Life Lessons
Things I either learned or were reiterated to me over the course of this weekend:
Catching up with old friends is nice: I ran into somebody I hadn't seen in a few months at the football game on Friday night. We got caught up on each other, our kids, our mutual friends. It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes of conversation, but it was very enjoyable.
Go "green" when you can: The weather is cooling off a bit and our community has plenty of sidewalks so I chose to ride my bicycle to the football game and to coffee with another friend the same way. Sure, it's only 15 minutes to each from where I live so it isn't a huge deal...but I enjoyed it. You can think while you ride. Or pray. Granted, you can't do it often in Texas, but I was surprised a bit by people who said things like, "Why would you ride a bike three miles? That's a long way."
Don't mess with band parents: I went to get some snacks at halftime of the football game. My seats were very close to where the local state-championship band is seated...and upon my return, walking up the stairs about a minute before the state-championship band was to take the field, all the parents were glaring at me with looks that said one of two things: First, you'd better be glad you got back from the concessionaire lines or we'd have been pretty mad at you not having the common courtesy to view the entire band's halftime show. Second, we're annoyed that a millisecond of our handi-cam video production is now going to have your head in it. Don't get me wrong as the show was good & worth getting back to my seat for, but man. Tough crowd...but many left after halftime so I could exit safely.
Parenting teens takes work, too: Many parents disengage as their teens get older, but I'm finding that preparing teens for the new levels of decision making they'll do when they're old enough to drive/date/get jobs/prepare for college/etc., takes equally as much dedication (if not moreso) as when you came home and played legos and helped them clean their rooms. The upside is that the conversations are better and the kids are now turning into people instead of "charges." Much of the work is mental, trying to find that delicate balance between giving insight or micromanaging.
Dates with the wife are still nice: It was really nothing special. Just a movie out. But I was with the coolest girl I ever met and we saw a surprisingly funny movie (a British comedy--which are always hit or miss) with a happy ending, but there are times when I just look at her and think, "Manalive is she pretty and cool and smart and I'm glad I'm here with her."
We've got good teachers in our area: At the football game Friday night I ran into three teachers I know at various points. One was volunteering for the band. Another helps out with the drill team. Yet another came just to meet & greet with her students. I'm sure there were more, but they're the ones I happen to know. These teachers worked all week and still found time to be a part of their students' (or in one case, former students) lives. I think that's cool.
Coffee with former students is a highlight: Watching my former students apply life lessons that their parents drilled into them and I reinforced, finding ways to love their spouses and use their gifts to serve employers and ministries is very cool.
Sports are a diversion: It's obvious that my college football team isn't going to do anything particularly special this year (not with LSU, Oklahoma, USC & maybe Florida the obvious class of college football this season) which frees up an awful lot of emotional energy and time to do other things. Especially when the pro baseball team is 10 games under .500 and pro football doesn't matter much to me until the playoffs (although, I confess a certain interest in the Cowboys) and hockey season hasn't started yet (which is really a long season to discover where we'll be in the playoff seedings)...and I'm glad I don't live in Alabama anymore because this week would be truly miserable for Auburn fans. Here, you watch the game and say, "Dangit, my team lost. Well, gotta go mow." In Alabama, you'll dissect the game at church, work, on the internet and on talk radio all week. Again, I'm glad I don't live there anymore for a myriad of reasons, but that's one of them.
Remembering my mom brings a smile to my face: Alabama played a football game on television last night. I wasn't particularly interested in anything but the coin toss because, if you remember, last summer my family and I scattered my mom's ashes at midfield of Bryant-Denny Stadium. So, when they're choosing who gets the ball first, I think of my mom. She also wanted us to scatter some at a local landmark where famous football captains of UA teams past have their handprints in the sidewalk and write their names in the squares. My mom wanted to be next to Joe Namath (college crush, like every other girl at UA at that time), and the broadcast last night showed the legend next to his handprints. It was an added bonus to see both places her ashes were scattered.
Get the yardwork done on Saturday: For some reason, my weekend doesn't feel "started" with yardwork still needing to get done...and the sooner the better. Yesterday, when I put the mower up, it felt like a whole world of possibilities opened up.
New beginnings can be exciting: Our new teaching pastor and his wife are coming to our church today. I'm excited, not necessarily because of the couple themselves (although they're extremely likeable and I think Steve will serve our congregation very well) but because it's a tangible reminder that Christ is in control of our church and these are the people He's placed at this time to serve and lead CBC. This is very exciting to me and that looking to the future to see what God is going to do in and through the Hixon's over the years...and in and through our church in the years to come...and in and through me over the years...well...how can you not be excited?
So, what did you learn over the weekend?
