All in a Day

My friend and spiritual director while we were living in Africa was a gentle Zimbabwean man named Don Barnett. During many of our sessions Don and I would sit on the back porch of our cottage and be quiet and listen for the Lord's voice. He told me that experience without reflection is worthless. So we would reflect and be quiet. Tonight, as I reflect on today, I realize that so much life was lived today and without a conscious effort it would just fold over into tomorrow without ever being processed.

I woke up this morning with a sore throat, Jennifer hadn't slept much last night so she stayed in bed a while longer. She says she has her days and nights mixed up. Sadie-Claire also complained of an ouwee in her neck so I gave her some infants Advil before breakfast. Afterward Hutch spent some time doing home-school work at the dining room table while I answered emails. Then I went out to the garage to make room for the new Jeep we found on Craigslist to pull behind our RV.

My friend Mark Carter delivered our Jeep from Missouri at 11am. Mark and his family have been our friends for 14 years. He brought FFH to North Carolina to play at a church he was pastoring in 1995. We've stayed in touch since then and have become very close friends. So close that when he and Bonnie had their youngest child, a son, they named him Jeromy Bryan Carter, after me. A year ago this past spring Mark and Bonnie's two daughters, Kayla and Elicia, died in a fatal car accident near their home in Paris MO. The girls, 17 and 18 at the time, were vibrant and full of life and their hearts were for Jesus. When I'm with Mark I'm astounded at how he and Bonnie have walked through this. Jesus has given them a special grace and they are able to experience unexplainable joy through the process. Mark and I talked about that, and life, and sin, as I drove him into Nashville for a youth workers conference. Hutch slept in the backseat as we talked.

Hutch and I arrived back at home in Franklin just in time for a 3 hour management/publicity/web stuff meeting. Most of which was over my head so I just munched on peaches and asked a lot of questions.

After the meeting we took a ride in the new Jeep. First we drove through an instant oil change place where the guys made me feel guilty for not upgrading to the expensive oil. Then we met Jennifer's sister Jannell and her husband Brian for Mexican food. Afterward we walked over to Kmart to buy Hutch some new Legos as a reward for being so quiet during the meetings. He's into these Bionicle things now. They're sort of creepy but he loves them.

We're home now and the kids have been asleep for about an hour. Jennifer went up to bed to chill and watch TV. She doesn't want to watch football. My brother-in-law, Cameron, just called to tell me that he and Shantell want to buy our mini-van. Now we just have to figue out how to get it to St Louis.

Most days if you were to ask me, "Hey, what did you do today?", I'd say "Nothin really". Today I reflect and know that's not true.