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The intervention in North Pokot is well underway.  A couple of months ago our friends in Kenya discovered 120,000 tribal people who were being wiped out by a prolonged drought. Their economy has collapsed. They had no water and their unsanitary living conditions had allowed disease and death to run riot through their families.  No government services or NGOs have dared to go into this area because the need is overwhelming and the costs to transport supplies into that region too costly. 
Yet teams of volunteers from IGEM have gone there to build schoolrooms so the people can be educated, a dispensary for needed medications to be available to the sick, and to drill three wells to put water within a short walking distance of the people.  (If you want to read the details of their plight please see my earlier blog.)  Their compassion for their fellow countrymen amazes me and I’m blessed that through the contributions of many of you we were able to empower them to make a difference in so many lives.  Four schoolrooms are being constructed so their children, who have never had an education, can begin.  Uniforms have been donated and teachers have volunteered to go into that region to teach the students. A dispensary is rising that can provide needed drugs to the sick and infirm. They also hope eventually to get a van that will be able to take the medications out to people who are too sick to travel.  A pharmacist from Australia has volunteered to help in set up the dispensary and train the workers.

A geologist has identified three sites for wells and they are drilling now in hopes of putting a well within a short walking distance from the population.  One man in Texas donated $135,000 for all of that to happen as I reported earlier.  The pictures below document the process they are making.   But there have been cost overruns with a truck breaking down and other expenses of getting building materials into the region.  They will also need some ongoing funds to pay teachers and provide food for the schools, so the need continues.  

Your prayers are most welcome for the people in need and the volunteers who are in Pokot right now.  If you can and want to help financially you can direct it through Lifestream as contributions are tax-deductible in the US.  As always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya.  We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees.  If you would like to be part of this to support these brothers and sisters and see the gospel grow in this part of Africa, please see our Sharing With the World page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

The bricks arrive

The digging is handwork by volunteers

The footings are almost ready for the dispensary

The new foundation is complete

The geologist finds the best place to dig the wells

The drill truck arrives

The children were excited to get the new uniforms donated by Kenyans in Kitale

These pictures were taken more than a week ago.  I will post more when the team returns, hopefully with good news about the drills finding water and school starting in a place where they’ve had no schools before.  The people from IGEM in Kitale, whom we have been working with for more than seven years now, are making a profound difference in the life of this remote region and sharing the gospel to hungry hearts who have never heard about Jesus.  Awesome!  

I don’t ever want to stop being amazed. Some people think that faith sets our expectations with such certainty that we should not be surprised when God does something incredible.  I’m not personally partial to that tack.  I like praying and following my heart as it looks through a darkened glass trying to sort out what’s God’s purpose and Wayne’s preferences.  And I enjoy being constantly amazed with wonder and visceral gratefulness every time he makes himself known through moments large and small.  This day has pushed me over the edge with such awe and thankfulness that I am completely undone!

I recorded a podcast this morning (for tomorrow) and during part of it I update people on what our friends in Kenya hoped to do for the people in West Pokot that have been dying because of drought and unsanitary conditions. We helped finance a team to take relief water and food to them last month for $62,000.   But they came back with a vision on their heart to build four classrooms and a dispensary (pharmacy) there to help those dear people.  The cost of doing so would be $41,000.00.  They also wanted to drill three wells, with solar-powered pumps to provide water for them at a cost of $93,000.   I thought the $62,000 was a big deal, I had no idea how God would find us $135,000 for these projects.  

Two days ago I returned a phone call to someone in Texas who had called while I was on the east coast.  He asked me what I needed for Kenya and I told him about the classrooms and dispensary for which I already had a budget.  He said he would send me the money for that.  He asked what else we needed and I told him about the wells they wanted to drill, but I did not yet have a plan of how to do that or the costs involved.  He said let me know when I did.  Today he called me to tell me he and his wife wanted to pay for all the wells and would be sending me $93,000.00  

Before I was even able to make that need known, God had already supplied for it!  As I type this I am exploding with gratefulness at God’s provision for the people in West Pokot. The amount was overwhelming and my heart hurt for those suffering.  This gift will change their lives forever, saving many from certain death and carving out a hopeful future for them.  This whole process has opened them to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus.  If you haven’t read about it, check out the blog here.  

