Cool Cat

Due to allergies and general disdain, this is the only cat I will allow in the house.

Rainey is excited about Christmas because that means it is almost baby time. We had a good sonogram this morning. Everything looks great!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We enjoyed spending time with family and Rainey was in heaven getting to play with her six older cousins.

'Tis the season. Get plenty of rest and hey, be careful out there.

Happy Thanksgiving

When people ask what I'm thankful for, I usually give the expected answers (Jesus, Family, Friends, Music). You know, the top of the list things. The ones I would mention in my acceptance speech at an awards show. Well below is a list of the little things I so often take for granted. So let the orchestra try to play me off the stage! I'm fighting through it and giving the little guy his due!

1. My Toothbrush
2. Air Conditioning
3. Underwear That Fits Properly
4. Caramel Macchiato's
5. Indoor Plumbing
6. Texas Monthly
7. College Football
8. Mexican Food
9. Working Lawn Equipment
10. Remote Control

Give Thanks.

Having Sex

Now that I have your attention,

Stephanie and I were talking last night about the life change we are about to experience when our second child arrives in a few weeks. We got out the chalk board and worked on changing from a double team defense to a man to man. Those of you with more than two children know that when you have three or more you have to go to a zone, and as my friend Phil who is father of three says, "They can beat the zone."

Anyway, during our conversation I experienced a moment of stepping outside my life and looking at it from another perspective. This is not the first time I've experienced this. Sometimes I stand in the street in front of my house and stare at the two cars in the garage, the mortgage and the family inside and wonder who lives there. Eventually the horns of oncoming traffic wake me from my trance or the nice officer escorts me back into my yard and asks me to kindly go inside and put on some pants.

I've never made specific plans for my life. I enjoy simply letting the adventure happen. Maybe that's why I'm a little bewildered by how it's turning out. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely thankful. Good grief, I'm absolutely spoiled! It just seems like it sort of snuck up on me.

Or maybe I simply read too much fiction and watched too many movies growing up. British novelist David Lodge said, "Literature is mostly about having sex and not much about having children. Life is the other way around." Who knew?

Long Lost Friend

If you have been reading this blog for very long or you happen to know the physical me as well as the cyber me, you have heard me mention two very special friends, Craig the paranoid-schizophrenic-alcoholic-Christian and Brian the non-practicing Buddhist. Here's a quick update.

Craig has been living in peace with his parents for the last six months which is a miracle in and of itself. He will celebrate one year of sobriety in January and his new medication is giving him a better life. He carries the scars of an attempted suicide on his arms and neck, but desires to live now and is really doing well.

Over the last year and a half, I have spent more time with Brian than any other friend. Hardly a week has gone by that we didn't see each other at least twice. Thursdays and Sundays like clock work. Brians life improved in major ways during that time with the help of some very loving people he came to know through our church community. He cleaned up, got a job and began to contribute to society. My life improved too. I'm better for having known him. I was proud of him, thankful for his friendship and looked forward to the times we got to hang out.

Last week, with no warning, Brian took off. I think he was headed for Boulder, CO, but I'm not really sure. I'm also not sure why he left. All I know is my friend left without saying good-bye and I'm going to miss him.

Today is Thursday and I won't see Brian. After a year and a half of Thursdays, that seems strange. I hope he's safe. I hope he's happy. I hope he finds what he's looking for. I hope he'll call me sometime. I hope.

Searching for an Answer

I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent person. I've been to the State Fair and in comparison with most of the people I saw there, I'm at least above average. Why is it then that my 4 year old daughter (she's the one in the middle) whose highest goal in life is to become a cheerleader for crying out loud, is capable of leaving me floundering around for answers to her questions?

Last night at bedtime, after enjoying a taco salad dinner at Peace Lutheran Church where Rainey goes to pre-school, she asked me this simple question: "Daddy, why can't all the people just go to the same church?"

Well, we are all part of the same church, we just meet in different buildings because...because... over the years...men have come to different conclusions about...ummm...you know how sometimes people just want their own way?... well...that's a great question honey...

Help?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Anyone?

Unless you become like one of these...

Are You Trying to Tell Me Something?

It's Joel's fault really.

He started all this by giving me a book to read on giving.

Then we spent a couple of hours with Larry James at Central Dallas Ministries talking about helping people and what it means to be a Franciscan Jesus follower.

Next came a series of lessons Joel gave on Jonah and caring for people you don't even like.

He followed that up by asking me about a time in my life when I was most passionate for God and got me talking about a time when I was in community with some guys who were struggling with homosexuality. I remembered how my stomach ached for these men, how I wept with them because I couldn't imagine what it was like to deal with that kind of thing and how I felt so dependent on God to show me how to love those guys.

Finally, during some quiet time I opened my Bible up to Amos and read about how God despised His people's assemblies because they were not really concerned about what He was (and is) concerned about: justice and loving others.

It all came to a head today as I listened to a song called Let Us Be You on Zoe's latest CD, In Christ Alone. I found myself weeping again as they sang these simple words:

Let us be You when a wounded soul cries out for hope
Let us be You when the lonely need to know they're not alone

I don't know who is reading this, but I need to tell you that you are not alone and there is hope.

Brian, you are not alone.

Craig, you're not alone.

Hey Crazy Jane, are you out there? You are not alone!

Dog, Fish, BST, you are not alone.

Wes, Allen, you are not alone.

I'm pretty thick headed sometimes, but I think God is trying to tell me something. Two things actually. 1) Open your eyes and let the people I created know that I love them. 2) Stephen, you are one of those people.