Every year, I make the same resolution. And every year, I break it.
That resolution? To floss more.
Yep. I’m not a good flosser. There. Now you know.
This year, I don’t think I’m going to make any resolutions. Goals, yes. Plans, of course. But not any start-on-January-1-and-break-by-January-15 resolutions. I think I’ll take a year off.
What about you? Do you make resolutions? Have you ever kept a resolution? What are your goals for 2009?
At least that’s how it felt at first.
Mark and I bought our house in May 2003 and that fall, we got serious about church shopping. After choosing our church based on the latest Sunday morning start time (just kidding – but seriously, how great is an 11:15 service for two non-morning people without kids?), we were quickly invited to a Sunday school class.
I remember walking into the class the first time, the couple we sat with that day and some of my early impressions of the class and the people in it. But I don’t remember meeting Zac and Mandy. I remember noticing them – they were in leadership. (You know, in charge.) But I can’t recall when – or how – exactly we became friends.
The day I do remember is the one that began to seal our hearts together: the day we decided to plant a church together.
From that day forward, we transitioned seamlessly from friends to family. Well, seamlessly except for a snoring incident during our fishing trip to Canada.
Mark and I were one of six couples – three in our twenties, three in their forties and fifties – that planted a church in a nearby community. That group of people was as tight as could be for a period of time, planning and praying, meeting and ministering. That period of time did not last forever, though. And while I still have bruises and scars from that time, I’m so very thankful that through it all, we only grew closer to Zac and Mandy.
We have spent hours in prayer and worship and Bible study and ministry. And we’ve cried together and shouldered each other’s burdens, growing all the while through the pain. But we’ve also laughed our heads off and come up with pages of inside jokes and favorite quotes. We’ve gone from “young marrieds” to not-as-young parents. We’ve gone through job changes, career changes, health problems, family issues and so much more. We know each other’s personalities and tendencies, we know the many ways we are so alike and we just laugh at the few ways we are different.
When we were in the midst of the church plant’s failure, Zac and Mandy were described – not favorably – by another church member as “passionate people.”
And they are. Oh, they are. But in a way that is only glorifying to God and inspiring to those around them. They live life with gusto, whether we’re discussing the ideal thermostat temperature, the winning characteristics of Dorothy Lynch salad dressing or God’s plan for our lives. I love that about them.
Zac and Mandy moved to another state this fall, and I miss them so much. But we got to spend Sunday evening with our friends, and I’m thankful for that time. I’m thankful for their friendship. And yes, for their passion. I love these passionate people.
What are you passionate about?
Does your family like to tell the same handful of stories over and over and over again until everyone can recite them beginning to end? Mine sure does. And so does Mark’s.
One story that always makes me laugh is about the day Mark was born. See, he was born just 16 months after his brother – he’s what we call a “surprise” baby. (Not an “oops,” not a “mistake” – a pleasant surprise! Well, that’s what I call him. I don’t think I want to know what his mother called him, especially when she had two babies in diapers or, years later, two teenagers in trouble!)
Despite the relatively short span of time between my brother-in-law’s birth and my husband’s, it seems that the hospital had gone through some changes during that time. The most notable change: a speed bump in the parking lot.
A speed bump that my father-in-law found going top speed, rushing his in-labor-almost-gonna-have-this-baby-NOW wife to the emergency room.
A speed bump that we still hear about, at least once a year.
Unless you count sports plays, my in-laws don’t really analyze anything. Lucky for them, I do. And I think that speed bump represents more than just a pile of concrete in the parking lot of St. Luke’s. I think it represents the funny little way God has of slowing us down and making us pay attention.
When we were dating, I noticed that every time Mark would drive over a speed bump in a parking lot, he’d grumble, “I hate speed bumps.” Ev-er-y time. Since then it’s been a little joke between us that when we drive over speed bumps one of us has to say it. Not because we really care so much about the jarring effects those mini-hills have on our car (okay, so Mark cares), but because it’s one of our “things.”
I know it’s not funny to anyone else. But it makes us chuckle.
Thinking about that, I wonder about how many inside jokes and deeper understandings and rich experiences we’ve gained because of life’s speed bumps. And I think about how much we would have missed without those reminders to slow down and pay attention.
Maybe speed bumps aren’t so bad after all.
One thing I know for sure – I am eternally grateful that God chose to give my in-laws a speed bump 32 years ago in the form of a third son. He is the love of my life, my best friend, my favorite person, a good man, and the best daddy Photobaby could ask for.
Happy birthday, Mark. I love you.
When you compare $18 (for two) to $1, it’s a pretty easy choice. And that’s why, when I sat down to make my list of “favorite movies of 2008,” I ended up with a list of “favorite movies of 2007 and 2008.”
Did you know that if you type in your address at Google Maps, it will show a picture of your house?!? That’s insane! And frightening! And, well, I don’t know what else, but I don’t like it.
Does that freak anyone else out?
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