December 28, 2006

Christmas in MI

Every year since 1988 my mother's side of the family gets together the day after Christmas for a family party that rotates locations between my mom and her siblings. This year it was at our house. We usually eat, exchange real gifts and gag gifts and play lots of card games. This year my parents went a little crazy and had a bunch of ice breaker games and bought a bunch of door prizes as well. We have enjoyed relaxing and wondering if we should shower or not. Kim usually goes one way and I choose another. Kim tells me that we promised our Indy Cousins a post about what actually happened this year at the party, but I am going to let her type because she has been slacking of late. That post will come soon, but not now because my parents computer (from which I am writing) is dial-up and SLOOOOOOOOW. So I will have my dad e-mail me the pics instead of waiting 10 minutes to upload one little picture. Kim will write soon.

December 23, 2006

An Advent Prayer


"O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the most high, and reaching mightily from one end of the earth to the other, ordering all things well: Come and teach us the way of prudence.

Even so, come Lord Jesus

O Adonai, and leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

Even so, come Lord Jesus

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign to the people, before whom kings shall shut their mouths and the nations shall seek: Come and deliver us and do not delay.

Even so, come Lord Jesus

O Key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel, who opens and no one can shut, who shuts and no one can open: Come and bring the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Even so, come Lord Jesus

O Daystar, splendor of light eternal and sun of righteousness: Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Even so, come Lord Jesus

O King of the nations, and their desire, the corner-stone making both one: Come and save us, whom you formed from the dust.

Even so, come Lord Jesus

O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the desire of all nations and their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord our God.

Even so, come Lord Jesus"

-Author Unknown, 9th century
*****************************
Merry Christmas Everyone! We are off to Michigan for a week with family and friends. As we are reminded of Christ's first advent this Christmas, may we be on the lookout for his work today in and around us through his precious Spirit as we wait in expectation for his second advent and his kingdom reign. We echo the angels words to the shepherds on that first Christmas night:
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:14

Lucas & Kim

December 18, 2006

10th Annual IAWL Christmas Party (and other holidays)

The first "It's a Wonderful Life" Christmas Party was held spontaneously on Saturday, Dec 5, 1997. After a round of Christmas caroling around the campus of Hillsdale College, we crammed around 20 people into the small T.V. room in our dorm to watch the movie. The 10th installment was a bit classier. Kim prepared crostini, meatballs and numerous dips and desserts for the 17 people that came. Lots of candles and we even had the fireplace going (can you find it in the picture?) . For the first time, the hors d'ourves and the movie were in separate locations. I was able to reserve one of our lecture halls on campus, which has equipment for showing movies. This was a real treat. And since it felt like an actual theater, this is the first year that everybody actually watched the whole film. Ironically, the movie was also on NBC this past Saturday. Who knew? Joel and Allie made the trip from Harvard over here. Joel has made it to 9 out of the 10 IAWL Christmas Parties. He was able to make it when he lived in Japan, but missed it by a week when he lived in Cambridge, England. We'll see how he does next year when they are living in Milwaukee. The other pictures are the Turkey Kim cooked for Thanksgiving. This was our first year we were home for Thanksgiving and not with family. We had four other couples over and did a potluck Thanksgiving meal. The other picture is Kim dressed up for Halloween. Everybody in the activities department dressed up according to their "Old MacDonald" theme. Any guesses as to what Kim is?

December 15, 2006

In Honor of our 100th Post...

