I have never had frost completely covering my eyelashes and eyebrows before. I felt like a cross between a snow princess and the abominable snowman. At 7 am this morning I braved the record lows (for our part of the woods) and went out for my weekly long run with my training group (TNT). Neither have I ever seen my car's thermometer have a negative reading. It was a morning of firsts. And for every run after this, I will simply remember this morning and know that if I could finish it today, there's nothing the other 364 days of the year can throw at me that I can't handle.

I just read this in a piece by N.T. Wright entitled, "The Most Dangerous Baby." The article is discussing the two kingdoms "destined to compete, kingdoms that offer radically different definitions of what peace and power and glory are all about" - the earthly kingdom of Augustus that was already well-established when Jesus was born, and the new kingdom Jesus was about to usher in.

Augustus' empire is like a well-lit room at night: the lamps are arranged beautifully, they shed pretty patterns, but they have not conquered the darkness outside. Jesus' kingdom is like the morning star rising, signaling that it is time to blow out the candles, to throw open the curtains, and to welcome the new day that is dawning. Glory to God in the highest and peace among those with whom he is pleased!

Earth's crammed with Heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes-
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
--Elizabeth Barrett Browning

A oh-so-needed reminder to keep my eyes open for the presence of God in the everyday. Burning bushes that can be all too easily missed simply for having turned my head in the other direction.

I feel a bit arrogant to even being doing this. Who's going to want to read what I have to say? It's a bit like when I make a music mix for myself. A friend will say, "Oh great, a new mix - can you burn me a copy?" Let's see.. how do I convince them that they probably don't want one, as I can't imagine anyone else in the world who would enjoy the odd collection of songs I've put together to function as a singular piece? So maybe this blog will be like that. And maybe I'll discover that there's someone else out there who would put MxPx next to Billy Joel and round it out with a little Los Lobos. We'll see.