A litte help from the weather...

Today is Good Friday, a pivotal day for every follower of Jesus, and a day that is hard for me to fully grasp when life is whirring along as usual. It's easier for me to get my mind around the immense sacrifice that Christ made at Golgotha when I get a little help from the weather.

A low blanket of slate colored clouds blacking-out the sun would be ideal for Good Friday, though I don't think I'll have that luxury today as the forecast in Phoenix is a sunny 90 degrees. Maybe the mental discipline of meditating on the crucifixion in the midst of the sunshine is exactly what the Lord is asking of me today. Maybe it's His way of reminding me to be mindful of His great mercy and love regardless of the weather and to be living a life of constant thankfulness in spite of it.

How about you? How do you prepare your mind and heart and foster an attitude of thankfulness and worship?

A New Look

I am giving Letters from Mudville a makeover, transforming it from a spattering of experiences on and off the road in professional baseball to a travelogue of life- an organic, honest correspondence about the sorrows, joys, failures, and triumphs of living. There is an unspoken pressure in our lives to uphold the Facebook facade that life is perfect, my kids are angels, my house is beautiful, and all my updates are terrific. Let's be honest, we all know life is not like that and we long for authentic relationships and honest, open communication.

I want Letters to be a place where we can write to each other about the funny, quirky, interesting, sad, brilliant, foolish, amazing, and beautiful things in life, savoring every facet. We're all on this journey together, so we might as well enjoy it along the way, taking time to weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice and as Jane Austen says, "to laugh at our neighbors in our turn."