Writing this blog is difficult lately. What little mind that I have is distracted by the baseball playoffs. Our television is locked into every game that the Texas Rangers are playing now. When I am away from the televised game then my computer is set to keep up as close as possible. My favorite daughter's favorite team is closing in on a huge upset. This is not to say any game is easy. But if the Rangers were to beat any team in the playoffs just be sure my vote will always be to defeat the Yankees. We may just get to use those World Series tickets after all. Nothing is final until it is final but we will watch with fingers crossed.

Hard to imagine that the holiday season is moving up fast on us. Perhaps I mentioned that my youngest is really into Halloween. We love going to the Halloween stores to see all the lights and decorations that are available. I think we are both a little sad that the stores close right after the big day. Even the employees know my youngest by sight now. We started our trips right around Labor Day and missed only one weekend of going. Last week we rewarded our store by purchasing him a costume for this season. He opted for a Mario outfit from the video game. There is no telling just how many of those games that he owns now. I found the costume for him on one of our first trips to the store. It was last Saturday when he finally got to take one home.

You would need to understand that patience is not his best quality. He may understand the idea of the word "wait" but that does not mean he practices it. He opened the package with his Mario garb as soon as we got back in the truck. Every piece was studied for its authenticity to the original image from the video game. I knew that when he walked in the door of the house that he would go try it on for fitting. This is no just look at it but every part of the costume had to be worn. He looked at himself in the mirror for quite awhile. He even went out into the front yard for some reason to display his attire. His sister got some photographs of him to send to family and friends. My son was quite proud of himself and how he looked. Finally the time came to take off the outfit. He came and found me where I was resting after our excursion. Then he announced that he was no longer Mario but just plain old him. I said that plain old him was pretty great which brought a smile before he went off to his room.

That really is the truth of that experience. Even without a disguise he is a very great kid. Isn't that how it works for all of us? God makes us pretty great people just because that is how He operates. We are all "fearfully and wonderfully made." Then if we really blow it we can find the amazing forgiveness to renew our life. Sadly we can settle for disguises or hiding behind masks to cover up our faults. There is no way for me to hide the effects of chemo on my body. No mask exists that could disguise that. We really cannot hide the impact of sin or other perceived issues in our life. The only way to attain healing is to lay it before God who already knows what we are like. Hiding did not work in the Garden of Eden and it does not work today. God's grace comes to us to heal our hurts or failures. Dressing up is fun for Halloween but let's remember that forgiveness lasts for eternity.

Bro. Trey