Embers remain

If sunshine fades to night
and stars fall from the sky
If peace is taken from the earth
and gold and silver lose their worth
If ashes fall like pouring rain
still the embers will remain

If there are no songs left to sing
and sweetest dreams come to nothing
If fire consumes all we hold dear
and darkness leaves us frozen with fear
If ashes fall like pouring rain
still the embers will remain

If journeys take us so far from home
that we've nowhere left to go
If emptiness fills every breath
as we walk in the shadow of death
If ashes fall like pouring rain
still the embers will remain

Come fire, come rain, come sadness and pain:
still the embers will remain
Though the world itself be burned away
yet our love will never fade
Though ashes fall like pouring rain
glowing embers will remain

A Tale of Two Trees

There were once two trees standing in the middle of an open field next to a brook. They grew up together, and from a distance it was difficult to tell where one tree ended and the other began, because they were so intertwined. They held on to each other in the winter when the cold snows came, in the spring when they were both arrayed in brilliant white, in the summer when their leaves danced in the wind, and in the fall when their colors changed from green to gold. They drank from the brook together and felt the rain on their bark and leaves, then basked in the warm sunshine at the end of each storm. The world was beautiful, and it seemed that it would always be so.

Then one day a man came and dug up one of the trees and took her away. The other tree was heartbroken, standing alone at the edge of the brook, wondering why such a thing had happened and how he would ever find happiness again. He felt the brook as it went by, reminding him of the times he and his friend had tasted its life-giving waters together. When the snows of winter came he stood alone and remembered what it was like to have her next to him. In the spring he remembered how beautiful she had looked in white, in the summer he remembered how they used to dance together, and in the fall he ached for her as his leaves fell softly to the ground.

Seasons came and went, and the tree remained alone. One day at the end of autumn when the first snows were beginning to fall, the tree was preparing for another long, cold winter when he felt a voice deep inside him whisper, "The snow is for you. It feeds the waters of the brook and nourishes your roots. It will make you strong for the coming season." Suddenly the tree realized he was not alone and that someone was watching over him--someone who cared for him deeply. He spent that winter filled with an inner warmth as the cold snow fell all around him.

When the spring came he was grateful for his new leaves and the cool flowing waters of the brook, but he felt an emptiness inside when he thought of his friend and the memories they had once shared. "These memories are for you," the voice inside him spoke again. "Some trees grow in forests, surrounded by others. Some trees grow in small groups, and still others grow alone. I know exactly what each tree needs, for I created them all. I know you have long felt sorrow for the loss of your friend, but grief only comes to those who have known great love. Be grateful that you once loved enough to grieve, and treasure every memory that remains."

Throughout that spring and summer, the tree counted his blessings. He rejoiced in the renewal of spring as birds built nests in his branches and cared for their young, and he let his branches sway gently in the wind while he basked in the summer sun. But in the autumn as his leaves began to change, he remembered how his friend had held him in winters past and again felt a deep sense of loss. Once more the voice came to him and whispered, sending shivers through every branch and twig: "Listen." The tree quieted his troubled heart and felt the rich soil beneath his roots and the constantly stirring air around him. For many days and nights he absorbed his surroundings, alternately feeling the sunshine and starlight on his branches. The day the first snows began to fall, as he was drinking from the brook for what was perhaps the last time that season, he felt a calm assurance come over him. He couldn't say exactly how it came or where it had come from, but he knew, as surely as he knew that spring followed winter, that he and his friend would always be connected by their love for each other and by the love of their Creator. Then the voice spoke to him once more, saying, "Be at peace." In that moment he was, and he knew that he would continue to find comfort whenever it was needed.

If I Had Walked With You

I wish I could remember
a time I never knew
when you came down to walk with men
and prove what love can do
I wish I could have been there
on the shores of Galilee
when the wind obeyed your voice
and you calmed the raging sea

I wish I could have sat there
and worshiped at your feet
as you told stories of lost coins
and seeds and tares and wheat
I wish I could have been there
when you brought the dead to life
and on that blessed morning
when you left the tomb behind

If I had walked with you,
broken bread in the upper room,
if I'd seen the blind look you in the eye
through tears of gratitude
Would I follow in your footsteps
each day my whole life through
if I had walked with you?

I wish I could have watched with you
in old Gethsemane
when you drank from the bitter cup
so all could be redeemed
What can I do to thank you
for all you did for me
when they nailed you to a tree
on a hill called Calvary?

Though I can't see you
I know you're there
I know you love me
and hear my prayers
I've heard the stories,
I've heard your voice
I've read your word
and I've made my choice

I will walk with you,
show my love by the way I live,
by the way I feast upon your word
and by the way I give
I will follow in your footsteps
each day my whole life through
Yes, I will walk with you

I'll always walk with you

All I Need

Take it.
Take it all.
It was never really mine anyway.

If there is anything standing between us,
if there is anything keeping me from you,
then take it

I trust you with my heart,
my soul, my life
and my salvation.
In the past,
when you've taken things from me,
I've been angry and hurt.
But no more.

Now I see that you simply want
what is best for me,
and when I cling to other things
it keeps me from feeling your love
and serving you as I ought

So take it,
take it all,
whatever it is.
Family, friends,
money, respect,
pride,
it doesn't matter

Take everything.
I don't care how much it hurts,
and when I have nothing left
then I will finally realize
that you are all I need.

Brussels (Home of the Frozen Toaster Waffle)

This is the Subway we ate at (it was the nicest, largest Subway I have ever been to):

The Nu Skin offices are on the third floor of this building. If you look at the bottom of the picture there is a metal thing that looks a little like a bike rack. This is apparently the best way to "reserve" a parking spot in Brussels (I guess there are many more cars than parking spots):

I took a picture of this street because it is a modern road that is made of paving stones instead of asphalt:

This is the Nu Skin offices:

This is the conference room we spent the day working in:

 This is a cathedral near the main square (grand plaza) in Brussels:

 My co-worker Eric and me:

 The main square:

 Yummy goodness (these are dessert waffles, NOT breakfast waffles :) ):

 The "famous" status of a peeing boy:

An interesting-looking Marriott hotel:

 The Brussels Opera (built in 1856):

We ate at a restaurant called "Drug Opera" (so-named because it was once a drug store and it is around the corner from the opera). The chicken casserole was amazing:

The menu at Drug Opera was available in 6 languages. It was hard to find the language I was looking for!

Paris Videos

Postcard from Paris

 (Above) This is the French poster for the movie "Paranorman." The literal translation of the movie title in French is: "The Strange Power of Norman."


(Below) me in front of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris:

 Notre Dame:

 Notre Dame:

Inside Notre Dame:

Stained glass window:

Statue of Joan of Arc:

We walked from Notre Dame to the Louvre and I took a picture of the streets in Europe. I'm pretty sure there isn't a single truck in the entire country of France:

Me standing in front of the river Seine:

A random tower I saw at the end of an alley:

Another picture of the street:

The Louvre:

Across the street from the Louvre:

A picture of the ceiling (inside the Louvre):

Another picture of the Louvre:

The Louvre courtyard:

Another view of the courtyard:

Inside the Louvre:

A painting on the ceiling of the Louvre:

The Mona Lisa:

A picture of me inside the Louvre (so I can prove I was there :) )

A painting that stood out to me:

An arch in the Louvre courtyard:

The gardens at the Louvre with the Eiffel tower in the background:

The Eiffel tower. It's HUGE:

Me in front of the Eiffel tower:

 Me on the first floor of the Eiffel tower:

The Seine and Paris (as seen from the Eiffel tower):