A Morning in the Life of...

Several of you have asked what a typical day is like for me, where I go in a typical day, etc. Honestly, I can't imagine that you would find this interesting, but, OK, I'll show you. The only catch is, I can't show my work or say where I work. But other than that, you'll see a typical day.

Well not a full day. I'm just doing the morning. Trust me, there isn't much for the morning. I do *not* do mornings. If my day started at 3pm I'd be very happy.

So, this morning when I went out the sky was looking pretty cool. It had something to do with the impending rain. And, I have little doubt, it looked cool to me because I am rarely truly awake enough at 7am to even pay attention to the sky, much less appreciate its beauty.



I have a 15 minute drive to work. Some days I stop at McDonald's for oatmeal and a large sweet tea. Not sure why I try to get something healthy like oatmeal and then get a 44oz drink that has so much sugar in it it's like drinking syrup. But yeah, that's breakfast a few times a week. Do I really need to take a pic of McDonald's? I think not. Y'all know what it looks like.

So I drag my butt into my office. Barely awake. Functioning on only the most basic of levels. Skin burning from the sun. Oh wait, no....I'm not supposed to mention that!

Right...moving right along....

I plop down at my desk and unlock it and begin my morning ritual of staring out the window for the next hour or two. This is what I see:

Window #1


That is Veteran's Park that you see off in the distance. It has flagpoles for every state in the Union. Unfortunately they don't fly said flags every day. It would be really cool if they did though. And around 1100am a guy comes and plays his bagpipes every day. I always open my window so I can hear him better.

Window#2


It's hard to tell in this pic, but that's bamboo. Yep, bamboo. It makes me happy. Very happy. It reminds me of Japan. But I love the moss that fell from the oak trees into the bamboo. It combines two things that are so very me. The bamboo for Japan and the moss for the South.

So, that's my morning. I don't do much in the morning. I'm barely coherent in the morning. It's just wrong for a person to be required to be awake at that hour!

Destiny

It occurs to me that very few people know where their true destiny lies. As I watch the people around me it has become very obvious that people settle for contentment and security as a paltry substitute for pursuing their true destiny. Have we become so dead that we no longer hunger to reach our destiny? Are we too lazy to try?

I often hear people say that they just gave up. Gave up?! Really? Why?

I've heard many answers to that question. Sometimes obligations are cited as the reason someone quit striving to reach their destiny. Other times people have told me they just never could figure out what their destiny was.

Apathy anyone? How can you live your whole life never knowing your destiny? How could you quit trying to figure it out? Why won't you take a chance?!

Some have told me that they are afraid they might be wrong. They are afraid they might risk everything only to find it wasn't their destiny after all. OK...that I can understand. Often to reach a point in our life where day to day life and destiny peacefully co-exist we have to risk a lot. But isn't getting up in the morning a risk? Life is uncertain. Wouldn't it be better to live our uncertain life striving for happiness instead of living contentedly a shadow of what could be?

I think people often mistake contentment for happiness. Until you know the difference you can never truly live your life with awareness.

The Simple Things

This morning I'm sitting on my deck watching the pup romp in the back yard and simply enjoying the morning. City life, well suburb life, to be precise, is very different from country life. My neighbor is out mowing his lawn. I know this would drive my dad crazy. He hates the sounds of the city. I don't mind it. Granted I can't breathe, but that's hardly my neighbor's fault. He didn't make me have allergies!

Before Jim started to mow I could hear all my song birds singing and they were flitting around the backyard. The lizards were out too. We have a very interesting type of lizard that lives here. It's very large and has black, brown and tan patches of color on it. I believe it's called a spiny lizard.



This is the type of morning I truly enjoy. It's very lazy and relaxing. Eventually I'll have to leave to run a few errands and go to the doctor, but for now it's a great start to the day.

It's the simple things in life, that break from the daily rat race, that make life worthwhile. Sitting on the deck in the morning. Watching the puppy play. Listening to the birds sing. It's very easy to forget these things. Yet these are the things that truly recharge you and give you something to look forward to.

I'm Dreaming....

