"Oh, The Places You'll Go!"

My daughter wanted to read with me last night, so she brought me a book that we had picked out at the library. She is now in the AR program, so we had to find books on her level that she can read and be tested on. She's always loved Dr. Suess, but books like "Cat In The Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham" are too easy for her. The only one that qualified is "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" I had never read it, but had heard for years it was a popular gift for high school graduations, so I was interested to find out what it said. As she read it to me, I found it deeply moving...so much so that when she finished, I called my son over to read it aloud to both of us, as he's struggled with finding his place at school and with friends. He grumped about having to read a "kiddie book" since he was busy playing on the computer, and sat down with an attitude to read it...but I was hopeful by the end he would change his tune. I know the illustrations are silly and childish...but the words are powerful. Here's some clips from the story:

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't.
Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be as famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't
Because, sometimes they won't.

I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl.
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike,
And I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

What a wonderful lesson to be reminded of....that in life, we will have great highs and we will have painful lows...that life is sometimes scary and unpredictable, but that we must persevere, press on, and face our problems head-on, and not run from them. The book leaves you feeling that you can take on anything, whether you're a 7 year old girl, an 11 year old boy, or a 40 year old dad.

I'm sure I'm late to the party here...but this is a wonderful book for people of any age...and highly recommended as a gift to anyone at a crossroad in their life.

PS: My son, after reading the book to us, told me that he really liked it. Of course, he whispered it quietly in my ear so that his sister wouldn't hear he liked her book...gotta love him. :)

She's Awesome...

It's come to my attention that the post I wrote last week about what I learned about the Lincolns could be inferred that I was compared my wife to Mary Todd Lincoln. That was not how it was meant at all....I was just sharing the story because it changed my perspective on how I look at all the adversity in my life. Instead of just getting down or mad at it, I found I needed to look for what God was trying to teach me in it. That's all that was meant.

But while I'm on the subject, let me tell you how awesome my wife is. She is incredible, and I've learned more about who she really is in the last few weeks than in our almost 14 years of marriage. She is a shining example of God's grace, love, acceptance and forgiveness. She loves me completely despite my many faults and shortcomings. She takes incredible care of our kids and our home. She is a great balance and partner to me in our business. She is a great compliment to me, very strong in areas where I am weak. She gives me hope that I can someday be the man that she deserves.

We've recently gone through some issues in our marriage that have tested the mettle of who we are as a couple. At some point, I may share about all of that, but right now it's best for us to walk through it together first. Just let me say that the character she has shown when she's been "squeezed" has blown me away, and I'm more in love with her now than the day I married her. I don't deserve her love, but am thankful and grateful every day that she chooses to love a mess like me. As some say, I've definitely outkicked my coverage with her.

She's awesome...just wanted to make sure you all knew that...and it doesn't hurt to remind myself of that, too.

Blessed...

Well, It's Labor Day....and here I sit at home instead of the lake. It's a beautiful day, but I spent a fair portion of last night hugging the porcelian throne. (I'm sure you needed to know that...) So, as I sit with my laptop inside the house, it would be easy to be upset about being cooped up in here on a holiday...but as I think back on this weekend, I'm reminded of just how blessed I am:

...standing around eating food at our family's tailgate ouside of Notre Dame Saturday noon. As I ate the great food my parents had brought, I just enjoyed the conversations with all that were there. I spoke with my cousin's son about college, his daughter about her passion for dance. I took grief from my brothers-in-law about how my 13 year old nephew drafted me a better fantasy team than they thought I would. As they all laughed at this, I was reminded of how lucky I am that my family lives so close and is so close that we can do this. I'm sure there are many people I know that either don't have that clsoe of a relationship with their families, or are way too far away to spend much time with them. I'm really blessed that I can do that.

...watching the Irish Guard take the flag from the presenters and and raise it while "America The Beautiful" plays. Seeing them unfold the symbol of our country's freedom leave a lump in my throat every single time. I'm so grateful for those that have given their lives so I can live my life here free, and for those that are still defending our freedom today. It's something I hope I never take for granted.

...sitting on a lawn chair reading a book by the shore of Lake Wawasee. As I look out across the water and see my little girl tubing with her cousins, I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have access to a place so close to home that can take me so far away from everything else. Once I cross through the doors of that cottage, it's like I'm miles away from all the problems and stress of everyday life. It's a welcome respite from all that threatens to pull me under during the week, and I'm so glad I have a chance to be there.

So, even though my diet today consists of just Saltines and Sprite, I realize how absolutely blessed I am, and how thankful just to be where I'm at.

Here's hoping you realize just how blessed you are today.

I'm Back...

Well, here I am again....and guessing anyone that had followed this blog before has forgotten all about it...so it's just me and my thoughts again....and I kinda like it that way. This break has changed me in many ways, and it's quite possible I'll share those changes as we go forward...but for now, I'm going to steal my blogfather Derry Prenkert's philosophy of only blogging about things I'm passionate about, and not feel a pressure to do it daily, though it may happen that way. I'm thinking about picking up with my Youversion journaling on here again, too...but we'll see how that goes. For now, it just feels good to be writing again....so off we go.

On Wednesday my wife and I visited the "Sacred Marriage" class at NMC. It was an very interesting and informative session, but one thing in particular stood out to me. It was a story Gary Thomas shared on a DVD we watched about Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln.

From what he shared, Mary must have been some piece of work. She went through house help like water, offended nearly everyone she came in contact with, and there are even accounts of her walking into the Oval Office in the middle of meetings with heads of state just to yell at Abraham and throw drinks in his face in displeasure. One traveling salesman was so offended by Mrs. Lincoln he went to the President to complain. After listening to his complaint, Abraham said "You only had to endure for 15 minutes what I've endured for 10 years."

Now, we all chuckled at this...but then Gary went on to share about Lincoln's legacy as President. This man, despite popular opinion being against him, held this country together in the midst of a Civil War and the threat of secession by the southern states. Instead of worrying about his legacy, Lincoln pushed to win the war and to keep America whole. He is revered for it now, but at the time he was hated for sending so many to die in the battles. Lincoln persevered despite so much pressure to cave....and some think this fortitude was ingrained in him in part being married to Mary Todd Lincoln. Dealing with her mood swings and bitter personality steeled Abraham to be the man he needed to be to lead our country.

That was interesting to me.....the very qualities that made Mrs. Lincoln hard to deal with made Abraham into the man whose face adorns Mount Rushmore. This really hit home to me. Quite often I know I would think of things that bothered me about those around me, including my own family. I often wished that they would change so they would suit me better....but this lesson taught me that people are in my life for a reason. God put them there to teach me something, and I haven't been a very good listener lately. Perhaps these things that irk me are there to teach me patience, love, grace, acceptance, and perseverance. Perhaps it's to remind me that love is a commitment and not a feeling. Perhaps God's just trying to get my attention so I can just listen to what he has to say to me.

Some of you think I have it all together....but some of you know how much I don't. I don't have the answers...just a guy walking through life trying to be the best he can despite my many flaws. I'm excited to get back into this again not so much for you reading....but for me. It's something I love to do...and happy to be doing it again.

Here's hoping we find lessons from Him in our trials.