2048

Distraction: In other words, a smartphone. If you own a smartphone, you know what I'm talking about. It's not very hard to procrastinate something by playing a game, trolling a social media feed, or checking email. I purposefully don't have many games on my phone, but one of my favorites has been 2048. If you haven't played, in this game you have a little 4x4 board with numbers (multiples of 2) that you slide to combine matching numbers into bigger numbers, with the goal of obtaining a 2048 tile. I really haven't played much until recently, when I decided it was an easy way to take a short study break.

During one such break this week, I was playing 2048 and had made considerable progress. I was getting nervous and began to sweat. Shortly after I reached the 1024 tile, Marian called me and that interrupted my game (don't worry I answered. She's definitely more important to me!). When we hung up, I decided to finish out the game, and within about 10 swipes, I won! I couldn't believe it. I had no idea I was so close. Here's the evidence of my victory.

Although this was just a trivial game on my smartphone, the same thing happens in real life. Sometimes we are so close to the goal and we don't even realize it. But if we just hold on and press on, we may soon be surprised by the result. 

Spring is Here

This is a wonderful time of the year! The weather is great, the flowers are blooming, and the birds are singing. You may think that Texas is a brown, barren place, and while I'm sure there are some areas like that, Dallas is actually pretty green. The trees are leafing (yes that is a real word) and the flowers are blooming! Here is some of the beauty I saw this week:

The Spring season reminds me of this scripture: "And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me" (Moses 6:63, emphasis added).

If all things bear record of God, then how might the Spring season bear record of Him? It is at this time of the year that nature comes to life. What once was dead springs forth new, fresh, and beautiful. Also at this same time of year, nearly 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, with an immortal and glorious body. On this Easter day, may our belief in Christ allow us to see the beauty in the world. Because He lives, we can find renewed purpose and perspective.

I hope you enjoy this special Easter message #BecauseHeLives.