Thoughtful

Never really the romantic type I set out this year to surprise my wife. Back in the day, high school days, I would head over to see her and stop at 7-11 and pick her up a large Icee and a Zero candy bar. After heading off to college, I would come home on the weekends to see her. I would take the Agnew/Villa exit on I-40 and head north. At the intersection of 10th and Villa I would stop at a small independent flower shop. I would select one carnation and take it to her. These were some of my best romantic moves.
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“Where’s Your Sidekick?”

Earlier this week I went to the gym to work out. Rodney asked, “Where is your sidekick?” He was referring to Kimberly. She had an early staff meeting in Bethany and so could not make our workout. It was fun to be asked that question. For the past few weeks we have met at the wee hour of 5:30 a.m. and exercised at Apex together.

Today is Kimberly’s birthday - No. 23. You always wonder where your children will be when the grow up. What will they be doing? What will your relationship be? We all have dreams of what that will be.

We, Patty and me, enjoy watching our children grow up. They neither one would care to be referred to as children in the sense of childish. However, we have a hunch they do not mind being referred to as our children.

When your children are young you mark their growth by particular milestones - losing the first tooth, first day of school, the move out of elementary school, first crush, entering the teenage years, driver’s license, and on and on. Once they graduate from high school those markers change. Jobs, marriage and purchasing the first house signal certain levels of maturity. More important is the move to watch your children become the kind of people they intend to become. Thinking through where they want to be and how they want to live shows up in the decisions they make.

What fun it is to continue to watch your children grow.

Happy Birthday Kimberly! We are proud of you.

Friday Photo … “Through Another’s Eyes”

Last week we (Tommie, Charlie and me) spent an hour photographing around the countryside. I will call this one “Through another’s eyes.” Charlie noted Tommie took some great shots with his camera. She has quite the eye. We were glad she was willing to hang out with some novices.

A View from the Room

Growing up my view of downtown OKC was from the northwest to the southeast. Here the view is from south to north - from Tommie’s hospittal window. There may be nicer skylines but I have an affinity to this one - it is my hometown.

Going Home

We just received word from the doctor. Tommie will get to go home today. While it is never fast enough for young folks it is one day less than it could have been. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Improving

This afternoon the respiratory therapist came in and suggested we try a bit without the oxygen. Eight hours later and three different “vitals” recordings revealed a blood-oxygen level to make the doctors proud. Tommie ate better this evening than she has in more than a week. She is certainly improving. Who knows, maybe we will go home sometime tomorrow. Thank you for your notes of concern and prayer.

Series Interruption

I will continue my series “The Edge of the Inside” later this week. Our youngest is in the hospital with pneumonia. She is doing better but it may be a day or two stay. Your prayers are appreciated.

UPDATE

We learned this morning Tommie’s pneumonia has worsened a bit. The doctor suggested this was normal due to the amount of IV fluids they are giving. She also has pleurisy making her breathing more difficult. The result - another couple of days here in the hospital. Like us, she appreciates your prayers.

Arriving at the Right Time

Paul has a solid post on the practice of God’s presence.

And yes, when he says he is not a morning person you should note the mild understatement.

Brown Eyes - Happy Birthday!

Deep brown. Imagine a 5′10″, 140 lb. geeky, jock “wanna be” walking the halls of his high school spotting a girl his mother would wonder, “How in the world did he manage to bring her home?” That was nearly 30 years ago. To my mom’s surprise, I did manage to bring her home!

Today those brown eyes still catch my eye. Recently I performed the ceremony for a young couple whose favorite musical group is Coldplay. One of the songs they selected to be played during their wedding was “Green Eyes.” Reflecting on our nearly, 29 years together (25 married, 4 dating) I find the simple substitution “brown” for “green” to describe my feelings for my best friend, Patty. (a.k.a. “Brown Eyes” to me)

According to one of the many lyric sites, Chris Martin wrote the song for a girl friend. Once he met Gweneth Paltrow he would not perform it live saying, “It is just not right.” He found someone who made the song mean more than he originally intended and to honor her he could not sing of another. For me there has only always been, “Brown Eyes.” Today she celebrates her birthday. Happy Birthday Brown Eyes!

Friday Photo … Bonus from My Regular Guest

Looking out.

One from Tommie.

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