Character counts

"The only thing that walks back from the tomb with the mourners and refuses to be buried is the character of a man. This is true. What a man is survives him. It can never be buried." J. R. Miller

How true! How true, which begs the question, how true are you? I spoke last semester about Integrity and that integrity implies wholeness. It implies being the same person on-line and in person, being the same person to my face and behind my back, being the same person before my friends and before my God.

Character counts, now and always.

Ordinary LIfe

Life is good right now. It usually is for me. What have I done to deserve such a wonderful life? I have no idea. Other than accepting the unmerited grace of God in Christ Jesus, I am as miserable a sinner as ever existed.

Nate just started Upward Basketball at FBC-Webb City last week. Today was his second game. I am so proud of him. He's such an amazing little boy. He jump shot needs work, but he has the sweetest spirit you'll ever find. I hope I can be an encourgement to him.

What is God teaching me right now? Dependence on Him. I cannot keep up with life on my own.

Snow Day

Its a snow day! Yay. Actually, its an 'ice' day, since we have about two inches of solid ice on the ground. On Saturday night, after church, we stopped by Wal-mart to grab some chicken breasts--and where do they find these chickens anyway? Most of the breasts they sell these day would make a Playboy Bunny green with envy.--Anyway, we were getting some chicken breasts when I decided to cut cookies in an empty section of the parking lot. When I say empty, I mean no one had parked there for days. SO I took our 4-Runner out of four-wheel-drive and started sliding around on the ice. The girls were with us and they screamed and giggled with delight. It was fun. Still, I was surprised to see that all that spinning and sliding didn't even leave a tire print on the ice. You wouldn't know we'd ever been there if you didn't see us playing on the ice. It was eerie, really. I mean, shouldn't a mid-sized SUV at least leave a scratch or something? Guess not.

Then last night at about 7:30 the power went out at our house. It stayed off until about 7:30 this morning. We had plenty of flashlights and the fireplace kept us warm, so it wasn't a big deal, but still, it was a nice experience to share with the kids.

Nate should be coming home tonight, weather permitting. He's flying in with his Nana. I know its only been two weeks since I saw him last, but I miss him a lot. He's my son and I love him.

Our First Fight

I don't know what made me think of this, but as we approach 10 years of marriage, I pause to reflect...

I’ll never forget our first big fight: It was during our first year of marriage while we were living in a duplex on South 35th Street in Springfield, OR. After exchanging a few heated words, Mandi, as a joke, locked me out of the house while I was taking out the trash. Angered and stupid, I decided to get even by getting in the car and leaving, also as a ‘joke.’ Seeing me pull away from the house my new bride assumed I was leaving her, so she tried to get in her own car and chase after me.

Meanwhile, I circled the block and was able to observe her chase by following after. Unsure which way I went, she headed for my parents’ house. They were the only family we had in town at the time. When she arrived and found out that I wasn’t there, she was distraught. A few moments later I arrived. We yelled, she cried, we made up as only newlyweds can, but in the end, it was mostly my fault. What was it actually about?What was the root of those first heated words that led to our fiasco? I have no idea.