Lets step back to '95

      This was a very full year, the beginning of which, like so many others, I was living in Mexico. It is actually hard to pull detailed recollections from that far back, but a very significant thing that happened was my baptism.
   I was seven and full of energy and imagination. As the youngest child of a missionary family I had heard constantly about God and His desire for me. My parents had been clearly seeking to raise their children in "the fear and admonition of the Lord" and I was no exception. Though unsure of many things, I fully believed God existed and He loved me, so it was not hard to make the decision to be baptized. I actually remember it quite clearly.
     It was a beautiful sunny day at the "Apartamentos Chapalita"in Guadalajara, Mexico. This particular year we were living in apartment 5, one of the several apartments we would live in throughout my childhood. A fellow missionary friend of ours was over visiting, and I remember him asking me if I was sure of my decision and what it meant. This question did not bring doubt because I was sure, even as I climbed down the steps into the apartment complex's pool. I didn't feel any different as I came up out of the water, but I do look back at that moment as a significant point in my spiritual foundation. There is a photo in an album somewhere of the event and though it along with the memory may fade the reality of the decision made by grace that day will not.

Present Day: Houston Trip

So I told you in the last post i would be going back and forth from past and present. Well today is a present day update.

   I am currently in Houston, TX hanging out with Michael Miller (Once again). We came down to catch the Cubs play their last divisional series with the Houston Astros since they will be changing divisions next year.
   While they Cubs did take 2 out of 3 from the Stros, that isn't what I would like to write about tonight.
More about a random fun experience Mr. Miller and I had. Instead of catching the last game of the series we decided to mix it up a bit when I realized that John Mark McMillan was in town. Yep, he was making his only public stop in the great state of Texas and I just so happened to be in Houston for it. From rooting for my Cubbies, eating great pizza (Bombay Pizza Co.) and seeing a great concert this has been a great week! I have to say thanks to the Hulls for being so gracious to allow us to crash at their home.

Why not start here!

This might be for me more than anyone else. If it is, I hope it changes it my life as i write it. 

   Today is the tenth day of May in 2012, and I will start by going back in time to my childhood, flashing to present and going back often. 

   April 17th, 1988: 

  It was a Sunday, and from what I've been told it was a morning, perhaps around 11am. This is my birthday, a very complicating and beautiful day. It starts with pain, but not quite the pain you might be thinking about. The pain of a stillborn life. Yes I, Levi, was stillborn. Modern science would say, this may not be that big of a deal, I however, was born in my childhood house. Present are my father, mother, and the midwife. My father takes my still quiet body into his arms and begins to pray, to cry out. My mother tells of great faith being present in the room. Time passes.. 5 minutes.. nothing. 10 minutes.. still breathless. 20 minutes.. the silence is broken.. Life. Breathe. 

     For His glory, for His fame, and for His renown I live. After 24 years It isn't hard to choose, in fact it would be harder not to. I can't help but be amazed by the wonder of the Miracle Maker, but I'm even more amazed at how personal He is!