Thanks for all your support and encouragement regarding the new blog format. Please consider sharing Life, Gratitude, Faith, & Passion with your friends.

Interestingly (but I’m not surprised by this kind of event anymore), four things happened yesterday that fit exactly with what I’m trying to achieve here. Go figure.

#1 – “LIFE” First –  “loud drumroll please” – my new local news magazine column debuted in “Wake Forest Today.” Wake Forest Today is a relatively new venture that’s 100% web-based and designed to be the “First True Responsive Design news site for Wake Forest, NC.”

The column, which will run weekly, is titled “Reading Between the Lines.” I’m pleased to have a voice in our new adopted community, and my prayer is that Wake Forest Today will serve as a responsive and growing venue where I can share encouragement and Good News with a new set of readers.

Please check out the link (Reading Between the Lines), and consider adding Wake Forest Today to your regular reading list. I think you’ll be pleased that you did.

#2 – “GRATITUDE” Would you check out the photograph of our granddaughter, Rebekah “Beks” Campbell? What a doll!

The image was captured at her official six-month check up, where she scored 90th percentile for weight (no surprise here!), 75th percentile for height, and 100th percentile for being cute and adorable.

What gets me is the smile. Such a happy girl. A friend wrote the following under the picture when Naomi posted on facebook – “What a happy little girl!!! She must live with some very happy people!” So true. Now that knowledge really makes me smile. Talk about something that makes me grateful.

#3 – “FAITH” In 1862, a team led by legendary explorer/doctor/missionary David Livingstone became the first to reach Lake Malawi.  Livingstone’s wife died of Malaria, his leadership was widely criticized, and the 1858-64 expedition was generally dubbed a failure.

However, despite overwhelming odds, Livingstone’s approach can be summed up in this 1862 quote: “I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it be forward.”

This is the essence of faith. Faith is – as we discussed in Monday’s post – a matter of standing on God’s promises.

My son, Andrew, posted the photograph of Lake Malawi yesterday. Did he know I was such a fan of Livingstone? Did he know this conversation about faith is so important for our church right now?

#4 – PASSION: It might be hard to tell from the picture, but Rebekah is standing next to the new coat-rack/hat-stand she’s making for her office.

What’s not hard to tell is that she’s excited about the project.

The short story goes like this: She found an old door at an “architectural salvage” yard. She chose it for the character, the patina, and the vision she has for all things with character and patina.

She’s going to clean it, sand it, maybe add a light wash, seal it, and then attach several coat hooks before hauling it to her office and leaning it against the wall. You may be scratching your head, but I have learned enough to say with assurance it’s going to be awesome.

The point here is the genuine passion Rebekah brings to everything she’s involved with. Work, family, restoration. You name it, Rebekah brings passion. It is, she would argue, the only way to live.

Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9)