Posted on September 29, 2009 at 8:42am.
This is a pretty interesting day. One of my brothers and sister in law are arriving this afternoon for a 24 hour visit. Our extended family lives all over the country and each have families of their own and live real busy lives, so it is not often that we are together, and by not often I mean rarely. Today is interesting for me because there is so much history, blood, and DNA that tie us together, but not a lot that is current. No doubt, my girls will be bored stiff mid way through dinner tonight as all the old stories are retold, and since I am the youngest - these stories will all carry the undercurent of me having had the easy life - the spoiled baby of the family. We all remember our childhoods from one grid - our perspective. Sometimes accurate, sometimes not. I am looking forward to today. I know a lot about my brother and his wife, but I no longer know them. Looking forward to the discovery that comes in relationships. I do know this about them, they love Jesus. In fact it was this brother who was the first guy close to me while growing up who gave me a clear picture of a personal relationship with God.
Posted on September 23, 2009 at 6:59am.
I was off for a week, and I have to say - it was so good to be away. Sometimes you don’t know how depleted you are until you sit for a bit. And I sat for a bit. Terri and I spent a few days out of town celebrating 20 years together, we hiked, relaxed, and you know we ate well. It was just what this heart and body needed. It was nice to just be a couple for a few days. We are at a new place in our marriage. For the last two decades most of our efforts have been poured into the girls, and at times we worked a lot harder on parenting than partnering. This past year or so, we have found ourselves a lot less needed in the day to day activities of our girls, and have had time given back to us to be more of a couple. Last week away was pretty cool, I was driving back from the mountains with my bride excited that after all these years we still like each other, and actually want to spend time together. Last week was refreshing,and encouraging.
Posted on September 10, 2009 at 9:59am.
I had a tough Labor Day Weekend, and nobody to fault, but me. I could not get my mind to shut down, it was just running out of control. Even in the typical escape moments of yard work, I kept going over stuff, over and over, and over. On Monday I picked up a favorite book of prayers and a part of one of them went like something like this - “Lord, I have taken the gifts of life; family, friends, comfort, and made them the goal of life . . . forgive me.” God used this sentiment of someone else to nail me between the eyes, and realign this heart of mine that is prone to wander. It’s Thursday now, and I am still working at righting the ship, and getting back on track.
