animals are people, too!

well into my 4th load of laundry, 2nd dishwasher load and fresh out of nails for the pictures, i figured i'd sit down and regale you with our moving adventures!

the biggest moments both center around satchmo, kyra's beloved cat, who vanished during the move. grown men were nearly moved to tears watching my daughters persistent, gut-wrenching search...it was horrible. the worst was that we weren't coming back to the house that night - so even if he came home, we'd be gone. suddenly, one of the men helping us moved pulled up to the curb in his car (i hadn't noticed he'd left), hauls a huge black & white long hair cat out of his car and says, "PLEASE tell me this is your cat?" all of us were on the driveway, and kyra burst out laughing and said, "no!" he refused to believe her. "seriously? this is NOT your cat?" "no!" by now the whole driveway is laughing as he turned back to his car sighing, "i have to go put this cat back now." he drove off leaving the only smile i had seen all day on kyra's face - so to me, it was a mistake well worth it.

we sat on the porch long after the sunset - kyra, meg, sarah & i - while curtis (God love him) vacuumed up the house. despite many tearful calls and whistles, he never showed. kyra went to bed with a heavy heart, and so did i. there was some talk that he had gotten nervous and hidden in the dresser drawer, so she was holding out hope that he was locked in our u-haul. i didn't have the heart to tell her that she was betting on a long shot.

late the next afternoon, after closing both the sale & purchase of our homes, (with heavy hearts and no joy at all - kyra quietly crying the entire time), we finally pulled the uhaul up to the new house and flung open the back door. suddenly, screams of "I HEAR HIM! I HEAR HIM! MOM! MOMOMOMOM! SATCHMO IS IN THE TRUCK!" rent the air. immediately my heart leapt! i couldn't believe he was actually in the truck! kyra had not lost her best friend!

of course, he was in the last drawer we opened, wide eyed and numb - not even meowing by the end of it! and miraculously, he hadn't soiled the drawer in any way - bladder of steel, that cat!

now, 2 and a half days in, we are pretty much unpacked. pictures are on the walls, plates are in the cupboards, clothes are on the shelves... but most importantly our family is together. ALL of us. :)

cynthia, this one's for you.

you got a smile so bright! you know you could've been a candle

i'm holding you so tight...you know you could've been a handle

the way you swept me off my feet, you know you could've been a broom..

and babe you smell so sweet, you know you could've been some perfume...

you could have been anything that you wanted to, i can tell....

the way you do the things you do -

i like the way you do the things you do!

finally moving on

i feel like charles dickens.... "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." because it was, you know, a time when some of the best things and best people came into our lives. but it also had some of the worst things and hardest things we've ever endured. and next week it truly comes to a close when we walk away from the house and city that contained it all to continue our story in a new home and a not-so-new city.

this new life is crazy beautiful ... the kind of life you don't usually get to live. following an adventurous call alongside some of the most unbelievable people you could imagine. people with heart and spunk and laughter and love - people who are excited about who God might actually be, and what He might actually do.

this is not a fearful future...it is a wide open future waiting with open arms for us to fling ourselves into.... look out! here we come!

farewell, old friend...

I had an interesting conversation this morning, one that left me feeling rather maudlin. As we stood around talking about our impending move, a couple of my friends said things along the lines of, "I want to come say good-bye to your house", "I have so many good memories of your place" and "We've had so much fun there". As I reflected on that, it's true. This house has seen a lot of good times - parties, dinners, games, sporting events, deep conversations & raucus laughter, family chaos... all the stuff of genuine friendship and community. It really does have a lot of happy ghosts in it.

But...

The thing that made all those things great and beautiful and memorable was the people who shared them with us. YOU made those things ... not the house. Rob's shock at winning the Golden Head for 'most encouraging', Simpson & Steve being inappropriate with window writing markers, Vinny teaching The Girls about the civil war, Mark & Tina watching their daughters make me fat, hours of eucher, catan and some games i hate with Josh & Mamie, new year's eves, Christine winning best dressed at my 80's birthday, Sabrina's glorious cakes at said birthday party, wine tastings with Shanna & Andrew, JJ & Angela's first date, dozens of smaller groups, everyone meeting Mark, tearful conversations, ekklesia's first steps... none of them mean anything without you guys... the people who we love.

So here is what I would ask from you as we leave Morningside Drive. Come and fill our new home with happy ghosts. Come and sit, and play and drink and laugh. Continue to fill our lives with yourselves... your beautiful, complex, funny, sad and true selves. Our lives are empty without you... a house is just sticks and stones, but a home is where our lives intersect in a million little ways. The new place is just a hop, skip and a jump away, and it needs you even more than it needs furniture. Consider this my standing invitation to you to make our house our home.

Oh, and if you could come help us move, that'd be great, too :) I love you guys. Deeply & truly.

now that i'm a grown up...

1. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.

13. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this – ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

21. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?

29. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.

31. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

selling the house

ok ya'll. we are selling our house. any takers? :)

conviction

where do you put your "weight" when you pray?

as i reflect on my own history of prayer, i so often throw myself before God with the heavy weight of my need in the forefront. i pour my heart out, trying to convince God, as it were, of the absolute necessity of my request - whether it's for myself or someone else. i list the reasons my prayer is worthy, the need true, and why God should be moved by the passion of my concern. and alongside that stands my belief that God hears me, that He is active & present in the world, that He is the powerful creator & sustainer of all things who loves us more than we know.

the weight of my prayer, though, the deepest conviction i carry into my times of prayer, is that of the need, not of the God who meets needs. i have come to see that when i pray, i am much more sure of my need than i am of my God, and while this may seem like splitting hairs, i am learning profoundly that it is not.

i have begun to attempt - when i bring the needs of my life, and of those i love, before God - to place the deepest passion and weight of my heart upon my God, our God, who is supremely powerful & knows everything i could ask before it crosses my lips. you would be surprised how much mental energy it takes to reorder my heart that way.

it's such a relief, though, when i am able to take the pain & hurt, the overwhelming circumstance of life, and see them become almost bouyant in the arms of God - He takes them so easily. and it doesn't just reorder my experience of prayer... rather, it is beginning to reorder my whole internal world. i am beginning to find a deeper and richer experience of God in the mundane & everyday-ness of life, as well.

theophan the recluse once said, "most people are like a shaving of wood which is curled round it's central emptiness." it's a melancholy thought when one considers everyday life, but a devastating one when considered in terms of our conversations with God. without the knowlege of a God we are sure of in the center of every thought & prayer cast upon him, what are our prayers but wood shavings, curled around nothing?

i cannot encourage you enough to consider this honestly. where do you put your conviction when you pray? it is in your request, or in your God?