One hundred is also:
-The number of years in a century
-A 100 year old person is known as a centenarian
-The number of pounds in an American short hundredweight
-The number of subunits into which many of the world's currencies are divided; for example, one euro is one hundred cents and one Pound Sterling is one hundred pence
-The number of verses in the pop song 99 Bottles of Beer
-The denomination of the U.S. hundred-dollar bill with Benjamin Franklin's portrait; the "Benjamin" is the largest U.S. bill in print
-The denomination of American savings bonds with Thomas Jefferson's portrait
-The denomination of American treasury bonds with Andrew Jackson's portrait
-The number of tiles in a standard Scrabble set
-In Greece, India and Israel, 100 is the police telephone number.
-In Belgium, 100 is the ambulance telephone number.
-In United Kingdom, 100 is the operator telephone number
-"The First Hundred Days" is an arbitrary benchmark of a President of the United States' performance at the beginning of his term
-The number of poems in the Japanese poetry anthology Hyakunin Isshu
-The record number of points scored in one NBA game, set by Wilt Chamberlain on March 2, 1962
-100 is the atomic number of fermium, an actinide
-100 degrees Celsius is the boiling temperature of pure water at sea level
-One hundred is the square of 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standard SI prefix for a hundred is "hecto-".
-It is the sum of the first nine prime numbers, as well as the sum of two prime numbers (47 + 53), and the sum of the cubes of the first four integers (100 = 13 + 23 + 33 + 43). Also, 26 + 62 = 100, thus 100 is a Leyland number.
-100 (one hundred) (the Roman numeral is C for centum) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
Thanks to our friends at Wikipedia for the content of this post.
Do you have any "100" that we should add?

December 14, 2006

The Hidden Danger of Ice Scrapers

To all who are wondering where I've been...the answer is in school. To make a long story short, I'm trying to do in 7 weeks what most take at least 3 months to do...so that's why I've been a little absent. I should be done soon, and then I will come back. However, I did have a classic story that I thought I would share with all of you. So far we haven't had much of a winter aside from a few flurries here and there, and a few frosty mornings. My story begins one frosty morning about a week ago. It was the first time I had to use the ice scraper and I was so thankful that Lucas had bought a brand new ice scraper that worked so nicely on the windows. I scraped off the frost, dropped the ice scraper next to the seat, and proceeded with my day...never realizing the hidden danger that awaited me. In fact, I didn't even have an inkling of the danger until the next morning (a beautiful, sunny, and slightly warm morning which required absolutely no scraping). I unlocked the car, tossed my things in the passenger's seat, and plopped into the car. It was at this moment that I felt a sharp pain in my upper left thigh. I looked down and realized that when I dropped the ice scraper next to the seat it had gotten caught on the lever that moves the seat. It had been sitting directly in line with the top of the seat (which is why I didn't notice that it was there) but when I sat down the seat smooshed and the ice scraper did not. At this point I thought, "hmm...that's going to leave a nasty bruise," and took off to work. It wasn't until I was getting out of the car at work that I began to think something more might be wrong. There was still a stabbing pain (a scratch and a bruise should have worn off in the 20 minutes) and as I walked I began to feel that maybe there was a wet spot. I got inside and sure enough I had an ice scraper edge shaped hole in my pants and thigh...and there was definitely blood. I won't describe the scene that followed, as I'm sure you can imagine what happened next. All I will say is that it was awfully embarrassing to hide in our office until my pants had dried, and doubly embarrassing to walk around the rest of the day with a limp and a hole in the back of my pants and tell everyone who asked, "I sat on an ice scraper." So let this be a lesson to all of you as we enter a season of frost and ice...make sure when you put your ice scraper in the car that the sharp, pointy edge is facing the back seat!

Whoa, what has happened here?

Hey, hey. Decided to spice things up a bit with the semester now over. A new format and also links to friends and other favorite sites. If you have any suggestions, let us know. If you are a friend and have a blog and think that we should link to it, let us know that too. One in particular I will mention, Theology of the Body, is a site described as "young people standing with the saints to proclaim Christ the Lord." It was started by a dear friend of mine from Hillsdale (whose nickname is a bakery item that I enjoy in the blueberry variety). The reason I mention it is that I am also a contributor at this blog, although rather infrequent. The following is a post I put up at the site yesterday:

The Three Advents
"Over the past centuries the liturgy of the church has developed a spirituality particularly for Christians during Advent. Both Sunday liturgies and the daily Scripture readings have been designed to direct our journey into the Advent experience of the mystery of Christ. Our parents in the faith have chosen Scriptures that accent three Advents: the Advent of Christ coming into our own lives, the Advent of Christ's physical birth in Bethlehem, and the Advent of his second coming at the end of history. While the liturgies and daily readings of Advent begin with the second coming and move as in a funnel toward the first coming, we are called to a vital personal encounter with Christ through all the readings."-Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Time

December 13, 2006

Finishing Strong

Hey Everybody,

As the semester winds down, I should have more time to blog. My apologies for not really offering a new post since Sept besides the Homecoming Fun. I have one exam left, which I will take tomorrow. The real student in this family right now is my wife. Kim is working on a course for her certification as an activities director. She found out in early November that after the New Year, new regulations were going to be added and the price for the course would increase, so she has been cramming in this 6 month course into 6 weeks! She is almost done and is aiming for next Thursday to be done since it is a very special and important day (hint, hint). Please keep her and her sanity in your prayers as she works hard to finish the course. This Saturday we will be hosting our 10th annual "It's a Wonderful Life" Christmas Party. Pictures and a report will follow next week. I will also keep busy through exegesis and sermon preparation for Dec 31 when I preach at my church on Luke 3. We hope that all of you are able to keep an expectant advent during these weeks leading up to Christmas!

November 22, 2006

Explosion on the North Shore

Not sure if you had heard in the national news about the major explosion of a chemical plant that occurred here last night. Kim and I live about ten miles away and it certainly woke both of us up last night. It felt like the whole building was shaking and although the blinds were drawn, the apartment did brighten from the light. Incredible. I had no clue what it was until I heard this morning on the local TV stations. I guess the fire rose several hundred feet in the air, produced a small mushroom cloud and even register 0.5 on the Richter scale all the way in Boston. It woke people up as far away as Maine and New Hampshire. Whoa. Anyway, here is the link to the story: http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=168549. Amazingly, even though about 60-80 homes were destroyed, no one was killed and only about 10 people experienced minor injuries! Miraculous.

November 18, 2006

Hillsdale Homecoming Part 6

Mon Oct 9, 5:20 am: Always good to start a long road trip early in the morning. I wake up easily and am somewhat excited for the trip back. Another nice surprise is that Jeff (my old boss) is up to greet us and say goodbye. What a guy.

6:00 am: Pick up Joel and Allie. Say goodbye to Joel's mother and to Tony. Not quite sure how he is going to get to the airport tomorrow, but it will add to the drama and adventure, I'm sure.

9:30 am: Time for traditional McDonald's breakfast at rest stop, but we settle for Burger King. At the rest stop I realize that we missed our highway when I-80/90 split before Cleveland. But it is a minor inconvenience since the roads still parallel each other.

12:30 pm: Allie is driving after Kim drove in the morning. It is so nice to have four of us driving during this trip as opposed to the usual two of just Kim and I. Kind of a quiet trip back as we are all tired from the busy weekend.

4:30 pm: Still driving.

6:30 pm: Still driving, will we ever get there?

7:30 pm: We drop Joel and Allie off at their place in Cambridge, but we still have 45 minutes to drive home. Joel tries to give us directions back as it is very tricky getting around this area with tons of one-ways.

8:30 pm: Lost in downtown Boston. Frustrated and quick-tempered at his point. Kim and I just want to be home. So tired. And hungry. And low on gas.

9:00 pm: Finally near home. Get McDonald's and gas. Ate one of them. At this point not sure of which.

9:15 pm: Home. What a great place to be. Plop on the couch, turn on the tube and eat. What a great thing to do.

9:45 pm: Kim and I hit the bed and are asleep before we know it. Dreaming about what a great trip we had, what great friends we have and what great sleep we will have.

The End.

November 15, 2006

Hillsdale Homecoming Part 5

Sunday Oct 8, 9:00 am: Quick run to Mc'D's for a breakfast sandwich. Tony gets an extra pie in the bag, which I eat. The peasants rejoiced.

