Closing Out 08

The first of this year is pretty much a blur in my memory. With mom passing a week before Christmas last year it seems I lost a month or two. I know I traveled, spoke, called some basketball games in Jan./early Feb. but it was really mid-Feb. and on that I remember best. It was a good year. Morgan turned 16 in Jan. (dang, our baby is 16) and then Shelbi graduated from high school in May and started college in Sept. (Is our oldest already in college?)

I worried about my dad some this year. Not only did he lose his wife, my mom, but he got some pretty bad stomach bacteria thing going on that really plagued him for about 6 months. When they did find something that would correct the bacteria balance in his belly, the meds caused some nerve damage in his hands and feet. We are waiting to see how much damage but we are praying it is minimal.

We lost Sondra's dad on Sept. 9th. Five days after we moved Shelbi to Union University in Jackson, TN, Bernard passed away. It was two losses at the same time in a way. While we did not lose Shelbi permanently, our household felt it like a loss just the same. Sondra was hit with a double whammy. I worried for her and thankfully, she seems to be grieving both of those occurrences in a healthy way.

We both turned 45 this year. Dang! Am I really that old?!? I ran the KC Marathon in Oct. and qualified for Boston again just to prove that I might be old, but I ain't dead yet. It was pure vanity on my part.

Sondra and I celebrated 23 years of marriage in May. Truly an amazing woman. I do not know how she does all that she does. The best mother; wife of my dreams; and still manages to keep us all going the right direction at the right time.

I am thankful to have the job that I have. I completed 16 years in Oct and began #17 on Nov. 1. I love what I am doing. Feel like I am pretty good at it. Wonder what 09 will hold there. Economy the way it is and the layoffs LifeWay experienced this summer were staggering. In some ways, I experience survivor guilt. Many good friends lost their jobs this year.

I am excited to see what 09 brings. I know that I want to be more like Christ than ever. I have a long way to go. I am resolved to follow hard after Him.

Quick Update

It is now Saturday and we had a great Christmas week. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Bolivar with Sondra's mom even though it was really cold. She seems to be doing really well even though I know that she missed Bernard. We enjoyed Sondra's sister and her family and it is always good to be with them. Her husband Phil was working in Tulsa and was not with us but Sondra and the girls saw him briefly on Christmas when they were on their way to Independence and made a quick stop in my dad's town to pass off Morgan's ipod she had left in Bolivar.

The Christmas lunch at my dad's was big fun with 23 folks and 4 dogs there. Sondra did a great job in the kitchen and I think it is her way of handling my extended family. Can't blame her. She also was trying to help my dad out so he could spend time with family. We enjoyed out time at dad's. He misses mom but seems to be doing well. It was good to see my brother and sister-in-law along with my niece and nephew and my niece's two girls. They are cuties for sure.

We made our way back to TN yesterday and enjoyed good weather traveling home. We arrived to mid-60s and I even got to work in the yard again today. Cooler weather coming tomorrow but only mid-40s so that beats the single digits we endured last week in MO.

Reflecting on this year has been interesting. We are so incredibly blessed. Hope to blog about some of that in the next day or two.

Ben and I found a couple of Bernard's old hats and decided to model in the pic above.

Christmas Eve Eve

December 23rd is always an interesting day. It is Christmas Eve eve and most people are not sure what to do with it except catch up on last minute shopping or try to figure out a way not to have to work on this day. We have been enjoying our time in Bolivar with Sondra's mom and Sondra's sister and her three kids came up late Sun. Phil is heading this way tonight but had to work yesterday and today. We will miss him this trip unfortunately.

We leave later today to head to Harrisonville and to spend the next couple of days with my dad. Tonight we are supposed to meet up with a good friend of mine, Steve Elkins and his family, on the Plaza in KC to see the lights and drink coffee and tell big lies. Steve and I ran part of the KC Marathon together back in Oct. He has been a good friend for many years and is more like a brother in our family than just a friend.

It looks as though we might be getting some freezing rain today and tomorrow so it will be interesting traveling. We will be careful and take our time. While in Harrisonville we will have limited web access so Merry Christmas to everyone and we will do our best to update you as the opportunities arise.

Our plans right now include us heading back to Nashville on Friday and enjoying being home for a few days before Morgan's basketball schedule kicks back in. I am also hoping to get some work done on the outside of the house next week too. Praying that the weather will cooperate.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Missouri

We traveled to MO today and had a really good trip. We got away from the house about 815a and hit Bolivar about 4:45p or so. It is good to be here. Sondra's mom was glad to see us and vice versa. I will say that it is pretty stinking cold here and getting colder. Looking at low of 11 tomorrow with a high of 18 and a low of 4 Monday am. Not sure how I am going to get a run in but there is a YMCA in town and will see about heading over there for at least a treadmill run. 15 is usually the lowest temp I will run in out doors. And . . . the wind is blowing like crazy here too. Anyone thinking about looting our house while we are away will be surprised to find we have some folks staying there.

