Day 20...Yeah, I know

I was going to blog every day for thirty days. It was a beautiful dream; I could say "life got in the way", which it did, but i have realized that no one give a monkey flip whether i fulfill my 30 day promise...i do not say that in a "pity party" tone, but a "don't take yourself so seriously" tone.

It was Misty's and My BDay (21st and 23rd respectively); I got Misty a digital camera, and she suprised me with a trip to the Lake Blacksheare Resort, which Nicole's Parents (Bob and Sharon) manage. Andrew and Katie came with us, and it was really a lot of fun hanging out with them. Misty was so excited about my trip, and i realized afresh how deeply i am in love with her. There is truly no woman on this earth who i could be more comfortable with; and our friendship seems to continue to grow indefinitely.

I struggle with being bitter and cynical. I could probably explain pretty accurately where it comes from, but cannot seem to get over it. This is especially true of church lately. Our church has always emphasized healing and spirit-filled living as part of the life of a Christian. I hear people giving examples of how this looks in their life, and i feel myself want to say, "sure, maybe that works in your world of lolipops and rainbows and unicorns, but for the rest of us, we will try to just keep our feet on the ground, accept the facts of life". It feels good to be cynical; it makes you feel normal, like you are in control. The truth is, i long to see miracles, and people living in the spirit, living in a community where God is active; I long to have a relationship with God that is more real...more relational. How cool would it be to hear God say something...not the "still small voice", but a voice that has it's own accent, it's own personality.

Dinner's ready...check out some pics from the weekend.

Day 6: Why should I give you some of my Coke?

Saw Donnie, my older brother, and his wife Katie tonight at the Marietta Pizza Company. My Dad, Susan, Nathan, and Sammy all gathered to see them, and to celebrate Misty and my B'day (21st and 23rd of this month). It amazed me how excited I was to see Donnie D; your older brother is just kind of your older brother until you grow up...then you start to realize how awesome he is. I feel that way about all my siblings. It is a strange blessing I am seeing more and more; the ability to develop a new "type" of relationship with the same people that you ran around with in your "tighty whities".

A concept that keeps bouncing around in my mind comes from something Tom Tanner quoted the other day. Jim Elliot said "Wherever you are, be all there". He says this in regards to people who miss what God might have for them in the place they are, because they are daydreaming about missions to Africa. To the average evangelical Christian, this idea of living a missionary/college ministry/inner city/whatever life is put on a pedestal...and if your not careful, you decide you have missed something in God's plan for you because you aren't there. Meanwhile, there are people at work crying out for something to make sense of their life, and their pain. I want to be open to Africa, if it is in the plan; but i also want to have a big enough faith to see his calling for me in my medium sized engineering/surveying firm.

Day 4-5: General Beauregard

General Beauregard...that's my dog's name., although he likes to be called "The General" by his friends. We found him about a year and a half ago at my work. The surveyor's had been feeding him for about a week, so i decided to take him home. Me and Misty were so excited, because we had been talking about getting a dog, and it was our first really big decision/step in our marriage. We both knew (or thought we did) how much of a responsibility it would be, and were excited to take the step together.

The day i took him home, I actually took him to Misty's parents house because it was lunch-time, and i had to finish the day. Misty's brother, Josh, was there and said he was happy to watch him. I got a call about an hour later from Josh. He said that the dog (didn't have a name at the time) had been barking since i left, and could not be contained. We had decided to keep him in the bathroom, just in case he had an accident. We both decided it would be better to put something in front of the bathroom door, instead of closing him in; just in case he tried to scratch at the door. We stacked boxes in front of the door, up to above our heads, and reinforced them with a dresser-drawer. In spite of our best efforts, the dog would go into some sort of hyper-frenzied fit, jumping, climbing and barking, until he escaped his prison; it was as if his life depended on it.

The next 3 days were a blur...We took him home, and prepared a bed for him in the laundry room. He would bark for 45 minutes before he finally went to bed. Misty and I would be terrified to get up and go to the bathroom, because we thought we would wake him for another 45 minute fit. When we tried to walk him, and he would start running as fast as he could round and round on the end of his leash. There was no calming him down, so all you could do was to spin with him till he wore himself out. After 3 days Misty had had enough, and told me it wasn't working out. I secretly still had hope; but at this point, it was the dog or me, and i gladly sacrificed the dog. I took him back to my work. I suspected that he had been abandoned, but i was going to try and let him walk around to see if he might lead me to his home. Sure enough, we walked right to a back yard, not 50 feet from the back door of my work! I was pumped; we found his home, his owners were probably worried to death...all was right with the world.

I knocked on the door...feeling a little proud for all the kindness we had shown to this dog. He was running free around Powder Springs, and we saved him from being killed, or worse (i don't know what is worse...saw it on a movie). When the door opened, i prepared myself for "Aw, it was nothing, I'm just glad he is OK...money, no i can't take it (just take this Satan dog from me and we will call it even)". I saw recognition in the young man's eye...I said, "is this your dog"? He replied in broken English (he was Hispanic), "yes, but we don't want him no more". My excitement turned to dissapointment, which turned to anger. How could someone let their dog out the door and just forget him? I understood why (after only 3 days), but at least they could've taken him to the pound! I returned dejected to the house, dog in hand. My wife was amazed at the story, and we decided to keep him until we could find him a home.

Now, a year and a half later, he has come a long way. He still has more energy than the average dog, and when we have company, he gets excited, jumps, etc. But compared to when we found him, he is a pretty good ole dog. Whenever Me and Misty think about our first years of marraige, we definitly think of the discovery, adoption, and redemption of General Beauregard.