Reflections from the Road

Reflections from the Road

During the Summer of 2010 our went on a cross-country family road trip.  During that trip I had a lot of time to drive, think and reflect.  The following are some my thoughts I wrote in the middle of that trip as a Family Life article.

“I have thought about how important it is to have a good map.  We have a large trucker map.  It is easy to read.  It has some good details.  This map in combination with a gps has made finding our way easy.   The map and gps have oriented us and given us the direction we needed.  The Bible does the same for us.  While it is not an exact map of our lives, as we read, study and meditate on the truth, we find in it we find direction.

On this trip we have stopped and visited friends along the way.  It is a long drive across this country and it was really nice to stop at a friend’s house.  It was nice to relax.  It was nice to eat real food.  It was nice to catch up with people I haven’t seen in a while.  The community or church we belong too are those friends along the way that help us.  We encourage each other.  We eat together.  We experience life together as we travel down the road of life.

Finally it is important to keep your eyes open and be aware of what is coming at you.  In Kansas City we had to dodge a bouncing tire coming our way down the highway.  If we hadn’t been paying attention our trip would have ended early!  There are distractions out there that cause us to stray from the direction the LORD is calling us to go.  With the help of the Holy Spirit we are able to overcome these distractions and keep our focus where it should be.”

Reflections on Abraham Part Three: Children and Volcanos

Reflections on Abraham
Part Three: Children and Volcanos
Genesis 16.1 - .16

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. (Genesis 16.1 & .2)

In our culture we love to be in control and we love to have plans. Huge amounts of money is spent on calendars, personal organizers and software to get our plans and schedule under our control. Recently the entire European continent learned that no matter what their plans, calendars or personal organizers tell them they are not in control. The Eyjafjallajokul Volcano, whose name is nearly impossible to pronounce, shut down most of Europe’s airspace causing thousands if not millions of people to put their plans travel by air on hold. They couldn’t do what they planned to do. They learned that they were not in control and nothing they did would allow them to be in control of the volcano!

When we try to control everything and go our own way rather than waiting patiently for the LORD it causes trouble. Look at Sarai and Abram’s attempt to start a family. Abram knows the LORD has promised him a child but Sarai is either impatient or thinks she has a better plan. So she offer her maidservant, Hagar, as a surrogate and will start a family through her. She wants to be in control of this situation instead of waiting for the LORD. This causes trouble. Sarai becomes jealous of Hagar. Hagar is sent away. Abram is caught in the middle. The family Sarai wanted to start falls apart instead!

When we try to take control it causes trouble. When we try to make plans but don’t surrender them to the LORD we sin. (James 4.13 - .17) Instead we need to wait patiently for the LORD and surrender our plans to His will.

Blizzard 2010 Video

Here is a short clip of the conditions at the Byrd House the morning of February 10th 2010. This clip doesn't do the wind and snow justice, it is pretty crazy out there.

on the border between real and fake virginia

tyler and i make a run for the border and as you can see things got a little wild!

Birthday Tree Transplanting

On my birthday we dug a big hole and transplanted a tree from one part of our yard to another. I am happy to report that a week later the tree looks healthy!

busted head!

me and the family went on a long bike ride on the washington old domion trail to the town of vienna. we met up with some friends who live there and ate doughnuts and kettle corn popcorn at the farmers market. during the fun tyler ran and tripped into a bench hitting his head just above his eye. needless to say he cut it open and bled a lot at first. lisa used her first aid skills and stopped the bleeding with a band aid. then we cycled back to the van after some lunch and i took him over to the urgent care center for 3 stitches. he is doing fine and was very very good as the doctor put 3 stitches into his eye brow. never a good experience holding your child still as he cries as they stitch him up or give him a shot.

here are some pictures i took with my phone so the boy could see what he looked like.

pre-labor day camping trip

the byrd family went camping at the end of last week just before the labor day rush and the beginning of school. it was awesome and i am going to post some more pictures soon but i wanted to put this one up tonight. it is my favorite one from the trip. just me and tyler over looking east across a valley in shenandoah national park.

saturday at the pool

what more can i say while lisa enjoyed the women of faith confrence the kids and i enjoyed the pool.

woodley warriors!

austin gets some refreshments after his first swim meet! he swam the freestyle ok for a first timer. i am proud of my woodley warrior!

at the pool yesterday

the boys enjoyed an afternoon at the pool yesterday following austin's swim practice. this will be one of many afternoons, mornings and days at the pool

snow day pictures

snow day pictures

rocketeering!

me and austin took a rocket he got for christmas up on the hill behind our house to launch his rocket! ashley was our camera girl and she did a great job.

click here to go to sparkyphilms to see our 3rd and final launch of the day.

merry christmas from the byrds

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merry christmas from the byrds

music is "utah" by the predictors

snow screen saver on my ibook

me and austin on the roof

the other monday i cleaned the gutters and then austin came up on the roof to help me hang the last of our Christmas lights. we now have colored lights on the roof, white lights in the bushes and along the walk, two white snowflakes hanging on either side of the door and a white light christmas tree out in the yard.

visit to the national christmas tree

here we are at the national christmas tree across the river in washington dc.
its located on the elipse in front of the white house.
we went on saturday the 9th