Sometimes There's Just Not Enough Words

My apologies to Forrest Gump and Jenny. I tweaked the title of this post from a line in the movie that's talking about rocks, but that's how I feel today as I've thought about what to say. I was actually surprised to see how long it's been since my last entry because I've written many in my head that just never made it to the computer.

Anyway, where to begin? I guess I can try and review the last week and see if anything pulls together that might make sense. We spent last weekend working several hours on a coat and shoe distribution with Gallery Church. A couple of our partner churches had collected lots of coats and shoes and then drove them to Baltimore. We set up locations in two different communities to make it easier for people to reach. To see people grateful, humble, excited, and sometimes even selfish over something I take for granted every day I get dressed doesn't have a place to go in my sheltered, suburban level of understanding.





















The first of the week brought sickness to several of our church families and while Hamp and I have mostly fought it off, I had a few days of not feeling well and without much energy. Our kids all got sick in their respective states and that was hard to not be nearby to help them. So much for a happy Halloween this year.



Wedding plans are well underway for Michael and Bekah and this past weekend she found her dress while her mom was visiting. She was so sweet to send me pictures so I could see what it looked like and it's been fun to see details begin to fall into place for them. Being involved with a wedding again has reminded me that while wounded places in our hearts can be healed, if a scar is poked in the right spot, it will still hurt. And I think that's all I have to say about that.

As you know, daylight savings time ended this past weekend. I don't like the time change and wish we just left it alone.


It gets dark in Baltimore about 30 minutes earlier than in Atlanta and I don't need any help being reminded that it will also be colder in this darkness. I think I can be brave....

I still haven't made it to a pumpkin farm or a place to go on a hayride, but I haven't completely given up on that yet. The leaves are beautiful here as you head out of the city and get more in the mountains. They won't last much longer, so I'm hoping sometime this week to be able to go somewhere and have an official fall visit. There's another tree in our parking lot that is beautiful now so I took a couple of pictures this afternoon.





Sometimes the little fish in the harbor come to the surface and when they do, the sea gulls go crazy. As I was taking the tree picture, I heard them making all kinds of noise and realized they were going fishing. This gives you an idea of what the area near our apartment looked like for a while this afternoon.





One more thing before I end this. Tomorrow is when "Beauty Will Rise", Steven Curtis Chapman's new album, will be available for purchase. I've heard snippets of most of the songs and read some reviews and heard some interviews that he has done to get ready for its release. Here's an excerpt from the New York Times review of the album:

Near the midpoint of “Beauty Will Rise,” Steven Curtis Chapman’s stirring new album, there comes a song called “Questions,” with a premise far less innocuous than its title. “Who are you, God?” Mr. Chapman begins, with quiet purpose. “ ’Cause you are turning out to be so much different than I imagined.” He takes a breath. “And where are you, God?/ ’Cause I am finding life to be so much harder than I had planned.”

Sometimes there just aren't enough words, but sometimes God gives them to others.