You want to know how I know that summer is here?
I awoke this morning to fresh baked banana bread.
I usually wake up to a big plate of jack squat because my wife has left for work about 45 minutes before I get up and I can’t make anything worthy of breakfast. Even though it’s summer and she could be sleeping in, my wife loves getting up and moving around and she put her homemaking skills into overdrive.
She really out did herself this morning. It was Mmmm, mmmm, good.
Thanks babe!!!!
Just a few thoughts for this morning:
Dating: Here is some free, unsolicited marital advice. One of my favorite things to do is to go out on dates with my wife. They never get old. Any couple can stay at home and watch a movie but there is no substitute for picking your spouse up at home, driving to dinner, and then catching a flick at the theatre… on a Tuesday. Don’t even wait for the weekend. These dates keep our love life fresh and exciting. It gives us time to sit together and talk about the day instead of frantically throwing a dinner together after a long day at work. Let someone else do the dishes while you connect. So where are yu and your spouse going to go tonight?
Busy and a Stiff Necked Guy: I hesitate to complain about how busy I’ve been because the summer is right around the corner. That is when I fear my reference point for being busy will be blown out of the water in a matter of weeks. However, I have been extremely tired and worn out. Today is the first day in two weeks that my right shoulder feels ok. A combination of sleeping wonky, working a tiller, sleeping on the ground for the Global Night Commute, and general use has left my right side stiff and unmanageable. Driving has been difficult because I have struggled to turn my head to the right or left in order to check my blind-spots. The pain has been frustrating. However today is good day.
Reading: When I get busy I miss out on my reading. I have updated the On My Desk page and On My iPod page to better reflect what I’m reading and listening to right now. Yancy’s Prayer and Wright’s Justice of God have been on the list since Jan. 1. I want to just finish them but I want to be very Berean about reading them. My goal will be to finish those two book by Dec. 31!
Long Distance Phone Call: While I was writing this post I got a very special international phone call from my friend in London, England. He and his family will be coming back to the states very soon. Austin City Limits here we come!!!
Beethoven’s 9th: Fantastic! I get teary and overjoyed every time I listen to it.
Creativity Should Never Go to Waste: before being called into ministry I had a great desire to become an animator. I loved to draw and I loved being creative in everything that I did. Thankfully I can still use my artistic eye and my flair for the creative in youth ministry. I spent the better part of yesterday working in Photoshop creating posters for different events and had a great time. Most of what I’ve learned in Photoshop has been trial and error. I’m not great at it but it feeds by need to create. Below is a poster for our Spider-man movie event. Our ministry name is Element523 so I tried to incorperate the logo and our name. Again, nothing ground breaking but I had fun. What do you think?
Hope you all have a great day. It is beautiful here in the DFW area. Spring time rocks!
Peace.
Last night we went downtown to Big Baylor because my good friend, Brian, and his wife, Amanda, had a beautiful baby girl on Monday. I have known Brian since elementary and I am proud as punch for him and Amanda. Baby and mother are doing well and both looked good. What a joy! While we were at the hospital, Zac, Amber and their baby stopped by as did my parents. After congratulations and hugs, my parents offered to take us out for dinner. I’ve never turned down a free meal and neither had Zac so we graciously accepted their offer. My dad offered up a place called Red Hot and Blue which serves Memphis style barbecue. I had never been to one but had always wanted to. After another round of congrats and hugs we headed out for some grub.
Side note: I love being a member of the clergy and not paying for hospital parking! It is one of our rare perks.
Sandy and I were the first ones to arrive. While we were waiting for our table to get set up I noticed a placard advertising the new specials. One item caught my attention.
The “Have Your Cake and Eat It Too” Burger consisted of a burger stacked with pulled pork and onion straws. For some reason I was mesmerized. I wasn’t the only one. Zac and Dad ordered one too.
Surprisingly, it was one of the greatest burgers I have ever eaten. Well done Red Hot and Blue. Well done.
Of course the food paled in comparison to spending the evening with friends and family. Good conversation with good people trumps good food every time!
With the threat of ice and freezing rain tonight, we decided to spend the evening at home curled up on the couch in front of a nice, warm fire. Sandy cooked some awesome chili and we watched possibly the best movie I’ve seen in a long while.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was on TCM tonight and we loved every minute of it. Bogart was perfect as Fred C Dobbs, a would be gold prospector who slowly decends into greed and madness. Not only was it a great movie but I also found out where the famous “We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!” comes from. What a great movie.
I would love to host a Film and Theology at our church geared toward 20-30 somethings. Watching films and discussing them through a theological lense could be a great way to spend an evening. Sierra Madre and Citizen Kane are two classic films that you could start with. Pair them with a study of Ecclesiasties and you’ve got yourself a lot to think about.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
If you’ve seen either one of these films you can see how Solomon’s words could easiy be spoken by a number of different characters in Kane or Sierra Madre. I think “chasing after the wind” still goes on today. It is almost as if there is nothing new under sun!?!?! Almost. Just some thoughts for this cold, wet Saturday night.
Stay warm out there everybody. Peace.
My freshman year in college I spent a lot of my time dating. That is to say I spent a whole lot of money making friends.
I was determined to make my sophomore year a different story. I had been given a great opportunity to travel overseas and I didn’t want anything to ruin that experience. I was so steadfast in my resolve not to even talk to any girls that I kept my nose buried in a book the entire time I was on campus. Except for 5 minutes when she walked through the door.
We had a wonderful little conversation, said “Nice to meet you,” and she was on her way. A little later she came back. Over the next week or so, we continued bumping into one another. Where I was, she was there to. Where she went, I happened to be there too.
I was in a real dilemma. I wanted to get to know her better but I didn’t want to ruin my semester nor hers.
“God, give me a sign. I like this girl. What should I do?”
Then she said, “So, are we going to dinner sometime before you leave?”
Yes. Yes we are.
On August 4, 2001, this girl became my bride.
Nothing and no one on this planet gives me as much joy as this woman.
She is alluring, angelic, beautiful, dazzling, delicate, delightful, divine, elegant, enticing, excellent, exquisite, fair, fascinating, fine, foxy, good-looking, gorgeous, graceful, grand, lovely, magnificent, marvelous, nice, pleasing, pretty, radiant, ravishing, refined, resplendent, shapely, sightly, splendid, statuesque, stunning, sublime, superb, well-formed, and wonderful.
She pushes me and challenges me everyday. No one else makes me feel as strong as she does. No one makes me feel loved the way she does.
She is the most wonderful woman in the world.
Thank you for the last five years. You stood beside me and held me up during the best and worst times. Thak you for putting up with me and my inability to pick up my clothes or my aversion to closing the cabinets. Thank you for your heart and your spirit of love and compassion. Thank you.
Sandy, you complete me.