Relational Snapshots from a long weekend
Thursday, June 16
1:00 PM: We (Kristy, the kids, and me) stop at Galesburg to eat lunch. I manage to manipulate Kristy's intense need for a restroom into a meal at Applebee's.
I spend the next 45ish minutes just wondering at my children: the expressions on their faces, their attempts at speaking and showing me things, the sheer delight of things like barbecue sauce.
It's amazing what you'll notice when you've got nothing else to do, and you're not constantly looking around for people you recognize.
3:30 PM: We make it to our destination, the home of some dear friends. The next five hours are a pleasant blur: earnest, enjoyable conversation, grilled bratwurst burgers (a first for me), and my children's unintentional attempts at trashing their beautiful home.
Kristy genuinely enjoyed the time she spent with the lady of the house, and my connection with my friend deepened.
My friend continues to be castigated by lifelong mentors/friends for the very thing that the Bereans were referred to in the Scriptures as noble. I'll never understand that.
10:20 PM: After finally tearing ourselves from my friends' house, we continue on to Cedar River Baptist Camp, where the teens of our church were finishing up a week of camp.
Kristy thought everyone would be in bed, but I knew differently, and sure enough, Pastor Dice was only 2/3 of the way through his message when we showed up.
The staff of the camp include many dear friends, and I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with them. I talked to my friend D___ for what ended up being a couple of hours, about our dreams and where God was taking us. I pray God gives him his heart's desire.
I also got to see my teens. They were tired, as everyone is after a full week of camp, but they were excited about decisions they'd made for God. They were totally stoked to see us, too, which is very cool. 'Cause I was stoked to see them: this is my first year I haven't been there with them, and I missed it a lot.
I also got to see Chris, one of my teens who is a member of the Summer Staff at camp. He looked skinnier, somehow, and burnt to a crisp. But he seemed at peace with what God is doing in His life, and I know that God is using this experience to shape him.
I also got to see my sister and my father, counselors for a full week of camp for the first time in a while. They held up swimmingly: I'm proud of them.
And I found out that, the first summer I miss, they reinstitute the Mud Hike, and Brian loses his shoes in the mud. I'm totally jealous.
----
Friday, June 17
5:30 AM: We finally pull in to home after a trip home made more adventurous by my sleep deprivation. After three hours of driving, a fourty-five minute nap, three Krispy Kreme donuts, two Frappacinos, and a Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso & Cream, we make it.
My family consists of total troopers. I doubt any other wife/chidren would have put up with the kind of running around we did. But it's our life, and it's awesome. It's very cool when they can be with me for it.
5:53 AM: I call the office and leave a voice mail that I won't be in to work. After three hours of sleep Wed. night, and no sleep so far Thursday night, I'm of no use to anyone.
5:00 PM: I wake up.
----
Saturday, June 18
9:00 AM: Between "The Backyardigans" and "Dora the Explorer," Kristy and I decide that it's too much to travel again to my friend Doug's reception for earning his Doctorate. We'd called them the night before, but I was still trying to pull it off. Kristy just wasn't up for it.
12:00 PM: We go to my parents' house for a shindig with my family. Phil and Emily are back from London and back in town, and we're all grilling stuff and just being together.
Both of my grandfathers are here. It's really special that they get to see my children running around them, the way we did back in the day. Both my grandmothers have been with Jesus for years, but I'm blessed to have two grandfathers in good health. I make another mental note that I need to get over to see them more: I'm not sure why it's so hard, but I don't seem to get it done.
1:32 PM: We're celebrating Naomi's birthday, Father's Day, and... oh, yeah, we're pregnant. Shrieks and squeals of delight from the female contingent, gently sarcastic questions, then sincere good wishes from the male contingent.
5:20 PM: Everyone else is loading up to go to the baseball game, and we're packing up to head home. We're saying goodbyes, when my brother Matt gets my attention and looks me in the eye for just a second before saying "I'll see you later." The look says a thousand words, and is worth...well, a lot.
Meemee asks if Trey can go with them to the baseball game. I agree, and Trey gets all excited. I'm thankful for parents who seize on opportunities like that to be with the ones they love.
10:30 PM: Trey gets home from the game. Breathlessly, he tells about the fireworks, about playing with cousins Nick and Ryan and Trevor, about Meemee and Papaw. His eyes just dance with excitement.
----
Sunday, June 19
12:00 PM: I go out on a limb and suggest that we go to a Chinese buffet to eat. It's Kristy's birthday, as well as Father's Day, and I deferred to her desires.
Man, I hate Chinese food.
And the only Chinese buffets I like are the ones that aren't strictly Chinese: you know, ribs next to the egg drop soup, and stuff like that. Which this place said it had, but as it turns out, not so much.
Kristy loved it. Went on and on about how good the shrimp was, how good everything was tasting to her.
Me? Seven - count 'em, seven - sugar biscuits, four pieces of sweet & sour chicken minus the sauce, and two cups of Mountain Dew.
3:00 PM: We're watching the US Open, and Kristy is transfixed. She can't pull herself away.
Who are you, and what have you done with my wife?
7:30ish PM: We attend Bethel tonight: Phil preached, and he and Emily prepared goodies from London for everyone after the service.
I was digging the milk and warm tea stuff. It was good.
I watched Phil and Emily prepare this stuff for everyone, and I thanked God for giving them hearts to minister, to share, to try to give others a taste of what they experienced serving God in a foreign country.
And I was very proud of them.
11:00 PM: The Spurs finally pull out a win at Detroit, and for a moment, all is at peace. :)
12:00 AM: Oh, yeah. We're pregnant.
