appy Monday, friends. I pray that you were refreshed and energized by your Sunday. I know I was. If you don’t attend a community of faith where refreshment and energy are a regular part of your worship experience, then please consider visiting us at First Presbyterian Church of Brandon. It really is an exceptional place!

My awesome grandson, David, has turned 10-months. And, as you can tell, he’s just about ready to take off into the realm of toddler-hood. This image, captured by his very talented mother, looks to me like a decision point. “Do I open this door into the next stage of my life? or do I sit back down again and spend a few more days/weeks as a baby?”

It’s the kind of question that comes up time and again while children are growing:

• “There’s so much to learn and discover… but life here is comfortable.”
• “Change… or stay the same?”
• “Adventure… or what I’m used to?”
• “What do I do?”

And of course David is going to move forward; he’s just too curious to do anything else. Interface; experiment; open the door; fall down; get up again; learn; question; discover….

Curiosity – and then the willingness to take a few hesitant (brand-new) steps – is one of the most important marks of growing, not only growing up but also growing forward.

PROMISE: So my second image this morning is this one from 1979. I wanted to post the photo Saturday, on our anniversary, but I couldn’t find it. Look how young! Look how 1970’s my suit is! Look how gorgeous (no surprise) Rebekah (still) is.

But I honestly love the result of the passage of time on who we are and where we are. We have learned so much since that day; and we still have so much to learn. But I love the process. I love the discovery, the interface with real life, the falling down so we can get up stronger, the questions without answers and the answers that live beyond the limits of our questions, the moving forward that characterizes the life that is truly life.

FOUNDATION for the Adventure: I’ll finish this post with a couple of pictures from Sunday morning. This is Rebekah placing the Word of God into the hands of one of our rising 2nd-grade children.

It’s the tradition of our church to give Bibles to kids entering second grade, and it’s one of Rebekah’s favorite things to do. No quick hand-shake or pat on the head from this preacher. Rebekah gives each child her full attention, and her face shines with joy as  she encourages them to take this opportunity to get to know Jesus, the Living Word, through the stories in the scriptures.

I couldn’t get close enough to the children’s choir for a good photograph, but I kind of like the effect of this one, taken through the communion table and the pulpit. Those Bibles are going home with some of our children, the pulpit is where Rebekah shares the Good News, and – together – it all makes the perfect context for their enthusiastic little faces!

“Praise Ye the Lord! Hal- le – lu; Praise Ye the Lord! Hal – le – lu; Praise Ye the Lord! Hal- le – lu; Praise Ye the Lord!”