Category: hmm… thoughts

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I wasn’t sure whether or not to publish this entry or to just leave it all unsaid. But it’s my space, my blog, and please just be reminded of my disclaimer to the right. If you don’t want to read the post… please don’t.

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of filling in for Bob while he and Rachel finished their much needed and well-earned vacation.

I started my message with a story about a trip and fear [read that here] but I never finished the story. So, here goes.

After a long series of small turns we finally turned into a driveway and headed towards their house. When we got there, we were immediately reassured to see a house and not a "killing fields." Of course, the whole idea that these people were serial killers and not normal people was silly all along! But needless to say I was relieved to find that they had a normal house.

Our hosts were normal enough for country people. The husband never really warmed up to us but his wife was very friendly and nice. We had a nice visit and we have some fond memories from that trip. Most notably…

1. Who needs blinds? The room in the house that we slept in on the first floor didn’t have blinds! This bugged Kristen to no end… she was really worried that she’d wake up and their 12 year old son would be staring at us. It never happened and having no blinds made for a nice way to wake up.

2. Megan got bit by a goat. I can’t explain it, but I’ve had a long-standing fascination with goats. I was really happy to learn that their next door neighbor had a large herd of goats that he raised for the Hmong population in town. So on our visit I took Megan over to the goats to check them out. Megan was very pleased to see them and was happily feeding them when a little one chomped on her little finger! She screamed and cried… but it was just a little nip. Another fun memory.

The last 12 hours or so have seen Romeo getting the spring soaking that we’ve needed for weeks. Why do I care?

For a few weeks now we’ve been prepping the yard and our exterior for June 11th, Andrea’s graduation party. We’re happy to host this big event for a student… but it’s put some pressure on us to get stuff done.

The front yard has perked up and been fine. But the backyard hasn’t really grown. I would just hate to have a lot of people over and have them think… "Gosh, what’s wrong with these people’s yard?" We really do love our house and our yard and we want it to show!

Since Katrina, we’ve not really seen gas go below $2.50. Who would of thought that we’d drive by a gas station and see $2.79 and sasy… "Oh, cheap gas so we better fill up."

I’m not being nostalgic but the summer of 1998 I was buying premium in Chicago for $1.09. What the heck happened?

This morning finds me in my hometown, Mishawaka Indiana. If you’ve heard of Mishawaka it’s only because of two things. Either you are from Northern Indiana or you are a Hummer afficianado.

I was reading John 8:48-58 this morning. Something jumped out at me that has never jumped out at me before. The Jews walked up to Jesus and were like… "So who are you… aren’t you some Samaritan and demon-possessed?" Hehehe… and you thought people had a bad attitude towards you? How would you like it if people came up to you and were like… Aren’t you demon-possessed and someone I can look down on?

What humility Christ shows in his response. Lord, I pray I’m that humble when people humiliate me.

With just a few hours left before the deadline (OK, so the deadline is midnight Monday, but I’ll be on a mission trip.) I finally have my federal and state returns done and ready to go in the mail. Gosh, what took me so long?

It’s been a few weeks since we finished the first round of 3 Story Life training here at Romeo. In the past 3 weeks or so I’ve really started to see some fruit of putting what I was teaching into action.

Fruit? OK, so that’s Christianese for some of the stuff that I’ve been trained to do is working. Whether it’s neighbors, random people in Florida, or guys on the construction site here at Romeo… lots of people have started to share themselves with me in ways I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

No real deap thought associated with that… it’s just cool.

Just a random thought here this morning. As I’m eating my Cheerios I’m having one of those "deep thoughts" moments. Do you ever wish humans had tails?

With our dog Stoney and our cat Violet, we can tell a lot about their mood just by watching their tails. Violet had a low tail as she swept in to the breakfast table to knock over Paul’s milk for a drink. Stoney then had a high wagging tail as he came and drank the spilled milk off of the floor. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks about tail wagging.

Think about this. Wouldn’t it be cool if humans had a tail to express body language with? Wouldn’t it be cooler to have a nifty tail to help us keep our balance?

Back to the Cheerios

This may come as a surprise. But I am certain that Bob and I have been a part of every step of Phase 1. I’m not bragging or saying that have ever played a significant role, but it’s been fun for both of us to take off our khaki’s and lend a hand where ever we’ve been able to.

After months of simple labor projects here is my observation: I’m in the right business. I don’t like getting my hands dirty, but I’ll do it if I have to. I am not good at being both strong and gentle, so I break stuff. Little details of construction are lost on me. I have a strong respect for those who do construction… even stronger after the taste tests I’ve gotten.