Let Us Pray

This afternoon, I called my almost-four-year-old over and said, "Grab my hand...now grab momma's.  We're gonna pray..."

I closed my eyes and started to pray, and he said, "Wait, Daddy!  I want to pray!"  Then he closed his eyes, and said, "Lord Jesus..."

"Nathanael, if you want to pray first, you should just ask, not interrupt."

He opened his eyes and looked at me for a second, then closed them again, "Lord Jesus..."

"Nathanael..."

He just plowed ahead, "Lord Jesus..."

"Nathanael.  Listen to me.  We've talked about interrupting before.  Just ask if you want to pray."

"Okay.  Lord Jesus"  Pause.  "What are we praying about?"

They Call It a "Lifestyle" Change

Not a diet...a "lifestyle" change. I've got to change the way I've eaten my entire life - my entire relationship with food. That's a tall order.

I just recently got my labs results back from my latest employee physical. Good news!! My lipids have improved! Bad news!! My blood HgA1C has not. My A1C is a little high, and I want to get it under control now.

So I am now at war with sugar. Sugar! Thou are mine enemy!

Sugar doesn't have a chance. I'm a pretty smart guy, and it's an inert substance. They odds are in my favor I believe.

"What steps have you taken?" you might ask...I'm glad you did.

1. I have retained, at a not insignificant cost, a mentor/accountability partner/health coach. Okay, truth be told, he's a friend of mine...I didn't really hire him. We are going to meet twice a month to help me keep on track.
2. No more sweet drinks, cutting back on the white foods (white bread, potatoes, etc...you know the drill), limiting my portions. Nothing drastic.
3. Working out. I'm hitting the dumbbells and getting active on the carport 3 days a week. That's the target for now.
4. Last of all...this blog. A place for me to record my frustrations, my successes, my insights, and more. Of course, I may be the only person that ever reads it. And that's just fine.

It's a Quiz

One of my favorite bloggers, Misfit in Paradise, tagged me with this task. The task is to answer 10 questions presented to me, then tag 5 other people to answer 10 new questions. Sadly, I don't really have 5 other blogger friends, but I may (or may not) tag a few people in Facebook (since this will end up there as well).

1. (My old standby) You can invite 3 people to dinner. They can be from the past, present, or future. Who are they? C.S. Lewis, Axel Rose, Jesus

2. Why did you start a blog? (Blatantly stolen from Strawberry Jam Anne) I like to write, but I am usually too lazy. I thought a blog might require writing in small enough chunks that I would actually do it. And I crack myself up sometimes, and wanted to share it.

3. Monkeys, llamas, or horses? Yes.

4. Comedies or poignant dramas? Definitely comedies. I'm too much of a crier.

5. Do you have siblings? What kind (brothers, sisters, evil aliens)? If yes, where do you fit in the lineup? I am the youngest of three siblings (by 7 years). If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably already know that my oldest sister passed away last December after a year and a half fight with lung cancer. She was a incredible person. My "middle" sister is one of the most compassionate, kind, and sweetest (and goofiest) people I've ever met.

6. Besides me, who is your favorite author? What book? C.S. Lewis - Perelandra

7. Are you a Gleek? Unfortunately.

8. Do you have any You Tube subscriptions? If yes, what? RhettandLink (great internetainers), Pomplamoose (very inventive musicians)

9. Inside? Outside? Country? City? Summer - inside, winter - outside, country - living, city - vacationing.

10. Paper, plastic, or bring your own? Bring our own.

Irrevocable

Last week a friend of mine was in a minor fender bender. He's fine - just sore and embarrassed. You see, he rear-ended someone today because he was trying to look at an email on his cell phone. I'm just glad no one was hurt more.

It got me thinking about the irreversible decisions we make in life. Most decisions don't fall into this category. "Should I wear this shirt or that?" probably won't affect your future. But other decisions do.

Some are obvious big decisions:

"Should I go to this college or that?", "Should I marry this person?" or even: "Should I go out with this person?"

But some don't seem too big on the surface:

"Should I go to so-and-so's house tonight?", "Should I try to pull out now, or wait a little longer?"

For my friend, "I can glance at this email" turned into "My car is totaled and I got a ticket" in a split second.

I remember when I totaled my parent's car. I just looked at it and thought, "There's no going back. No sweeping it under the rug. No apology will repair it. It's just gone."

Other times the only action involved in an irrevocable decision is saying something. There are no take-backs in real life. And even though we can usually get forgiveness for something we shouldn't have said, we can't always expect the person to FORGET what we said. Some times a decision to say something can "total" our lives or the lives of those around us.

I guess this is just a reminder to us all (including myself) to be intentional in what we say and what we do. Let's happen to life, instead of life happening to us.

Top 10 Favorite Movies

Okay...now I'm copying Nick copying Matt... A while back I did my top 10 Superhero Movies of all time. This is just my 10 favorite movies of all time, in general. My basic criteria is this: how many times have I seen? Do I still want to see it again? If it comes on TV, will I sit and watch, even though I might only get to see the last few minutes? Is there a particular character or scene that really impacted me? I thought this might be a good way to get back into writing...so here goes!

Some movies you won't find on my list: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Indiana Jones. All great movies, but not in my top 10 for lots of different reasons.

10) Sneakers - check out this cast: Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Ackroyd, River Phoenix, David Straitharn, Mary McDonell, James Earl Jones, Ben Kingsley. Need I say more? I do? Okay. It's a very clever movie that I love watching even though I know all the twists already. Fast banter-y dialogue. It's a fun movie.

9) To Kill A Mockingbird - Gregory Peck plays a single father standing up for what's right when it's not popular at all. It has one of my all time favorite movie lines. "Miss Jean Louise. Miss Jean Louise. Stand up. Your father's passing." Oh yeah...it's also Robert Duvall first movie role I believe.

8) The Outsiders - another cast that makes you take a double take: Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane and Leif Garrett. This is a book about teenagers written by a teenager. It's taken almost verbatim from the book of the same name by S. E. Hinton. I recommend everyone read it. It's about family and belonging. And the theme song to the movie is written and sung by Stevie Wonder. Directed by some guy named Francis Ford Coppola or something like that.

7) Matrix - see Nick Waltz's list.

6) Rope - Alfred Hitchcock at his best. It's got Jimmy Stewart and a guy that reminds of the Brain from Pinky and the Brain. Really, he does. This movie is somewhat famous for not only being a Stewart/Hitchcock movie, but because the entire movie it shot with long takes. The Hitchcock tried to disguise the transitions so that it gives the feeling of one continuous shot. It's an interesting effect.

5) That Thing You Do - My favorite Tom Hanks movie. I love movies about bands, and I think this is one of the best. Watch it once, if you haven't already. Then watch it again and pay special attention to all of Lenny's lines. Every line but 1 or 2 in the entire movie is a joke. Great music, too.

4) Mystery Men - please see my aforementioned Top 10 Superhero Movies to see why this one is so great!

3) This Is Spinal Tap - The language is a little rough, but the humor is spot on. The original Mockumentary. The most quoted movie in my life behind #1 on this list.

2) Dead Poet's Society - This is one of the few movies that I've watched that has really made me think again and again.

1) Princess Bride - The. Best. Movie. Ever.