Category Archives: Everyday Stuff

Everyday Stuff

Done With Facebook

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Not sure I can enumerate all the reasons in this post, but I decided to be done with Facebook today.  When it really comes down to it, it’s just entertainment.  And to think I just became Facebook friends with a couple pals in my Twitter feed…

Suddenly I feel a burden lifted from my shoulders. I’m moving toward the simpler, less complex life.  Twitter will remain, as it is actually a helpful tool for me to accomplish work-related tasks.  I’ll spend more time on the blog, more time with my own private thoughts, and less time trolling aimlessly.

(EDIT:  While meditating on this choice, I do believe this will be another temporary hiatus from Facebook — my 2nd “facecation” — and I will likely return to my Facebook account within a week or two.  These thoughts have also inspired an upcoming blog post for me, which will dive into distractions in general.  In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this question — What is Facebook to you? — feedback encouraged!)

Everyday Stuff, Hiraeth, Music, Art, Culture, Books, My Songs

One More Dawn

This one’s for you, Heidi…


Years ago I wrote this song while we waited for Allyson’s mother to die.  It was a difficult time in our first year of marriage, and something we wish we didn’t have to go through.  It was for both of us our first major loss in life.  Robin was her name.  I imagined her prayers during the final moments before she went to Jesus Land, and the words came out like this:

One more dawn, before I say good-bye
One more night alone, just my friends and I
Do not want to leave this world in darkness
So give me one more dawn

Until You take me, and I rest in Your arms
And throw my crowns to Your feet
Until I breathe my last breath in this world
And drink celestial air

Give me strength, Lord, before I say good-bye
To worship You in my heart, both my friends and I
And as I wait, I’ll rise up like an eagle
I’ve run but I’ve grown weary, I’ve walked, I’m feeling faint

And in this morning light shine
Take the darkness, the veil from my eyes
You bestow Your glory upon me
And You lift up my head, You’re the lifter of my head

Further up!  And further in! Make room for me Lord!
Further up! And further in! Yes I am coming!
Higher up!  Futher in!  I’m running to meet my Maker!
Further up and further in!

One more dawn, before I say good-bye
One more night alone, just my friends and I
Do not want to leave this world in darkness
So thank You for one more dawn

Wonder what my last prayer will be…

Everyday Stuff

Something Not to Say

Almost weekly, I have conversations with long-time friends of mine about some pertinent topic, some relevant cultural trend, or something happening within one of our churches.  It is not rare for us to quickly get talking about theological truth or social awareness, and how the timeless truths of the Bible seem to remain no matter the political or economic landscape of the day.

These chats I have regularly with years-old friends often foster in me a desire to rise up and SAY something to the people around me.  When talking about anchor-truths with close friends, a fire is kindled in my mind and I long to share those thoughts with others, maybe as an encouragement, maybe as a voice chastening, yet loving…

Lately, though, I have been slower to pull that trigger.  It’s not because what I might say could be offensive, although there is that.  It’s not because someone’s feelings might get hurt.  It’s not out of some profound wisdom that has come over me, or a spiritual awakening of some kind.  Really, I find that it’s about being quiet.

For so much of my life I have had opportunity to speak and lead others with words.  So much of that time seems now wasted, because though there was something to be said, there was also something not to say.  Recently I shared three verses with a  young man in my life… it was Ecclesiastes 5:1-3:

1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.  Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.  God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

3 As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words.

The message in those verses is so straightforward and simple.  And rather quieting.  We all grew up with our mothers saying, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”  I think there’s more to it than that.  Maybe even if there IS something good to say, you still might want to think twice before saying it… especially if you’re saying it to (or about) God.

These days everyone tries to make sure their voice gets heard.  Maybe it’s not utterly critical that we all be heard.  Maybe we’d be more relevant, and even heard  (and maybe more mysterious and intriguing!), if we spent less time trying to be heard, and more time listening.

There are many verses in the Bible that address speech/conduct.  I’ll close the post with this one from James 1:19:

19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry

Everyday Stuff

What’s That Noise?

Our little boy has been making lots of progress over the past few weeks.  Verbally, he has come so far, I can hardly believe it.  When we first “got” him (he is a foster child), all he could do was point and grunt.  The car ride was filled with calls of, “Momma!, Momma!” accompanied by a pointing finger.  If he wanted something at meal time, “Eh-eh, eh-eh,” and the finger again.

Lately, though, he has been making many new sounds.  He says things like “Upstairs” and “Downstairs,” and occasionally he runs into the room and blurts out a sentence of complete and utter nonsense.  This may be my favorite time to listen to him.  There is usually an intense look on his face, and amazing child expressions as he tries to get all the words out in the right order.  There is learning there, there is sound there, and there is something precious there on its way out.