10:30 am: Kim and I returned to our old church where we ministered and became engaged. Tony, Muffin and Nic accompany us. I have the privilege of serving as lay leader during the service. Great to see so many old friends. I especially enjoyed picking on the kids who were in our youth group.

12:00 pm: Dr. Reist invites us all to join him for lunch after the service at a great sports bar down the road. Just a terrific lunch as we were able to all talk together. Dr. Reist was his usual self, but I' m pretty sure none of us would have had it any other way.

1:00 pm: Muffin drops cell phone, appears to have destroyed it, Nic saves the day in no time flat.

2:00 pm: Tony, Joel and I decide that it is time to play some disc golf out at Baw Beese. Kim gets to spend some quality Brother-Sister time with Nic. Allie does what Allie does: run.

3:00 pm: I am pleasantly surprised that having not played a single round of disc golf all year and using only one disc (and not even my own disc), I shoot one over par. I usually averaged about two to four over par during my many rounds with Garny. Perfect fall day to be out there for a round.

4:00 pm: I sit in the Joel's mother's garage, which is actually a warehouse of Tony memorabilia. Tony and I sift through his memories and I get two free guitar books from Tony. Tony's always been a giver, he'd give you the shoes off his feet, but that's not really much for Tony considering how many shoes he owns... many, many... shoes.

6:00 pm: Tony is chilling back at Simpson and the wife and I decide to pay a visit to my old boss and his family (and drop our stuff off since we would be staying there that evening. I explicitly told them that I had brought an air mattress and that we just needed some floor space, but when we arrived, we were told that Jeff had kicked his twin daughters out of there room for us and made them clean it! He told us that he always takes advantages of having guest over to get his kids to clean their room. The twins were actually very excited for us to stay in their room. Exceptional fam.

7:00 pm: Hunger beckons. We submit. Little Ceaser's Drive-Thru Hot-n-Ready Pizza. Just thinking about it now makes me hunger. Another thing I miss greatly. For $5.35, you can drive-up and get a large pepperoni pizza. We finished off the meal with some ice cream from the Moo Cow in Jonesville. Delicious. Tony pays for his ice cream with the change he found in the garage. Less weight for the trip back to Japan.

8:30 pm: Stop by and pay our old friend Piko a visit.

10:00 pm: Tony and Joel decide to attend Catacombs. Tony and Joel began this ministry during our junior year at Hillsdale and it survives to this day, and apparently is even more popular than when we were there. Of course they currently advertise the gathering, which was not done in our day considering that it was suppose to reflect the time when Christians would meet secretly in the catacombs due to persecution. Much was still the same: no lights only candles, sitting on the floor, time of singing, with prayer in the middle. Another of my favorite things during my college days was this service every Sunday evening.

10:30 pm: Kim and I stay up a little later than we should. We are both exhausted and know that it will be an early morning tomorrow, but just enjoy seeing the Lantis family too much. But we are in bed and asleep soon after.

November 13, 2006

Hillsdale Homecoming Part 4

Sat Oct 7, 10:00 am: I am astonished to find out that I a) did not wake up when Tony and Billy return, b) had slept for ten straight hours and c) that my stomach is back to full health after yesterday's funky cappuccino disaster.

10:30 am: Took Tony to Rite Aid so he could buy his supplies. Apparently medicine in Japan is outrageously expensive. Tony also look for a wrist wrap because this was his current injury. Every time I meet up with Tony, somehow he gets injured. I don't think it's me, I think he is just old.

11:00 am: Time to start eating out tuition back. Hillsdale is giving away a lot of free food today and we intend on eating a lot of free food. With my appetite back, Tony and I head to homecoming registration to score some muffins, bagels, fruit, juice, etc. We are badgered by two students to sign up for the free raffle, but as we all know, it is a way to get our info to call us up for the alumni phoneathon.

12:30 pm: Smile! The five year picture of the class of 2001 is taken. Our group counts for 60% of the picture (6 out of 10). Not sure where the other 242 students are. But then again, not sure if they mattered anyway. Oh, more free food. this time they had the little kosher wieners, cheese and crackers, veggies, beer and wine. Must keep eating.

