Page 186 was what could be called a tankful of adventure.  I see articles posted online at various times about trips that can be taken on a tankful of gas.  Today I put together one of our own as we spent the holiday hunting lighthouses.  I had done a little research last night and discovered that it was about 3 1/2 hours to the Port Washington lighthouse which is a little north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The lighthouse friends site listed 15 lighthouses from there back down the coastline to Chicago.  So, we were ready and in the truck a little before 9 AM to begin a new family adventure.  We made it to Port Washington a little after noon our time, so we grabbed some lunch at Subway before heading to the lakefront to find the first lighthouse of the day.  From there we worked our way back down the shoreline, stopping to photograph 13 of the listed lighthouses.  The last two on our list were in the Chicago Harbor and best seen from Navy Pier.  As we drove Lake Shore Drive along the Chicago lakefront, we could see the lighthouses but could also see the crowds of people gathering for the evening fireworks show.  It was getting late enough that we were already looking at not getting home until 10:30 PM, so we kept driving and decided we would come back to photograph the Chicago lighthouses at another time.

While the size and design of these lighthouses varied greatly, the created function of each of them was the same — to warn of danger and to help guide those who are out on the waters to safety.  As Christians, we bring our unique characteristics to Christ and instead of making us just like everyone else, He uses us in the way and time that He knows is best.  While we may not look the same, because we’re not the same, we have been given the same responsibility as Christians — to warn others of danger and to help guide those who are outside of a relationship with Christ to safety.  Far too often we spend all of our time comparing ourselves to one another while accomplishing none of the purpose for which we have been made new creations in Christ.  

While it has been a long day, it was a very good day spent together as a family.  As the days turn into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, and years into decades, I have an increased awareness of the importance of spending time together.  Sometimes that time together needs to be planned out well in advance and sometimes it just needs to happen when the opportunity avails itself.

I pray that you and I would value the people God has brought into our lives and that we would consistently make time to spend with them.  I pray that we would understand the work God has created for us to do in representing Him to the world.  I pray that we would be found faithful — not only in living for Christ, but in living like Christ.  I pray that we would only concern ourselves with being who God created us to be, not with how we compare to anyone else.