I just realized this last night. I always check the alarm clock twice. Once to either set it or make sure it is set, and then one more time to make sure I did it correctly. If I don’t get that second time, I lay in bed wondering and hoping I did it right until I get up and check. If I fall asleep before that second check, I will wake up all night long making sure I have not slept late. It is easier to just check the alarm clock twice and get a good nights sleep. In ten years I will probably be on medication for this.
I’m sure most of you already know this, but now that I have time to write, I am going to tell you. Colette is done with her four year degree. Since I have known her, she has been in school or trying to get the money to go back. That is no longer the case. She has finished. To make things all the more sweet, she has two degrees. I am extremely proud of her and I am excited that we will finally have more free time together. I am also excited to see where this new road will take us. (this would be the perfect spot to insert my tagline, up for the journey).
In a class I was teaching today, the students were put into groups and asked to label a blank map of the United States. Immediately, I knew that I could not do it. Though I was surprised at how much I knew, I was even more shocked at how little some of the students knew. For example, Alaska is not in the “mid-west somewhere.”
Could you correctly label a blank map of the United States?
This is going to seem kind of weird and I am not sure I completely understand why either, but I love white towels. Now that you are all thinking about those cheap white towels from hotels that aren’t big enough and might as well be made of burlap, let it be known that those are not the towels that I am talking about. For our wedding, Colette and I were given some nice large fluffy white towels. They quickly became my favorite, and I think that is partly because they are white. We have other towels that are big and fluffy, but they aren’t white. I think I love the idea of stepping out of the shower fresh and clean and wrapping myself up in a clean white towel. Weird I know. If the towel is clean, the color doesn’t matter. That is just how my brain works.
For as long as I can remember, I have always loved remote control cars. Sure my facination grew and shrank as I grew up. But I am sure that I asked for one often and was lucky enough to be indulged a couple of times. My favorite? Fast Traxx.
I am sure my boyhood memory is slightly exaggerated, but this thing was awesome. It was fast and agile. Eventually, my love grew cold and it was put on the shelf. The spot on the shelf wouldn’t have lasted forever. I was bound to love it again and at some point I went searching for my toy, but it could not be found. I am still not sure what happened to it.
Out of curiosity I looked one up on eBay, they are going for over $100. Someday I will buy another awesome remote control car just not today.
P.S. my birthday is in three days. (why not itworked last year).
Having a baby makes life more difficult. I know I am not supposed to say that since I have one, but it is true. Simple tasks now require timing, a willing baby, and worst of all effort. (I’m sure there are more things I could list, but this was all I could think of). Even enjoyable tasks are put aside because it simply isn’t possible. Playing music is one of those things. I have my mandolin left out, but the second I look at it, Bella wants to play. Extremely cute and awesome that she can strum, annoying when I want to play.
A few months ago Colette and I started making sure we went on one date a month. Before Bella, Colette and I never had a problem with this. Even when our schedules were completely filled, we still made time for us. I guess it just comes or at least it should come naturally. If you aren’t willing to make time to be with your spouse or significant other, there’s something wrong. But now that we have Bella, it is that much harder to get alone time. She’s always there. I get why people tell you to take care of you marriage first. It is so easy to get sucked into everything always being about the kid/s.
Now before you yell at me. I love Bella as much as possible, she just makes things a little more difficult.
When I was a little kid my dad asked me what I thought success would look like in my life. (A sneaky way of asking what my goals were if you ask me). I responded that I wanted to have a family and be able to support that family. Things don’t always look the way we want or expect them to, but ten or more years later I have a small family and we are surviving.
I have a lot to be thankful for. Today I hope to remember the people most important to me and that I remember to be thankful for them all year long. Happy Thanksgiving.
The world, including the church, is full of broken people. This brokeness is manifested physically, emotionally, and spiritually. When honest with ourselves we feel our broken nature and long to be made whole. Enter Jesus, the beginning and the end, the creator of this broken world, though he did not create the world broken and does not wish it to remain so. He wishes to transform us, to mend our broken bodies and souls.
Last Sunday, our church held a night of worship and prayer. A night for the broken to come before their creator and to be made whole. Since that night, stories of restoration have made their way around. Was anybody healed physically? I don’t know and have not heard.
This past weekend my daughter was sick. For several days we could not keep her fever down. On Monday afternoon as Bella laid in my lap sleeping, I was thinking about this night of healing and all of the people Jesus and his disciples healed. I said a simple prayer for her to be healed, nothing I haven’t done before. This time was different. I knew that Jesus was going to rid Bella of her fever. Nothing I can explain, just a certainty that it was done. An hour later she woke up without a fever. Was she healed or was she finally over her fever? Believe what you will, but in the midst of that moment I knew Jesus had touched Bella and healed her broken body.
The month of November has some important dates. November 4th is Bella Ruth’s birthday. We were thinking of having a small party, but it is her first birthday party so we opted for lots of food and lots of friends. I cooked for two days and made some awesome food, if I do say myself. Enough friends and family showed up to fill the house with silence as people watched the football game on T.V. All in all it was a short party, but tons of fun.
November 18th is my wedding anniversary. This year is number three. I know I said this last year, but that number seems so small. I feel like we have already been married for a lifetime. Our lives are no longer separate, we are the same person and I couldn’t imagine life without Colette.
