Competing Urges

One of Colin's favorite things to do is to look out the window that is right behind our couch. Ever since he was very small, he has enjoyed seeing the sights, staring at all of the various colors, and especially watching the cars go by. When he was younger, and was particularly fussy, I could take him out to the front porch and he would completely chill out while the cars whizzed by. He still loves that!

One of his daddy's favorite things to do is to cuddle him on the aforementioned couch. When he starts to get tired and whiny, and it's close to nap time, I like to take him over to the couch and let him cuddle against my chest. He doesn't always cuddle as good as he use to. He's more active and mobile now, so he tends to move around a bit. But, since he is so tired, he will stop moving, plop his head down onto my chest, and suck his thumb. It's one of the best feelings ever!

It is during these times that Colin faces a competition of urges. He is so tired, and he knows that he wants to - that he needs to - go to sleep, or at the very least, rest on Daddy's chest. But, the allure of the window is strong. He doesn't want to miss anything that happens out there, so he strains his neck and body to peer out the window, sometimes even crawling over me and standing on me to get a better view. But then the fatigue takes over and he drops back down to my chest to take a break. Then, back to the window. "What's going on out there? I think I heard something. Look! It's a car!" Then, back to the thumb and my chest. And the cycle continues until I finally take him to his room, sing him his song, and put him down in his crib to sleep. No more choices. No more tough decisions. Just rest.

I am so much like my son, it's scary. I deal with the same competition of urges. Only my choices have nothing to do with the window and the couch. My choices look more like, do I take time to read my Bible or check on my March Madness bracket? Do I set aside time at work to pray for my job or do I just jump in with both feet and get to work? Do I sit up later than I should to do essentially nothing online or do I get the sleep I so badly need? There's nothing intrinsically wrong with March Madness, or work, or checking out my web favorites. Just like there's nothing wrong with looking out the window. But there is a better choice. I feel like Paul, who said that he wants to do one thing, but ends up doing something else. It's not like I'm choosing between praying and robbing a bank, or reading my Bible and getting sloppy drunk, but there is still a competition for my time. And no matter how seemingly harmless many of the things are in our lives, there are frequently better choices to be made. I just know that I don't always - and sometimes, seldom - choose the better thing. But those times that I do, I can rest.

Jesus, help me to choose the better thing, and give me rest.

Heaven - I'm in Heaven...

This is the life! I am home for the afternoon since I have a work commitment tonight. And what better afternoon to be at home than the opening round of March Madness? I can't think of a better day. So far, I'm 4-0 in my picks. That won't last long, though. I just noticed that Butler pulled ahead of Old Dominion. Bummer! Either way, it's the best weekend in sports as far as I'm concerned. This is when all of the upsets happen and teams come out of nowhere to shock the world. I'm all about rooting for the underdog, even if I didn't pick them to win. That carries over to life, too, but that's for a different post. All I know is, I'm glad it's March...

I'm also in Heaven because my son is still alive. Before anyone goes and freaks out, there's nothing wrong with him. But, I have had him to myself since Tuesday morning when Marcy left for a conference at Willow Creek. She gets back tomorrow night. Four days, just me and Colin. That's a recipe for disaster! But it has gone well. We miss Mommy very much, but it's good to know that I can take care of my Boy if I have to. And I don't think it's a problem at all that he has eaten buffalo wings and watched Evil Dead 2 every night. It's good for him...

It's a Nice Day!

I am sitting here, in my beloved recliner, thinking about how good of a weekend it had been. I am feeling significantly better than I did at this time last weekend, when I was just starting to come down with the plague. I am not at 100% yet, but I'm going in the right direction. The weather has been great! It is finally flip-flop weather. I know, I've done a lot of complaining about how we haven't had much of a winter to speak of, but that was February, and this is March, and I love not wearing shoes. The sun has been shining, it has been warm, and I've been loving it! We had two great friends come and visit for a too-brief weekend. And today, my Buckeyes sealed up a #1 seed in the NCAA Men's B-Ball Tourney. Now granted, I was jazzed about them playing in the national championship of college football, and that didn't go so well. Here's hoping this one goes much better. Either way, the ride sure is fun!


Today we had a SIMY meeting. SIMY is an acronym for Servants In Ministry to Youth. It's what we call our adult leaders in our youth group. We invited some of our students to discuss how things are going with the youth group. I think things are going well, but some of our students have had concerns, so I wanted them to be able to voice them. They did that today, and while I didn't like or agree with everything they had to say, I sure appreciate their guts to say what they did and their desire for our youth group to be all it can be for their spiritual transformation. As Emily's quote wall on Facebook says, "My kids are better than your kids!" Apparently, I said that somewhere along the way. It's true.

Thank you, Jesus, for the good life you have given me. Help me to not take it for granted...

I Ain't So Stupid

Strange Injury

And I thought I was out of shape. It turns out that John Daly had to withdraw from the golf tournament he was in when he hurt himself trying to stop his backswing when a fan took his picture. Hee-hee...