Vacation Blessings: Day 3

The Trip

It was time for the long haul. The last two days were really just practice for this true, all-day road trip. We left from Corinth at about 6:45, after grabbing a bowl of cereal, a couple of bagels, and a pocketful of granola bars. As we left the building, I think I may have heard a sigh of relief emanating from Room 102.

We drove through northern Mississippi, then through Alabama and up to Chattanooga, TN. We dipped briefly through Georgia, then headed through Tennessee toward Virginia. We had originally planned on stopping for lunch in Chattanooga, but as we drove, we became more and more anxious to get to Virginia before 1 a.m., so we elected to spend as little time as possible outside the car.

As we drove, we finished up our marriage study, looked for license tags from various states, and listened to a lot of Caedmon's Call.

We made very good time on this drive, and finally rolled into Burke, VA at about 10:30 EDT (which would have been 9:30 CDT). We visited for a little while with our dear friends, then, exhausted, climbed into bed. The boy woke up a few times in the night because he had slept so much in the car, but overall, we had a great sleep.

It was good to be there at last.

The Blessings

More Safe Driving. About 13-14 hours on the road, and no major incidents. God was certainly protecting us and keeping us from having car trouble.

No Emotional Explosions. Traveling can be a very difficult time for us -- particularly me. There's something about giving directions and deciding travel routes that makes me very defensive. That didn't happen a single time on this drive -- thanks in part, I'm sure, to Dr. Eggerichs.

Seeing Our Friends. They have been very influential in our lives. Their son and daughter were our best friends when we were growing up. Much of our courtship was conducted either at their home or near it. They encouraged us, did our marriage counseling, and had us over for lunch almost every week.

It's an amazing feeling to come home again, even when that home is halfway across the country from where it used to be.

Vacation Blessings: Day 2

The Trip

After the boy's first feeding (around 0530), we grabbed a continental breakfast at the Discomfort Inn (no bagels - par for the course, I suppose) and hit the road.

Outside, much to our respective reliefs, we found that our carseat had not been stolen. When my sweetie and boy were safely nestled in the car, I went back inside to grab some coffee and was hit on by two late middle-aged ladies who complimented my M&M pajama pants. One of them asked if I liked her nightshirt, which said, "Do Not Disturb."

No danger of that, I said to myself. To her, I said with a polite laugh, "Oh yes, it's quite clever; bye!"

Our drive to Corinth, MS was fairly uneventful, except that Google Maps advised us to take Highway 20 south out of Dyersburg, TN, despite the fact that Highway 20 does not exist there. This caused us some consternation, but also amused us and enabled us to learn more about the geography of beautiful western Tennessee.

We arrived in Corinth at about 2:30 and checked into Room 100 of the Econolodge, which was a good deal nicer than the Discomfort Inn we had stayed in the night before. After settling in, we went to visit Grandma at her retirement home. It was a beautiful building where she seemed to be fairly comfortable, and we talked with her for about 3 and a half hours.

After we were done visiting with grandma (it was getting close to her bedtime), we went with Aunt Mary and Uncle Phil to Pizza Grocery, where they had the shrimp and grits and we split a much more prosaic pizza. It was great to have some time with them, especially since Magen had only met Aunt Mary once and I hadn't seen Uncle Phil for about 18 years.

The night was a good one, except that the boy awoke several times. We tried to get him quickly each time so our anonymous neighbors in Room 102 wouldn't curse us unnecessarily.

The Blessings

Another day of Safe Driving -- hours and hours in the car, but no crashes or near-crashes.

Making It. Despite the best efforts of the Google Maps gremlins, we made it to Corinth ahead of schedule.

Happy Baby. The boy has been quite impressive on this trip. He hasn't fussed very much at all, and he has been a pure joy to me when I've gotten to hold him on our rest / fill-up stops.

Seeing Grandma. I haven't seen Grandma since before Grandpa died, and the boy had never met her. She loved having us visit; her joy more than rewarded our drive. It's sad to see her in so much pain, but nice to know that she is in a nice place surrounded by caring people.

Spending time with Aunt + Uncle. It was great to see my aunt and uncle. It was also really sweet of them to remember my birthday and have a birthday pizza come out afterwards. We really enjoyed visiting with them.

