8.28.2012

My dog ate my Bible

No, seriously.  Ruby ate my Bible.  This wasn't your run of the mill Bible either.  This was a J.B. Phillips translation, aka "the cook book", which hasn't been produced in decades.  I love this translation for a number of reasons.  It's human, it's pliable, it's relatable, and it's reality.  It's also no more!

Ashley and I came home a few weeks ago to this tragic mess.  All over the house.  Pages everywhere.  Leather everywhere.  And Ruby no where to be found!  Normally this wouldn't have been so upsetting, but that Bible had years (10+) of notes, thoughts, underlinings, bullet points, etc in it.  And now it has been eaten and pooped out.  Ruby literally was fed on the word of God. She digested it.  Maybe there is a small lesson here??

Every once in a while I go on Ebay and look for this very specific Phillips Bible and buy them if they are exactly what I'm looking for.  So thankfully I have a few backups of the Phillips.  Always have them on reserve, but mainly to give away.  Not this time!

So off to Oregon Bookbinding (http://www.oregonbookbindingcompany.com/) in Silverton I go.  Nancy has helped me a number of times and does an amazing job! Check out the pictures of before and after.

Anyway I'm ready to roll again.  Ready to mark up another one.  It's exciting in a way, getting to start over.  I wonder what thoughts, bullet points and underlinings will surface over the next ten years.  Time will tell.  But I'll tell you one thing: Ruby will never find this one!

Until next time, hide your valuables.  You never know who might snatch them!

8.21.2012

Just days away...

We are just days away from life as we know it changing.  We are days away from going from 2 to 3.  We are days away from diapers!  We are days away from stress and days away from joy.  We are days away from tears and days away from sleepless nights.  We are just days away from responsibility!  We are days away from baby seats, car seats and toys.  We are days away from cuddles and days away from walks thru the neighborhood.  We are days away from Danny, Patti and Jamie becoming Papa, Pat Pat and James James.  We are days away from bottles (milk for baby and wine for us?).  We are days away from looking at each other and asking, "What should we do?"  We are days away from being Ashley and Alex to Mom and Dad. 

We are days away from meeting our baby boy and couldn't be more excited!

Until next time, enjoy what you've got...because you might be days away from something new!

8.06.2012

Are you a connector?

The idea of being a connector has been on my mind and heart recently.  I love that word, connector.  It's an action word, it moves.  A connector is something or someone who links two things together.  It's also intentional, another reason why I like it.  As I said, I've been reflecting on this lately and have realized that I have been blessed as being a good connector.  I love linking two people up together and I love staying connected to people.  Over the years I have had great experiences and memories with people by just staying in touch, or staying connected.  And I've had people have profound impacts on my life after years of being connected.  So I ask you: are you a connector?

A few years back I met a guy named Tim.  Tim and I spent one weekend together as a part of a men's retreat.  He and I talked a lot about commitment and what that meant.  At the time, I was trying to figure out whether to move to North Carolina to chase my girlfriend around.  Tim suggested I commit.  So I did and 4 years or so later she and I are expecting our 1st baby.  We fast forward a few years and Ashley and I decide to move to Portland.  I let Tim know I'd be moving out (stayed connected!).  By staying connected, we ended up at Tim's house having dinner once a week, getting to know his immediate family and even living with some of his other family members (for free!).  Staying connected was HUGE. 

Another friend of mine Eric stays connected with me.  Out of the blue he'll send me a book, or a note, and it always seems to come at just the right time. It also makes me feel cared for and valued as a friend.  So by his staying connected with me, our friendship carries on and I am blessed by it.  Read more about him at ericscofield.wordpress.com  .

Staying connected is huge.  The Bible even talks about it in Hebrews 10:25 - "...let us consider how we may spur one another one in love and good deeds, and not give up meeting together..." .   In fact, Jesus tells us that if two or more of us meet together, God will join us (Matthew 18:20)!  It's just one more way of staying connector to our Creator - and each other.

You see, being a connector not only is good for you, it's good for them.  I love being a connector.  I love getting people involved with one another and staying involved with people.  It has an immense pay off!  So again I ask (and challenge) you: are you a connector? 

Until next time, call someone you haven't in a while and re-connect.  I dare you!