Last night was DCA basketball and the Lady Cats won a close one against Cannon Co. We had lost to them by 4 at their place last week and beat them by 1 last night. Good win. Our guys won a close one as well. I sure do enjoy high school basketball. And . . . I still enjoy getting to announce. Tends to keep me out of trouble.

Not much scheduled for the next few days. Just plan on hanging out, staying indoors, and watching some football and am really planning on finishing the John Adams biography. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it but have slowed down on it the last few months. Need to finish this week.

We also buried my mom's body a year ago today. Interestingly, today has not been sad at all. So thankful for the hope of knowing that I will see her again.

Merry Christmas to every one.

A Year Ago

It is hard to believe that my mom passed away a year ago today. While it has gone quickly in some ways, in others, it has dragged by. I cannot say that I miss her any less, but the pain does not seem to be as sharp. I do catch myself at times just wishing I could hear her voice. My dad made a visit to her grave today and sent the picture that I included. He seems to be doing pretty well all things considered. I talked to my brother today and he seems to be doing okay as well. None of us would ask her to leave and come back, but we all miss her.

This week has been filled with catching up on some reading, some Fringe (goofy tv show) and Christmas shopping. It has been good to spend time with Sondra too. I am off from going into work until early Jan. but am doing some work on our LifeWay National Youth Worker's Conference that is to be held in Sept. Lots to do and it seems like it is so far away.

Shelbi comes home tonight and will be home until late January. It will be good to have her around although she might get tired of us after having been on her own now for a semester. We head to MO on Sat. to visit family and celebrate Christmas with them. Between now and then we have a couple of things to do and on Friday we have a couple of home basketball games. It will be fun to announce those games. Keeps me out of trouble and keeps me occupied. I like that.

Saturday Update

It has been a pretty good week. I ended up running 38 miles this week and really had not planned on running that much. Thursday was an 8-miler in the drizzle, semi-rain and included me taking a spill. It was about time for a fall I guess. I have been very fortunate that I have only busted 3-4 times in over 20 years of running. Thursday's was the first in about 6-7 years and it was pretty mild. It would have been a great slide into second base or home, but was not totally fun on the sidewalk. No harm, no foul. Skinned both knees a little and jarred my body some, but no real damage done thankfully. Dark, rainy, and dodging cars. Could have been much worse.

We played ball three times this week. Played very well on Monday and lost by 4, played terrible on Tuesday and lost by 30 some, and played fair last night and won 40 something to 4. Yes, the opposing team scored 4 points. Two in the first quarter and two in the 4th. Morgan played really well last night and seems to be getting back to normal on the physical side. She executes pretty well. Her shot is off some but she is doing pretty well on the defensive side.

My last day in the office was Weds. although I was in Thurs. am for a short time for a meeting with a new guy in our office. I am really impressed with Kevin and look forward to working with him and learning from him. He is my main help on the National Youth Worker's Conference we will do Sept. 14-16, 2009.

Shelbi is loving college and attended a formal of some kind last night. I am not sure what all the details are but the pic she sent of herself was amazing. So thankful our girls look like their mom.

Looking forward to this Christmas season. Remember my dad as you think about it. Mom passed on the 17th last year and this week I know he is re-living this week from last year. We will travel to MO next Sat. to be with Sondra's mom and then my dad and will see all of the immediate family on both sides. Should be good.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Not just the song, but it sure is cold outside in Nashvegas today. Windy, lots of moisture in the air, and just generally cold. I know it is almost mid-December but I really am not much of a cold weather person. Pretty wimpish actually when it comes to the cold.

Last night's basketball game was a new low for us in many ways. The main way was in just overall effort. Weird since we had played so very good the night before against a really good team. We lost that one by 4 but it really felt more like a win. Last night against Harpeth Hall, well . . . it was just pretty ugly. I love this bunch of girls. They are good kids but are playing with very little intensity or effort. Not sure what it will take to get them through this but hope it does not last long.

Today is hopefully my last full day in the office this year. I was hoping to not be here today but work demands that well . . . we work. I have a meeting later and then hope to be done. Looking forward to doing some stuff around the house and lots of nothing actually.

Shelbi has one more week to go on school this semester. It will be good to have her around some again.

