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This morning's devotional really hit home for some reason. It's from David Jeremiah's Sanctuary.

No Quality without Quantity

Deuteronomy 6:7  You shall teach [God’s commands] diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

It’s not the quantity, but the quality of time that really counts.” Simply defined, the statement means that one can make up for having minimal moments with his family by making certain that the time he does have is quality time.

On the surface, this concept seems to make a lot of sense. It is possible to spend much time with one’s family that is seemingly meaningless. All of us experience times when we are at home physically but our minds are wand-ering miles away. I can remember days with the family that could have been “scratched” in terms of “quality.”

So what is the “quality time” myth? It’s as phony as the fake diamond in a one-dollar ring. The fact is, there is no quality without quantity.

Too many parents live with the regrets of abandoned moments. It takes time to be silly, to share a secret, to heal a hurt, to kiss away a tear. Moments of uninhibited communication between child and parent cannot be planned; they just happen. The only ingredient we bring to that dynamic of family life is our availability … and that is spelled T-I-M-E.

Jeremiah, D. (2002). Sanctuary : Finding moments of refuge in the presence of God (44). Nashville, TN: Integrity Publishers.

on the coast. Wow, it just doesn't get better than this. As they say, if it were like this all the time, we couldn't afford to live around here.

Class was really good today. We were down a bit on the women's side but I think I had 10 guys, so that was good. The construction has started and it is a bit of a hassle. I hope we don't see too much of a drop. But, fair weather Christians abound, without question.

We discussed restoring your joy today, using Psalms 51 as the text. I thought the discussion went really well, joy is very hard to define, yet, it is much like quality, I know it when I see it. Or, in a personal way, when I feel it. The main thing is to recognize that you cannot have joy if you have sin in your life.

gorgeous day here on the Gulf Coast. Brilliant rays of sunshine stream through the trees, warming my soul.

SU worked in the yard, creating paths through the back 40. Butterflies danced around her as she wandered about. I spent some time on the pool, it won't be long before we can dive in.

It was such a beautiful day that we went for a ride on the Marauder. Slow paced, we went down every street in our small city, then headed down to Sylvan Beach and on to Morgan's Point. Splendid ride! Ended up with 26 miles on the odometer for a 2 1/2 hour ride! Good stuff.

Was reading in Fulton J. Sheen's Simple Truths this morning. It's a collection of sayings from Fr. Sheen over the years. Here's one I liked.

One can never really understand his vocation in life until he first becomes a person, and one never becomes a person until he is inner-driven, and one is never inner-driven until he dialogues with God. This is what meditation is all about.

One of the things I think Christians do not do enough of is meditate. We have fallen for the stereotype of a yogi sitting cross legged with his palms up and eyes closed, humming to a different beat. But we shouldn't deprive ourselves of the wonderful benefits of mediation simply because of the stereotype. Go sit by the seashore and talk to God. Be still and silent in your bed. Sit on your deck and stare at the stars. Talk to God. We miss so much when we don't.

Took the little Lumix and walked around the yard when we returned. Nothing spectacular but a couple that I thought were cool.

A reader emailed to ask the question that is most often asked in such a tragedy as the merciless death of a child: why? Why would a good and just God allow something like this to happen? And why did I show pictures for the man that killed the baby, presenting him as the face of evil, when in fact he looks like an ordinary guy?

As to the first, I cannot answer that to anyone's satisfaction that doesn't believe in the God that I do. Because, apart from that belief, I too would ask that question. But with that belief, I can, even if but for a moment, take refuge in the belief that the Creator of all things has a divine plan for His universe.

What was the plan for Alijah? That is a more difficult question for me because I cannot, in my limited human reasoning, create in my mind a circumstance wherein his death, in this most violent of ways, makes sense. I must ask for enough faith to continue to believe that my Creator does indeed have a way to use his death for His glory.

Romans 4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, since you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created!”

And I do believe that Alijah was created by God for a purpose. Did Travis Mullis choose God's perfect will for his own life? No, I do not think that he did. And in so doing, I believe that he subverted God's perfect plan for Alijah. Travis will have to deal with that. Alijah is in the loving arms of Christ.

As for the second question, why show Travis Mullis's picture? Clearly, he doesn't look evil and yet that was the title of my post.

As our culture plunges further into the depths of depravity and Godlessness, we have become more and more desensitized to the violence that surrounds us. This is not one of those cases. I think it would be impossible to become so anesthetized that the death of Alijah Mullis didn't cause us to stop, even if only for a moment.

“In the signed written statement, Travis James Mullis admitted taking Alijah Mullis out of his car seat and stated the only way to stop Alijah Mullis from crying was to kill him (Alijah),” Almendarez said in the affidavit.

The statement also says Mullis stomped on the infant’s head three to four times “until he felt Alijah Mullis’ skull collapsing.”

For the sin of crying, a child was stomped mercilessly until the stomper felt the skull collapse. And then the child's body was thrown to the side of the road as if it were a used soda cup or an empty chips bag.

There were multiple warning signs along the way but people around Travis Mullis failed to heed them. A series of being fired from jobs for a lost temper. Fired from a picture frame shop for cursing at customers. Fired from a Walgreens for yelling at customers and co-workers.

And yet, DJ Roc was, in our loose culture, able to find someone to make a baby with. Enter Caren Kohberger, who left him this message two days before he killed her child.

Caren
January 27, 2008 01:24 AM
i love you baby daddy

In a Homer Simpson world, men are reduced to being baby daddies.  

What does the face of evil look like?

today following the big Super Tuesday vote. Voters in five states recognized the obvious, Mike Huckabee is the true conservative in the race. That's far better than anyone thought he would do and Mitt has to be crying in his chowder today.

Hero is working out great at the plantation. Picks things up really quick and gets along with RO, a major plus. It's good to see him following RO's lead, especially when it comes to waste.

Keep looking for my Amazon order to arrive. Our discussion this week is going to center on David's prayer to return him to the joy of his salvation. Good material.

Found this little guy on a dumpster this morning: