quote.

I wish I had written this:

"It's impossible to love God in a hurry. I typically view the person in front of me as an obstacle to accomplishing my true mission, but Jesus viewed the person in front of him as his true mission."

Vince Antonucci in I Became a Christian and All I got was this Lousy T-Shirt. Now, that's a good read.

For me it is easy to sit here on a nice, sunny afternoon and ponder who will be such a mission for me. Who will the Lord put in front of me tomorrow?

But the reality is that tomorrow I will forget today's conviction. Tomorrow I will be

• frustrated by the clerk at Wal-Mart
• irritated by the fry chef at Burger King
• annoyed with the insurance guy who calls
• and fed up with the warranty people on the phone

and at those moments, I am looking at myself. I am focussed on the interruption to my life. And I do not see what He sees. 

How foolish I am.

Area Codes.

Never realized quite how much significance can be found in 3 little numbers. Maybe it's because our family is spread out, maybe it's because we've moved 79 times, maybe it's because our friends have all moved 79 times... not sure why. But there is huge significance in the Area Codes that show up on my caller ID.

319: someone from my home farm in iowa is calling

563: some member of my family in iowa is calling from their cell phone

843: the beach. friends on the coast of south carolina are calling to check in
772: the other beach. friends calling.

515: governor of iowa. or my friend kim. usually kim

608: who IS that??? oh yeah. friends that moved to madison a couple years ago. still do not have their new numbers memorized

770, 678: someone new to me because i'm new to here

262, 414: someone from home, remembering us right now

I like the use of the word 'code' in 'area code'. It implies secret. It is a hint of something special, someone special. A secret clue to give me a hint about the gift on the other end of the code.

Twinkies.

I miss twinkies. Frozen twinkies. Little sponge cake landmines filled with cream goo. I miss finding mom's secret stash of hostess products. Most of them have unfortunate names that are no longer politically acceptable, but still delicious nonetheless.

Not having twinkies is my fault. 

No one else's. 

Choosing to take some moral highway of self-depravation that will theoretically be rewarding.

But I have replaced the twinkies with a one pound bag of M&M's. 

Denied the twinkies because I am above that.

Embraced the M&M's because... because... because they are littler?

Playing mind games with myself hurts.

But I enjoy the company.

House Hunters.

We’re going to be on the HGTV show House Hunters! HOW do these things happen?!!
Simple “How to” list:
1. Email the producer. Describe our musical family and throw in a few jokes as well.
2. Answer the producer’s phone calls: be funny, witty, and try not to gush.
3. Prepare and enter our own home video: complete with children, jumpolines and a Top 10 List.
4. Answer the producer’s phone calls: Be funny, witty and try to sound as if producers call us all the time.
5. Sign a release form. Develop a meaningful relationship with the fax machine.

And after that? Well, we’ll let you know! They’ll be here on Wednesday to begin filming!

T-minus 12 and counting.

meltdown.

it was bound to happen. hard drive meltdown.

failure.

crash.

we use such terminal words to refer to this technology. very real, human words applied to this beloved family member of mine.

even in repairing it, mr. mr. referred to 'saving it'.

hope for a resurrection

transplant.

the most interesting part of it all is how nonplussed i was by the whole event.

my computer. my data. my work.

and mr. mr. more consumed with the failure than i.

i like him a lot.