Wonderful Weekend

Its been awhile since our family has gotten away for a weekend to relax and have fun. But, since August Laurie and I have had the first weekend of November planned as a family fun weekend in St. Louis.

If you know Laurie and I, you know we LOVE Chicago and it's usually our first choice for a get away. So why St. Louis? Well... Why not? We haven't really been there yet as a family, and there's always something interesting to discover in a city you haven't spent much time in before.

For Savannah and Laurie Saturday was well planned out... American Girl store at Chesterfield mall. For Andrew and I it was a little more unplanned... We decided on the City Museum and walking around some of the older downtown area. Here are a few quick images from our weekend...





























































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Thinking Time

The last few years I became accustomed to having Saturday mornings as "porch time" during the spring, summer and fall ... It could last for 30-minutes, 2-hours, or maybe 4-hours. But, a new job last December put a damper on my "porch time" and I try to fit it in elsewhere into my week whenever possible. Today is one of those days.

I'm sure I'll still find time for a Sunday afternoon nap, but today I desperately needed some porch time... My favorite Slacker Radio station playing (James Taylorish), enjoying my favorite drinks (coffee earlier, now ice water with a slice of lemon), reading materials, sunshine, and lots of thinking.

I try not to allow this time of thinking to be negative or self-destructing... But instead a time of reflecting, reviewing, revisiting, regenerating, reorganizing. Though, sometimes that can be difficult. Like many, I tend to see the bad, erring, confused, failure in myself much more clearly and quickly than anything positive. And today I'm fighting off some very negative demons.

I recently ran across these quotes... Each has touched my heart deeply as I've read them over and over:















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What's Blooming???

Here's a rundown of what's blooming in my gardens right now...






















































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Reality Check

You know that feeling you get...

You've been feeling good about you life, your feelings, your emotions, your positions, your beliefs, your relationships, your attitude, your hopes, your actions...

Then... A big fat reality check happens.

That happened this past Sunday during the worship service at Eastview... The sermon was on prayer (check it out HERE)... But my take-away?

Just when I'm getting comfortable with the amount of faith in God that I have, I see the ridiculous amount of love God has for me and I realize how much more my faith needs to grow.

Kind of made my "I feel good about life, feelings, emotions, blah blah blah" (see above) seem out of whack again and a reality check kick in. My faith is SO SMALL compared to our God's great love, mercy, and grace. I can never attain a faith that's equal to his love, but I do have a lot of room for growth in my faith.

We sang a song near the end of worship that really touched my heart...

Glorious Ruins
by Hillsong

VERSE
When the mountains fall
And the tempest roars You are with me
When creation folds
Still my soul will soar on Your mercy

PRE-CHORUS
I'll walk through the fire
With my head lifted high
And my spirit revived in Your story
And I'll look to the cross
As my failure is lost
In the light of Your glorious grace

CHORUS
Let the ruins come to life
In the beauty of Your Name
Rising up from the ashes
God forever You reign

And my soul will find refuge
In the shadow of Your wings
I will love You forever
And forever I'll sing

VERSE
When the world caves in
Still my hope will cling to Your promise
Where my courage ends
Let my heart find strength in Your presence

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What's Blooming In My Gardens

Here's a quick sampling of flowers currently blooming in my gardens – grabbed pictures using my iPhone today...

































Can you name all of the above?


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It's Been Awhile

Three months have past since I last posted to my blog... Not sure that I've ever let that much time lapse between postings. I guess having a real job has filled in some time I use to have for other things.

No major life happenings, events, disasters, or celebrations have occurred... Kids are doing great... Laurie is doing great... I'm doing great...

I have missed sharing thoughts, feelings, life events, pictures, flowers, family/gardening/life activities. I have continued giving time to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram... But those are quick, spur of the moment postings that don't take much thought to energy.

I've been in somewhat of a reflective mood lately... Nothing in particular, just reflecting about my physical health, spiritual walk, fatherhood, being a husband... The things that are, and should be, the most important in my life. Feeling convicted to step up in my personal life and be the person I should be... For myself, for God, for my wife, for my children, for my friends, and for my workplace.

Speaking of workplace... I LOVE working at FedEx Office. It's has been a wonderful first seven months and I'm looking forward to many more years to come. I feel so blessed to have found a job like this after being self employed for 10 years... It could have been a very difficult transition, but it's been absolutely what I needed. I feel needed, appreciated, encouraged, and respected. What else could I want? The work hours can be a little wonky at times, but... That's to be expected in retail.

The amazing thing... I'm not missing gardening or being outside all the time. I really thought once summer hit I would miss it, but... I don't at all.

So, life is good... And now it's time to get ready for a run. I'm about two weeks behind training for a half marathon in September, so I've got to get my head and heart in the game! The last Saturday of September is going to come quickly!!!

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