the mischievous grin of my 13-year old son … a sudden hug from my 10-year old daughter … Burgerville cheeseburgers with extra spread … a hot shower at the end of a cold day … a steaming mug of freshly ground Sumatra … worship led by Dan Holst with all of Bethlehem singing exultantly … the warmth of my wife’s hand in mine … Kayleigh’s happy declaration of the number of books read this year … the sizzle of perfectly seasoned ground chuck on a charcoal grill … a sharp intellectual argument from my oldest daughter … a long conversation about literature with a close friend … the “But God” in Ephesians 2:4 … praying before every meeting … the silence of a fresh snow … twenty-one years of marriage to my best friend … the solidity of the safety net of God’s sovereignty … hearing my children pray with intensity and emotion … the generosity of strangers …