Generosity is a conduit for the kingdom, whether it means being able to give $135,000 to provide education, needed drugs, or water to 120,000 forgotten people in the bush of Kenya, or simply buying a $5.00 meal for a homeless person and offering them your friendship or volunteering to watch a distressed mother’s children while she takes a break.  Freely you have received, freely give.  The size is never what matters, only a heart that will put someone else’s need above my own preferences.  

I haven’t known him long, but I’ve treasured the opportunities we’ve had to crash hearts and minds on this incredible journey.  Tom is an older brother in every sense of the word, one who has traveled many miles on his spiritual journey through all kinds of twists and turns and has come to this season of his life with a passion for Jesus and his kingdom and demonstrates a life steeped in grace and transformation.  At the request of many, he has written a book detailing a very fascinating life.  I was asked the write the foreward a few months ago and the book has finally been published.  If you’re looking for a book that will encourage you to follow God as he draws you into greater freedom and truth, this book will do it for you.

I wrote the best stuff I have on this book in the Foreward, so I’ll include it here. Consider giving this a read.  You won’t regret it.  

A Foreword 

You hold in your hands a treasure, though you may not know that if you don’t know Tom Mohn.  As I writer, I know it is all but impossible to get someone to read a memoir written by a person they don’t know.  That’s why celebrities can get away with it, but real people rarely do.

So before you are tempted to put this book down let me introduce you to Tom, a man who over the last ten years has become a trusted and valued friend.   I’ve lived in his home, watched how he relates to his wife and children, and have had many rich conversations about the life of Jesus with him.  He is deeply loved and appreciated by friends and family, which says a lot.  He’s lived his life with wit and humor that disarms people with joy and blesses them with his wisdom.

I can easily say that Tom is one of the most genuine and authentic men I’ve ever known. And that’s no small compliment.   I’ve met many who talk about God but whose lives in no way reflect the truths they pretend to espouse.  One honestly admitted to me that he wasn’t even trying to live the things he wrote about, but was simply marketing a book to the Christian audience.   This book is an honest reflection of a life well lived from someone who has over the course of decades learned how to walk with God through the triumphs and tragedies of life.  Through it all a passionate and tender grace is shaped in him that exudes from his life to help others discover how they, too, can live in a growing fullness of God’s love.

Gently, through each season of his life, God keeps inviting Tom into a deeper journey, away from the artificiality of manmade religion and into a transforming relationship with an ever-present God. This is quite a journey from husband and father to reluctant pastor, civil rights supporter, radio personality, and Bible teacher.  One man called him the “Forrest Gump of Christianity” as his life intersects with the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr., Oral Roberts, Derek Prince, and Gene Edwards.

You will be enriched by the humorous and honest stories he tells and the lessons he has learned along the way.  Some are stunningly supernatural, while others rise out very normal experiences.  He’s refreshingly honest with his mistakes and failures and the persistent unanswered questions that have risen out of his journey.   

In the end it is a story of transformation and grace and how learning to follow Jesus is a bit of trial and error as you navigate whatever comes your way with an ear cocked in his direction.  Miles down the journey you’ll sense Tom’s contentment in God’s unfolding work and hopefully hunger for it as well.

And after you’ve finished his story, stay tuned for the appendix, where you’ll find even more treasure in the articles Tom has written about the most important life lessons that influenced his journey.  They alone are worth whatever you might pay for this book.

I enjoy Tom as a friend and older brother in the faith.  If you already know him, you won’t need this forward.  If you don’t know him yet, this book is a great place to start.

Good Morning Brother Pilgrim

(Softcover and e-book editions, 200 pages, $14.99)

Order it from Amazon      •     Order it from Tom’s Website

Tom has been on a few podcasts with me, and always brings a rich passion for the life of Jesus.  Here’s a list of those shows if you want to hear his voice. The last one is one of our most listened to podcasts year after year.  

• The Keeper and the Kept  (4/11/2013)
• The Gospel Jesus Preached (8/04/2005)
• The Things God Uses (4/21/2005)  

It’s finally here.  We’ve been planning this for over a year and I can’t it is now time to go.  This trip fulfills a promise to Sara after I was there seventeen years ago when she couldn’t go and it was always a dream for her to do so.  We decided to take along some of our friends, so tomorrow Sara and i will depart for Israel and join 39 others from around the world for a ten-day tour of Israel.  We’ll not just be viewing the sights, but we’ll also be sharing all that God has done here to invite men and women into a growing trust in a loving Father and why it was so important of all the places in the world to do it in the land we know as Israel. 

