I know so little. I am so brief.
Bathe.
Trees are holy things.
Knowing.
Patient.
I am so hurried. I am so loud.
Paddle in the water. Quiet as death. The glass ripples.
Loon, my brother. Loon, my sister. Sing me your blessing.
I am too loud.
Friday, September 27, 2019
Monday, September 16, 2019
The sun rose.
The sun rose so perfectly. We stopped our arguing for a moment and looked outward again.
The sun rose so perfectly. Right at the last minute, before we ruined everything.
The sun rose so perfectly.
Monday, July 29, 2019
Saturday, March 9, 2019
Rest
"I am tired of running after it," he said to her.
"Sorry?" she replied, not looking up from her phone.
"All we do is chase the 'goal' of...what...this suburban life? And in our free time, we just stare at our screens to see what everyone is chasing. And purportedly catching," he continued. By now she had looked up. His voice distracted her from her feed.
"What do you want to do?" she asked. "Hermit lifestyle?" She did not smile.
"I want a break. I want to not need it. If I stop, the world won't throw me off."
I think I'll stop running after the fatigue. After all, I'm not that important. A speck on a speck on a speck on a speck.
My family near, a book to read, a cup to drink, warm socks.
Friday, January 4, 2019
I Hate Subtitles: Why I Hate Subtitles
I'm part of a men's book club at church, which still gives me a slight chill down the spine to say aloud. I had been leery of these things for years. They seemed like exactly the kind of thing I would hate.
Still, we were relatively new to the church, and I was invited to join. It was an opportunity to meet other guys and make some connections. What the hell? Why not?
We're reading You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit, by James K.A. Smith. He's a professor at Calvin College (soon to be Calvin University) here in GR. We're two chapters in so far. He has talked about how the world affects where we place our desires and how that changes what we love.
You are what you worship. Or, as Matthew puts it in his gospel: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21)
The group consists of six guys: Kirk Breukink, Marc Coleman, Michael Christy, Chris Fann, Ken Nance, and me. We're all around the same age, except Ken, who is about 10 years younger. It's interesting getting to know these guys and hear their stories.
Anna and I each took a boy to see Mary Poppins Returns on New Year's Day. I enjoyed it, though Emily Blunt's portrayal of Mary Poppins was much more aloof and less warm than Julie Andrews'. Maybe it's closer to the book. We're going on another date tomorrow (two movies in a week!). We'll see The Favourite. Grab some dinner afterwards, maybe play some board games with Josh and the boys afterwards.
Speaking of board games, I've been playing a lot lately: Kingsburg, Prophecy, Kingdom Builder, LEGO Ramses' Temple, Harry Potter: Magical Beasts. I also bought Arboretum from Jer, though I haven't played it yet.
New year, new attempted habits. I'm trying to keep my expectations low so as to be successful. Make your goals S.M.A.R.T.: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-oriented.
Some goals for me in 2019: walk 15 miles a week (though this has already faded); journal daily, even if it's just a little bit; create a podcast; be done with old habits.
Still, we were relatively new to the church, and I was invited to join. It was an opportunity to meet other guys and make some connections. What the hell? Why not?
We're reading You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit, by James K.A. Smith. He's a professor at Calvin College (soon to be Calvin University) here in GR. We're two chapters in so far. He has talked about how the world affects where we place our desires and how that changes what we love.
You are what you worship. Or, as Matthew puts it in his gospel: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21)
The group consists of six guys: Kirk Breukink, Marc Coleman, Michael Christy, Chris Fann, Ken Nance, and me. We're all around the same age, except Ken, who is about 10 years younger. It's interesting getting to know these guys and hear their stories.
Anna and I each took a boy to see Mary Poppins Returns on New Year's Day. I enjoyed it, though Emily Blunt's portrayal of Mary Poppins was much more aloof and less warm than Julie Andrews'. Maybe it's closer to the book. We're going on another date tomorrow (two movies in a week!). We'll see The Favourite. Grab some dinner afterwards, maybe play some board games with Josh and the boys afterwards.
Speaking of board games, I've been playing a lot lately: Kingsburg, Prophecy, Kingdom Builder, LEGO Ramses' Temple, Harry Potter: Magical Beasts. I also bought Arboretum from Jer, though I haven't played it yet.
New year, new attempted habits. I'm trying to keep my expectations low so as to be successful. Make your goals S.M.A.R.T.: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-oriented.
Some goals for me in 2019: walk 15 miles a week (though this has already faded); journal daily, even if it's just a little bit; create a podcast; be done with old habits.
January 2, 2019
The new year came in with a whimper, at least for two fifths of my family.
We split time between my in-laws and my parents around and after the Christmas holiday. We were gone eight days, which was probably three days too many. Annika decided that sleeping through the night was for suckers right before we drove to Minnesota, and carried on this belief for two more nights. Super fun times for us. She slept in our room the first night at my parents' house, which was disastrous. She woke up at 11:30 PM, saw us in bed, and started screaming for her mommy. For two hours.
Benjamin developed his annual barking cough around Christmas, except this time, it worsened to the point where he would get into a coughing fit and could barely catch his breath. As this was Saturday night and urgent care clinics were closed, we took a trip to the local ER. No flu or pertussis, thankfully, and only some oral steroids to calm his throat down.
After driving back (we made record time both ways, by the way), I worked on December 31. At least, I planned to work that day. But I felt progressively worse as the day went on, and came home after lunch, afraid that I could get my patients and coworkers sick. I slept for two hours that afternoon.
Anna and Eli went to the New Year's party at Ullrey's. The rest of us stayed home. Benjamin and I watched Return of the Jedi, so not a bad night.
We split time between my in-laws and my parents around and after the Christmas holiday. We were gone eight days, which was probably three days too many. Annika decided that sleeping through the night was for suckers right before we drove to Minnesota, and carried on this belief for two more nights. Super fun times for us. She slept in our room the first night at my parents' house, which was disastrous. She woke up at 11:30 PM, saw us in bed, and started screaming for her mommy. For two hours.
Benjamin developed his annual barking cough around Christmas, except this time, it worsened to the point where he would get into a coughing fit and could barely catch his breath. As this was Saturday night and urgent care clinics were closed, we took a trip to the local ER. No flu or pertussis, thankfully, and only some oral steroids to calm his throat down.
After driving back (we made record time both ways, by the way), I worked on December 31. At least, I planned to work that day. But I felt progressively worse as the day went on, and came home after lunch, afraid that I could get my patients and coworkers sick. I slept for two hours that afternoon.
Anna and Eli went to the New Year's party at Ullrey's. The rest of us stayed home. Benjamin and I watched Return of the Jedi, so not a bad night.
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