Worthwhile

My blogs, tweets, and Facebook posts are few and far between not because my life is boring, but because I have a high (in  comparison to my cohort of American 30-somethings) threshold for whether I consider something worthy to host. Very high on Facebook, about as high on blog, a little lower on Twitter.  I don't post recipes, memes, or countdown until Christmas.

But, instead of hinting at what i could say.. I'll just say it.

I remember once having so many topics to write on that I had a link for upcoming attractions possibly as many as 15 ideas that turned into about a dozen blogs. And I'm only days ahead on my automatic posting of Monday Melody of my life feature although I know the songs that will bring me to the current by the end of the year.  Had trouble with a song by Montgomery Gentry I ended up scratching off the list.

Quick one about perspective and revival, etc.  In a nation that claims to be 70% Christian, but only 35% go to church weekly...
And is our internal definition of revival any different than our definition of political victory?  Christendom has its advantages... And disadvantages.

I like my job. It keeps me busy, I'm good at it, and I can provide excellent customer service.  I have some great co-workers, including my delivery team and service desk team. I would like to move to a full-time position, when the right one opens. (management knows, but most openings are part time or overnight) And that pumpkin headed Halloween decoration that we are selling really freaks me out.

If I had my choice, either Senator Cruz or Senator Rubio would be the GOP nominee. But I don't, and I'm not sure where my irrelevant POTUS vote (If KS goes blue, former SecState Clinton won in a landslide) is going. Johnson, write-in, blank, ???

Honestly, there's only name on the ballot that I know that I am marking, my friend and State Representative Tony Barton. Our family is on his campaign team #teamtony !!

Last Tuesday, August 30, we set our personal record for finishing our routes, throwing the last paper at 4:25pm.  Takes a lot of motivation, a couple teen-agers,  and a few gallons of gas to get it all done.

My younger daughter loves babies, and with our church with four pregnant women... She's looking forward to holding all the infants... But not all at once!
My wife commented that if we ever had another baby, we'd be there for the birth, and then Olivia would take care of her sibling for the next several years..

My next Saturday blog will begin,
"I was once asked what my best characteristic was. My answer was 'I have none.' "

Ready-made family

MM#91 He Didn't Have To Be, Brad Paisley [New]

My loyal blog readers (all four of you) will understand that I have frequently commented on what I've often described as the "worst-kept secret" in our family, more on xanga than on SwS.  And September 16 (stepparents' day) is a marked day in my house for other reasons.  I reblogged a post I submitted to momaroo (yeah, now I'm dating myself) a few years ago.  No other new insights about it, so I'll link to the reblog 7/6/13  and just discuss the song.

The song was on the radio in late '00 and/or early '01.  (And actually, it was the number 1 country single in December '99, but it wasn't on my radar at that point.)  And from the first time I saw my friend's daughter, I cared about her.  A few months later, when I was engaged, my future wife asked me, "what do you want Molly to call you?"  My conclusion was, "I know what I want her to call me when she's 5, which will be the same thing she calls me when she's 4...which is what I want her to call me now.  Daddy."

When a single mom goes out on a date with somebody new

And it always winds up being more like a job interview

My momma used to wonder if she'd ever meet someone

Who wouldn't find out about me and then turn around and run

I met the man I call my Dad when I was five years old

He took my Mom out to a movie and for once I got to go

A few months later I remember lying there in bed

I overheard him pop the question and I prayed that she'd say yes

And then all of a sudden oh it seemed so strange to me

How we went from somethings missing to a family

Lookin' back all I can say about all the things he did for me

Is I hope I'm at least half the Dad that he didn't have to be

I met the girl that's now my wife about three years ago

We had the perfect marriage but we wanted somethin' more

Now here I stand surrounded by our family and friends

Crowded 'round the nursery window as they bring the baby in

And now all of a sudden oh it seemed so strange to me

How we've gone from somethings missing to a family

Lookin' through the glass I think about the man that's standin' next to me

And I hope I'm at least half the Dad that he didn't have to be

And lookin' back all I can say about all the things he did for me

Is I hope I'm at least half the Dad that he didn't have to be

Yeah, I hope I'm at least half the Dad that he didn't have to be

Because he didn't have to be, you know he didn't have to be

But...after 15 years, it really sucks when you find out, that for once, the difference between legal guardian and custodial stepparent exists, and it's not a good thing.

You and your dear Ivy

MM#90 Dancing in the Minefields, Andrew Peterson [New]

H/T to my friend and regular reader @BooksForMe who posted this song on my Facebook...and nailed it.

I was nineteen, you were twenty-one

The year we got engaged

Everyone said we were much too young

But we did it anyway

We bought our rings for forty each

From a pawn shop down the road

We said our vows and took the leap

Now fifteen years ago

Yeah. I was nineteen when I got engaged.  (Which made a very interesting conversation on my 20th birthday two weeks later.)  And, yeah, people questioned our readiness.  My youth, how far I was away from getting The Job™, how things had went with her last relationship, etc.  But we did it anyway...We said our vows and took the leap.