If you're in the same frame of mind as I am then you'll be able to finish my thought. But I'd be willing to bet a fair sum of money, the vast majority of you are not even close to thinking what I'm thinking. The worst part is that I've been thinking it since April!

Yes, it's true. I am dreaming of a white Christmas!! And I have been for awhile now. Christmas is my favorite holiday. The whole Christmas season is my favorite time of year. I'm always in a hurry for autumn to come because that means we're ever so close to Thanksgiving! And, in my house, Thanksgiving kicks everything off. Halloween, even though we don't participate in Halloween to any appreciable degree, starts the build up. Of course New Years closes the season out.

I remember my mom's mother loved Christmas too. She decorated and enjoyed the seasonal music and simply loved the Christmas specials on TV. She cooked a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner. It was the same every year because it was my dad's favorite meal. We always, always, always had hog maw, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, deviled eggs and apple dumplings. All of it was made from scratch -- nothing store bought.

Of all my grandparents, my mom's mother was the one that really got into Christmas. My dad's father enjoyed decorating the outside and putting up a large manger scene he had painted inside. And, of course, my dad's mother made Christmas dinner. But the best part of Christmas with that part of the family was Christmas breakfast at their house. We always had a large breakfast to kick off Christmas day and we would open presents. That night we would go back and have Christmas dinner and then play The Game. It was a silly game, but it got quite spirited sometimes.

Today, I have my own traditions. Our family isn't "normal" and never has been. It's not uncommon for us to celebrate Christmas days, even weeks, late. All of my grandparents are dead. My mom and dad don't work traditional jobs so they are, of course, working Christmas day and pretty much all days in December and most of January. That means it's up to me to provide Christmas traditions for my son.

Because it's only us, we have some traditions that others might not find "normal". Thanksgiving is rarely spent with my parents. Usually they are working. On the years that we have Thanksgiving at home, I usually get up and watch the Macy's parade, cook a good breakfast and then spend the day cooking dinner. After we eat dinner we decorate the tree. While we decorate the tree I start playing Christmas music. It's the first time all year I've let myself play Christmas music! That is what I look forward to the most!

Christmas Eve, after my son goes to bed, I attach strings to his stocking presents and then hide them. On Christmas morning he has to follow the strings from his stocking to his presents. Believe it or not, this is his favorite tradition.

Sometimes I wish we could have a "normal" traditional Christmas. But what's left of my family doesn't really care about "normal" or "traditional". I just do what I can to make it what I feel is normal and traditional and hope my son will appreciate the simplicity of a nice family oriented holiday.

Of Tattoos and Childbirth

I never thought I'd think of these two things together! But after an interesting conversation at work.... Well, what can I say?

It all came about because one of the guys came in and I had to escort him to his meeting. I noticed he had some very nice body art and I asked if I could get a better look at it. He showed me everything! LOL I was surprised at all that he had.

One of his tattoos was on the inside of his upper arm! When he showed it to me I said, "That had to be the most painful one!" He said I sounded like I had experience with getting a tattoo there and I said, "No, I'm not even that brave!" He told me it wouldn't be so bad if I had a coach who had already gone through it.

That got me to thinking. Lamaze for tattoos? The mental image of someone coaching me to breathe through it as I got my tattoo had me giggling for the rest of the day. The only thing I can say is: I hope it works better than Lamaze for childbirth! What a crock! Breathe through it?! You've got to be kidding me. More like curl up in the fetal position and hope you survive the ordeal. Frankly I was thankful I ended up with a C-section after 23.5 hours of labor. It hurt less!!

I digress...

I've heard people say that getting tattoos is addictive. I've not had that experience, but then again I have only one child too. I've heard a lot of women say they just love being pregnant and giving birth. What?! Really?! They must get some good drugs in the hospital! I can't say I enjoyed being sick every day of my life for nine months or feeling like a beached whale. Neither can I say I relish the feel of a needle poking me a gazillion times and injecting ink into my skin. And I like the buzz of the ink gun about as much as I like the sound of all the monitors I'm hooked up to during childbirth. Addictive? Right. Maybe for the masochistic.

