I think I’ve told this story in a blog post before, but since few of you read this, and you like me enough to listen to me tell a story I love multiple times,
I didn’t watch much football at all until we moved to Puerto Rico. I knew my Papa watched football and like the Green Bay Packers and the Miami Dolphins. And then we moved. We had cable, we had a sega genesis, and I was homesick.
I particularly missed snow.
And one cloudy Sunday afternoon, I was flipping channels. The Green Bay Packers were playing, and it was snowing. It was a cloudy, cool-for-Puerto-Rico afternoon. I dropped the blinds to make the room a little darker, and watched the snow fall.
There was a game happening, too, but for me it was all about the snow falling. And for a few minutes, it felt like maybe, just maybe, if I imagined hard enough, it would really be snowing outside. It was awesome.
And that, dear friends, is how I started watching football. I met a girl later who really like the West Virginia Mountaineers, and I started to understand some of the rules. You know, so I could impress her. But the true origin of my love for football was creating an environment in my living room where I could pretend for just a moment that it was snowing outside.
Random
Vacuuming for the Creation Mandate
I vacuum every day.
Maybe not quite every day, but nearly every day. It’s part of my job, you see. I manage a high-traffic office; we have people in and out all day long. And their feet bring in dirt and stones and leaves and all kinds of stuff.
As the new year kicked off, I tried, as so many do, to do some heavy duty processing about who I am and what my purpose is. That kind of thinking can at times be detrimental to one’s mental health, but I’ll tell you, this go-round, I’ve really enjoyed the process.
Because I’m learning to appreciate the small things. Like vacuuming. God’s initial mandate for man was that he be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth. Believe it or not, vacuuming is one of the ways I accomplish that mandate. Every day, the earth tries to win the battle by dumping more of itself all over my carpets. And every day, I beat it back with a whirring hoover.
It’s good work. It restores order from chaos. It makes presentable what was a mess. So, I vacuum every day, but I’m learning to appreciate it.
On Rain
I love the rain.
Now, I’ll confess to having some depressive tendencies, but my love for the rain isn’t tied up in that. It’s a genuine joy. I love the sound, the visual effect, the way it’s a reminder of God’s grace to everyone. I love the rain.
I love the dark skies, the power they reflect. I love the reality that a little rain is a blessing but a lot of rain is a tragedy. It’s a reminder that moderation is important.
I love the rain. So, next time you’re frustrated by it, remember, some where out there, there are people like me. And we’re all excited to see that rain cloud building in over the horizon.
Things I Like
– Ruffles Cheddar Sour Cream potato chips
– The West Wing (how have I not watched this before?)
– Snow Peas
– Walmart’s version of Moose Tracks Ice Cream. They call it Decadent Fudge Tracks or something dumb like that, but it doesn’t matter, it’s delicious
– Audio books. I’m starting to come around
– RSS feeds. I know Google tried to declare them dead. Feedly, proves that they’re not.
Heard around the house:
My son: “I’m so excited ’cause we’re going to play all day!”
Me: “Well, it’s really a learning thing… more like school than playing all day.”
My son: “Yeah, but school is like playing.”