1:00 PM: We (Kristy, the kids, and me) stop at Galesburg to eat lunch. I manage to manipulate Kristy's intense need for a restroom into a meal at Applebee's.
I spend the next 45ish minutes just wondering at my children: the expressions on their faces, their attempts at speaking and showing me things, the sheer delight of things like barbecue sauce.
It's amazing what you'll notice when you've got nothing else to do, and you're not constantly looking around for people you recognize.
3:30 PM: We make it to our destination, the home of some dear friends. The next five hours are a pleasant blur: earnest, enjoyable conversation, grilled bratwurst burgers (a first for me), and my children's unintentional attempts at trashing their beautiful home.
Kristy genuinely enjoyed the time she spent with the lady of the house, and my connection with my friend deepened.
My friend continues to be castigated by lifelong mentors/friends for the very thing that the Bereans were referred to in the Scriptures as noble. I'll never understand that.
10:20 PM: After finally tearing ourselves from my friends' house, we continue on to Cedar River Baptist Camp, where the teens of our church were finishing up a week of camp.
Kristy thought everyone would be in bed, but I knew differently, and sure enough, Pastor Dice was only 2/3 of the way through his message when we showed up.
The staff of the camp include many dear friends, and I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with them. I talked to my friend D___ for what ended up being a couple of hours, about our dreams and where God was taking us. I pray God gives him his heart's desire.
I also got to see my teens. They were tired, as everyone is after a full week of camp, but they were excited about decisions they'd made for God. They were totally stoked to see us, too, which is very cool. 'Cause I was stoked to see them: this is my first year I haven't been there with them, and I missed it a lot.
I also got to see Chris, one of my teens who is a member of the Summer Staff at camp. He looked skinnier, somehow, and burnt to a crisp. But he seemed at peace with what God is doing in His life, and I know that God is using this experience to shape him.
I also got to see my sister and my father, counselors for a full week of camp for the first time in a while. They held up swimmingly: I'm proud of them.
And I found out that, the first summer I miss, they reinstitute the Mud Hike, and Brian loses his shoes in the mud. I'm totally jealous.
----
Friday, June 17
5:30 AM: We finally pull in to home after a trip home made more adventurous by my sleep deprivation. After three hours of driving, a fourty-five minute nap, three Krispy Kreme donuts, two Frappacinos, and a Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso & Cream, we make it.
My family consists of total troopers. I doubt any other wife/chidren would have put up with the kind of running around we did. But it's our life, and it's awesome. It's very cool when they can be with me for it.
5:53 AM: I call the office and leave a voice mail that I won't be in to work. After three hours of sleep Wed. night, and no sleep so far Thursday night, I'm of no use to anyone.
5:00 PM: I wake up.
----
Saturday, June 18
9:00 AM: Between "The Backyardigans" and "Dora the Explorer," Kristy and I decide that it's too much to travel again to my friend Doug's reception for earning his Doctorate. We'd called them the night before, but I was still trying to pull it off. Kristy just wasn't up for it.
12:00 PM: We go to my parents' house for a shindig with my family. Phil and Emily are back from London and back in town, and we're all grilling stuff and just being together.
Both of my grandfathers are here. It's really special that they get to see my children running around them, the way we did back in the day. Both my grandmothers have been with Jesus for years, but I'm blessed to have two grandfathers in good health. I make another mental note that I need to get over to see them more: I'm not sure why it's so hard, but I don't seem to get it done.
1:32 PM: We're celebrating Naomi's birthday, Father's Day, and... oh, yeah, we're pregnant. Shrieks and squeals of delight from the female contingent, gently sarcastic questions, then sincere good wishes from the male contingent.
5:20 PM: Everyone else is loading up to go to the baseball game, and we're packing up to head home. We're saying goodbyes, when my brother Matt gets my attention and looks me in the eye for just a second before saying "I'll see you later." The look says a thousand words, and is worth...well, a lot.
Meemee asks if Trey can go with them to the baseball game. I agree, and Trey gets all excited. I'm thankful for parents who seize on opportunities like that to be with the ones they love.
10:30 PM: Trey gets home from the game. Breathlessly, he tells about the fireworks, about playing with cousins Nick and Ryan and Trevor, about Meemee and Papaw. His eyes just dance with excitement.
----
Sunday, June 19
12:00 PM: I go out on a limb and suggest that we go to a Chinese buffet to eat. It's Kristy's birthday, as well as Father's Day, and I deferred to her desires.
Man, I hate Chinese food.
And the only Chinese buffets I like are the ones that aren't strictly Chinese: you know, ribs next to the egg drop soup, and stuff like that. Which this place said it had, but as it turns out, not so much.
Kristy loved it. Went on and on about how good the shrimp was, how good everything was tasting to her.
Me? Seven - count 'em, seven - sugar biscuits, four pieces of sweet & sour chicken minus the sauce, and two cups of Mountain Dew.
3:00 PM: We're watching the US Open, and Kristy is transfixed. She can't pull herself away.
Who are you, and what have you done with my wife?
7:30ish PM: We attend Bethel tonight: Phil preached, and he and Emily prepared goodies from London for everyone after the service.
I was digging the milk and warm tea stuff. It was good.
I watched Phil and Emily prepare this stuff for everyone, and I thanked God for giving them hearts to minister, to share, to try to give others a taste of what they experienced serving God in a foreign country.
And I was very proud of them.
11:00 PM: The Spurs finally pull out a win at Detroit, and for a moment, all is at peace. :)
12:00 AM: Oh, yeah. We're pregnant.
posted by pastor mike at 9:27 AM
2 Comments:
I'm drawing up the legal papers to sue CRBC for scarring my life at the moment.
I hate that climbing wall ;_;
congrats man!
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