12:45 pm: Catching up with Lantz Romance (and child!), Little Danny Simpson (and child! and another in the oven!), Russ and Gina (and child!). Crazy.

1:00 pm: Make a getaway to the steps of Central Hall. Can't miss the alumni choir production. This is true mostly because my wife is in it (can you find her in the picture?). Billy Boy joins me as his wife is also in it. Couldn't have asked for a better day weather wise as we were truly under azure skies.

2:00 pm: Time for tailgating and more free food in the alumni tent! Excellent. I unfortunately am feeling a little full and know that there is still more free food ahead of me, so I abstain.

3:00 pm: We are at the big game! Hillsdale vs. Indianapolis. We find ourselves down 13-0 early on. Typical Charger football. But we are having a great tim ein the stands. The old college cheer has caught us and we are very much enjoying rooting for the blue and white.

3:30 pm: Decide to make calls to friends who decided not to join us: Jessica Formerly Donda, Meredith Formerly Culbertson and Kwin who is still Kwin. Kwin is the only one who answers, we pass her around the group like a bad cold. So in a way, Kwin did some crowd surfing at the game in Hillsdale all the way from California. Nice.

4:00 pm: Halftime! They announce the drawing for the alumni raffle. Prizes are a brick and top prize is a chair. I announce that I would rather have the brick. "Second prize brick goes to...Lucas Miller." I won a brick! This is an alumni I brick worth $150. I can engrave anything I want on it and it will be places in the alumni walk. Amazingly Ashley Culbertson, Allie's sister wins the chair! Amazing because she is in Georgia. I guess Allie threw her name into the mix. Our group sweeps!

4:30 pm: Joel, Allie and myself head up to the President's box after Joel sweet talks the bouncer. We investigate into our prizes, score more free food (assorted nuts, brats and beer). Give our regards to Larry, share a few Churchill jokes and are on our way.

4:45 pm: Hillsdale somehow wins 14-13 with a freshman quarterback starting his first game due to two other quarterbacks being injured. We actually should have lost, but defenders kept running into each other and the ball would somehow land in our receivers hands.

5:00 pm: Charger victory party at alumni tent. More free food! A great hashbrown casserole, pulled-chicken sandwiches and dessert make for some good eats. I sit with Prof Westblade and family and Dr Turner as well. Lovely conversation with good folk.

5:30 pm: Find Joel, Tony and Muffin. The incident occurs, which I will let Tony tell in his own words: "I expect to read about the runaway baby in the next installment, keeping in mind that yours truly did not know that the baby was barrelling towards him, due to extreme focus on the frisbee. Dad throws the frisbee, mom rolls the baby down the hill... not a hard call to make, except that I saw the frisbee first and have never been that good at multi-tasking." Just FYI, yours truly (Lucas Miller) is the one who caught the runaway stroller, but Tony did catch the frisbee. So we are both heroes.

7:00 pm: Head over to Simpson to chill for a moment. Watch the end of the Tigers game. They knock out the Yankees and celebrate like little kids. Our friend Chas ditched us to go that game. Watching it, I feel he probably made the correct choice. Probably.

8:00 pm: Decide to congregate at Rosalies for snacks and drinks. I had neither as I was stuffed from all the free food that day. Great to see Jen and Kel-Kel again. We were the last to leave Rosalies that evening. Good times.

11:00 pm: Quick stop at Wal-Mart for old times sake. I begin to drool over the ridiculously low prices that are absent from life in Massachusetts.

11:30 pm: Joel, Tony and I meet up with Robey, Mohler and Crazy Carl in the EAR. Ping Pong follows as well as Sportscenter and catching up Mohler on life. Again, we were the last to leave, getting kicked out by security at 2 am.

October 30, 2006

Hillsdale Homecoming Part 3

Fri Oct 6, 6:00 pm: Allie, Nic, Kim and myself arrive at the Hunt Club to find out that the entire upper level of the tavern is reserved for us. Apparently there had been numerous fights over billiards games in the upper area, so they only use it for large groups. Amazingly we arrived before Dr. Reist, which may have been a first not only for us, but for anyone.