Vacation Blessings: Day 1

Blogger's Note: This is the inaugural post in my series of Vacation Blessings. I have obtained two weeks of paid leave from my place of gainful employment to relax, refresh, and reinvigorate. My wife, sweet son, and I are therefore road-tripping to see my Grandmother and Aunt in Corinth, MS, and then headed out to Burke, VA to see some dear friends.

The Trip

Got off work and headed west on I- 70. Drove a while and then stopped for the night at a Super 8 in Kingdom City, MO. We had initially thought of stopping at the Comfort Inn across the highway, but we intended to do some shopping around to ensure we weren't missing any fantastic hotel deals in the vicinity.

Our good intentions lasted through the second hotel we hit, Super 8. They offered us a room for $9 less than the Comfort Inn, and when I returned to the car to discuss the matter with Wifey, I found her tired and the baby cranky for lack of milk, so I took Super 8's offer.

Subsequently, we found out why it was $9 less. The room wasn't great, and Wifey was afraid to leave the boy's carseat outside for fear that someone would break into our car to steal it. We affectionately nicknamed the hotel the "Discomfort Inn." It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't nearly as nice-looking as the Comfort Inn had been. Overall, not a bad night, but nothing to tweet @Mom about.

The Blessings

Where do I start? Oh, yes: Paid Vacation. It is so nice to have three weeks (plus a day or two) of paid vacation / sick leave per year. I especially like that it is all combined into one lump of paid time off so I'm not tempted to be dishonest in order to use sick leave as vacation time. On top of that, I get to come back to a job I genuinely enjoy after my vacation is done.

Date Time. On the way to Kingdom City, we discussed our marriage, our relationship, our communication, and our attitudes with the help of a marriage workbook from Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. I don't agree with the man in some areas (such as his fundamental concept of gender and his belief that God designed marriages to have conflict), but I have found his ideas very useful in facilitating communication about our values, assumptions, and needs. His concept of "The Crazy Cycle" is especially enlightening.

We've only been looking at the material for a couple of weeks, but I already feel like I have grown a lot closer to Wifey and learned a great deal about what she needs in our relationship.

Reliable Vehicle. No breakdowns, overheating, bad brakes, or any other issues so far. We are so happy to have a paid-for vehicle that can reliably transport us and our stuff halfway across the country and back!

Anticipation. The beginning of a journey is always filled with hope, expectations, and happy thoughts about what lies ahead. Proverbs 13:12 says that hope deferred makes the heart sick. I think about this verse about each time something goes differently than I had wanted. I think this concept is also what made it so hard when a seven-week-old baby in our church died a couple of weeks ago. But the verse also contains the flip-side of that truth: A longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Here's hoping that this trip fulfills our longings!

Open Note to Rev. Terry Jones of Gainesville

For background, look here, here, and here.

Dear Rev. Jones,

Thank you for (maybe) canceling your burning of the Qur'an.

That was your attaboy; now for your beatdown.

You should probably re-read Matthew 10:16 - "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves."

Rev. Jones, what on earth were you thinking? Your plan to burn the Qur'an on 9/11 (or possibly try to blackmail someone into moving the site of the "Ground Zero" mosque) was neither shrewd nor harmless.

I agree with you that the Bible is God's word and is powerful and can change people. But think about it -- how does burning someone else's holy book make yours any more potent? In fact, doesn't it betray a lack of confidence in the efficacy of yours?

Throughout this whole series of events, you took advantage of the freedom you have in the United States and used it to threaten the lives of Christians all over the globe. Yes, you have the right to burn the Qur'an. But what in Heaven's name made you think "Gee, that sure would be a good idea"?

The God you and I profess is not glorified when we tear down other people's idols. Now, when we cast down our own, that might do something. How about if you attack the idol of your hunger for publicity, I attack the idol of my foolish self-righteousness, and we call each other in the morning?

Praying for you. Your fellow failure,

luaphacim

My Best-Laid Plans... And the Better Things That Come

I'm not supposed to be home this weekend.

