The Emptiest Day

Mitch: Alright Ed, your best day, what was it? Twins in a trapeze, what?

Ed: No, I don't wanna play.

Mitch: C'mon, we did it.

Ed: I don't feel like it.

Mitch: Uh, okay.

[Ed pauses, then begins to speak]

Ed: I'm fourteen and my mother and father are fighting again. Y'know, because she caught him again. Caught him!? This time the girl drove by the house to pick him up. And I finally realized, he wasn't just cheating on my mother, he was cheating us. So I told him; I said "You're bad to us. We don't love you. I'll take care of my mother and my sister. We don't need you any more." And he made like he was gonna hit me, but I didn't budge. And he turned around and he left. He never bothered us again. Well, I took care of my mother and my sister from that day on. That's my best day.

Phil: What was your worst day?

Ed: [brief pause] Same day.

Do we dare to believe God enough that the comfort we receive from him is comfort we can then turn around and pour out on others (2 Cor. 1:3-7)?

I can't remember my worst day. I mean, I remember what it was, but I don't remember it. I can't recall the feeling in my stomach, the numbness in my brain, the bleakness of life. Imagine a lizard losing a foot, but as it is able to regenerate the missing limb, in time if you ask what it was like to be without it the answer would be very difficult for the poor lizard to generate. Having my life re-filled in the vacuum of the worst day makes recollection tough. Even more, the brutal pain of the day makes it hard to want to return.

But I must remember. The worst day was my best day. It was the prelude to the re-filling. It was the doorway to my redefining. Death. Resurrection.

That was my worst day. What was my best day? Same day.



(And JK...ruhamah.)

(They) Will Delight Your Soul

I experienced Proverbs 29:17 this weekend. While Aydan and Brennan were playing with their little cousin Noah they were complimented on what a great job they were doing by their Aunt Jenny. She thanked them for playing with him, to which Brennan responded, "Why shouldn't we play with him? He's our cousin!" It was one moment of sweetness amidst a day of them saying and doing everything right. It was utterly delightful.

All of this family interaction was going on due to Kyle and Leah's wedding this weekend. Here's a shot of the fam in our duds.

If You Can Dodge a Wrench, You Can Dodge a Ball

On Thursday, the CHS Spark Plugs (a campus Spirit group) hosted the second annual dodgeball tournament. Although my teacher-comprised team, The Staff Infection, made it to the semi-finals, we were eliminated by the ultimate champions, The Bush League Ballas (the baseball team). Still, we had a great time, and the Spark Plugs raised money for future events, as well as a local charity. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Organizer/DJ--Matt "Sparky" Nolen

Camera Crew/Cheering Section/Disturbingly Weird--Kaitlyn the Great and Laura Paige

Theatrical Master/"Staff Infection" teammate: Bobby "The Fro" Malone


Ready for action

A blur of white, ready to strike.

Of course, in the end I was professionally recruited.

Artwork/Artist

In case you wanted to see what I've been doing lately. These are all pictures of recently completed oil paintings (well...the pair isn't complete....). Sorry the photos are bad--taken in near dark with no tripod.

Here's one of me, just for kicks.

A Series of Events for the Left Hand

The short story had just concluded playing over the car's radio. A short silence was quickly broken.
"Dad, my stomach hurts."
"What did you have for lunch, Brennan?"
A normal course was described, and so I began to conclude that perhaps my son was just hungry for dinner. That was before the vomiting began.
"Brennan, no!" Aydan yelled.
"Aydan, stop. He's just sick."
"Brennan, NO!"
"Aydan, he's just throwing up, he's not doing anything to you!"
"BRENNAN, NO!!"
"AYDAN! STOP YELLING AT HIM!"
"But I don't want him to die!"
A conversation immediately came back to me, in which I recalled telling my wife that I could not remember the last time either boy was sick. Good health is definitely a blessing, but in this case Aydan's unfamiliarity with illness led him to a touching, if not somewhat humorous, conclusion.

After the boys completed a bath, it was off to the store to buy some Resolve to clean up the mess Brennan had left in the backseat. I dashed in and out of the store, and by the time I returned Brennan had fallen asleep. Aydan and I talked as we rode home, and when we arrived I tossed my keys next to the groceries and Brennan in the backseat, planning to pick them up when I collected everything after exiting the vehicle. Meanwhile, Aydan hopped out of the front passenger seat--again a place of some unfamiliarity to him--and in so doing pressed his hand down on the arm rest, built into the door handle.
Bringing in the groceries...and Brennan...proved to be slightly more difficult than I planned.
The doors were locked.
It was an accident of course, but it was a continuation of a series of comical happenings. The happenings continued. Heather was at work, so there were no spare keys to open the door. The simple solution would have been to wake Brennan and have him open his door from within. We yelled. We pounded. We rocked the car to and fro. Brennan slept on. Finally, I realized we would have to call OnStar and have them remotely unlock the doors. Only my cell phone was also locked in the car. The first neighbor friend we visited wasn't at home, but finally our luck changed and we were able to call and have the doors opened.

A ridiculous comedy of errors, but a funny way to spend an evening.

iPun

iWatched a million iChurch, Churchgoer vs. Christian, Christian vs. Christ-Follower videos on Youtube, and iSay that Christian culture continues to be a lame copy-cat riding whatever iPun they can grab onto.

iMade a video today for my church. It was another one of said iParodies. Mac vs. PC is funny. iSpoofs are...not so much. What makes me even more repentant/recalcitrant about my participation in todays shooting? iFeel that iCan't fully support a building campaign (which is what the video was intending to do). iHad a lapse in judgment.

iSuck.