I want to be brave--Days 90-95

I can't believe it's already been a week since I last blogged. Life is good, though. I haven't really had a whole lot of time to do much of anything and that's a good thing.

Last week, we camped. I hadn't been fishing in about 25 years and while I didn't have a pole with me, I got to impale some worms for the kids. I didn't actually get to see them catch a fish, but Colton had sent me a picture to my phone that I will cherish. He looks so happy with his catch. Gabrielle had caught one too, but I didn't get to catch a glimpse of that one.

We did a lot of swimming. At one point, I tried lifting Gabrielle above my head with my palms flat on her back and legs. I managed to get her up and then tossed her and she fell to the water with a resounding Slap! "Ouch", I thought. She came up with a smile on her face asking me to do it again. Of course, the rest of the kids wanted me to do the same. By the time I got out of the pool, I was pretty tired, but again, that's a good thing.

We only got to swim in the lake a couple times because of the rain, but that was fun as well. The kids got an idea to make a video and put it on youtube. I shot the video and I'll have to try and get it on there. All the kids are so good with Noah. Allison played with him a bit, Brianna played with him a bit, and Colton and Gabrielle did as well. He fell over one time with no one in the water really watching him and he looked like a turtle trying to flip itself back over. He wasn't phased a bit, and once Allison got him flipped back around, he resumed playing. He loves the water and that's a good thing.

We got to play a few games during the rain. We played quite a few rounds of Scattergories, some Cranium and we also got some Sorry! in there, too.

I listened to and typed up the rest of Todd's sermon on patience. It's really enjoyable to listen to. Soon, I will put the sermons together in book form. It'll be well over 100 pages, and I don't know that anyone would be interested in owning a copy, but I'll make some copies just in case. As far as patience is concerned, I've mentioned patience to a friend of mine, and both times I've realized I'm asking the near impossible in his case. It is not a word he likes to hear. He knows, though, that it's necessary. A loved one is sick, and although she is getting better, we know that it'll be a while before she is fully healed. God, bless them both.


Colton competed in the Guitar Hero competition at the camp and won a couple rounds before losing in the semifinals. He probably felt a bit like a Hero after winning the first round on hard. There were many people there at that time and many were surprised he could play so well, especially considering his competition was so much bigger than he was. The winner got free ice cream. I bought us some anyway. It was good.

I can't remember much about Monday, but I had a conversation on Tuesday that has stuck with me. I had to call a supplier from work I had never talked to before. His name is Wolf. Wolf Oller is his full name. I'm assuming his parents were in touch with nature a bit. I was told that despite the odd name, he was a nice guy and as it turned out, he was. I called him up, told him who I was, and where I was from in one, long breath. I'm not great with verbal communication, so I like to get on the phone, be professional and good natured, let them know what I need and get off as quickly as possible. He answered "Good morning, Mark". "Good morning, Wolf", I answered ready to tell him what exactly I need from him in one more long breath. As I inhaled, he came back with "It's a beautiful morning today, isn't it?" That's definitely an ice-breaker. I don't hear many men use the word beautiful, and while I work with a bunch of good guys, I don't think I've ever heard that comment put quite like that. I stopped my inhale, regained my composure, smiled, and replied "Yes, yes it is." It's interesting I was taken aback by that comment, but I think in my attempt to be a better Christian, that's another thing I can add to my repetoire. Not just trying to not do certain things or trying to be nicer in certain situations, but being nice when it's least expected.

"Shout to the Lord" from the playlist is playing right now. The American Idol 8 did a pretty good job with it. Interesting song title. Who "shouts" to the Lord? Not enough of us, I would imagine. He's right next to me, and I don't even need to say an audible word for him to hear me, so why shout? I get the idea behind it, but I'd like to shout to the Lord, someday. I'll make sure I write about it when I do.

Now "Brave" is playing. Truer words can't be said as far as me and my walk is concerned:

Welcome to the middle ground.
It's safe and sound
And
Until now, it's where I've been.
'Cause it's been fear that ties me down to everything,
But it's been love; Your love that cuts the strings...

So long, status quo!
I think I've just leg go!
You make me want to be brave!

The way it always was
Is no longer good enough.
You make me want to be brave!

...
...

Why did I try to keep in all inside?

Many of these songs let me know many Christians started where I started, am where I'm at right now, and/or give me an idea where I'm going. That's a good thing.

I had a good time with the kids at Lapeer Days. They wanted to stay till 11, when it shut down. Gabrielle made it to 9:30 and Colton and Jianna made it to 10:30. Colton got up on the new bull ride they have there, and managed to stay up there for 30 seconds. I think he would've stayed up there a little longer, but he lost his focus for a second and the "bull" took him by surprise. I let them play some games before we left and they won a little prize at every one.

Thank you, Lord, for all the good things; big and small.