Here God made himself known through the patriarchs and prophets of Israel and then through the Incarnation of his own Son.  Throughout the whole story of redemption, God keeps trying to rescue humanity out of the brokenness of a fallen creation and humanity either resists him or continually seeks to exploit him by creating religious rules and rituals that diminish his reality even as they profess to honor him.  In that sense Israel is a land of great contrasts.   We will be at the tomb where the patriarchs were buried, the caves where David hid from King Saul, the mountain where Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal, on the Sea where Jesus calmed the storm, the garden where he prayed, and in the prison cell where he spent the night before his crucifixion.  But we’ll also see the arrogant, excessive, and soul-numbing intrusion of religion in this landscape, where every religious group in the world seeks to have a presence and in the name of celebrating the God of the universe fight each other with firm resolve.  We will see in stark terms the emptiness of religion and the glory of God being revealed in the earth in the new creation Jesus inaugurated when he was here. 

And where will we see that new creation best?  Will it be at the garden tomb or the Wailing Wall?  The Mt. of Beatitudes or along the Jordan.  I don’t think so.  The new creation makes its way into the world in the hearts and lives of people who are discovering who God is.  This new creation will be evident in conversations on the bus, over meals, and in the scores of locations we’ll visit.  Knowing those who are coming and the journeys they are on I anticipate the new creation emerging in the relationships that people from four different continents will share over the course of these ten days.  New friendships will form, insights and encouragements will be shared, and God will make himself known in the diversity of people he brings together affirming the wider work he is doing in the world that includes us all.  

I wish everyone reading this could join us, but that would have taken a really, big bus and been completely unmanageable.  Honestly, I’ve put off doing this for years because I didn’t know if I knew enough people who could afford the time and expense of going.  I’m glad these were able to pull it off, some having saved for years just for such an opportunity.  I hope all of you find a way to come sometime.  It’s more than you’d ever dream. God is no more present there than he is in your home, but to actually stand where some of the major events in God’s redemptive history took place will change something in you and help your understanding of Scripture come alive.  

You can follow our itinerary here.  We’ve got some gifted photographers along and we’ll try to share some of those photos on this blog and on the Lifestream Facebook Page when we get a chance.  That depends, of course, on time available as well as wi-fi access.

People are already asking if we’re planning to do this again next year and my answer today is I don’t think so. My daughter is already pressing for me to do it again when her kids are a bit older and she can go, but I don’t want to be that guy that leads an Israel tour every year.  I’m much more interested in helping building up the church all over the world where people are learning to live in his life.  But you never know.  If this turns out to be a powerful time helping people make connections that bear the fruit of his kingdom, I’ll may consider doing another one somewhere up the road. 

I do enjoy watching God draw lines of connection and relationship in his body, especially internationally.  That’s a lot of why I do the travel I do.  So as we celebrate these days with a small slice of the church, we will be thinking of that larger body that is emerging all over the earth as people learn to live in the love of a gracious Father.  

I thought others of you would be interested in this little exchange I had the other day.  The only reason I’m posting it is because I get this question often as it’s a very real part of our journey and the shift in thinking that happens when we move beyond religion to live in the Father’s affection. 

Mark:   I have a quick question for you. How do you respond, when people that you used to attend church with ask what’s going on in your life?  I don’t want to begin arguments and I don’t want to come across in a negative way, but how do I share this new understanding with those who don’t yet have it.