6:01 pm: Dr. Reist arrives.

6:01:30 pm: Dr. Reist tells his first joke and orders his first gin and tonic.

6:20 pm: As we start to wonder if anyone else is going to show up, Marty Muntz (he took over my position as youth pastor at Somerset Congo) arrives followed soonafter by Muffin Moorman, who finally finishes her day of travel that I think began at 5 am from Dallas.

7:15 pm: The party is jumping now as Crazy Carl and Robey show up, followed by the boys who have returned from Fort Wayne with a Mr. William Gray in tow.

7:25 pm: I order a boring salad, since nothing else on the menu agrees with my stomach as the effects of the funky cappuccino continue.

7:30 pm: Kim's slow friends finally show up. That would be just about all of them.

8:30 pm: With the party still raging, we all line up for a group shot in case anyone would later need photographic evidence to support an alibi.

10:00 pm: The group makes it way down to College's Homecoming Bon Fire and Fireworks. Since we were having so much fun at the Hunt Club, we missed the steel drum band the college brought in from Iowa. We were able to see the fireworks as we ventured down from Whitely to the soccer fields.

10:15 pm: Seeing the college students running around the bon fire, giggling like idiots and looking like junior highers, I realize that those days appear to be over for our group of friends.

10:16 pm: I turn around and observe off in the distance a sumo contest between Gray and Mohler. They enact the entire pageantry of the contest. The old man wins convincingly. Perhaps our glory days are still at hand. But then again I am pretty loopy at this point having had no sleep in over 40 hours.

10:20 pm: A Hillsdale Collegian reporter begins to interview Tony, Joel and myself asking for memories of days gone by and our thoughts on homecoming. After giving my two cents, she asks me for Joel's name since he left before she could ask. I think of three possible answers: 1) Joel (that is quickly dismissed), 2) Nate Davis (classic, but sometimes overplayed) and 3) Andrew Burns. Since Burns decided that the birth of his first child was more important than us, I told the reporter "Andrew Burns is his name."

10:45 pm: Tony, still retelling his collegiate tales to the reporter, is now through his sophomore year. The reporter eyes an escape route but none are available. (Here is the website of the article: http://www.hillsdale.edu/collegian101206/default.asp?sect=arts&item=they_did; Tony's comment at the bottom of the article is about yours truly.)

change before heading over to the Phi Mu Alpha house (where Carl, Robey and Mohler are staying) to hang out. But after not having slept in a long, long time, I hear the muses of the bed beckon me to sweet, slumber. I heed its call.

Sometime after 11:15 pm: Apparently Carl "accidentally" spills some Coke on Tony, who is able to control his five (maybe more this time) seconds of fury. I continue to sleep.

October 24, 2006

Hillsdale Homecoming Part 2

Fri Oct 6, 8:00 am: Try to sleep

8:30 am: Realize that I am unable to sleep due to funky cappuccino.

9:00 am: Time to find housing for the weekend. Take Tony and Kim to see my old boss, Jeff, up in Admissions.

9:30 am: Housing found! Jeff hooks Tony, Billy and myself up with a room in Simpson, one of the men's dorms.

10:30 am: Wandering around the Dale, checking out the new buildings and looking for Kim's brother, Nic, who is a sophomore at Hillsdale and in class.

10:50 am: Tony, Kim and I are staked out in different locations where there will be a lot of traffic from classes getting out in hopes that we might spot Nic.

11:00 am: No signs of the boy even though we know he has class in one the two buildings we are staking out.

11:15 am: Decide to look for him at his dorm and, Bingo, there he is. He had taken a back way home.

12:00 pm: Continuing the classic tradition of throwing the Frisbee whenever the boys get back together. This time, since our usual spot on the quad is not available due to construction, we choose to throw across the busiest street on campus, Hillsdale St. Here's the basic formula: Tony tries to throw disc very hard, hits curb, funkdifies disc, repeat.

