You gotta chase the rewards in life, you know that? If that weren't the case, we wouldn't do anything. A marathon runner looks to the end of the race and the rush of adreneline as their inspiration, not to the pains in their limbs. A mountain climber looks to the summit they seek to conquer with desire, not the tenuous handholds or the thinner air at higher altitudes.
Ben has decided that it's time he learned to ride a bicycle, and the way he's going so far isn't exactly a safe course to travel. That's part of the reason I'm so proud of him right now. He has taken a few tumbles, but the reward of being able to ride his bike with his cousin and with me planted the seed of desire that picks him up and sets him back on the bicycle.
We live on a busy street, so the thought of a kid without good control over his bike riding in the yard and on the sidewalk isn't very comforting. The back yard has several trees, making it tricky for "intro to bike riding 101" classes. Plus, there's a decent chance he'd end up face-down in a small pile of dog-poo or one of the ant hills. Not a good proposition back there.
Another thing, Ben's bike is too small for him. It's a good size for most kids his age and he can learn on it, but he's taller than any 6-year old I've ever seen. The bike will need to be replaced. Usually, something that big would have to wait for his birthday, but since that's in the middle of August, that wouldn't do. He'd get to ride for a couple weeks, then he'd be back in school. That's not fair to him.
My birthday is coming up in less than a month, though. So I made a deal with him. If he can learn to ride his bike within the next two weeks, I'll ask for a Ben-sized bike for my birthday. When he heard that, his eyes lit up and he had a renewed desire to learn to ride that bike.
So up and down the sidewalk we went, moving frequently for joggers (who gave his haircut second glances) and other bicyclists. He would announce to anyone who would listen how his progress was going, and some of the people were very nice about it. A few ladies even cheered him when I let go of his bicycle seat and he went about 15 feet before stopping. He has the best grins, I'll tell you!
Truthfully, he's getting a new bike either way. It was neat to make his day in this way, though. This year for my birthday, I'm giving myself the joy of putting together a bike for Ben to ride around town with me.
Sorry I haven't posted any personal updates lately. I'm busy at work, busy at home, busy at church, and busy at my newsletter. That sounds like an extremely lame excuse, doesn't it? Well, I'll backtrack just a bit and mention my Monday lunch date with Pastor Host.
We talked about a number of topics. Where I am, where I've been, and where I want to be. We discussed the progression of the church in the last three years, and I let him know of a few things I remembered from fifteen years before. We are really on the same page! One thing that was said about a church service really stands out, "If worshiping God isn't a celebration, what's the point?"
I discussed full church membership with Tina that night and she responded favorably also. It's funny, but after seeing our mutual hunger for this, I still asked her tentatively as if I was about to rock some little kayak over if I asked with too much authority. Anyway, early next year, our family will be upgraded from "Regular Attenders" to full members.
What's the difference? Membership is a way of expressing to all that we believe in the direction the church is taking and believe that God's hand is on the rudder and is supplying the wind for our ship of spiritual war. It's a way of publicly putting our name in the ledger of those in the community who will stand with this group of believers no matter what.
And how do we profit in this venture compared to our current status? From what I can tell so far, we don't. That's actually the beauty of this, though. If there were tangible profits to be gained by throwing our hats in or if we were more welcomed and loved there because of our membership, it really wouldn't mean anything, would it?
We're excited for this next step!
Today, I took a day off to unwind a bit before the turn of the year rush that I'm expecting at work and to get some progress made on my newsletter. I woke up Ben this morning and we headed to school. I made him recite the books of the New Testament on the way and was going to say them together with him when he stopped me to say them on his own. He's getting another Sparky jewel tonight! On the way to his classroom, he asked me to come back for lunch, so I did.
It was chapel day at school and I have to say that I've never seen such a group of kindergartners that were so well behaved or looked so nice! We shared pizza, a chicken salad sandwich and chocolate milk, then had an ice cream sandwich before heading back to his classroom.
The kids were well behaved, but they were kids! In that setting, the teachers have a weapon at their disposal to keep the peace: peer pressure! A few kids got a bit rowdy on the way back to class, and others told them to knock it off before they were in trouble. They weren't that bad, but their classmates helped them keep their behavior in check.
Anyway, I have to get going on my project if I'm to make any headway before I pick Ben up from school, so I'll end this post with just this:
If you wonder about the name of the site, I am an avid drinker of coffee and i have my coffee tips to share also, being smarter than the average bear about this product. Being rather particular about my coffee, and with decent coffee being a largely localized industry, I can't give you very many suggestions of what to buy, but I can tell you what to look for and how to prepare your morning drink.
Of course, I am also available directly by e-mail. Doug-at-CoffeeSwirls.com
I also want to mention the city of Washington, Missouri. This is a town where you can sit back and take your time with anything! I've only visited there once. My wife has alot of family there and we went for a visit in 1999 to celebrate her Grandfather's 80th birthday. We stayed about 4 days in a town that was so relaxed! There were several locally-owned establishments, that thrived there. I think even the butcher was doing fine, despite the fact that there's a "Super Wal-Mart" there. Everyplace we stopped we saw someone that recognized one of us. It may have been a stop at the bank to use an ATM, a stop in the Wal-Mart to pick up a toothbrush, or to Altemueller’s Restaurant for a nice sit-down and relax kind of a meal. Granted, my wife and in-laws were partial to visiting these places for obvious reasons, but I felt so... welcome there. Everyone I met had a smile on their faces and it wasn't that fakey pasted-on smile that most people give.
Washington, MO is a town that is little enough for the people to care and big enough that you really don't have to leave for anything. It's far enough from larger cities that it has been passed over by most of the problems that occur when people live together, but close enough to one (St. Louis) that if you wanted to catch a professional sport, you'd only drive an hour or so.
To sum up, I've only been there for 4 days of my life and I already know where I want to retire to.