  


 
Its so odd because Church in America is always touted as being a place filled with love and acceptance, but the moment that you walk away from that organization you are labeled, ridiculed, and often belittled by the very people that claim to have unconditional love for you. When I try to share that I left church to draw closer to God, I find that the response is condescending, accusatory, or skeptical. Yet, at the same time many still in the church will say that church is not required for salvation, but, the sad truth is that being part of an organized religious group is required in their minds. For many in America, Christianity is more about membership within a congregation than about adoption into the Kingdom of Heaven. If you can lend me any advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Me:  Don’t you remember being there too, looking suspiciously at people who had withdrawn from a congregation you thought was essential to your own spiritual growth? That’s what gives me patience with others who are still there. They can’t see what they don’t see, and my trying to convince them isn’t helpful.  I simply engage such people with friendship, finding out how they are doing and, where appropriate, the things I see Jesus doing in my life that I hope will encourage them.  I don’t get into the “going to church” thing or why I’m not there anymore. I’m just interested to see if the friendship is bigger than whether or not I’m part of the same club with them and at the end I want them to know they are loved whether or not they are in a place to love me back. Don’t worry so much about what they are thinking, and you’ll be able to see how Jesus wants to love them through you.

Mr. M:  What a great answer!  Thank you for helping me to remember.

Escaping the conformity confines of religion doesn’t make us immune from its tentacles.  Because that system is built on our approval needs it leaves in a conversation more aware of what others think of us than we are what it would mean to love them and perhaps by grace open a door to a wider space for them to know God.  Any time our personal wellbeing rests on what someone else is thinking, feeling, or saying, then we have no option but to try to figure out a way to change them or make them stop.  In doing so we become like them and if we keep living there we will get lost in relationships because we will have to control them and when we seek to control we are not loving. 

You cannot turn on the news today and not be confronted with the images of Nelson Mandela as the world mourns his passing and celebrates the legacy of healing that he fostered in South Africa.  Since my first visit there, I’ve been deeply touched by his story.  Everyone I met in South Africa, both black and white, talked about Mandela with such awed appreciation for his leadership and his compassion in bringing South African out of the dark, dark days of apartheid.  At the airport I purchased his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom and devoured it on the nineteen-hour flight back home so I could better understand what he and that country had gone through.  It still remains one of the best books I’ve ever read. 

Risking his life to battle the oppression of apartheid he was captured, tried, convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the government, and sentenced to life imprisonment.  How easily it would have been to fester in bitterness at the white settlers that had ravaged his country for themselves and repressed the indigenous people. Whites comprised only 10% of the population, but held all the power and wealth and had to resort to brutal policies to do so.

What would happen if blacks were to be empowered in South Africa? Would they seek vengeance and terrorize the whites as had happened in other areas of Africa?  Nelson Mandela had already considered these questions with his colleagues in prison and came to some surprising conclusions.   Having spent most of his adult life in prison at hard labor he emerged from that experience not seeking vengeance, but knowing that for South Africa to survive he had  “to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor both.”  He knew both were robbed of their humanity when human freedom was restricted. 

When he had every reason to lead a movement that would have violently taken power and wealth from the white community, he had a broader view of freedom.  “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”  He was instrumental in shaping post-apartheid South Africa through reconciliation between blacks and whites based on truth and forgiveness and became its first democratically elected president.  He truly is the father of contemporary South Africa.

I heard a newsman say last night in a story about Nelson Mandela’s death, that he was the last, true hero and that made me sad.  I hope that isn’t true, but I certainly don’t know of an international leader that does not use power to polarize people, rather than invite them to reconciliation and collaboration.  Perhaps our next Mandela is now sitting in a prison somewhere forging his views of humanity and leadership. 

I find myself overwhelmingly grateful today that Nelson Mandela lived among us, especially for my South African friends.  He was undoubtedly one of the most transcendent figures of our time and left us with a powerful example of how former enemies can find a way to live together in peace.  We do well to celebrate his life and his courage to do what few others would have done. Honestly, it will not be easy for me to watch world leaders over the next few days glom onto the Mandela legacy as if they share his values and passion.  None of them do.  They will bask in the glory of his accomplishments so they won’t actually have to follow his lead in risking power for a greater common good.     

I submit that we celebrate his life best when we actually embrace the ideals he lived by:  The best change comes from honesty, forgiveness, and reconciliation rather than using whatever power we have to benefit ourselves at someone else’s expense.  No one is truly free until we all are free and it is all of our responsibility as people on this planet to fight for the freedom and opportunity for others that we most want for ourselves.  

Contentment.  She’s a great gift.  You can have a lot and not be content with it, always scheming for more and envious of those who have it.  And you can be content in the valley of the shadow of death, because you know you’re not alone even there and that better days and better times are still to come.  Even death is not final.