I have included a pic of my bride and me from a week or so ago. Dang if I am not a blessed guy!

Leaves, Part Deux

A week ago Saturday I spent two and half hours blowing, raking, hauling and cussing leaves and the yard looked good for exactly 20 minutes and 32 seconds. The winds came, the leaves fell some more and carpeted our yard. This afternoon I headed back out armed with the blower, rake, and tarp and conquered our front yard and the neighbors front yard. It looks good and their are a minimal number of leaves left on the trees to fall . . . so there.

This past week was very busy with meetings with our state folks here in Nashville and then on Thurs. I flew to New Orleans to meet with more of our state folks. All of the meetings were very good and very productive. I am really blessed to get to work with the people that I do at LifeWay and our partners in the states.

I got a couple of 5-milers in while in New Orleans with a run through the Quarter and then a fun 5-miler down St. Charles Ave. It just felt like Monopoly and the Garden District is really nice. Actually the French Quarter run that I did early Fri. was good. It is a totally different place early in the morning. Clean, quiet and non-crowded.

This week I am in the office Mon/Tues. and have a luncheon on Weds. and then I am planning on not being in the office for the rest of the year. I am working on securing some breakout leaders for our national conference next Sept. but that is the bulk of what I will be doing and doing that from home.

Glad to be home again. It has a very good year work-wise. Thankful to have the job that I do and am blessed to get to do the work/ministry I do.

Looking forward to some good basketball this week from the DCA Lady Cats too. We have been hot and cold with cold being the most recent temperature we have chosen to play. Road trip tomorrow to Cannon Co. Hoping the girls are ready to play.

It's Been a Year

This blog entry may be pretty reflective but it hit me today that it has been a year ago today that I had my last conversation with my mom. I had flown up to KC for the weekend and spent some great time with my mom and dad and it was obvious that mom was getting closer to death. She was in and out quite a few times during the weekend. The past three months had been so incredibly surreal in some ways and in other ways, so rich and blessing filled. Little did I know that my last real conversation with mom would happen on this trip. I had planned on not flying back to KC for two weeks because of stuff going on at home and just the mere expense.

It was Sunday afternoon and I had stayed home with mom during church that morning and we watched Adrian Rogers together on tv and we also had watched a little bit of the Gaithers. Both of my mom's favorites. She was pretty lucid and we just enjoyed one another's company. She had talked about those who had died before her and who she was ready to go see. Jesus was first on the list and a very close second was her dad. He died in 1968 when mom was only 26. She missed him from that point on. I am not sure a daughter ever gets over losing a dad. (I think that is more a reality as I watch Sondra grieve her father who passed in September.) She was ready to see her mom and brother too. It was a very cool conversation. She worried that her boys, my brother and me, might have a tough time in this "mean old world" and she talked about my dad and how wonderful he had been to her for over 48 years. It was a rich conversation. Her mind was so very clear. Her eyes danced with that ornery look that I have inherited from her. It was a treasure of a conversation then, but now a year later, it is more precious than I could have ever imagined.

I miss mom. It is so good to know that what has been a year for me is only momentary for her. Her reality is so much more real. I long for that day. I am so very thankful for how dad has done. I know these next two weeks will be pretty tough for him as he makes it through the last of the "firsts". Pray for him as you think of him.

Remember Sondra's mom, Joyce too. She has been such a delight to have with us this past week. She heads home tomorrow. What an amazing woman. I love her like my own mom. I am doubly blessed in that way.

A Busy Week

Last week was much fun, sleeping in late and getting up to run whenever I really sort of felt like it. This week, up at 430a and out the door of the Y at 530a to get the mileage done. Ran 5 this morning and it was fairly cold and somewhat wet, but not near as bad as I thought it would be. Thankful for that.

Thanksgiving week was a lot of fun. Good basketball, I think the DCA girls went 3-1 last week with their loss to FRA last Monday, and we enjoyed the UCA/Vandy game. Sondra's mom is still with us until Weds. and we are thankful to have her here. She felt a little puny yesterday but rebounded pretty well and enjoyed the rest of her day. Shelbi was home Tues-Sun and then we sent her back to school yesterday. Big fun to have her home. My cousin, his wife and a friend of theirs spent the night with us on Sat. on their way to Gatlinburg for a few days this week. Always good to see Brian and Dee.

This week is one of the busiest meetings weeks of the year. Our state associates are in town for part of the week and then I head to New Orleans on Thursday to meet with more of our state associates. Hard to explain why they cannot all meet together but . . . not enough blog space and you would not even care. I always look forward to getting together with these folks.

No ball this week until Fri/Sat and unfortunately I will miss those games. Bummer.