words i'm hanging on to

“You’re special.” -Daddy (said with great frequency)

the top ten for mowing lawns

10. You get to be out in the fresh air.

9. No educational loans.

8. Work days start after 10:00 a.m.

7. Being task oriented is considered a positive thing.

6. You get lots of alone time.

5. Critiques are related to workmanship, not character.

4. You get winters off.

3. Nobody can hear you singing.

2. After a shower, you feel all better.

1. If you want to see if you are making a difference, all you have to do is turn around.

daddy's favorite words

“Ka-Zot!!!”

“Thinger-dinger”

june 28, 2008

and then there were ten.

wisdom from the bean field

It’s a lot easier to walk with the row,

but you don’t always get where you want to go.

coming home to mom

“What you need is a couple days in the country!”

mom and dad's

When everything hurts, there’s no place like home.

click-clack. click-clack. pause.

This was the eleventh pair of shoes he had tried on. They were brown leather and laced up the front. He stood their awkwardly still unhappy with the fit. “The sides are thin, but at least this pair doesn’t pinch my toes. And, they actually have this one in my size.” We looked at the new shoes as he walked around. We were in the Mall of America, so there were many different stores providing a variety of options to choose from. This store, unlike the previous four we had been in, had a shiny marble tile around the edge of it, so as he walked, his steps made a click-clack, click-clack sound. Click-clack. Click-clack. Pause. Click-clack. Click-clack. Pause. “I don’t know. They just aren’t very comfortable,” he said as he looked at his worn-in Chaco sandals.

It occurs to me that sometimes paradigm shifts feel like new shoes. As we put on the new shoes, they dig into the sides of our foot. Every time we step on the marble tiles, it creates a click-clack, click-clack sound making us more aware of the discomfort that we already feel. Until the shoes have been worn in a bit, they feel stiff and awkward. But, the irritating displeasure of wearing new shoes will not be overcome if we refuse to wear them. In time, the leather grows more supple and conforms to our feet. And, in time, these new shoes become our worn-in friends that we hate to step out of.

favorite thing number five

long walks

a feeling swept over me

I was in a new place in a crowded room talking to a group of people. Behind me I heard Andrea laugh. I hadn’t heard that laugh for two years. And, at that moment, from the very top of my head to the tips of my toes, a feeling swept over me. It was the feeling of familiarity, the feeling that I was in the right place, the feeling of home.

I have to wonder if upon our arrival to Heaven if we will have a similar experience. If someone will laugh or knowingly look at us or gently touch our arm, and a feeling will sweep over us. A feeling that will whisper with such familiarity that we will know we are finally home.

please

maranatha

favorite thing number four

old friends

an awkward truth

A land that is unfamiliar felt more like home than this does.

and then...

she found Mr. Wright.

opposition

Nehemiah’s prayer in the face of opposition was “But now, O God, strengthen my hands” (Neh 6:9b). May this be true of me, too.

pet peeve

When people assume that in our fallen state our emotions are more flawed than our thoughts.