Contentment rises from the growing conviction that I am deeply loved and my whole life is in the hands of a loving Father.  Nothing is going on in my life today that escapes him and no matter how tragic circumstances might be, he can still work good in my life through it.  It means I don’t have to be afraid of the unknown and I don’t have to be in control to feel secure.  It embraces the reality that what is most important in life is the simple things in reach of us all—the hug of a loved one or a glimpse of beauty in the Creation.  It makes the best of what I already have and doesn’t waste time worried about what I don’t.   

Contentment lets me savor every joy, celebrate every friendship, enjoy each moment, and be grateful for the things that matter most.  It is an act of defiance for those advertising executives who want me frustrated with my existence so I’ll spend more money to try to find joy where joy cannot be found.  

Today in the States we celebrate Thanksgiving, a day to acknowledge God with gratefulness.  It used to be more meaningful to me when thanksgiving was a discipline I practiced.  Somehow I lossed that along the way.  Gratefulness surfaces in my heart now multiple times per day as a spontaneous awareness of God’s hand in the course of my day.  It’s not something I have to work at anymore.  It is just there now that I have lost my frustrations with life as I wanted it to be, and simply embraced it as it is.  I don’t expect life in a broken world to be fair. I no longer assume that living with integrity will get me ahead of those who lie and cheat, and that everyone who pretends to be my friend really is.  Call it cynical if you want, but losing my expectations and the naiveté that went with them didn’t leave me jaded, just willing to take life as it is and not demand all my desires be fulfilled in it.  As somone said, expectations are only resentments waiting to happen.     

No, all my days are not filled with joy and glitter.  Some are dark and painful, but I have come to discover that no matter how dark the day there is enough love, grace, and joy in it when you look beyond the darkness and realize something more important is going on than my temporal comfort or well-being.    

It now seems a bit silly to give a day to thanksgiving.  So I don’t think I’ll be more thankful today than I was yesterday, but I will enjoy a day and a home filled with people I love who get the day off to hang out with each other.  I hope your day has much joy in it as well and that you, too, are discovering the joy of contentment—the gift that keeps on giving!  

-Last year I recommended an e-novel that a friend of mine was working on.  It was called Within the Walls and actually was the first book of a trilogy.  You can read my review of the first book here.   This trilogy chronicles the life of Emilya Hoffman Bowes Brown—technological genius, collaborator in the newest wave of “tek” enhancements to hit the market, and creator of virtual vacations. In book one Emilya finds information that leads her on a journey to a community of dissidents who have chosen to live without technology, exposed to nature and the elements—something that was supposed to be impossible.

Book two, Breaking the Silence is the story of Emilya engagement with those people living outside the technological demands of the new world and talk about things like “faith” and “soul.” That disturbs her since her training suggests that humans are just biology and electricity.  Complications pile up for Emilya as she tries to deal with aspects of love and friendship that defy her carefully constructed idea of what it means to be alive.  Her life-long dependence on technology is shaken and with it the hope that we can achieve perfection and happiness in the safe, sterile environment technology provides.  But how much is she willing to risk, and will the protectors of the technological world find her and expose her new-found friends.

I love the tale Dr. Bennett spins as Emilya continues her journey caught between the rigid world of technology and the calling of the transcendent.  This is an engaging, thought-provoking, and deeply satisfying story of one woman’s struggle to define her life.  I enjoy how Dr. Bennett, a professor of communications, exposes the constant battle between the relational life we all hunger for and the desire to find safety in fitting into social norms that undermine that very hunger.  The application here goes far beyond technology and relationship, to the deeper issues of religion and faith.  And what’s more she throws in a bit of Jacques Ellul’s ideas and writing as part of Emilya’s unfolding story.

I hope you enjoy these books as much as I did.  I look forward to how she wraps this all up in the yet-to-be-written third story in the trilogy.

Both books are available now by e-book or by printed copy, though the printed copies are in such small quantities that they are a bit pricey.

Order it from Amazon.com

Order it from Wildflower Press

Sara and I are having another incredible time on this trip to the UK.  We spent a couple of days out on the westend of London with some new friends and some we’ve met before.  Then we drove up to Scotland, stopping in two different places in northern England to gather with people who wanted to spend some time with us.  Now we are spending a few days in Scotland—our first time.  We are in St. Andrews and enjoying a wonderful break just with each other, though tonight we’re off to meet some more folks on this journey and see what Father might have for us together.  It should be fun.  