I had fully intended to be at Hutchmoot 2010 right now. I had dreamed, schemed, planned, and budgeted for it. I had even gotten my boss's permission to take the day off even though we would be understaffed without me.

All that remained, in short, was to actually buy the tickets, and maybe check out some of the recommended reading material from my local library. Annie Dillard, C. S. Lewis, Flannery O'Connor, Walt Wangerin, Jr., and many others were to be there in printed form, and Wangerin was also slated to show up in person. And, of course, the icing on the cake: Andrew Peterson, Ben Shive, Andy Gullahorn, and other great musicians. Literature, music, and late-night desserts and coffee with some of the most interesting people one could wish to meet.

So why am I sitting at home this evening instead of being spiritually, aesthetically, and intellectually fed at Hutchmoot 2010? Honestly, I'm not quite sure. Maybe bad luck, maybe poor planning, maybe my no-good pig-stealing great-great-grandfather.

Here's how it happened:

May 5, 2010
I learn about Hutchmoot 2010 on The Rabbit Room, which has recently become one of my must-read blogs. It sounds great: Discussions about art and aesthetics with other Christians who care about those things. And not only that, but also a chance for really good seats at the release concert for Andrew Peterson's Counting Stars album. And not only that, but an opportunity to meet some of the people whose writing I have admired for some time.

Awesome, right? I start to align the stars in my mini-firmament: planning, scheming, crunching the numbers to figure out how I will pay for the expedition to Nashville, and even obtaining a co-conspirator to go with me.

It takes me a couple of weeks to obtain buyoff from all the stakeholders (especially my sweet spouse and my boss), but soon, I am ready.

May 14, 2010
I am over at a friend's house for the evening. I have finalized my plans and am ready to register. I am on my friend's computer, just about to pay the registration fee, when my phone rings.

It's my wife, calling to see if I spent several hundred dollars at iPath Footwear. I haven't.

I also haven't spent a hundred dollars at HomeShoppingNetwork.com or a couple hundred to purchase a subscription to a scholarly journal.

Needless to say, I do not register for Hutchmoot 2010 this evening. Instead, I spend quite a bit of time checking my bank account and cancelling my debit card.

May 17, 2010
After using my lunch and breaks to get things straightened out with my debit card, I come home from work and prepare to register for the event. Then, I see this:

Update 3:40pm: The Hutchmoot is now full. If you missed your chance this year, we hope to see you in 2011.

Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." That's about how I was feeling after coming home to that announcement on May 17.

And if that had been the end of the story, I can imagine myself being a little bit bitter, angry that someone else's sinful behavior had made me miss something I was really looking forward to.

But fortunately, there's more (as there always is). Romans 8:28-30 says,

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

In other words, no matter how I feel about what's happening, I can rest assured that I will benefit from it. The work described in verses 29-30 is not always pleasant, but nonetheless, it's exciting to know that almighty God is working on ME. He has a goal for me and is using every single thing that happens in my life to move me closer to that goal.

So that's the first good thing that comes from this event: I can be sure that, one way or another, this is leading me closer to glorification with Christ. But there are so many other blessings that have come from this weekend at home:

• A co-worker of mine got to leave early when he needed to on Friday, since I wasn't going to be gone after all
  
• I had a delightful date with my wife and baby at various art galleries, followed by a delicious dinner and cuddling at home
  
• We had a great time at a good friend's daughter's first birthday party in Kansas City on Saturday
  
• On our way home, we stopped through our old college town for shopping and sushi
  
• We got to see my brother's wonderful family Saturday night since they came over to our house for baths (their tub was being painted)

In short, it was a great weekend of growing closer to my wife and son and enjoying our family and the blessings God has given us. And if my debit card information hadn't been stolen on May 14, I would have missed out on all this great stuff!

All of this just demonsrates once again a lesson that I have had a very hard time learning: my disappointment isn't the end of good things. In fact, it seems like what comes after the disappointment is even better than what I had planned for myself.

To the person who thwarted my dreams of Hutchmoot 2010 by obtaining my card information and using it to buy fancy shoes and scholarly journals: I forgive you. If I may paraphrase Joseph in Genesis 50:20, you may have meant this thing for evil, but God meant it for good.