We had a good time with the kids last night. We watched Whale Rider. What a great movie! It's about a little girl who is a native of New Zealand, born to the chief's son. Her twin brother dies at birth and she cannot live up to the chief's (her grandfather) expectations because she is a girl. It is a story about a man blinded by tradition and a little girl who has been "anointed"/"chosen" by God to be the next chief. I cried when she gave her speech about her situation and her love for her grandfather.

Went to our group meeting after that where we talked about 1 Cor. 13 and what agape love looks like. We talked about the role of the will in love. I loaned my Relational Communication text book out, or I would give some quotes from it. I was shocked at how the latest studies in relational communication confirms the Christian idea of love. That it is a choice we make, not a feeling we feel. I think that principle applies to all kinds of relationships: in our marriages, communities, friendships and relationship with God. Let's face it, passion only lasts so long...

I want to live a life where love naturally flows from my soul to others. I've been reminded through reading Dallas Willard's The Spirit of the Disciplines that that kind of love only comes with a life modeled after Jesus. I am reminded that Jesus was fully human and he had to discipline his body to live the kind of life that he lived. So I am dedicating more time to the disciplines so that I may experience more of God's grace and more of the life that he offered for us to follow.