On our way home from Montecito, Bobby and I made a short stop in Monterey. Our good friend Ty joined us and we picked a luxury hotel, ate out and even played golf…I think that qualifies as a brief vacation. It’s so relaxing to spend uninterrupted time on a weekday at the coast rather than at the office. I think I will enjoy this summer off.

A small note about the golf experience…I have never played golf before. However I have been learning about it as Bobby does and his family and extended relatives are somewhat obsessed with the sport. Do you ever see something and think, “Oh, that doesn’t look hard, I can do that”? I did this about golf. We came to a Par 3 course in Pacific Grove and I quickly realized my assumption was far from true. But after a few hours of learning the basics and hitting a few balls in trees and across the street we were all having a great time and I even hit par on one hole! It was very exciting and Bobby was dancing all around like I had just won the U.S. Open.

We had a long conversation together about how man is lost. All people gravitate toward selfishness and become preoccupied with their own desires. Much of the time we see the results of this in the development of gross sin and the consequences of such lifestyles. Many people try to act as though man has, inside himself, the power and ability to turn from this way of life and not do evil but good. None of this is true apart from the saving work of Christ. Sadly many people wander through years of their lives lost in the lie that if they just muster up enough motivation or will power or look deep enough inside themselves so that things can be different. But the freeing reality is that we all have sin and problems. We are troubled people. Bobby said, “Without putting our hope fully in Jesus, everything we look forward to will come and go and fundamentally leave us unfulfilled.” In Christ life is so different. In Him we are not bound to sin, we are not lost. Instead we are set free from ourselves and the sin that entangles us and given a whole new fresh start–life in His hope.

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind,
Be sober, and rest your hope fully
Upon the grace that is to be brought to you
At the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 1:13