At 6:17 each morning, a crowed begins to form at the train station. At 6:22 it drastically increases in size. Finally, at 6:28 the train arrives, clanging and hissing with air rushing all around, and all the soon-to-be passengers try to arrange the large mass that they are into a shape and size that will somehow fit through the door to the car before them. Thus they enter the Gateway to Commuterdom and begin the ride to their final destination.

As a frequent user of the Commuter Rail, I have begun to notice many things about my fellow passengers:
1) Commuters are habitual creatures. We stand in the same spot, on the same platform, in between the same people (who happen to be drinking the same coffee), every day. We like it that way. We don't necessarily like that spot, or those people more than, say, that other spot, or those other people. We simply like knowing we're supposed to stand there next to them.

2) Everyone carries something. Some passengers carry newspapers or magazines. Others carry laptops and work-related materials. Some tote backpacks and coffee, and others, briefcases and granola bars. Interestingly enough, some people bring these things to use, while others simply cling to them as they nap.

3) The time of the train decides the type of commuter. The 3:50 Outbound, for example, is generally a relaxed ride with semi-well-natured people. There may be a small sence of urgency among the passengers, but only in an "I need to pick up my child from soccer and take them home to eat their dinner which has hopefully finished thawing by now" sort of way. With the 5:05, exiting the parking lot is a nightmere. Everyone seems to have something important to do, but they're often more apt to make conversation. The 6:15, on the other hand, is surprising. It is not as full as the earlier trains, and lends to a kind of sleepy atmosphere. Unlike the others, it is always five to ten minutes late. It's passengers walk slowly and methodically, yet still in good humor... I guess.

As you can see so far, the life of a Commuter is loaded with adventure and intrigue!

The Na String Ensemble dressed in our Morning Whites.


C.J. Mahaney - The Troubled Soul: God's Word and Our Feelings - Psalm 42
"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me continually, 'Where is your God?' ...Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God."

-I am the most influential person in my life, because no one talks to me more than I do. How faith-driven and Christ-centered is the conversation that I have with me every day?
(Good Read: Instruments in the Redeemer's Hand by Paul Tripp)

-Troubled souls cannot be trusted and our circumstances often lie to us.

-God hasn't forgotten the Psalmist, the Psalmist has forgotten God. So he reminds himself.
"Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him..."

-Search for scriptures that carry promises for my situation, and then bring them to God. God intended His promises to be used. He delights in keeping them.



Luke, Nikki, and Shelly dressed in their Evening Pinks.
The guys thought it was funny until a little girl saw them in the elevator and shouted, "Look! They match!"


Eric Simmons - What's the Point?: Growing in Vision for Diligent Study

-The Scriptures reveal Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches me about Christ and salvation, and gives me inexhaustible ways to see and know Him. Does that excite me?

-The Scriptures give life. They are God-breathed. And when God breaths life happens.

-The Scriptures equip us for God's mission. I have a part to play. The call is sobering, humbling, and demands equipping.

-"Don't settle for a life that's not blowing up. Diligently search the Scriptures."



The single ladies of Crossway in their Traveling/Airport Clothes.


John Piper - Fighting for Faith with God's Word

- "The fight is a mortal fight to the death... If you stop swimming you go backward, you don't stay at your level of sanctification."

- The fight for faith is a fight for joy, for treasuring and being satisfied in Christ.
1) Joy = Faith (2 Cor. 1:24)
2) Receiving = Believing that Jesus is my Savior from Hell and that He saved me to love, know, and embrace Him (John 1:12)
3) Believing = Coming to Christ so as to satisfy soul-thirst (John 6:35)
4) Conversion = Stumbling on the treasure wich is King Christ and finding Him so valuable that everything else can be sold and you have everything you need (Matthew 13:44)
5) Believing = Enjoying Christ

- I cannot make progress until I believe that God is not 99% for me, but 100%. Whatever happens, He is not against me.

- Have a time, place, and plan for my reading of the Word. If I can't focus, write it out.
"There are more eyes on a pencil than you know."


Crossway shuttling back to the airport.
(Erin's knee, Joel's back, Shelly, Shelly's apple, Luke, Dave's arm... just to clarify)


Here we are staying hydrated and well versed in Bach while waiting for our delayed flight.
By the end of the weekend I had almost enough change for a coffee from Dunkin Donuts.


And here we are again, proving that waiting on a runway for three hours can be fun and relaxing even when you have to work twelve hours or play in a viola recital the next day.