12:30 pm: Joel's mother takes us out to eat at a rather new spot in Jonesville called the Saucy Dog. BBQ joint with specialized burgers. But I am not feeling up for the food due to lack of sleep and the continuing effects of the funky cappuccino.

2:00 pm: Meet up with fellow all night travelers Mohler, Robey and Crazy Carl. They had driven from St. Louis and had a chance to catch some Z's this morning. Mohler ops out of sleep to attend a math class and a history class. That boy is always showing us up.

3:00 pm: Tony, Mohler and Joel part ways with us to take my car to pick-up Billy boy. I decide to stick around the Dale to spend some quality time with Kim and Nic.

4:00 pm: Quality time seems to be defined as walking around campus saying "what should we do" to each other only to keep running into random old friends and chatting it up with them.

5:30 pm: Time to meet Allie at Whitley dorm and the four of us walk down to the Hunt Club for our big reunion dinner. Did I mention that it was an absolutely gorgeous autumn day in the Dale?

October 20, 2006

Hillsdale Homecoming Part 1

Thursday Oct 5, 4:15 pm: Exegesis of Romans ends. Time to hop into the car to pick-up wife from work. No time to go back to apt. Wish I would have slept more last night .

5:00 pm: Got wife.

6:30 pm: Depart from Joel and Allie's apt in Cambridge, MA. Car is gassed, stomach is full, and hopes are high.

8:20 pm: Driving through western MA. Found clear signal for Mets-Dodgers game. Joel happy.

11:30 pm: Mets win. Joel even happier.

12:00 am: Enjoying compilation Backpage Compendium. Reliving glory days.

2:00 am: Start my second driving shift. Just downed some funky cappuccino.

4:00 am: On yellow

4:20 am: On orange, but pass reststop.

4:40 am: On five alarm red. Cursing myself for passing reststop. Cursing Cleveland for not having more gas stations.

5:00 am: Squirming, barely able to walk from car to bathroom.

5:03 am: Sweet relief.

6:00 am: Unable to sleep from funky cappuccino.

7:30 am: Arrive at Hillsdale

September 29, 2006

Way too long

Sorry about the apparent disappearance. The Blog has slipped our minds because of the start of the new semester and related ministries. Kim and I are leading a homefellowship through our church on Tuesday nights. There are about 10-12 people and 6-8 kids. As you might guess, this is not held in our small apartment but at another family's house about an hour away. So Tuesday nights are consumed by this ministry. We don't even have time for dinner, but the hosts of the fellowship have food ready for us whenever we arrive. We usually get there with enough time to sit down with the family for the meal. I find that that is the best way to start off the evening. We are using the Purpose Driven Life book as our weekly launching off point into the biblical principles contained in each chapter. Kim is also leading a women's small group her in our apartment building with an out 10 other seminary wives. That is held in our apt so I find my way up to the library on Thurs nights. I am also leading a men's soul care group in our building on Thurs mornings. We call them soul care groups b/c we are not studying the bible or going through a book, but rather are spending time praying together and checking in on one another, encouraging each other toward spiritual maturity. In addition, I have four classes, which I am working through. So that in a nut shell is what our week looks like. We are looking forward to a roadtrip next weekend with Joel and Allie back to Hillsdale for our 5 year class reunion at homecoming. You can bet there will be a blog about that. More than likely, until then...

