2 July 2011

Watered the gardens today - a good long soak. Tomatoes are going gangbusters - even starting to pink up on a couple of the Romas. Beans, okra, peas, and peppers are very leafy, but no flowers or even the hint thereof. Cucumbers are tall with lots of flowers - lets hope that they set some good fruit.
Sat down to work on Bible study, then I couldn't recall the last time I opened my Bible just to read. Why is it such a struggle to have a daily quiet time? I wonder if the struggle is similar for all stay-at-home parents with young kids - I need the kids to entertain themselves, be gone, or be asleep to get any time for devotions. I really should restudy Herb's Quiet Time lesson - and take it to heart! As Bert says, the lesson is not for those I wish would hear it - it's for me!
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Just sitting down to a snack of cottage cheese and apple butter (homemade last fall from Wasem's apples). I'm told it's a Pennsylvania Dutch thing - perhaps a relic of my birth place? Listened to Aaron Copland as I washed the dishes this afternoon. There are few CDs that I want to sit down and deliberately listen to, and this is one. I want a pair of big, ear-covering headphones and an hour to myself to get lost in Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Quiet City, Fanfare for the Common Man...

1 July 2011

Pretty leisurely day, but hot outside! A good day to stay indoors. After work (2 deliveries today), came home and waited for Tiff & kids to return from Toledo Zoo. Made mini pizzas on flatbread for an early dinner, then hung out while the kids colored & cut paper. Upstairs at 6:30 for popcorn and The Polar Express, while I finished up a novel and catnapped. Then off to bed with the kids - usual hourlong process, but this time instead of sitting at the computer, I went downstairs and did the dishes. I head some running around, but things seemed to go a little smoother. I came back upstairs, watched a couple shows online, and worked on my family history questions - paring down the list to something reasonably usable - but it's still so long!
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"When I was young, I thought I could fly" - just a little snippet of verse that came to me today. I wonder if I still have what it takes to write a whole poem. Or maybe this line is a whole poem?

30 June 2011

I guess that's the point of a diary - to record life in small doses so it doesn't get overwhelming. Tiff took the kids all day today - first to a playdate at McDonald's, then to work for the Chaliogianis kids, a nice unexpected treat. I had most of the day to myself and went to the library to check out the local history/genealogy collection. I don't have any specific to Washtenaw County ancestors, but I did check up on Sweenys and Larzeleres since they were in Michigan. After about an hour of familiarizing, I went to work at Mancino's - incredibly slow today and not a single delivery. That hasn't happened in months, and it is certainly not typical for a Thursday. I hope this doesn't become a pattern.

Back to library afterward for some transcription, then a perusal of some genealogy magazines. I love having the library as a resource for books and magazines that I want to read but can't spend the money on purchasing - it's great! Picked up the kids from Tiffany so she could work her dinner shift at Applebee's, then back home for a typical evening of anti-dinner for the kids, watching Ratatouille, then struggling over bedtime for an hour. It will get better someday, right?

Skydiving: Learning About The Parachute

I finally picked up a copy of Richard Bolles' classic What Color Is Your Parachute? from the library. I must say, it's not at all what I expected. I had a vague misconception of it as retirement planning, as in 'golden parachute'. Turns out that's not what the book is at all!

Time is too short to do a review of the book now. I plan to periodically post here as I go through the Parachute Workbook, basically finding myself (which is really the point of this here journal).

First off, my ten Who Am I? answers and the common denominators:

1. I am a reproducing disciple of Christ.
2. I am a kid of the King.
3. I am husband to Tiffany.
4. I am a responsible adult.
5. I am a father.
6. I am a provider.
7. I am a respecter of people.
8. I am a planner. (and more than just an "urban planner")
9. I am a teacher.
10. I am a nerd.

The common themes that I see among these are:

• relationship with God
• following rules
• leading people to understanding
• long-term and/or eternal focus
• loving and helping people
• thinking before acting
• focus on the next generation
• peace of mind
• facts and details
• sense of control; order instead of chaos

In the context of a relationship with Christ, I obediently make disciples, teaching and showing them how to focus on future generations. I am deliberate, fact-focused, and precise so as to bring peaceful order out of chaos. I am a lover of people and emphasize relationships with an eye toward eternity.

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The first step of the Parachute Flower is determining what values I want my life to serve. After coming up with a (incomplete) list of values, I used Bolles' prioritization grid (an online version can be found here) with the following top-five result:

1. Relationship with God - bringing more spirituality, more faith, more forgiveness, more love for God, more Biblical foundation into the world
2. Integrity - bringing more morality, more righteousness, more honesty into the world
3. Relationships with others - bringing more love and compassion, more fellowship into the world
4. A proper perspective of possessions - bringing into the world better stewardship of what we possess (with an emphasis on savings, simplicity, enough) as individuals, as neighbors, as communities (small and large), as nations
5. Intelligence - bringing into the world more knowledge, more Truth, and more clarity

As a result of my life, there will be

• a stronger focus on man's relationship with God and the Bible as the foundation of life;
• greater personal integrity as people learn to take responsibility for their actions; and
• a renewed interdependence on personal relationships as neighbors strive together to meet needs and achieve dreams.

More to come later.