when Dawn and I said "I do" back in 1982.  I am a more godly person because of Dawn's influence and encouragement.  She's a wonderful partner to me and a terrific mother to our children.  I understand why the church fathers considered marriage a sacrament (a means of God's grace) because it is a hothouse for spiritual growth when you depend on the Lord and apply his Word.

I'm still surprised that Dawn said yes to me when I proposed to her over 25 years ago, but I am mighty glad she did! 

We're Off to the Big Apple!

Tomorrow, Dawn and I are heading off bright and early to New York City for our 25th Wedding Anniversary Adventure.  We have tickets to see "The Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre and not many plans after that.  Twenty-five years ago we went to Williamsburg, VA, for several days on our honeymoon and took in a play at Ford's Theatre on our way back home to Hagerstown. 

Unfortunately, the weather forecast is calling for showers, so it might be a wet couple of days for us.  The kids will be holding down the fort together in Hanover while we're away.  They can handle it.  Dawn and I both enjoy big cities, and we visited NYC back in 2001 with our children just five weeks before 9/11.  We all had a lot of fun during our time there back then. 

The weekend will find Dawn and me in Philadelphia.  We have tickets to see the King Tut exhibit, "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," at the Franklin Institute.  Sounds romantic, huh?  (Actually, when Dawn and I got married, she did come down with the Egyptian Flu...it turned her into a "mummie."  Very bad pun, I know.)  We also will be seeing our daughter, Audrey, and that'll be fun.

I have not been able to give this blog the attention it's needed lately, and I hope that hasn't frustrated you as much as it has me.  Even though Dawn and I will be away, I have put together a few entries that will post automatically on some of the days we're gone.

Weekend Wonderings

The sad, untimely death of Anna Nicole Smith.  Diane Butler Bass and Tim Brister offer theological and gospel-centered meditations on the tragic life of the former Playboy centerfold and tabloid celebrity.  (Hat Tips to Scot McKnight and Justin Taylor)

Proof that those afternoon power-naps I sometimes take really do work, and are healthy, too!

For you and the Valentine you're married to: Jim Martin gives wise, pastoral counsel on Marriage and Sex.  Read his thoughtful posts here and here.

Here's a fascinating article in TIME called "The Grassroots Abortion War" on the growth of pro-life crisis pregnancy centers across the country.  They are making a huge difference in stopping abortions, "one life at a time" and in the process attracting a lot of attention and scrutiny.  During our church first ministry, Dawn worked as a counselor at the Hagerstown CPC which was located beside our home.  (HT: Justin Taylor)

And now, a little church history:  Ten Marks of the Early Church.  You might be surprised at what they did and didn't do as they followed Christ in the ancient pagan world, which really was not all that much different than ours today.  (HT: Travis Seitler)