"The Morning Stars Still Sing" - Genesis 4-6; Matthew 2.

I bought loads of bargain furniture from the Bombay Outlet back in the day.  They knew me well.  I would always have three kids in tow for the quick look around the tiny bargain-of-the-century store.  I was trying to teach Barrett to be kind and Brooke to just talk in public.  As we left the store that January morning, I encouraged Barrett to say something kind to our friend behind the counter.  I was hoping for a "bye bye." With his quick  dimpled 5-year-old hand, he let the exit door slam, turned around immediately and said with great gusto:  "If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it."  Genesis 4:6-7. "Oh, OK. That's interesting," replied the clerk. Her name was Shirley. I can still see her face. I've thought about her all these years.
I taught my kids that verse because the one before it says: "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?" I wanted you to learn to deal with your own hearts and not everybody else's, especially siblings. But, it's for me this morning. I'm waiting for a Covid test to arrive at my Fort Worth door at noon. We both have been sick coming back from the beach. We haven't been able to get a rapid test for days now. But it is more than that. I'm listening to The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill and it has rocked my core. I think I know why. One thing is for sure---we live in a celebrity society. And I need to look at my own heart, deal with my own stuff. And as I do ...  Things aren't as they appear.  And a tear falls.  I'm just not where I thought I would be in life or *in soul or story* or in friends.  So, I'll keep walking in that darkness, trusting, no light.  And I'll keep asking the same question the 3 Wise Men asked in Matthew 2---where is He? The North Star brought them to the Savior in a Manger.  The Morning Stars still sing. Job 38:7---from that First Day of Creation to this very day. Where is He?  

Photo: Brooke | Blair | Barrett circa 1986 A Sunday Morning. After Hope Church. Sitting on the swing at 4824 Kilpatrick Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas.  Our First House.  They look so innocent.