Father's Day

In keeping with my tradition of blogging about once every other month, I thought it would be appropriate to blog on Father's Day. Actually, my youngest daughter told me to. She also told me that I need to say something about having wonderful, brilliant amazing children. So, I would like to say that, "I have wonderful, brilliant amazing children." Now she just said that I need to put some enthusiasm into it so - !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - there!

Actually, I do have three very special girls, whom I love dearly.

I was thinking about being a father today. I think most of us who are parents are at times racked with guilt and feelings of inadequacy. We try, but we wonder if we have suceeded, or just messed up a perfectly good lives. I suppose that the best we can do, is the best that we can do. I was thinking of my own dad this morning and the most important thing that he gave me was love. I knew, that I knew, that I knew that I was loved and that was all that mattered. That and the first guitar he bought me! I'm not even sure he realized that his love was so evidenced and felt. Saying, "I love you," was not a part of his vocabulary. His generation just didn't go there. But, I knew it and it gave me all the confidence that I needed to step out into this world.

My hope is that my girls know that they are loved. And while I haven't bought any of them a guitar, I hope they feel that they have been given much. Anyway, happy Father's Day to all you dads.

Up To My Neck

I am up to my neck in work. In fact I don't have near enough time to complete what needs to get done today. That's why I am blogging. I need to escape the pressure.

Now, I know this doesn't make sense. As soon as I post this I will be going back to my mega to-do list, only with even less time to accomplish all that needs to be done.

So, why am I doing this if I know that the 'escape' is only temporary and will only compound the problem. Well, because. After all this is the human plight. We stall. We drag our feet. We put off until tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. I could claim that I work better under pressure and with a tight deadline, but that would be a lie. I work much better when I have time to mull things over and try several different approaches.

Quite frankly, I just want to escape. I am tired of thinking about the things I have to think about and instead I want to do the things that I want to do. Is this immature - probably. Is this unproductive - definitely. Is this a waste of time - sure, unless of course somebody actually reads this and gets something out of it.

Sometimes we have to put down the "have tos" and do the "want tos." I don't want to go to my grave with a massive to-do list of things that I accomplished that were all "have tos." I like to think that I had a little bit of fun on this journey. I know that "have tos" can be fun, but right now they are not.

So, this is it. I can't spend any more time writing this blog. In fact I don't even have time to proof it, so you will have to live with the bad grammar, punctuation and spellin'.

Hi My Only Two Followers

Hi,

I thought I should post something for you - my two only followers. I know it has been a long time since I posted anything.

How are you? I am fine.

Orange is like blue, only different.

Square triangles are not.

Three times is one more than two and one less than four, unless times two.

Where you are I am not, except when you are.

Random information is not random only unexpected.

Time is only relative to itself.

Nonsensical discussions are profoundly deep.


Dad.

So Much For Frequent Posting

I had resolved that I was going to post to my Blog on a regular basis. I don't think a one month gap between posts qualifies as "regular." So, what happened?
Nothing to say?
No time?
To lazy?
To busy?
All of the above?
Take your pick, they are all valid to some degree.

I admire people who frequently have something INTRESTING to say (Please note the bolding and capitalization of "interesting"). I'm too scattered for that. One moment I am determined that I will expend my energies on practicing guitar. The next moment it is working on my motorcycle. Then I determine I need to spend more time on a little book project of mine. And so on, and so on, etc.

Blogging appeals to me, but the energy to actually blog on a regular basis is more than I apparently am prepared to give it. I should note that just five feet to my right is my open guitar case. Fifteen feet ahead of me is my book project. And just across the room and down a short flight of stairs is the door to the garage, where my bike is awaiting its annual winter maintenance. And of course when I am done this blog I won't be doing any of the above. Noooo, the Superbowl pregame shows are calling my name!

Am I alone, or are you torn in six different directions and opting to do none of them? I suppose to some degree it is human nature, but it also seems to be my nature in particular. I would like to excel at something, but too many things interest me and I am not prepared to give any of them up. There is nothing wrong with being a, "jack of all trades and master of none", its just that I would like to be both "jack" and "master".