September 06, 2006

Design for the Sexes

I'm addicted to HGTV, and I have dragged Lucas into my addiction (with minimal kicking and screaming). One of our favorite shows is "Freestyle" where they completely redecorate a room in one day using all their own stuff ( no paint or anything). It basically consists of moving furniture and rehanging artwork, but it's really cool. This concept is very appealing to student couples with no money living in housing where there is limited space and no painting allowed. So we decided that we would take the Labor Day weekend and "freestyle" our apartment (they only need one day, but we're not professionals so we figured we'd need a little more time). We decided that, while we were at it, we should clean and organize the apartment...and our storage space. Now, there is another show on HGTV called "Design for the Sexes" where they work with a couple trying to create a design that they both like. In general, I don't enjoy this show at all, but I learned the value of compromise this weekend. It turns out that when we talked about this weekend as being one of cleaning, organizing, and decorating Lucas heard: CLEANING, ORGANIZING, and decorating, while I heard: cleaning, organizing, and DECORATING. I couldn't figure out why he would get frustrated when I would jump ahead to which pictures we wanted to frame, or where to move the lamp I hate. He couldn't figure out why I got frustrated when we were in day 3 and we'd only made it through the storage unit, the closets, and the bedroom and done NO decorating. The good news is that we managed to survive the "freestyle." Our apartment is much cleaner, we got rid of a ton of junk, and we changed the furniture and art around enough so that I am happy...I mean WE are happy!

August 29, 2006

A Big Surprise


Wednesday was a really rough day. It was the first day without my friends (Josh, Kim, & Laura Jane). I had a busy day at work and was prepared to come home to another depressing night with no neighbors to visit. But my husband, who is pretty much the best husband in the world, had other plans. He surprised me by bringing my Stina (Christina Martinez, my college roommate) to visit. When I saw her standing there I was so surprised that I actually was convinced it couldn't possibly be her and was trying to figure out who I knew that looked so much like my friend. But it was her and I got 5 wonderful days to hang out, catch up, and do the touristy thing (which, not being from New England, is pretty exciting for us). The highlight was when we went on the Whale Watch. It was a cold, cloudy, windy, rainy day, but Christina and I enjoyed being on the water so much that we outlasted all of the little kids out on the front deck of the boat (an amazing feat - they were pretty determined!). We saw a lot of whales (they told us it was an exceptional trip) and they did a lot of breaching (jumping out of the water) and fin and tail slapping - and all of it really close to the boat! It was very exciting (although we were soaking wet and very cold when it was over). We also went into Boston and saw "Threadbare Productions presents the Compleat works of Shkspr the abridged version" in Boston Commons. It was basically 4 college students doing a farcical rendition of Shakespeare's plays and they managed to mention each one (and threw in a few sonnets). It was quite funny, and as an English major I thouroughly enjoyed it. Another highlight was when Christina took us to meet her friends who manage a local Chick-Fil-A and we got free food! Other than that I enjoyed girl time with my friend, watching a LOT of episodes of Friends, and reminiscing about the good old days in the Dale. It was a wonderful surprise. If any of you wives would like to submit arguments about your husband being the best in the world, feel free. But, keep in mind that mine flew in my friend.

August 22, 2006

Moving Days

Three of our closest friends moved away today, Josh, Kim and little Laura Jane. All the way to Nashville. I find that the actual "moving" part of the move helps prepare for the imminent separation, but it also helps to delay it because you are so busy "moving" and checking off lists you forget that the actual leaving is about to occur. We have been blessed by their friendship this year in so many ways. We are excited for them as they begin a new adventure in their life (even though they don't yet know where it is taking them). Today, I have been comforted by the words of Jesus from John 14:1 , "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God and believe in Me." I love the fact that this simple little three word sentence (believe in God or believe in Me) can be understood on so many levels. Obviously this means much more than simply believe in the facts about God, but, more to the point, believe in God. And I find that it is a little like a Mad-lib of sorts where we are called to fill in the blank at the end of the statement: "believe in me" ___________. "Believe in God" that... he desires you, that... he will take care of you, that... he has your best in mind, that... he has given you his peace. And more and more can be said. So we take this verse today as a comfort as we believe in God that he will take care of our friends and he will take care of us because he has already cared so much to take us and have us through the giving of his Son.

August 18, 2006

30 Faces for 30 Years

Saturday, August 19 2006 Anthony L. Becket will turn 30! I invite all who know him to leave a comment for him at the end of this post or to go to his blog, www.silentmorbidity.blogspot.com, and leave him a happy birthday message. Also, I invite you to select your favorite picture by indicating its number and leave a witty caption in the comments section. Happy Birthday Tony!
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