I just got an email from a college friend sharing a news article that Madeleine L’Engle passed away yesterday at the age of 88. It’s probably not often that men call her their favorite author, but she was one of mine. I wasn’t an advanced reader- always a little behind- but I remember reading A Wrinkle In Time in Junior High (and honestly struggling through it, but loving it at the same time). That led me to begin reading other great books by her- A Ring of Endless Light, Many Waters, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, A Wind In A Door. Wow! It brings back great memories. I’d never read anything like it; the way she would weave fantasy, science and modern day together was amazing. I guess that’s called Science-Fiction.
Later, I discovered that she wrote some powerful non-fiction books as well. One that really spoke to me as a “creative” type was Walking On Water. She wrote with such honesty and candor about how she didn’t write to fit a specific genre, she just wrote what came out. It really challenged me. I also discovered that she wrote many books on faith and characters from the Bible and yet most Christian bookstores would not sell her because she was considered “fantasy”. You know that Christians don’t believe in Unicorns and we can’t even pretend that they existed!!!

She even wrote a Christmas narrative using the frescoes of some cathedral to tell the story in a fresh and new way. Amy & I read it every Christmas.

Being reminded of all the great books that she wrote makes me want to read them again to be taken to far off places, to be comforted by her words and to be challenged by her way of thinking.

They’re here! The hummingbirds have found our feeder. It didn’t take long. This morning I heard Mr. Darcy cackling by the back door and sure enough- there was a hummingbird. They’re easily spooked and last year I had to stand over to the side or from far away to watch them. But this morning as I got into my car to leave for work our little hummingbird friend- who I will call Hibiscus- flew right up to my windshield, stopped, looked at me and flew off again. I wish I could say that it was some deep meaning thing- that perhaps he wanted to try and communicate- but after flying up to my car he immediately flew up to one of those electrical posts that are covered with plastic and did the same thing.

None the less it was a great way to start my day. It was like the Lord coming up and saying, “Have a great day, Tim!”

Going through some Freedom Prayer training at Belmont and today’s reading was on passivity. Man, did it kick my butt. Thankfully, I can say that I’m not as bad as I used to be, but I’m still WAY off from where I want to be.
Identifying those areas in my life where I’ve been prone to passivity has really challenged me today. I can see all kinds of ways that I’m not walking in initiative and boldness. But changing your habits, the way you do things, the way you think is very challenging.

Sometimes I think that I’m better at coming up with titles for my blogs than actually writing them. Sometimes.

This morning I saw them. The hummingbirds were zipping around my neighbor’s feeder. There were two of these fast fliers. And it reminded me that I don’t have my hummingbird feeder up yet. A couple of years ago Amy  & I bought one that suctions to our patio door. Last year was the first time they showed up, and it was so cool to watch them. Even the cats love when they come. Mr. Darcy will sit at the bottom and look up at them and just cackle at them. It’s fun to watch.

We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.

Lee Iacocca

 

 

Amy & I normally don’t go see movies on the opening weekend. We usually wait to see what some of the reviews are saying. We like to check www.christianspotlight.com to see what they have to say. It’s a great resource, but you have to take the reviews with a grain of salt. Some people are taking their 4 year olds to see PG-13 movies and then giving it a bad review. Duh! Others over-generalize the negative and would love just about any movie. Honestly, I don’t think I could be a regular movie reviewer. There are just too many movies not worth seeing.

But Amy & I broke out of our typical selves and went to see Stardust this weekend. I hadn’t even heard about it until a friend mentioned it. I went online and watch the trailer and thought it might be good. I found a few reviews- all giving it a good rating (though Christian Spotlight’s wasn’t available). So we took a chance. Amy was being very brave to go see a movie that she’d not seen the trailer for at least.

