Caroline Just Gets IT!

The sun = Awesome!

The snow = Ugh!

I love warm, spring days with my family!

I’ve come to realize in recent years that the weather highly affects my mood. Lauren is from Minnesota (They GET cold!), and she pointed out the reality of “seasonal depression” when we lived in a shoebox apartment with barely any natural light in Brooklyn. Living in Texas for most of my life, you just get hot and hot and humid as hell, HOT! The bottom line: I just like to be outside when the weather is a glorious 70 degrees. Denver is probably one of the best places to live when it comes to amazing seasons with excellent sunlight, year round. That being said, we do have a few weeks throughout the year that are difficult to handle (I don’t think I could do the Midwest! Just sayin’!). We have been having ridiculously beautiful spring weather lately, but just one week ago, Denver received an ugly hex from Mother Nature, 6 inches of snow!!! It didn’t last long, as the snow usually melts quickly around here. Still, I was NOT a happy camper on Monday morning, May 12, 2014.

Caroline, on the other hand, really loves the snow. For the past several months prior to the spring season, Lauren “encouraged” me to take CJ out in the snow and let her play while taking fun pictures on our camera. Finally, I reluctantly took the plunge and spent a few minutes with her in the snow the other day.

Boots. Check.

Snow suit. Check.

Coat. Check.

Hat. Check.

“Happy” daddy with smile on his face… err…umm... okay… checkish!

I snapped some photos on both our camera, and my iPhone. Caroline fell a few times in her stormtrooper boots, but kept getting back up to touch more white snow. Finally, I gladly held her precious cold hand and we walked back into the warm house.

Then, it hit me.

I looked through the photos, and I saw the pure joy in CJ’s face.

I re-processed those 5 minutes in the snow from her perspective.

I re-watched her cute face.

I re-analyzed her sense of awe, wonder and sheer beauty.

Caroline was awakened to something much deeper than her daddy (who happens to be a really, slow learner.).

There’s a Hebrew word for this “amazing” experience that I’m talking about, which is called, “Kavod.”

This word, “Kavod” in English is translated, “Glory!” In the text Isaiah receives his fresh vision from the LORD in the Temple, and he saw the presence of the Almighty along with some celestial, heavenly being singing, "HOLY, HOLY HOLY is the LORD ALMIGHTY! THE WHOLE EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY!”

Trying to define this word, “glory” is like trying to define God. It’s highly complicated. It’s like trying to catch the wind with your bare hands.  You can feel it and know it’s there, but it’s ridiculously mysterious – yet very simple for a child. Glory literally means “weight” or “significance”. You know when you’ve experienced glory, something with true weight. For some, it’s like watching Kevin Durant or LeBron James play basketball (For me, it is when the San Antonio Spurs are playing lights out, team basketball!). For Caroline, it is when she experiences AWE….. SOMEness as a toddler delighting in the snow!

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about a man named, Jacob. His father sent him on a journey to find a wife in a country about 600 miles away. That’s a long, lonely journey. One evening, he found himself alone, in the middle of the desert. He pulled up a rock for a pillow (Ouch?). And, he had a psychedelic dream seemingly written by Hunter S. Thompson. A stairway to heaven… angels were ascending and descending on “Jacob’s Ladder.” A fresh vision from the LORD came, and God reminded Jacob of his future blessing, reminding him that he would never forsake him.

Listen closely to the end of this story with the line that changes everything … “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”  - Genesis 28:16-17

Did you hear that?

HOUSE OF God!

That’s what “Bethel” means, “House of God.” So, that’s the name of this place on the literal map. This was epically mind blowing to Jacob. God revealed His awesome-ness, and Jacob realized it AFTER the fact.

Did you hear the language he used in this scene, “Surely, the LORD IS in this place (That’s present tense… He’s HERE!), and I WAS not award of it (past tense). Oh, the beauty of amazing things happening all of the time, all around us, and like Jacob, we just aren’t aware of it! So often – and sadly – we have to learn this in hindsight.

Listen to the truth found in this passage. This earth is God’s home!!!

This is a belief that began to influence Jacob and his descendents who would become the nation of Israel. The prophets in the Bible were deeply influenced by the understanding that the entire earth is soaked with the presence of the Almighty God! According to the worldview before, during and after the time of Jesus, God is not found somewhere else! He is right here! It is HIS world. He made it. He’s always in it. God owns it, and God’s beauty is manifested everywhere, even on snowy days. Thus, God is ever present within every portion of it… 24/7! You cannot put God in a box.

Imagine if we really lived with the understanding that the world was saturated with the divine. Heaven on earth… Imagine if we saw the world in the ways in which a toddler sees fresh snow?

Artist Robbie Seay, wrote a song years ago called, “Breathing Air Again.” The lyrics are filled with glory! He writes the following:

Take the time to start anew

Maybe it's in front of you

Take the time to walk down your street

And heaven knows who you might meet

In another line, he says, “Take the time to stop and stare… Heaven's beauty everywhere.”

This is so true, and we know it when we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear! I have many Christian/ church pet peeves, and one of them is when pastors and leaders say things like, “Dude! Today was awesome! God showed up.” Really, I wonder… so, God wasn’t here at all… ? You gave him a ring, invited him and he showed up? Waaahhh???? He suddenly decided to show up? That's just bad theology!

God simply waits for us to show up. He desires for his children of all ages to WAKE UP,  rain, snow or shine!

Kids do this waking up thing really well, but adults somehow become bitter and cynical. We get picky, petty, panicky and pathetic. Way to often, we are looking ahead to what’s next, and we neglect to see the glory in the present world, all around us. We often do this in church, at home, in our activities, with sports, the entertainment world, and within our jobs. And, while the next thing might be great (i.e. spring over winter, the warm sun over the cold snow) often, we simply neglect what is right in front of us. The gift of GLORY is today! Blink, and you might miss it.

This reminds me of a favorite quote from the 80’s classic, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Special thanks to many19-month-old geniuses who simply "get it"!

So, this week... 

Become a child.

Wake up.

See the world with eyes of wonder.

Seize heaven today, and even, right now!