A Jeep In Summer

Short Recount of Wednesday

Skipped congregational annual meeting. Eesh. I'm a bad Presbyterian. Drove to Atlanta, met A, that was cool, it's a good thing mobile phones exist, I got there early, she was standing outside waiting for me, since I'd left without bringing her number I had to call my friend O and have her get into my email, A satisfied her need for sugar and caffeine--ice cream with a shot of espresso poured over, I satisfied my need for protein with a chicken sandwich, there was laughter, the good weirdness of meeting a blogger, kind of 'oh wow, you are real, you're the one who writes that stuff, tell me about school, the kids, lots of years of marriage', talk of choices and transitions, stories about DC, then going to see DC. H was there, the funniest thing she said all night was about a party she went to where a semi-acquaintance said, "Yeah, there's this new thing/service, it's kind of netflix for books, you get to borrow some books and then send 'em back" and H retorted, "Yeah, it's called a library."

DC's pretty soft spoken, really funny, for an intro he gave out boxes of Little Debbies as rewards for correctly answering Simpsons trivia questions, he read from the new novel, read from a novel in progress (which included 6 love letters to Ronald McDonald), then Q & A, then signing. It was the first time I'd gotten a book signed.

Drove home, battled with contact lens, fell into sleep.

Live In The Now, The Audience Is Waiting

I dearly love Oswald Chambers:

A warning which needs to be repeated is that "the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches," and the lust for other things, will choke out the life of God in us ( Matthew 13:22 ). We are never free from the recurring waves of this invasion. If the frontline of attack is not about clothes and food, it may be about money or the lack of money; or friends or lack of friends; or the line may be drawn over difficult circumstances. It is one steady invasion, and these things will come in like a flood, unless we allow the Spirit of God to raise up the banner against it.

"I say to you, do not worry about your life . . . ." Our Lord says to be careful only about one thing-our relationship to Him. But our common sense shouts loudly and says, "That is absurd, I must consider how I am going to live, and I must consider what I am going to eat and drink." Jesus says you must not. Beware of allowing yourself to think that He says this while not understanding your circumstances. Jesus Christ knows our circumstances better than we do, and He says we must not think about these things to the point where they become the primary concern of our life. Whenever there are competing concerns in your life, be sure you always put your relationship to God first.

"Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" ( Matthew 6:34 ). How much trouble has begun to threaten you today? What kind of mean little demons have been looking into your life and saying, "What are your plans for next month—or next summer?" Jesus tells us not to worry about any of these things. Look again and think. Keep your mind on the "much more" of your heavenly Father ( Matthew 6:30 ).

And I like Ellis Paul too:

You reach cross the table
And put a finger on my wrinkled brow
You say, "Live in the now,
Live in the now"

'Cause life is what happens
When you're busy making plans
That's what John Lennon said
Then he quit the [word that has 2 syllables] band

Tell me which part
Is it the castle, or the sand
That you miss when the tide comes along?

Attraction Question

Do women really like it when a guy looks like he can't really take care of himself? Like when he wears mismatched socks? Or his pants are kind of stained at the knees?

'Cause I have this tiny bleach spot on a well-liked shirt. (Amy, you may have seen it last night...I discovered it, like, halfway through the evening!) Does that float anyone's boat?

tonight's music--Mozart's 'Requiem'
It's kind of weird--when I sort my iTunes music by artist, Wolfang Mozart ends up smack dab up against Wynnonna Judd. Diber, I bet that doesn't float your boat... =)

How Do You See?

Right now, Ab and Mo, my right and left eyeballs are communing pretty clearly with new extended wear contact lenses. I think I'm gonna give up the gas permeables. Ab was absolutely irritated last night as I was driving home from Atlanta. So irritated that he was kinda swollen when we woke up this morning, having had 7 hours of rest from the gas perm lens.

So maybe now I'll make eye contact with people at the Y. What with not having to take my lenses out.

I'll let you know how we're all feeling when we wake up tomorrow morning.

I'm Goin' To See Doug

In Atlanta. Wednesday. Even though I haven't read the new novel.

Bebo Comes Back

Rumor has it that Bebo Norman is playing at Tennessee Temple University on February 22nd. Great, I'll be going to another show under the FULL EFFECTS OF JET LAG.

Does Anyone in CHA need a couple of filing cabinets?

I'm gonna clean mine out tomorrow and want to get rid of 'em. They're kind of old, in somewhat decent shape. I'll post a picture of them tonight.