Thankfully we weren’t disappointed. It was a very good story. Not one to add to the home movie collection, but one that provided a good night’s entertainment. The basic love story is really charming and endearing. There is some gore, violence and magic that’s a bit intense (which means- don’t take your 4 year old!), but it’s a story of Good vs. Evil. Or in this case Light vs. Darkness.

There are some questionable innuendos, but nothing overtly rude or crude. I think you will find all but the sorcery is played off in a light hearted nature.  If you see it, let me know what you think.

Saturday Amy & I went to the most beautiful wedding that we’d each ever been to. (And that’s saying a lot!) Two teachers at Antioch High School got married in Joelton, TN.  Amy & MaryBeth (the bride) really only got to know each other this year, but they’ve formed a strong friendship and Amy was delighted to be invited to the wedding. I’ve only met them a couple times, but any friend of my wife’s is a friend of mine.

Now, I’ve only driven through Joelton once, and I can’t say that it really left a big impression on me. The wedding was held at The Rawlings Country Club and it was right across from a vineyard. The Rawlings is unlike any Country Club I’ve seen because you drive down this beat up road- that is only 1 degree better than a gravel road- through a dark green canopy of trees to what looks like a cottage tucked away in the woods. I didn’t see a golf course or any of the whoopty-do that most Country Clubs have. This was quaint and quiet.

Behind the cottage, where the ceremony was held,  there was a beautiful creek that was gently flowing and the chairs were set up so that we all faced the creek and the magnificent trees that climbed heavenward on the other side. The bridge & groom stood before an arbor made of limbs and branches, decorated in her wedding colors. It was an evening wedding so the temperature was just right.

It was the words of the man officiating the ceremony blended with the beauty of  God’s creation that moved me to tears almost immediately. Everyone was crying, even the pastor. It was  a tender, sacred moment.  This man was in his 60’s and spoke from a gentle wisdom that made you sit on the edge of your seat listening intently to every word. He reminded them that it was no accident that they were here together. He reminded them to love as Christ loved us. He called the family to stand and agree to embrace the new person into their family. Everyone was moved.

The bride had her brother read a poem that she had written for the man she was marrying and it was a tender and vulnerable poem, about how her dream would be a man who could see her as more, and love her as she is; a man that would have qualities of her father and both her brothers. Man! It made me wish that every woman could say that of the man she was marrying.

Amy & I dearly love the wedding we had, but both of us wished we could do it all over again like this.

It wasn’t a formal wedding. It wasn’t a formal service, just one where the beauty, reverence and awesomeness of two people becoming one was very powerful and moving.

Okay, so my friends know that I am not an “Early Adopter.” My co-workers know this as well. I don’t have the iPhone. I have no desire to spend $600 on one and then to maintain the service fees. I don’t have an iPod. I do have an mp3 player and it suits my needs, which is to listen to sermons in my cars. It took me forever to get onto the blogging bandwagon and as you know from how sparse my writings are I am not the most regular with it. I definitely wasn’t one of the first ones to peruse Craigslist either.

But I love Craigslist. We take the paper, but the classifieds seem so messy to me and hard to find anything so I rarely bother. Craigslist on the other hand is so easy to use. We’ve looked at houses (just for the heck of it) and furniture. We’ve been looking for a dining room table set, a hutch and a entertainment armoire (the kind that has the doors that hide the TV).

Last Friday I found the entertainment armoire. It was Broyhill and exactly what we were looking for. Mind you, we aren’t big TV people. We don’t have the flat screen, HD, plasma screens that you mount on the wall- nor do we want one. We’ve been wanting this armoire for as long as we’ve been together. $200 was the asking price. I think the original price of these was over a thousand for sure. Amy & I figured that with the influx of flat screens that people would be getting rid of their big ‘ol armoires that no longer fit. And we were right!

Last night I drove out to Bellevue to check it out. It was in really good condition and it was huge! I had to get a Uhaul cargo van to transport it. It probably weighed 400-500 lbs. and it took 4 people to get it out of their house even with a dolly because of the stairs. Thankfully, it only took three of us to get it into our home. Thanks Philip for your muscle!

