You learn something new every day

I discovered something about myself this morning...I have a goofy laugh. For those of you who know me well, this may not come as much of a shock, except for the fact that I am just now realizing it. This revelation came as I was listening to a sermon of mine that Karen had just downloaded. It's a sort of weird, high-pitched cackle, not at all the sort of deep, sonorous, basso-profundo that I wish God had given me.

Ah well. I have already joke with my congregation that I have a great face for radio. Now I guess I can joke that I have a great voice for silent movies.

How to stop gossip in the church

One of the perennial complaints about churches is that they are an attractive location for gossips, so the following story gave me quite a chuckle:

Mildred, the church gossip, and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose in to other people's business. Several members did not approve of her extra curricular activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence. She made a mistake, however, when she accused Frank, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She emphatically told Frank (and several others) that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing. Frank, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny... He said nothing. Later that evening, Frank quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house...walked home...and left it there all night.

You gotta love Frank.

Following Christ

"Jesus promised those who would follow him only three things...that they would be absurdly happy, entirely fearless, and always in trouble. " -Gregg Levoy

That sounds about right to me.

Galena

Life in Galena with Karen was a pretty sweet few days. Nothing to do but take naps, exercise, swim, talk, play board games and cards, soak in the hot tub, watch movies in front of our in-room fireplace, eat out and enjoy the wonders of a couple vacation. Our home base for all of this was a nice (and cheap, for Galena!) hotel called The Stoney Creek Inn.

This kind of thing is something that Karen and I try to do at least once a year simply because we enjoy it and it is good for us and our marriage. By "good for us," I don't mean in the sense your mother used to refer to the broccoli on your childhood plate, i.e., it's not much fun, but it is beneficial. No, I mean that it's just good for us to re-connect, relax, and recreate. It's good just to be a husband and a wife again away from our kids for a few days.

Since I'm a pastor, let me offer a gentle pastoral admonition to all the married people reading this: If it has been a while since your last couple's getaway, get one on the calendar now. The blessings to your marriage are worth the costs in time and money. Who knows? Maybe you'll find that the flame of romance you enjoyed when you were first married hasn't burned out but just needed fuel.

Introducing: Miss Lydia Yang

Here is a lovely photo of my new niece, Lydia Yang, firstborn daughter of my little sis Kristen and her husband He Shu Xi.

In which, I do not lose weight.

This week, I had the distinct honor of losing not a single pound, despite keeping my found intake per Weight Watcher's online specs and exercising 4 times. Was this fun? Not so much. Especially when I spent the past three days on vacation with Karen in Galena, IL, one of our favorite retreat spots. Vinny Vannuchi's Italian is not near as much fun when you have to limit your garlic bread and pasta with cream sauce intake, after all.

Much to my chagrin, I discovered that the original program Karen and I used a couple years back (to great success) was different than the one currently in use. So I have played with the computer version to reflect the original plan and look forward to better results from here on.

All of which is a long way of saying I have fallen behind the dw in the weight loss challenge to this point. Which I sort of expected, though I thought it would take longer than it has.