Yep, I’m still learning.  Still learning what?  I’m learning a lot of things; things like:

1. The development and growth of a child as they move into the teen years and on into adulthood.  Some of you have already learned this.  Not me, I’m still learning about how this works, from the parent perspective.  And it’s really quite vast and incredible; that is, the beautiful parts and the hideous components.

2.  The second thing I’m still learning is how the human body changes; this is a tough one now that I’m on the other side—the other side I say, of 45.   Didn’t understand that the bones and muscles really do scream, “work me, exercise me, give me healthy stuff, take me for a run, get on that treadmill, don’t touch those potatoe chips…again – please not again today”  Nope, I’ve always been “fit as a fiddle” but the body is just changing and it really works so much better when I just bite the bullet and walk, treadmill, carrots, badminton, and sleep.  And oh man that last one is hard for the person who is wired to stay up late and goof off, read, wrestle with the dog and just plain refuse to go to bed.  How foolish!  I know.

3.  Third thing is this and it’s kind of unrelated, it seems to the first two, but here it is:  I’m learning to pray better.  Pray better? you ask.  Yep.  Believe it or not there’s effective and non-effective ways to pray.  Read it for yourself in Matthew 6.  The Master taught us, “Do it like this, don’t do it like that, the hypocrite does it like this, this is the proper location, this is the correct motive, etc.,  Few months ago I started praying early in the morning.  Wow.  Not easy for this night-hawk.  Oh no, I’d rather pray mid-day or late morning or late at night, and still do.  But there’s something refreshingly powerful and dynamic when you jump out of bed and head straight for the living-room (right after bathroom, of course), and say something like, “Jesus, I love you today.”  ”Here’s what I want to talk to you about today Jesus.”  ”Today Lord, You are my heavenly Father and I worship you.”  And I assure you, before you know it, you are in the presence of the One who makes it all happen.  Even now, while I punch the keys I sense the presence of the Lord.  And there’s nothing that compares.

I’m going to post more of what I’m learning about prayer at another time, but for now, suffice it to say, there’s nothing that will change your life like investing time with the one who loves you more than you’ll ever really know.

Ed