We got it in place and all hooked up last night and got all our movies moved over to it. Needless to say the cats thought it was a gift for them. Boy even crawled inside and was sitting behind our DVDs!

I know we’re behind the times, but it really is the perfect piece. We couldn’t have asked for a better price. It was our first Craigslist purchase. Hopefully not our last.

Last night I got home around 5:40 and my wife & I went for a walk –we do this almost everyday when the weather is nice. It’s a great way for us to catch up on our days and to have some uninterrupted quality time together. The phones stay at home.

We didnt’ get far last night when we found a beagle walking near the entrance to our neighborhood and he pretty much came right up to us. He was very tame and very well-behaved. He had a collar, but no tags. Amy wanted me to go back and get our leash (that we bought to try and walk our cats— don’t ask!) so we could look around the neighborhood for his owners.

We walked him back through the homes and stopped everyone that we saw outside asking if they knew anyone who owned a beagle. We don’t know any of our neighbors, not really, so this was a good way for us to meet them. Many of them were very friendly and concerned. (Everyone is concerned about a pet). None of them knew the owners, but a few of them thought that he belonged to a couple that has 2 beagles and a baby up near the town homes.

The poor little guy was getting very tired from all the walking we did so we took him back to our house. We put him out on our patio and gave him plenty of water and fed him some cat food– don’t say it! I know, I know. But dogs will eat anything. And he did! Gulped it down so fast he nearly puked it back up. Needless to say that wasn’t selling my wife on getting a dog.

After he’d rested a bit we went back out and circled our town home community and the neighboring one. We met some neighbors who asked us if we’d been to The Call on Saturday. We said, “Yes. How did you know?” They reminded me of the red LIFE band that I was wearing. It was great to meet believing neighbors. We stood outside and talked for probably 20 minutes. They were great people. I want to talk to them some more and invite them over sometime.

They thought that the dog might belong up the street, but those people with the 2 beagles and a baby had just recently moved and their house was for sale. We went up to the house and called the Realtor and told her the situation. They’d moved to Brentwood so it was very unlikely that the dog was theirs, but she would call and let us know. We didn’t here back from her.

Our last option was the apartments. We’ve never really even been over there, but thankfully we found a woman walking who “thought” that the dog looked familiar. She took us to the apartment of the couple that she believed own the dog. They weren’t home. So she took us back to get a post-it to stick on their door letting them know we have their dog.

Well, just about that time another neighbor came by and asked if we were looking for the dog’s owners. We said yes. She said, “That’s Buddy. I’m almost sure of it.” She called who she believed to be the owner. He wasn’t home, but his wife pulled up at that exact time. Sure enough, Buddy knew her well. He ran all the way home waiting for her to let him in. She told us he gets out all the time.

Turns out he lived just across the road from our town home community. We wouldn’t have met so many nice people and hopefully sparked the beginning of some new relationships if it hadn’t been for Buddy.

My wife is reading Wild At Heart for the 2nd time. She’s in a women’s book study this summer. I highly recommend this book for women to read so that they have a better understanding of the men around them (fathers, brothers, husband, friends).

It’s been a while since I read this book. I just recently finished Eldredge’s new book, The Way Of The Wild Heart, which is really great. (I highly recommend that men read this book. I don’t think it’s as beneficial to women). Anyways- as I was saying, it’s been a while since I read W@H so I’ve forgotten a few things; guess it’s time to re-read it. Amy asked me the other day on our way up to Evansville what my “adventure” is.

Woah! I had to kind of think about it. I know that where I am right now part of the adventure is learning how to be a good husband, redeveloping relationships with my siblings and family…but that was about it. She asked if I consider my job part of my adventure. I had to think about that. I know that I should probably think of it that way…but I can’t say that I have.

These questions are making me think.

Currently reading: The Catcher In The Rye