Spiritually Malnourished

Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father!

Today Father, as You know my thoughts and prayers were very much reaching towards Shannon as she began her new job.  This transition has weighed heavily on her heart, but today went very well and I believe she’s feeling better about her decision now.  Either way, thank You for watching over her today and every day, and guiding her along this path.

Mondays are generally busy days in my office Lord.  And while it’s wonderful from a business perspective to be inundated with work, days like today can hold my focus to the point of excluding other important activities from the list… like eating.

I really meant to take a break and get some food today, but it just never happened.  One project led into another until I looked at the clock and it was already after 4:00pm.  Driving home, I had to pause for a few moments as I got a little light-headed… not a good sign for me.  By the time I got to the house, I was tired, hungry, and even a bit on the grumpy side.

Very much like when I haven’t talked to You in a while Father… Spiritually malnourished.

With the crazy schedules we maintain these days, spending dedicated time with You can sometimes be slid aside by activities we feel are more pressing and immediate.  The catch-22 is of course, that maintaining a tight personal relationship with You is just as vital to our well-being as is food to eat, or air to breathe.  When we don’t spend that “meal time” with You each day, we suffer as a whole.

Nourish me Father…  Feed my desperate spirit.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the Blessings You bestow on us each day.  Please fill us with Your Presence, and sustain us through Your Word to lead the lives You Will for us.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Musings on Mother’s Day

Dear Lord; Happy Mother’s Day Father!

This evening Lord, I wanted to pay tribute if I may, to two wonderful mothers in my life; my mother who passed to Your Kingdom in 1995, and my lovely wife Shannon.

I was very Blessed Father, to have an excellent mother-figure in my life growing up.  She was an intelligent, funny, caring woman and worked diligently to instill a sense of honor, understanding and perspective in my brother and I.  Although she battled multiple forms of cancer for over 15 years, her focus was always on caring for and nurturing us.  She was an amazing lady, and although I miss her a great deal I know I’ll see her again someday.  🙂

And Father, You Blessed me yet again with the wonderful lady You sent to be my wife.  She has truly been the epitome of the “ideal mother” to our boys, and I couldn’t be more thankful for her.  Today, we had a lovely Mother’s Day afternoon together.  It started with a late lunch at the local Celtic Pub, then we rode out to Woodland Beach for a walk along the shore to gather sea glass for Shannon’s craft projects.  I of course, carted along my camera and here are some of my favorites from the day:

Aidan spent the bulk of his time wading through the shallow water, finding rocks for his “collection”, and playing in the sand.

Jonathan started out with the idea of shooting photos as well, but the lure of playing in the sand and wading in the cool water quickly had me carrying his camera instead.

It was truly a lovely day out; around 75 degrees and sunny with a light breeze to keep the bugs away.

Shannon spent much of her time scouring the beach for bits of “sea glass” for her crafting projects.

We got the boys involved in the glass search as well, and they had a great time searching out these bits of treasure.

All in all Father, it was a lovely afternoon.  As always, I thank You for the Blessings You bestow on us each day, and for the remarkable examples of motherhood You’ve placed in my life.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Thankful Thursday: The Gift of Prayer

Dear Lord; Happy Thankful Thursday Father!

Once again Lord, we come upon another Thankful Thursday here at PhatherPhil.org.  Unlike other weeks where I’ve struggled to narrow down just what I’m most thankful for, this week was almost prescribed for me by, oddly enough, the United States Congress.  Yes, in 1952 the U.S. Congress officially designated that the first Thursday of May each year would be a National Day of Prayer, and it just seems wonderfully fitting to me that it falls on a Thankful Thursday.

I am truly thankful for the Gift of Prayer Father!

I wholeheartedly believe that prayer is absolutely a Gift You’ve given us Lord, and in my opinion one of Your most magnanimous and precious gifts of all.  Through prayer, You Grace us with the inherent ability to commune with You.  Little, flawed, lowly beings such as we, can “dial up” the Creator of Everything and have a one-on-one conversation… How miraculous is that??  Through prayer you give us the path to obtaining the most precious thing we can in this life; a personal relationship with You.

It’s a humbling, and yet amazingly powerful gift Lord, and I thank You for that “Bat Phone” connection to You with all my heart.  🙂

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Musings on the Weekend

Dear Lord; Good evening Father!

I know it’s not usual for me to write on Sundays Lord, but so much has happened over the last few days that I wanted to share with You while the events were still fresh in my mind.  It’s been an awesome weekend, and I’m very thankful for all You’ve Blessed me with.