One of my favorite (and sometimes least favorite) things he says is, “Daddy, help me.”  I LOVE it that he asks for help instead of trying to do everything on his own.  Although, at times I know he can do the task he’s asking for help with, so I encourage him to keep trying on his own.  “You can do that, buddy, keep trying, don’t give up on it.  Come on, remember you did that yesterday, first you…” and the instructions continue.  At times I am not patient enough with him, and I forget that he is just 2 years old.

So, what’s that noise in your life?  In my life, it’s the sound of a little boy growing up and learning about the world, about life, about pain, about love, about running, about cars and trucks, about rain and spiders, about pizza and oranges, about songs and friends, about loss and longing… I think I like that sound.

Everyday Stuff

On Writing Letters

The other day at the office, I missed an opportunity to go to the post office.  A work friend stopped by my desk and mentioned she had just returned from the post office, and I said, “Oh, man! I was going to mail this today,” and I pulled a Moleskine journal out of my computer bag.  My friend, Tommy Brooks, and I write to each other using this journal.  Yeah, it’s old school, and it’s different, but I think it’s really cool.

One of us writes a letter, just writing in the journal… then mails the notebook to the other guy.  As you quickly noticed, we will have a bunch of letters to each other together in the notebook when all is finished.  Who gets the notebook when it’s done?  I don’t know, but I know between me and Tommy that won’t be an issue.  It has already been a good experience for me, and we just started the process!  He wrote me, sent the journal, now I’m writing him and will send the notebook soon.

This reminds me of a time when I used to write letters almost daily.  My two freshman semesters of college, I wrote over 100 letters.  Can’t you just send email?  Can’t you just instant message?  Well, it isn’t a matter of ability, it’s a matter of choice.  There is something drastically different about receiving a physical something in the mail to read than in getting just another email.  Even if it is a long, nice email, drawn out with pictures and links.

You can’t curl up with an email.  You can’t get away from an electronic device with an email.  You can’t hold an email.  You can’t touch an email.  It takes more time to write a letter, and hence more thought.  It takes a different movement of the mind and hand, and more effort to send.  In the end, it is more rewarding for me, too, because it feels like something has been accomplished.  Later, I can go back to it, without opening my computer or iPhone… no browser or application required.

Writing letters is an exercise in thought and love.  My sincere desire is to retain 2 to 4 pen pals throughout my life.  There is a sharpening of the mind and an enlarging of the heart that accompanies the writing of letters.  And I get to practice my handwriting.  🙂

Anybody can writer an email.  Not just anyone is willing to write a letter.

Everyday Stuff

So Much Like Martha

6 Jay Drive, Randolph NJ.  That was our address when I lived in Jr. High.  We lived on a steep road, and our house had a steep driveway.  The summers were hot and the winters were cold.  I had to walk to the end of our street in the morning to catch the bus and walk up the street on the way home.  Me and Justin Fay played outside until it was dark or time to come in for dinner.  There was no Internet back then.

The first computer our family had was purchased when we lived there on Jay Drive.  It cost more than I care to disclose and required 5 1/4” floppy disks simply to boot up.  I only remember 3 programs from that computer… Sopwith, Typing Tutor, and Basic.  I am certain there were other applications on the many disks we had, but those are all I remember at the moment.

Why do I bring these items to the fore?  I think it’s because I’m looking for something simple, and life then was simple.  Get up, get ready for school, eat breakfast, go to school, come home, play, eat dinner, hang with family, go to bed.  It didn’t seem like there was really that much information available at the time.  But things have changed, and that’s all different now.

To say information exists in abundance today would just be a truism.  The idea of a simple life has been so far left behind that it is difficult to contrast the two in any meaningful fashion.  Today the volume of information is overwhelming.  The sheer amount of data causes my head to spin.  And that’s just in my little corner of the world.  The info. comes from so many sources at such velocity… and here’s the thing – it takes up space.  It takes up mental space, spiritual space, emotional space, and spiritual space.

Lately the amount of information is getting to me.  Internet news, blog feeds, emails, twitter, facebook, newspapers, bills, menus, flyers, bulletins, texts, voice mails, proposals, quotes, reminders, calendars, task lists, meetings, files… I get tired just putting this stuff down in a post.

I hear a still small voice inside my head, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…”  I think this post is simply a cry from my heart longing to listen more closely to that voice, to spend more time sitting at the feet of that Voice, instead of listening to so many of the other voices that surround me.  Instead of allowing the waves of earthly information drown me, I should focus on swimming in the ocean of heavenly truth.  So much like Martha, but I want to be like Mary.

Everyday Stuff

Can You Smell What The Blog Is Cooking?

It is about that time again… time for me to revamp the blog and press on into my dabblings in web design.  My blog is most often the victim of my design splurges (or maybe I should call them ‘urges’).

So, let the good times roll, and here’s a test post for you to chew on.  Can’t you just smell the unique blend of herbs and spices?  Enjoy!