And we went dancing in the minefields

We went sailing in the storms

And it was harder than we dreamed

But I believe that's what the promise is for

I underestimated the challenge.  I overestimated myself.  And it was harder than we dreamed.

'Cause He promised not to leave us

And His promises are true

So in the face of all this chaos, baby, I can dance with you

With everything I've been through, I can tell you that God has been with our family.  He hasn't forsaken us.  But often He's let us go through enough to remind me that I'm not all that.

believe me, I havent figured out a song that fits you better

MM#51 Second Chance, Shinedown [Xanga 2009 Aug 17]

There are two songs that are atop the list of Monday Melodies.  One won a weird bracket competition that my brother and I ran years ago.  This is the other one.

You know the sign that says, "Teenagers!  Move out while you know it all!"  Well, when I was 20, I thought I knew it all.  And I had a bachelor's degree to boot.  And I was in love.  And I was, to a degree, arrogant, naive, and stupid.

Some of my friends and family discussed their concerns with me.  I blew them off.  They declined to attend my wedding.  That hurt.

I burned some bridges that weekend in April.  And it took a long time for some of them to be rebuilt.  Years.

"Tell my mother, Tell my father. 
I've done the best I can. 
To make them realize. This is my life. 
I hope they understand
I'm not angry.  I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance."


HBD Rachel.

Colonel's Toyota, sans radio

MM#2 Someday, Out of the Blue, Elton John [Xanga 2007 October 15]

As the MM clock ticks towards current time, we move to the 11 months where I was a double-bachelor.  (BS, Compsci & Unmarried).

"Well, a lot changes in a few months for a man who falls in love with a woman.  Especially when it's love unrecognized, followed by love lost (x 2).  And during that crazy summer - oh, and trust me, it was crazy - this song haunted me.  Something about it being a big hit in the summer of 2000.  I told my brother, "I hear this one more time, and I'll tear the stereo right out of this truck...oh, wait, it's Grandpa's truck...never mind..." "  - Excerpt from blog 15 October 2007

Yeah, pretty simply, I had one more chance with that friend from Iowa.  And with our paths crossing as often as they did (church, choir, Mom's sewing business)...maybe it was inevitable.  Maybe it was destiny.  Maybe it was...but that's a comment for another blog.
By mid-June 2000, things were back to the way they were before my East Coast trip.  (Long story).  And you put two good friends together that much...sometimes...

Where those years have gone

MM#74 I Hope You Dance, Lee Ann Womack [Xanga 2011 Sep 5]

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,

Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance, 

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance...

Lee Ann Womack, "I Hope You Dance"

I had a few very good friends in college.

"He wasn't a great friend.  He was a lifelong friend."

POTUS, Clear and Present Danger (film)

I exchanged gifts with one of those friends upon my graduation.  I gave her a biography of a recently deceased person who had the same first name.  She gave me a CD of Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance."

First...even at the shindig / formal dance events, I was the guy who sat out a lot of dances.  Heck, I remember one party where I was talking to the dog.  I've never been good at social functions like that.

Second...yeah.  After sixteen years, the idealistic me has been kicked to the curb, with a sadder but wiser and scar-covered me.

But...as sappy as this song is, it's ok.  There are songs that exemplify perseverance (see MM#8, later this year.)  But there's some that discuss the attitude.  The love and wonder and all that sappy stuff...that we actually need.  That makes the journey worth taking.

Thanks, Cassie.

Steve,
People with such strength in faith and the blinding light of Christ in their hearts will never be unimportant or invisible.  You have been such an inspiration in how to live a God-dependent life, I'm so thankful for your amazing presence, your friendship.  The future is never clear, but I know that God has you in His hands, He will lead you.  May He make your way clear, full of His peace.

3rd down, give Steve the ball

MM#79 The Boys of Fall, Kenny Chesney [Xanga 2011 Sep 26]

It's I got your number, I got your back

When your back's against the wall

You mess with one man, you got us all

The boys of fall

Some songs have a catch line that hits you long before you listen to the whole thing.  (Also see Carrie Underwood's "Change" - "You're just a fool, just a fool to believe you can change the world")  This one first caught my ear for the band-of-brothers / musketeers part of the chorus.

I have four brothers.  But, as it can be imagined, I've always been closest to my twin brother Robert.  We rocked the world.  (Sort of.)  We were legends.  (In our own minds.)  We were part of the greatest team ever.  (No, we won actually finished 2nd to those rascals from Maryville).

But from bike rides to mowing lawns to killing lawns playing backyard football to programming backyard football to programming classes...we were a great team.  He had my back many times, even after we went our separate ways.  And the day he offered his help in my darkest hour - I am eternally grateful to him.  And to a God who thought that I needed a friend from day 1.

"I kicked him out.  Then I got bored."  - Robert Pratt, on being the second-born twin.

@Romans_837:  I still think that @Romans_837 and @rjmarathon could rock the free world.

@rjmarathon: the whiz kids, amateur philosophers, political sports junkies, red team for apologetics, or just two dads with used minivans?

@Romans_837:  replacement and stunt double for World's Most Interesting Man™.