[1] Summer is in full swing for me. I’m two weeks in to my [2] summer goal and working hard to finish memorizing the first chapter of James by the end of this weekend. How are your goals going? I would love to hear updates!

We’ve had amazing 80-degree weather perfect for using our new BBQ and for hitting up the pool. I’ve been going to Disneyland all the chances I can get since my pass is blocked out the whole month of July. We went twice this weekend. I realize that may sound totally ridiculous but it is so fun taking Tyler on the Winne the Pooh ride! He absolutely loves it! Clapping his hands and pointing out Pooh and Tigger. The funniest part is at the end of the ride when he just keeps saying, “more pooh” over and over and then finally says, “pleeeese?”

I’ve been thinking about righteousness. Bobby preached from Proverbs 4:18-27 showing the night and day contrast between the righteous and the wicked (Click [3] here to listen to the sermon!). What really stood out to me was how hard we try to make middle ground. Maybe it’s because we don’t want to sound judgmental or make people feel bad. Maybe we don’t want the conviction, but most people try to make a big middle road instead of approaching life with God’s either/or perspective–Either righteous, or wicked.

One thing Bobby said really stood out to me and I’ve been mulling over it the last two days. He said that God will never look at someone and think, “I don’t know about this person, they aren’t bad, but they aren’t good. Heaven or hell…hmmm…this is a tough one.” God sees past all the superficialities, the masks, the good works–straight into the heart. In an instant God knows if we are right with Him or not.

In our daily Bible reading we read Psalm 11 today and I was so encouraged when I got to verse 7.

I honestly never think, “I need to be righteous.” I guess in my mind the words that come to mind tend to be–obedient, holy, or pure. But “righteousness” is something I need to pursue. It simply means doing what is right. God loves righteousness because He is the perfect standard of what is right. Bobby’s statement and this Psalm really challenged me to be thinking about God’s law and always be examining if my heart is right in respect to it. I really like the promise in Psalm 11:7, that being righteous is what will draw me nearer to God because His countenance beholds the upright. What a motivation!