People Come And Go So Quickly Around Here

I'm beginning to realize that I need to pay more attention to people who are being left. You know, the focus is always on the leaver--they're going on to new, possibly fun, different things, a brand new full-of-potential exciting life, a new chapter. Moving on is so glamorous and attention-getting.

But the people who wave goodbye from the window, from the driveway, who write secret letters of farewell and regret are the ones who turn around and face a life that is slightly or greatly emptier. The calmer house, the starkly vacant refrigerator/weekend/moment. How do you deal with non-excitement?

There are lots of ways of leaving--physically, mentally, spiritually. You can die, break up, get divorced, go to college, stop talking, quit a job, change churches, move, get married, forget to call, shut down, hide.

But the reality is that God puts people in our lives in three ways--for a reason, for a season, for a lifetime.

I sometimes have trouble figuring out the difference.

'missing you feels like a way of life
I've been living out the life that I've been given
baby, I still wish you were mine

I cannot hear the telephone jangle on the wall
but I feel a hopeful thrill'

Photo Friday

I love this picture, I love this sister.

In Belgium

The Water

"I felt like every weight, every change, just fell off of me.
Life just kind of tends to dismantle things on the inside sometimes. You function and you operate, but you know, 'something in here's a weak link.'
I came up out of that water and I felt like every broken thing in me had been fixed."

I'm staring down into the quarry
I see a stone for every sorry
I'm on the edge, I'm going under
And after I die, I'm gonna rise from the water

I wanna blast off, let gravity disappear
I'm tired of falling, falling, falling
From the weight of fear, come and lift me up
Into the clean and clear
I'm waiting on you Jesus in the water here

--Amy Grant

I Think I Just Found My Next Car

The Kids

Peter, Susan, Lucy, Edmund

from Ellis Paul

Bring me courage, bring me change
Show me the oxygen in rain
We'll build a shelter in these arms
If this love should come to harm

Do you know who I am
Put a little faith in me
If you need some space on a shoulder

Why do we fall so fast
Are you afraid that you'll shatter
Your heart's made of glass
Give in give up
You can't get ready for it

I've been guessing and I could have been guessing wrong

'You've grown colder now
Torn apart, angry, turned around'

I do really like Matchbox 20.

'Now I'm crying, isn't that what you wanted?
I feel stupid but I think I've been catching on'

Wrecked All Day

Stupid jet lag.

Ok, get this. Dr. Davis sends an email to all Christ in Culture students for this semester, and it's cc'd to me. It's sign by Dr. Davis on behalf of Professors Morton, Follett, and Hardie.

Hardie?

Huh?

So yeah, this semester just got a little crazier. I don't know how it happened, but I'm teaching another core class. You'd think that they'd have learned their lesson by now.

And also, look at that lineup: Davis, Morton, Follett, Hardie. Which One Of These Is Not Like The Others?

I guess it's all gonna end with a bang instead of a whimper. It oughta be fun.

Location update

I'm tired, wrecked, and smelly, but I'm home from Belgium, waiting to see what fun things jet lag will bring my way...

Highlight This

I've been pretty sad during my several days of recent driving (CHA to ATL and back, CHA to Gadsden, Gadsden to Hard Labor Creek State Park, HLCSP to CHA). Just thinking about last year. There's lots of moments in which I've been disappointed. In myself. I didn't even want to listen to music while I was driving, which is super-duper unusual. Except for the medium heavy rush hour traffic southeast of Atlanta on Thursday night--I put in my 'workout' cd (Petra, Def Leppard, Heart, Michael Jackson, John 'Man In Motion' Parr) and drove too fast and recklessly through the cars.

Somehow the year moved me from being really hopeful to this sadness. The months rolled by and a couple of them rolled over me. That's OK. That's how you learn stuff. And boy did I learn it.

But there were some great things:

2 weddings. Watching the joy. Celebrating.
Being an uncle.
Household acronyms.
Occasional Global Trends moments.
Being adjusted by a chiropractor for the first time.
One more sibling weekend.
Meeting a blogger.
Talking to my sister. Knowing that she heard me.
Praying.
New York City and the Bowery Mission.
Seattle.
Colorado Springs.
New Amy Grant songs.
He's Bebolicious! 'I, I want to hide in you, the way the life the truth, so I can disappear, and love is all there is to see, coming out of me, and you become clear, as I disappear'.
Moving on.
More moving on.
Snapping out of it.

That's not in chronological order.

Coming up:
Brussels.
Alison Krauss and Union Station.
June.