A small piece of Layla will be forever in our hearts. She is more than just a passing sympathy or a news story. She’s changed many of us, and some of us profoundly. But we know what the coming days hold. There is laundry to fold, soccer schedules to keep, jobs to do, and demands to face. If we’re not intentional, the lessons we’ve learned from Layla could easily become faded or lost in the clamor of noise and demands that will bombard us in the coming days.

Thousands of people have posted comments on the laylagrace website, with one after another saying things like this:

I have reached out to Twitter, Facebook and all the social network sites, just to feel a sense of unity, that I’m not crazy for feeling this way. My family can’t seem to understand why I’ve been affected so much, to be honest, neither can I. But I am thankful for being introduced to Layla. I thank the Marsh family for sharing her journey with me. I will never be the same.

Layla Grace Marsh grabbed the attention of the world in her two short years of life. Because of her, many of us hold our children a little bit longer and a little bit tighter each night. Because of her, we’ve re-evaluated our priorities to focus on the things that truly matter. Because of her, we have been forever changed. The “ripple effect” of this little girl has been nothing short of amazing.

Every Thanksgiving season, I am reminded of the ten lepers in John’s Gospel. You know these ten, Jesus is on his way to Galilee when they spot him and begin to cry out for a healing. Our compassion filled Jesus grants this request and the ten rush off to present themselves to the priest. They will be announced clean and allowed to return to their families, their faith, and their lives. One stops in the midst of the joy, realizing both the source of the joy and the importance of gratitude, and returns to express both realizations to his newfound Lord. Jesus asks where the other nine have gone, why they did not return to express praise and gratitude.

One of my favorite scenes in the Gospel story comes early when Jesus calls the disciples. To understand the calling, you need to understand their world. The disciples were fishermen, which meant that they had tried other routes and no one had picked them. They could not be rabbis, scholars, lawyers, or even a follower of a rabbi. They had not gotten picked, they were overlooked, and so they went fishing. It was not a powerful or popular job; it was a job for misfits and those who the world did not pick. It’s the job for those picked last for dodge ball.

Jesus wept.

It’s the shortest verse in Scripture, yet deeply profound. In these two words we find an entire theology, a Gospel message, and comfort. It reaffirms the humanity of our Jesus. It validates the tears that we often hide.

Sometimes I read the Gospel message and I think that Jesus must have gotten it wrong- the last shall be first, the poor shall find abundance, the meek inherit, and those who seem to matter least actually matter most. My favorite theologian simply says that it is an upside down kingdom, which is a great description of the system Jesus sets up for us. It is not at all the system that American society has built and worshiped. It’s opposite of anything that makes sense in our world.

Over the past few years I have collected a lot of tools. With each move, my dad brings tools just in case things need to be fixed around the house. When he leaves, the tools stay behind, so I end up with a new saw, screwdriver or wrench. Then there are the tools that fix the sprinkler system, the tools that come with ‘some assembly required’ furniture, bolts that hang heavy pictures, bolts to hang light fixtures, and then just plain old regular bolts. Oh, and don’t forget the nails… tiny nails all the way up to the amazingly huge industrial strength nails. I probably have most of these things in my garage.

Some people are just really good at giving gifts. My friend Tan is one of those people. Shortly before I left on vacation a few weeks ago, Tan and I were having a conversation about babies, which led to a discussion about Blake’s nighttime routine. To sleep soundly, she requires a noise machine and music. I was lamenting the fact that we did not have a viable gadget on which to play music while we were on vacation, and we were worried that she might regress in her sleeping habits. Tan listened and said he knew what I was talking about. He said his little girl was similar and that he had concerns about the same thing before their first trip.

Control, for many of us the word itself is a complete sentence. It’s a complete description of us. There are many of us who like - no, who need - to be in complete and utter control. We realize this is not possible, but we spend the majority of our time fighting for control. It’s a drug and many of us are completely addicted.

She is probably my favorite Old Testament character, simply put she is just a gorgeous woman who marries a king after she wins a beauty contest and then as almost an after thought, she saves the entire Jewish nation from destruction.

Do you desire to flow in the power that Stephen did?  There is some good news, this power is available for us today. 

Sometimes all we need is a simple reminder of what matters most, what is largely basic, and what our lives are truly supposed to be about. Allow this story today to serve as that reminder.

Sin. It’s simply one of those words that shakes us. It commands our attention, no matter how hard we try to avoid it. No one claims it as their favorite word. We have tried to make it more palatable by substituting the word ‘mistake’, but it does not carry the same weight or truth. Worst of all, it might be the one word in our faith vocabulary that has potential to truly make our lives better, but is the one we use the least.

This year I have taken up gardening. I thought it would be good to eat things that were grown locally, as in outside of my kitchen window. So I planted tomatoes, okra, green beans, egg plant, squash, peppers, and some herbs. I figured some of it wouldn’t grow, but was hoping some of it would really take off and produce an incredible crop of vegetables. The garden looks great. It is very green and very alive. People comment on what a good looking garden I have. As of now, it has produced a tomato and a pepper. But it looks good.

I have a canteen sitting on a bookshelf in my office. It is a reminder of what I carry with me each and every day. The canteen belongs to a friend. I have seen him use it on several occasions and always thought it was a rather smart item to possess. There have been moments when he and I were somewhere outside and the canteen that he carried held the only available water source – our life source; thus a smart item to carry around.