What a thrill! Simple pleasures become profound when they are seldom. Coming back from being a missionary, I was looking forward to drinking water from a tap, eating a good pizza, speaking English filled with idioms but without the necessity of explanation. When I did each one, I did it with a smile on my face. They were forgotton but common pleasures. They were admittedly taken for granted when I didn’t know anything differently.
That was like the drive home yesterday. Three hundred miles of familiar road became a thrill as if I were a tourist yet to experience the Cascade mountains or an alien yet to experience cloud speckled, blue skies, or a foreigner who had never seen a rushing river. We were three cars in a caravan: I was out front, Mitch and Chelsea in the middle, Marlene the tail. After three months in the hospital (I’ve been there for five weeks myself), Mitch was taking his first drive with his wife. It was a private time (when I wasn’t peeking throug the rear view mirror) to drive to the place where they hope to share a home together some day. Arriving home was like coming into a newly purchased home for the first time- wondering what surprise lurked around the corner- even though everything was familiar and there were predictably no surprises awaiting.
Simple pleasures become profound when they have become rare, more greatly appreciated, shared deeply with those closest to you and bring you closer to fond memories. Simple pleasures become profound when we become more committed to open our eyes wider and ears more attentively to absorb every sight and sound. It is an intentional exercise. But beyond our ardent effort we should ask God to show us something new. We must realize that God can open up the world around us just as he can open up something new in the Bible every time we open it. That is often our experience. It should be with getting up in the morning. We can read the same Scripture and get something new every time. We can get out of bed and move through our familiar routine and get something new every time. It is his Word. It is his world.
Now an invitation to you, the family at Timberview (the church we started and pastored for nearly 14 years) will be gathering around our home to pray for our son at 6:30 Monday evening (Pacific Time). There will be a circle of prayer around the home. We welcome you in an expanded circle from around the world. Mitch selflessly said in response to someone talking about their desire to see him healed, "wouldn’t a miracle be great for the whole church? If I’m part of that, it would be good as well."