And that was Saturday

This post was intended for Facebook but apparently it's too long so...

Highlights of my day in no particular order.

1. Watching my daughter play softball.

2. Washing the car with my son.

3. Watching Haley make Rice Crispie treats with the kids.

4. Watching the Rangers beat that other team with my son.

5. Dancing with my daughter in the kitchen after dinner.

6. Reading (very theatrically) the story of Daniel and the Lions, with

the kids at bed time.

7. Emily's random statements.

8. Ben's laughter.

9. Haley's smile.

10. Realizing that my life is very good and I have a lot to live for. :)

Strength

I was walking back to my office after lunch and encountered a group of guys talking in the hallway. It's a long, open hallway and it was pretty obvious that I was approaching. One guy in particular was blocking my path and as I approached he looked up, glance at me and didn't move an inch.

Now you know those moments when you encounter behavior so clearly rude that you don't know what to say so you just go with it? This was one of those. I awkwardly squeezed past him and went on my way.

About 20 minutes later I happened to encounter Mr. Rude in the restroom. While standing next to him at the urinal, my first thought was to pee on his leg and rudely walk away without saying a word. But I didn't. I finished up slightly ahead of him, got to the sinks and saw a golden opportunity for payback. If I could remain ahead of him at the hand towels and get to the door just slighlty before he did, I could let the door swing back right in his face. Awesome.

The plan was unfolding nicely and as I gleefully approached the door with Mr. Rude a step behind, ready to teach him a big old lesson, Gill entered my head. I remembered telling my mum what I wanted to do to all those people who were telling lies about me during the pain that was 2008, And how I would make them pay. I remebered my mum saying to me, "Jonathan, we're better than that."

Now my dear mother was not stating that we as a family are better than anyone. No. I'm quite sure she was reminding me of a principle I first learned a long time ago as a child in Sunday School...

In the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says:

You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
- Matthew 5:38-42, NIV

Now for a long time this always struck me as the Idiot's Guide to Being a Doormat.

It's not.

Quite the opposite, this is true strength. A strength which says, I am so confident in who I am, who made me and where I'm going, that your words, your lies, your opinions cannot even come close to hurting or derailing me. Your blows are more like a tickle, come on give me another, it doesn't even hurt. Take my coat because "stuff" is not where I find my value, do you want my pants too? Sue me, slander me, do what you will. In other words...Bring It.

And that ladies and gentlemen is just one more lesson it's taken me a lifetime to learn.

By the way Mr. Rude lives to fight another day. I held the door open for him.

God Bless Texas

First of all let me apologize to my giant fan base for not having blessed you with my drivel for about 3 months now. Life has definitely been going through a transition, a good one that is.

I was driving down the highway to work this morning, looking at the sun coming up across the vast, flat expanse of Texas country, when it dawned on me that this place isn't all that bad.

So after close to 5 years of living here, I'm proud to list my...

Top 10 things I love about Texas (hold your applause until the end please)

10. I can go without a jacket for about 8 months of the year

9. People don't think you're weird for going to church

8. The sun shines A LOT

7. Basic manners are taught to and expected of children

6. No state tax

5. Most neighborhoods have a fantastic sense of community

4. People drive like New Yorkers

3. People possess a tremendous amount of state pride

2. The cost of living and housing is a lot less than other areas of the country

1. It's fun to see cowboys walking around the mall

I love my kids

My kids just left. The house is eerily quiet but my son left me something amazing.

Let me preface this by saying that Ben isn't really prone to much in the way of displays of emotion. He's the kind of kid that hugs you by kind of leaning against you most of the time but doesn't often fully commit to the squeeze. In fact I would say that of my two children Ben is the one who I engage in the most "robust dialogue"with by a mile, mainly because he's a lot like me.

He left me a letter on the kitchen counter. It reads...

Jan. 4th 2009

Dear Daddy,

I am so happy I want to jump off the talest skyscraper in the world. (litterley)

I'm feeling very, really, hiper. So can you build a "hiper house".

THANKS!!! FOR!!!Building my house!!! Love ya!

LOVE: Ben

I'm wrecked. I'm destroyed. What a kid.

It's almost Christmas

Most of us could compose a long list of those memorable quotes we pick up along the way throughout our journey. Things like, "It's better to give than receive" or "It's not whether you win or lose it's how you play the game". You know the kind of thing.

However from my experience there are only a few definable moments in life when these quotes make the 12 inch journey from head to heart and actually become real.

I'm having one of those moments today.

I've heard all of my life that Christmas isn't about the presents and the food and the 24 hours of A Christmas Story on TBS. I've heard all of my life that Christmas is about family and that's taken 36 years and a set of circumstances I don't need to explain to really hit home.

On December the 25th my calenday said Christmas day and I spent it with a wonderful family who invited me to share their Chrsitmas. But is wasn't really my Christmas Day. On December 25th I opened presents, ate some incredible food, watched A Christmas Story on TBS and then ate some more. But it wasn't really my Christmas Day. On December 25th I spoke with my kids who were in New York and heard stories of Santa and stockings and snow. But it wasn't really my Christmas Day.

Tonight I'll drive to DFW airport to pick up the entire New York component of my family, and of course my children. Tomorrow will be Christmas eve and we'll hang stockings, begin eating and try and get the kids to sleep using threats and manipulation based on a fictitious fat man in a red and white suit. Then on the December the 30th it will finally be Christmas Day and all of the people I care about most in the the world will be in one place at one time and I don't care what happens after that because that right there is magical. That right there is Christmas.

You see while Christmas is many things to many people, the one, single most important thing for me at Christmas is being with people you love whatever day you choose to do that. It's taken me 36 years and a very hard journey to get that but i think i finally have.

Merry Christmas.

Thursday again

It's flipping freezing here in the great state of Texas. Last night's low temperature in Aubrey (where I live) was 15 degrees. That's crazy! Anyway, Thursday thoughts, no particular order, off we go...

• Did I mention it's cold.

• Finally got some festive decoration outside the house. Simple tasteful white lights on the 2 large bushes. now lets see if the kids even notice.

• Very grateful to my parents that they taught me things like basic manners, tact, consideration of others. Thats all I'm saying about that.

• Looking forward to a weekend with the kids which of course begins tonight. Emily has requested that we do some baking and I shall attempt to comply. Ben has requested that the world leave him the hell alone so he can play his DS and not listen to the booooring words coming out of your mouth. Just kidding.

• Have a growing list of things I need to get in preparation for Christmas including the practical items for my houseguests. Top item on the list is pillows. Today mum added coffee maker to her list of "absolutely necessesary items I really have to get before she comes at Christmas otherwise the world will end". The list now includes 2 items. The other is a gravy boat.

• I love my mother. She's so probingly direct. Thats all I'm saying about that one too.

• Kinda sorta half thinking about getting a dog in the New Year. Probably won't because if I'd followed every whim I've had in the last month I'd be sporting a large full mustache, have legally changed my name to Clint, have an ATM sign tattooed on my forehead and several people would be dead.

• Still waiting for my sinuses to clear out and this tickly cough to go away. Something tells me in this weather I'll be waiting a while.

• And that was a Thursday. Peace.

Storms

I was just going through some files on my computer and came across a video I made in 2006 after a year of battling health problems. Speaks for itself really...