And let's not forget what comes after. Both experiences leave you sore, tired, moody and swearing you'll never do it again. Yet, I know people with so many tattoos they can't possibly get more. I also know people with so many kids they can't possibly afford them. (That's a rant for another day.)

So, to my surprise, tattoos and childbirth do have a lot in common. Much more than I thought, actually...

The End of the World....Really?

Well either I'm a really bad person and didn't make the cut, or someone was just a little delusional and didn't read Mark 13:32. I'm *really* hoping it was option #2.

Seriously...

I'd have to say that this whole thing really got me to thinking. We all talk about being "good Christians"; we all say we "believe". But are we really "good Christians"? Do we truly "believe"?

My son and I have talked about these things in the days leading up to this alleged rapture. And he made a good point the other day. It's misleading to say we are "good" Christians. We may be Christians and we may even be "good" by the world's standards, but by God's standards we are far, far from good.

He's right in his observation. The "good" standard was set by Jesus Christ. That's why we are called Christians. We are Christ followers. And we all fall short of the example set by Him. So to call ourselves good is a stretch.

I also pointed out to my son when someone calls us good, they are focusing on our works. Think about it. When you say someone is good you say that because of something they've done. Or a lot of somethings they've done. Our faith is not about our works. Yes, we do good works as an outgrowth of the change that's taken place within our heart, but the works don't make us good.

We've also talked a lot about what it means to truly believe. The Bible says that even the devils believe and tremble. I think it is wise of us to read that and truly understand what it means. Simply put: Do you have a "head belief" or a "heart belief". A "head belief" is what the demons have. They know that Jesus's death on the cross happened and that His shed blood has the power to save. They have that knowledge. But they haven't believed that in their heart. They haven't accepted the gift of salvation. Just as a lot of people believe that there was a Jesus. They believe He died for our sins. But it stops there. They haven't accepted the salvation offered. They haven't repented and given their lives to the One who died for them.

I often wonder how many people will be surprised at His coming. How many people thought they believed, but had only believed with their head and not their heart.

Are you one of them?

bin Laden

I've spent the past week watching the reaction to bin Laden's death with great interest. I've also given myself this week to process the information and form an intelligent opinion on the whole situation. Of course my knee jerk reaction was, "Good! It's over now." But really, that reaction is wrong on many levels.

One thing that struck me about the initial reaction to the announcment of bin Laden's death was the bloodthirsty tenor in which people responded. Don't get me wrong, I understand that people were relieved, but to literally rejoice in someone's death? It struck me as wrong.

Something that really bothered me about the whole thing was that this man is now in hell. He won't ever leave hell. He will suffer for the rest of ETERNITY. Our minds can't truly comprehend eternity. Nor can we truly comprehend the horror that is hell. It bothers me to think that anyone will have to spend their eternity in hell.

Yet...

It is what he deserves. The Bible tells us that everyone in their lifetime will have the gospel presented to them. They will have a chance to make the decision to either accept salvation or not. Obviously those who don't go to hell.

bin Laden also did horrible things and encouraged others to do terrible things. So, yes, he deserves hell. Just like Hitler and Hitler's cronies.

Regardless, I cannot bring myself to rejoice in bin Laden's death. I am glad that he is gone and no longer able to lead people to do bad things to others, but even that is only temporary.

Hence the reason I earlier stated that my knee jerk reaction to the news of his death was wrong. So bin Laden is gone. There's another to take his place. Al Qaeda will continue with its terrorist activities under a new leader. Those activities will probably be intensified as bin Laden becomes a martyr to these people.

Regardless, I understand and agree with the fact that he had to go. Martyr or not, bin Laden had to be removed. Unfortunately, we're going to have to decide what to do about the next leader now.

I also think that people in some way equate bin Laden's death with the end of our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. While it would be nice if that were the case, I believe people are forgetting that it's the Taliban, not Al Qaeda, that we are pitted against in Afghanistan. And in Iraq we've decided to take on the role of nation building. Unfortunately that role is not dependant upon a change in leadership of Al Qaeda. Bottom line: We're stuck.

Which makes me wonder: What now? After ten years we've found and removed bin Laden, but what have we truly accomplished? What does this really men for the US both in the immediate future and down the road?