I will call him “Bo”, though that is not really his name (and, yes, I do remember his real name. I just think it’s best if I do not use it). I was taking my usual morning walk a week ago today. Our HOA had put little flags in everyone’s yard for the Labor Day weekend, which they also do for Memorial Day and Independence Day. My habit is to wave at everyone who passes by, whether on foot, in a vehicle, or, as in “Bo’s” case, on a bike.
It is very easy in our faith life to become “surface-surfers” and nothing more. Life is busy. There are many distractions. And, more often than not, going beyond simply is not a priority we consider.
I am sorry about last week. I was out of town without my laptop, taking a complete break. In case you are interested, we had a great eight-day getaway – traveling through Sarnia to Niagara Falls, then to Buffalo to visit with the Hartke’s, and on to Cape Cod to visit my cousin Pam and my Aunt Jean.
I wanted to talk about the trade deadline today, and by that I don’t really mean how the Detroit Tigers traded Skubal and Mize, although I am satisfied with the return received (I was hoping Mize would remain a Tiger – but had forgotten that Boros was his agent). Rather, I was thinking about how I – even with the 3-day extension beyond our wedding anniversary – survived another trade deadline. But that is old news by now.
I should have known when my wedding proposal did not go anything close to what I had planned. A year later I had my second chance to learn when our plan for call day fizzled. It may be that we did learn – finally – five years into our marriage as we made plans to go to the seminary.
For the flowers in our yard this summer we opted to try synthetic ones instead of the live varieties. Our primary reasoning was around the fact that we anticipated being away from our condo more than usual this summer which would bring more complications than usual in the watering department. Though our neighbors (who have incredible green thumbs) are always more than willing to cover for us when we are gone, it just seemed like more than we wanted to ask this summer.
We returned home Monday from two-plus weeks of vacationing with about the best weather ever. We were on the dock
I am currently reading “Your Detroit Tigers – the Great, the Good, the Top 400” by Tom Gage with Alex Avila (thanks, Keith). While I expect all of you know we are celebrating our nation’s 250th anniversary, I am not sure how many know that the Detroit Tigers have been around for half of those years. Founded in 1901 (that’s why season ticket holders are called “The 1901 Society”), our MLB team is celebrating its 125th anniversary. This has prompted me to do some reflecting upon my life.
I was out making a run to Jersey Mike’s when we were surprised by a sudden, and very brief, storm. Monica saw our grill cover getting blown away and made a successful dash to rescue it. However, upon returning up the deck steps she slipped and jammed her little toe against the boards. A week later she is still limping with what appears to be a broken toe. Those sudden turns in life can sure be a pain!
Three sermons in five days! Add to it a struggling Tiger team and the Red Wings going back to the drawing board. And then there is the weather … I’ll leave it at that. Add one more sermon at the end of the week and I will be 100% ready for vacation … almost like the good old days!
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