If this is your first time reading the brain dump, welcome! To read why we moved to Texas, click here.
a. Today my sweet friend, Jill, was celebrated with a great service and celebration at her home.
a. Today my sweet friend, Jill, was celebrated with a great service and celebration at her home.
b. The priest was the most dynamic I've ever seen. He was full of life, energetic, and exuded Christ. My favorite line from his talk was, "Happiness is overrated. I wish for you to have joy, which leads to contentment."
c. Edgar & Jill have an au pair from London. Hearing her talk with her English dialect has been a treat. I just heard her say, "Goodnight, twins. I love you mur and mur (more and more)!"
d. Jill's service and celebration brought folks from all over the country, including marching band friends I had not seen for close to 20 years.
e. One of the folks here this weekend is Andy Malloy, a trombonist who has played in many of the top movies produced over the years, including Avatar, Forrest Gump, Frozen, Perfect Storm, Schindler's List, Titanic, Troy, Toy Story 2, and hundreds more.
f. His daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren live across the street from Edgar and Jill. He came in from California (with his wife) to show his support and play at the service. He's very approachable, an awesome trombonist, and a hard worker. He and his son-in-law worked for hours in the fog and mist Thursday afternoon prepping the yard for Jill's celebration.
g. I chose to spend some time with one of the guys I went to school with, and have had negative thoughts about for a while -- q "while" being almost 20 years. After he caught me up on where he is in his life, I let him know how I had been feeling, and asked him to forgive me. He didn't even remember the incident, and forgave me. It felt good to get that out of my mind.
h. I had an opportunity to plant / water the seed of faith that he professed when he was 15. He told me that he no longer believed, and had a disdain for organized religion, as does his agnostic girlfriend. I've committed to pray for him so that God will work in his heart.
i. It was pouring rain when we left, and I thought the plans to celebrate in the backyard would be derailed. However, by the time it was time for the celebration to start, the sun came out, and it got hot - and muggy.
j. I had an opportunity to go to Starbucks with the first person I ever met at UNC. He lives less than 60 minutes from where I used to live, but we had to travel a combined 34 hours from home to see one another! It was a good time.
k. Edgar is a strong man. While he has had his moments, I'm sure, he has been great with his children. He was up this morning by 5:00 getting ready so he could cook breakfast and help get his kids ready (the au pair gets paid to help do this). He loves his children so much, and it shoes.
l. Tonight I texted a bud of mine a code that every man who's serious about purity should send out as often as necessary: AMHID. This stands for, "Ask me how I did."
m. I have some folks who I text this to (including Cetelia) when I'm being tempted, and feel like I'm on the edge of falling. Their job is simple: check-in with me within 3-5 hours to see how I did. I've found that asking folks to simply ask me how I did usually takes the winds out of the temptation sails. Of course, this only works if I answer honestly when they ask.
n. Romans 13:12 says to, "Put on the armor of light." That is, protect yourself by turning on the light (where everything can be seen). John 3:21 says, "But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." I've found that turning on the light when I'm tempted often keeps me from falling. That's what AMHID is all about.
o. While it has been great to be here in NJ, I'm quite ready be back with my family. I hated leaving them for four days, but knew it was necessary.
p. I saw a quote today that I love, and is comforting: "There is no situation so chaotic that God cannot from that situation, create something that is surpassingly good. He did it at the creation. He did it at the cross. He is doing it today." (Handley C. G. Moule)
c. Edgar & Jill have an au pair from London. Hearing her talk with her English dialect has been a treat. I just heard her say, "Goodnight, twins. I love you mur and mur (more and more)!"
d. Jill's service and celebration brought folks from all over the country, including marching band friends I had not seen for close to 20 years.
e. One of the folks here this weekend is Andy Malloy, a trombonist who has played in many of the top movies produced over the years, including Avatar, Forrest Gump, Frozen, Perfect Storm, Schindler's List, Titanic, Troy, Toy Story 2, and hundreds more.
f. His daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren live across the street from Edgar and Jill. He came in from California (with his wife) to show his support and play at the service. He's very approachable, an awesome trombonist, and a hard worker. He and his son-in-law worked for hours in the fog and mist Thursday afternoon prepping the yard for Jill's celebration.
g. I chose to spend some time with one of the guys I went to school with, and have had negative thoughts about for a while -- q "while" being almost 20 years. After he caught me up on where he is in his life, I let him know how I had been feeling, and asked him to forgive me. He didn't even remember the incident, and forgave me. It felt good to get that out of my mind.
h. I had an opportunity to plant / water the seed of faith that he professed when he was 15. He told me that he no longer believed, and had a disdain for organized religion, as does his agnostic girlfriend. I've committed to pray for him so that God will work in his heart.
i. It was pouring rain when we left, and I thought the plans to celebrate in the backyard would be derailed. However, by the time it was time for the celebration to start, the sun came out, and it got hot - and muggy.
j. I had an opportunity to go to Starbucks with the first person I ever met at UNC. He lives less than 60 minutes from where I used to live, but we had to travel a combined 34 hours from home to see one another! It was a good time.
k. Edgar is a strong man. While he has had his moments, I'm sure, he has been great with his children. He was up this morning by 5:00 getting ready so he could cook breakfast and help get his kids ready (the au pair gets paid to help do this). He loves his children so much, and it shoes.
l. Tonight I texted a bud of mine a code that every man who's serious about purity should send out as often as necessary: AMHID. This stands for, "Ask me how I did."
m. I have some folks who I text this to (including Cetelia) when I'm being tempted, and feel like I'm on the edge of falling. Their job is simple: check-in with me within 3-5 hours to see how I did. I've found that asking folks to simply ask me how I did usually takes the winds out of the temptation sails. Of course, this only works if I answer honestly when they ask.
n. Romans 13:12 says to, "Put on the armor of light." That is, protect yourself by turning on the light (where everything can be seen). John 3:21 says, "But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." I've found that turning on the light when I'm tempted often keeps me from falling. That's what AMHID is all about.
o. While it has been great to be here in NJ, I'm quite ready be back with my family. I hated leaving them for four days, but knew it was necessary.
p. I saw a quote today that I love, and is comforting: "There is no situation so chaotic that God cannot from that situation, create something that is surpassingly good. He did it at the creation. He did it at the cross. He is doing it today." (Handley C. G. Moule)