confessions & latte art

My last few posts have been melancholy, to say the least. There are days when I just feel really down, and I guess those were such days. Reality be admitted, I live a pretty good life. I take a lot for granted. I am surrounded by loving family and friends. I have a job that pays enough for me to make all my bill payments on time. I've lost sixty-five pounds and am continuing to lose weight. I'm feeling confident in how I look, and that's something new. I live in a quiet town without the fear of bandits or robbers, without worrying if a stray bullet will come through the windows and strike someone I live. I can sit on the front porch at night without worry about roving gangs. I have more than enough to eat and a warm bed and a steady job. I am, in light of the conditions of the rest of the world, blessed beyond measure. And to top it all off, I have a God who has chosen me as one of his own; a God who rains down his grace and love on me daily; a God who gives me good gifts and yearns for me to use my talents and abilities to advance his kingdom. I am blessed, then, with purpose: not a purpose of self-serving and self-indulgence, but the calling to a higher purpose, a higher end. I am called to advance God's kingdom (as all his people are), and the pay-off (if we can speak selfishly) is quite good, too (although much suffering and bearing of the cross is necessary in the present). Maybe it's the cyclical depression or just my recurrent blindness, but I often lose sight of all the blessings God gives me, blessings I don't ask for and blessings I sadly don't thank him for. I'm just so narrow-minded and self-focused that I miss all of that sometimes. I pray my God will cleanse me of this short-sightedness and enable to see things as they really are, to see myself for who I really am, and within that framework to live out my calling and to do what God wants me to do; and even more, to become the man (now and forever) God wants me to become. 

In other news, Rob Hoos made a beautiful picture in a latte and made sure to show it to me. It's a Tyrannosaurus rex!