Greg’s Blog

Some Day, My Prince Will Come . . .

One of the amazing things about little girls is their desire to be a princess.

Having raised two boys, I had not spent a lot of time around little girls. That is, until Stella, my first granddaughter, came along. It was like she was genetically predisposed to like the color pink and all things princess-related.

So I have entered those once-mysterious pink aisles in the toy stores that stock all things of that genre.

And I have a confession to make . . . it’s kind of fun!

The other day, we were playing with a castle I had bought for her, and she was doing the voices for all of her princesses: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Snow White, Belle, etc. I was doing the voices of the princes who went with all of them, including my favorite: The Beast from Beauty and the Beast.

Frankly, in these movies, the princesses get all the good lines. The princes? They just show up and rescue the damsel in distress, either by killing dragons or singing some kind of song.

Away to his castle we’ll go . . .

Anyhow, Stella (who is almost four now) and I were playing, and I was trying to teach her the song from Snow White, ”Some Day, My Prince Will Come.”

I only knew the first line, “Some day, my prince will come. Some day, my prince will come . . . “

So we found the song on YouTube and played it again and again and again. Then the rest of the day, she sang that song.

The lyrics are:

Some day my prince will come
Some day we’ll meet again
And away to his castle we’ll go
To be happy forever I know
Some day when spring is here
We’ll find our love anew
And the birds will sing
And wedding bells will ring
Some day when my dreams come true
A greater prince.

Now, not every little girl wants to be a princess, but many do. I sometimes wonder if this is not a longing for something or someone greater.

No man, no matter how wonderful, will be your prince as you imagine him to be. If anything, he will probably turn out to be more like the reverse of the frog becoming a prince. He will turn out to be a frog! Or at least he will only be a man.

Perhaps that longing of the little girl’s heart, for a knight in shining armor, is a longing for a “greater prince:” the Prince of Peace and the Lord of Lords Himself.

I believe it is.

The little girl and little boy, for that matter, long for more than any person can bring. They long for God.

And one day, our Prince will come. He will establish His kingdom on this earth and that dragon called Satan will be defeated.

And guess what? We will indeed “live happily ever after!”

Come Join Me On A Trip To Israel!

We will be in the Holy Land next week, and I invite you to join us on our trip.

I have a film crew with me, and we will be capturing the sights and sounds of Israel in HD, along with taping some special Bible studies. You will see the Sea of Galilee, Caesarea, the Mount of Olives, the city of Jerusalem, and much more.

I will also be blogging and updating my Facebook and Twitter pages, so stay tuned. It’ll be the next best thing to being there.

It’s Christopher’s Second Birthday in Heaven

Christopher, my firstborn son, would have been 35 years old today. That is, if he were here with us on Earth.

On his last birthday, he was at work at our church, getting designs ready for that year’s Harvest Crusades events, just as he probably would have been today. There was always an event looming, and he loved to be a part of it all.

He was a brilliant designer, if I must say so myself. I was an advanced doodler, but Christopher was a genuine artist.

On his birthday, we would have gone to dinner as a family, and I can’t help but imagine him looking lovingly at both of his daughters: Stella and little Lucy, who he never met. He and his wife Brittany did name her, but he never saw her, at least on this earth.

She looks so much like him.

And oh, how he loved Stella. He took so many photos of her on his digital camera that they would fill hard drives. She was his little model and he was her doting father.

And he loved his wife Brittany so very much, along with all of his family.

Birthdays are hard when the person you want to celebrate is no longer with you. My son is never far from my thoughts, and I dream of him often. When I awake, my heart aches to see him, watch him laugh, and hear his voice.

After 21 months, I would like to be able to say we are doing much better. In some ways, we are. We laugh, enjoy life, and find a greater passion for serving the Lord than ever before.

Still, there is a lingering sadness that blankets much, if not most, of life. At the same time, though, there are also insights into what really matters . . . and what doesn’t.

We will see him again. Of this, I am confident.

As David said of his son in heaven, “I will go to him one day” (2 Samuel 12:23).

Until that day, Happy Birthday, Christopher David Laurie!

Stella Sing, Sing, Sings!

As you might recall, I interviewed Stella a few weeks ago when Randy Alcorn spoke at Harvest. She was a bit shy, but she did her “ABC’s” for us.

So, a few days later at our Orange County Bible study, I called her up again before I interviewed Randy.

First, watch her at Harvest on Sunday by clicking here.

Now, watch her four days later. She really came out of her shell!

This time, we sang Chris Tomlin’s song, “Sing, Sing, Sing,” plus we did John 14:6 together. I love how Stella took control of that microphone.

So enjoy!

Cell Phones and Bibles

Have you noticed how much cell phones are a part of our lives now? It seems like everyone has them, even the children.

My granddaughter Stella has a Dora the Explorer toy phone where Dora asks you a question. Then when you are answering, she seems to become disinterested and changes the subject quickly. Then she says she is your best friend and hangs up!

I was a bit offended until I reminded myself that it is, after all, a computer chip I am interacting with, not the real Dora (who herself is simply a drawing).

Next, they will have cell phones for dogs and cats, though I am not sure the latter would ever use them.

Rudeness

I was with some friends the other night and everyone was reading texts and e-mails on their iPhones, so I texted them a question. I figured that wold be the best way to communicate.

When cell phones first came out, they were enormous, about the size of a World War II walkie talkie with a battery life of about eight minutes. Now they are so small and powerful, with the ability to check e-mails, play video games, take photos and videos, and send text messages.

Sometimes they even make phone calls! (Though mine does not do that function particularly well and often drops calls)

We take our phones with us everywhere, we consult them constantly, and we panic when the battery begins to fade. We can’t seem to live without them!

What if we treated our Bible like our cell phone?

Someone sent me an e-mail that asks the fascinating question, “What if we treated our Bible like our cell phone?” So check this out.

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purse or pocket?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go . . . Hmm, where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Makes you stop and think, where are my priorities?

And no dropped calls!