I am always so inspired by the journey people take to be true to the Spirit within them when it moves them beyond the expectations and even demands of others.  For no other reason than that they sense something too deeply inside to ignore, they make choices that even their closest friends and family can’t understand.  And even when they are judged wrongly, or encouraged to get back in line, they continue to follow the leading within.  Even if it takes them to lonely places for a season they continue to follow.  It’s just unbelievably amazing to me.

But one of the hardest realities I deal with are those who want to be on such a journey and can’t find the traihead.  They hear about a relationship with Jesus that is alive and vital, want it for themselves, but go year after year feeling ignored, isolated, and abandoned.  Yes I’d love to give them three things to do that are guaranteed to work every time, but I know of no such things.  I know finding our way into a meaningful relationship with Jesus is a work he does as we learn to relax in him.  But the latter part isn’t easy for us.  Our expectations and demands get in the way and the more we focus on what we don’t have and try to blame ourselves, the easier it is to miss the gifts he has given.  It’s like trying to go to sleep in the middle of the night when sleep won’t come.  The more we try to find sleep the more it elludes us.  The more we panic about that as time passes, the more difficult it becomes to relax.  

It is hard to tell people to be patient because I’m sure it sounds like a cop-out.  But relationship with him is not something we control, nor is it something we have to earn.  But there’s something that has to happen in us as God untangles what sin and religion have twisted in us that opens the door to the part of our hearts that recognizes him and responds to him.  Unfortunately that can take a long time for some.  I honestly don’t know why, but I know people get discouraged and feel as if God is either not real or doesn’t care about them. But that isn’t true.  He’s no less present with them even if they can’t see it yet.  Many think they are so damaged they will never see and the harder they try the more it seems to ellude them.  

How I wish everyone could just embrace that reality with a few quick steps, but it isn’t so.  I think God is content just to get there with us in this life, whether it takes a year or two, a decade or two, or even a lifetime.  He just wants to win the day and show us he is bigger than all that this life could throw at us to separate us from him.  That’s why this email touched me so deeply.  I’ve corresponded with this sister before, as she alludes to, in the throes of pain and the feeling that somehow she would be passed by. This has gone on for years, but finally the light has dawned in her heart.  I am so thrilled for her, and I hope it encourages somd of you who are in the same part of the journey she was in.  God will make himself known to you.  Don’t miss the last sentence of her letter.  It is a profound truth, and one hard-won for her.  

Over the last 5 years I’ve emailed you a few times in total angst about a very painful past. The messages I’ve heard from you in you’re replies and through your podcast and books; has been patience. WHAT AN AWESOME DAY IT HAS BEEN!  I GET IT NOW! 

(So she wrote a letter to God to express her joy and gratitude.  Here it is:)  I’ve begged and I’ve pleaded and bargained and fought tirelessly and wearily against you! I’ve half heartily and doubtfully prayed for you to reveal yourself to me. I see parts of you this morning and I am in total awe…..there are no words. I’m driving with my sunroof down. One arm on the steering wheel and one outstretched to feel even more of you. Tears stream down my face. I turned off the Christian radio station that I longingly listen to daily in attempts to force feed me into believing in you. Longing to feel and trust the words sung so beautifully.  I can’t even describe in words my feelings. My thoughts of your greatness are beyond the most beautiful melodies. 

We call you him, he, and you, but wow! “You” are so much more than that! “You”” ARE everything! You are everywhere I look. The rocks, trees, birds, people,dogs. Even the darn, little creepy bugs! Please keep revealing yourself to me!  I pray to you, not so that you will know me, but that I may know you. If this is the beginning and only a glimpse of what is to be reconciled in me I am nervous and as excited as I’ve ever been. You well know my anxious spirit but I remain calm in you right now. My father….I won’t even say Heavenly.  Father because you are here with me… Oh my ABBA!  I got a glimpse of you today and I hear the birds singing the notes you have woven together just for them, just for this moment. 

In all the business of trying to find you…. I  couldn’t see you were already there.