Things I either learned or were reiterated to me over the course of this weekend:
Catching up with old friends is nice: I ran into somebody I hadn't seen in a few months at the football game on Friday night. We got caught up on each other, our kids, our mutual friends. It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes of conversation, but it was very enjoyable.
Go "green" when you can: The weather is cooling off a bit and our community has plenty of sidewalks so I chose to ride my bicycle to the football game and to coffee with another friend the same way. Sure, it's only 15 minutes to each from where I live so it isn't a huge deal...but I enjoyed it. You can think while you ride. Or pray. Granted, you can't do it often in Texas, but I was surprised a bit by people who said things like, "Why would you ride a bike three miles? That's a long way."
Don't mess with band parents: I went to get some snacks at halftime of the football game. My seats were very close to where the local state-championship band is seated...and upon my return, walking up the stairs about a minute before the state-championship band was to take the field, all the parents were glaring at me with looks that said one of two things: First, you'd better be glad you got back from the concessionaire lines or we'd have been pretty mad at you not having the common courtesy to view the entire band's halftime show. Second, we're annoyed that a millisecond of our handi-cam video production is now going to have your head in it. Don't get me wrong as the show was good & worth getting back to my seat for, but man. Tough crowd...but many left after halftime so I could exit safely.
Parenting teens takes work, too: Many parents disengage as their teens get older, but I'm finding that preparing teens for the new levels of decision making they'll do when they're old enough to drive/date/get jobs/prepare for college/etc., takes equally as much dedication (if not moreso) as when you came home and played legos and helped them clean their rooms. The upside is that the conversations are better and the kids are now turning into people instead of "charges." Much of the work is mental, trying to find that delicate balance between giving insight or micromanaging.
Dates with the wife are still nice: It was really nothing special. Just a movie out. But I was with the coolest girl I ever met and we saw a surprisingly funny movie (a British comedy--which are always hit or miss) with a happy ending, but there are times when I just look at her and think, "Manalive is she pretty and cool and smart and I'm glad I'm here with her."
We've got good teachers in our area: At the football game Friday night I ran into three teachers I know at various points. One was volunteering for the band. Another helps out with the drill team. Yet another came just to meet & greet with her students. I'm sure there were more, but they're the ones I happen to know. These teachers worked all week and still found time to be a part of their students' (or in one case, former students) lives. I think that's cool.
Coffee with former students is a highlight: Watching my former students apply life lessons that their parents drilled into them and I reinforced, finding ways to love their spouses and use their gifts to serve employers and ministries is very cool.
Sports are a diversion: It's obvious that my college football team isn't going to do anything particularly special this year (not with LSU, Oklahoma, USC & maybe Florida the obvious class of college football this season) which frees up an awful lot of emotional energy and time to do other things. Especially when the pro baseball team is 10 games under .500 and pro football doesn't matter much to me until the playoffs (although, I confess a certain interest in the Cowboys) and hockey season hasn't started yet (which is really a long season to discover where we'll be in the playoff seedings)...and I'm glad I don't live in Alabama anymore because this week would be truly miserable for Auburn fans. Here, you watch the game and say, "Dangit, my team lost. Well, gotta go mow." In Alabama, you'll dissect the game at church, work, on the internet and on talk radio all week. Again, I'm glad I don't live there anymore for a myriad of reasons, but that's one of them.
Remembering my mom brings a smile to my face: Alabama played a football game on television last night. I wasn't particularly interested in anything but the coin toss because, if you remember, last summer my family and I scattered my mom's ashes at midfield of Bryant-Denny Stadium. So, when they're choosing who gets the ball first, I think of my mom. She also wanted us to scatter some at a local landmark where famous football captains of UA teams past have their handprints in the sidewalk and write their names in the squares. My mom wanted to be next to Joe Namath (college crush, like every other girl at UA at that time), and the broadcast last night showed the legend next to his handprints. It was an added bonus to see both places her ashes were scattered.
Get the yardwork done on Saturday: For some reason, my weekend doesn't feel "started" with yardwork still needing to get done...and the sooner the better. Yesterday, when I put the mower up, it felt like a whole world of possibilities opened up.
New beginnings can be exciting: Our new teaching pastor and his wife are coming to our church today. I'm excited, not necessarily because of the couple themselves (although they're extremely likeable and I think Steve will serve our congregation very well) but because it's a tangible reminder that Christ is in control of our church and these are the people He's placed at this time to serve and lead CBC. This is very exciting to me and that looking to the future to see what God is going to do in and through the Hixon's over the years...and in and through our church in the years to come...and in and through me over the years...well...how can you not be excited?
So, what did you learn over the weekend?
.jpg){kind=avatar}
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home