It all began Friday night with the launching of our “Dinner and Drinks on the Deck” evening get-togethers.  This is something we started last year, and ended up having around 15 of them over the course of the spring and summer.  They’re informal cookouts attended by family and friends on Friday evenings where everyone brings something to share, and we provide the grilled food and snacks.  The adults get to relax, sit around the fire pit and wind down from the work week while the kids all get to burn off some steam together.  It’s a wonderful way to kick off the weekend, and this past Friday went extremely well.  In fact, we’ve already had quite a few inquiries about next weekend.  🙂

Saturday morning, Shannon went and taught violin lessons in town and with the help of a good friend I did some heavy-duty scrubbing of our master bathroom.  It had been far too long since I’d had the opportunity to clean and disinfect it thoroughly, and it was satisfying to see it all sparkling clean and smelling fresh.  My words to You from Thankful Thursday came immediately back to mind!

Saturday evening I dropped the kids off at one of their friends’ house for a sleepover visit, while Shannon and I got to enjoy a “date night” out.  We met up with some good friends for a fun dinner, then headed out to a local party for some dancing and socializing.  While we love our children dearly, the opportunity to get out as a couple now and again helps us to “recharge our batteries” and focus on the intimate bond we’re Blessed to have between us.  Saturday night was a great time, and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Early Sunday, Shannon headed off to play viola at a wedding with the other ladies in her quartet while I got an unheard-of morning to sleep in a bit, and have some “quiet time” relaxing and communing with You.  The boys went to church with the family they had stayed with, and had a wonderful time at Sunday School and participating in the worship service.  I picked them up shortly afterwards, and we headed out to have lunch and spend the day hiking and shooting photos nearby.  It was a bit overcast today, but the temperature was perfect and we managed to get time to walk both out at Blackbird State Forest and then about a half-hour away on the sands of Woodland Beach.  I love spending these moments with them, and each new excursion we take together brings us closer to each other, and to You.

Here are some of the photos I shot today that made me smile Father:

The boys paused for this shot while we were walking down one of the many nature trails in Blackbird Forest.

Always the adventurer, Aidan forges ahead of us, setting the pace.

Jonathan’s photography skills have improved markedly over the last year.  I’ve really enjoyed teaching him about lighting and composition, and he’s really having fun seeing what he can do with the camera.

This little fellow was being harassed by a group of other ducks and was just frazzled beyond words.  I loved the expression and attitude he was exuding and was Blessed to catch this shot.

All in all Father, it was the best weekend we’ve had in a long time and I thank You from the bottom of my heart.  You Bless my family and I in so many ways Lord, and I am very deeply grateful for Your Presence and Guidance in our lives.

Heavenly Father, once again I thank You for a wonderful, relaxing weekend with family and friends.  Please guide my decisions and actions in the coming week to best serve Your Will, and to share Your Light with those around me.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Thankful Thursday: A Sense of Clean

Dear Lord; Happy Thankful Thursday Father!

Well Lord, once again we’ve come to that day of the week where I attempt to focus my thanks to You on one particular thing.  When I first started following this “theme day”, I thought it would be the easiest conversation of the week, simply because I’m Blessed in so many ways that I’d have an infinite list of things to be thankful for.  Funny enough, that ended up being the reason that Thursdays can be so difficult for me; too many Blessings to pick just one! 🙂

In today’s case, when I started to contemplate all the things I’ve been thankful for this week a seemingly bizarre one popped into my head.  I shook it off and tried to think of other, more important things but it kept coming back to the front of my mind.  I’m really not sure what prompted this one Father, but I’ll throw it out as long as you promise not to laugh:

Today Father, I’m thankful for Chlorine Bleach.

Ok, ok… Even I chuckle when I say this one.  Laughs are ok.

I use bleach on pretty much a daily basis Lord.  I guess it’s not as much the chemical itself, but the known bacterial and viral destruction it leaves in it’s wake.  From caring for a number of relatives who were seriously ill, very old pets with “control issues”, raising little boys with all the associated grubbiness (as my wife Shannon reminds me regularly, boys are gross… lol) and all the time we spent with Jonathan’s immune system being nonexistent I’ve come to rely on bleach as my “germ killing” solution to a great many problems.

I use it on our bathroom fixtures…

I use it in the kitchen sink…

I put some in the rinse water for our carpet cleaner…

I use it in the laundry rinse cycle…

I power-wash the house with a solution of it…

And the list goes on and on…

While there are absolutely many more important things I could praise You for Lord, this is what was in my heart.  No clue why, it just was.  Therefore Father, I thank You for the cleanliness that You bring to my life through this flexible and powerful chemical.  It helps to keep my home cleaner and my family less subject to infectious organisms and in my book, that makes it a significant Blessing.

Thank You for that sense of clean Father.

Amen.

~Phather Phil