Feel Like Christmas?

Late Christmas Day, my wife commented to me that it didn't feel like Christmas.  I agreed with her and it got me wondering why and I ended up asking myself two questions.

The first was, "Why didn't it feel like Christmas?"  I think I have the answer to that question. After spending 11 hours at Church on Christmas Eve, participating in four Christmas Eve services, then driving 3 1/2 hours to my mom's place (half of it through blowing snow), arriving just before 1 am, getting to bed at 2 am, then getting up late Christmas morning, unwrapping presents, wolfing down a big turkey dinner, watching two movies and crashing totally exhausted that night, I didn't have time to feel anything much more than frantic exhaustion.

When I think about it, it hasn't felt like Christmas in years, especially since being on staff at a church.  November and December are just one big blur of activity leading up to Christmas Eve and by the time Christmas Day arrives I am tired and my only desire is to crash.  Which leads to my second question, "What is Christmas supposed to feel like?"

I don't have the answer to this question.  If I look at Mary and Joseph, my Christmas looks rather laid back.  They had nine months of mystery, confusion and nasty rumours. Mary spent most of that time at her cousin's place.  They had to travel to Bethlehem with Mary full term in her pregnancy, camp out in a stable while she gave birth, have their privacy invaded by shepherds and kings and eventually they had to get out of town and head to Egypt.  I'm not sure that they had warm fuzzy expectations about Christmas. 

In fact when it comes down to it, they felt, what they felt, when they had to feel it, because of the particular circumstances they were in.  At times their feelings would have been a reaction to their situation and at other times they probably tried to rise above their circumstances and choose to feel hope, or peace or whatever.  Their emotions would have run the complete gamut from fear, to awe, to hope, to confusion, to anger, to joy. 

Maybe, that is what Christmas is supposed to "feel" like.  In fact maybe Christmas is not about feelings at all.  Maybe, it is simply something real that takes place and how we feel about it is how we react and interact with that reality.  Maybe, our feelings are secondary.  It didn't matter how Mary, or Joseph, or the people of Nazareth, or Caesar, or any of the others felt.  It only mattered what they did with it.  The Bible says that Mary treasured these things and pondered them in her heart.  Maybe, emotional exhaustion is alright, as long as I choose to treasure these things and reflect on what they truly mean.

Top 10 LIST

I read somewhere that, if you want to attract readers, you should publish LISTS. Apparently, people love to read LISTS - which is why you are reading this LIST post. So, I thought I would publish a top ten LIST of the reasons why you shouldn't post a top ten LIST.


The Top Ten Reason For NOT Publishing a Top Ten LIST
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10. Seven of the top 10 reasons are so lame no one laughs.
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9. You can't publish a list without having to insert a celebrity's name.
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8. - 2. These are the seven really lame reasons, so I am sparing you.
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1. Oprah!

Not Really Communicating

I posted a link to my Blog on my Facebook Page, which surprised one of my daughters. She asked why I had a Blog - she also wrote, "who R u? lol". I explained that I was at a church communicators conference and they said that a Communications Pastor should have a Blog. The idea is that I should blog about stuff that is relevant to the church that I serve at and advertise the Blog , so that people at the church can go online and see what I have to say.

That all seems reasonable, except for the fact that so far I haven't written anything of relevance to the people at my church and except for noting that I have a Blog on my Facebook Page (which only 16 people have access to - none of which go to my church), I haven't advertised that I have a Blog. So, that brings the discussion back full circle - Why do I have a Blog?

If I ever figure that out you will be the first to know.

Which brings up an important issue - who is reading this Blog. I downloaded somekind of Google program that tracks usage and lacking a degree in computer programming, I have no clue how to add a sitemap so that it can track my pages. I have read the help pages, but they are in a completely foreign language to me. So, not willing to spend the next six months learning how to code HTML or XML or whatever it is they want, I can only hope that people will leave comments, since I can't get the tracking software to do much more than list out undecipherable statistics about heaven knows what!