Gratitude

"The foundation of gratitude is the expectation of nothing."  The first time I heard this oft-quoted proverb was in Tennessee from a Major who works at the ANG Base I was temporarily serving at.  It really hit me like a ton of bricks, and daily it rings more and more true.  A very obvious example in my life stems from my guitar playing.  For the last year, I've been toting my acoustic guitar to choir practices and sunday morning services in the hopes that a few of the pieces would go well with a six-string.   Over the course of the last 12 months I was able to help out in this area while also honing my skills.  Considering I am still on the low end of a pretty steep learning curve, I think I won out more than the church in this arrangement, as several of the arrangements have really challenged me and forced me to improve.  Thankfully, though, they haven't kicked me out of the band or asked me to leave the guitar at home (yet).  Well, a week ago we presented our Christmas concert as a choir and I was blessed to play guitar as well on just 1 of many great pieces.  I truly expected absolutely nothing out of this service other than the joy of praising the Lord and a little satisfaction in (hopefully) a job well done.  The choir however, saw things differently.  Unbeknownst to me (and I think all the other musicians) the entire choir had pooled together some money to buy each and every one of us a gift certificate for a local restaurant.  It was a surprise, it was humbling, and it was a blessing. 

I've received a bunch of accolades in my life - most of them were hard-fought and specifically sought, usually for the purpose of retaining a position or gaining a higher one.  This sign of appreciation/gift however, will stand out for a long time to me.  I think I can say, honestly, that it was the first time that I truly, truly, truly expected nothing at all, and was blessed with an expression of gratitude.  It really meant a lot to me and I learned a valuable lesson from the event.  With Christmas 2007 almost completely in my "rear-view mirror" (we'll have had "Christmas" three times by the time it's all said and done), I look back at the gifts that have meant the most to me - all of them, without a doubt are the ones I didn't expect at all.  They were the ones I was most thankful for, the ones that showed the most graciousness from the giver.

 I agree with that Major.  The foundation of gratitude is the expectation of nothing.  Another way of looking at it is to say that we should give for the sake of giving, not for the anticipation of the reward; that comes from faith.  God bless you all in this season of giving.  In the end, I pray that you receive the perfect gift, Jesus Christ, who was sent to reunite us with our creator.  His birth, death, burial, and resurrection fulfilled the law that had enslaved us for millenia.  Do you want to be free?  He holds the key.  Merry Christmas!

The Family Christmas Plan

So, today I received an e-mail from my mom explaining the plan for when all 20 members of my family get together in a few days.  Overall, she did what she does best: direct and control (and of course, love).  Not only did she effectively divvy out their 7200 s.f. to the proper sub-families, but she also established standards (e.g. all toys, clothes, etc must stay in the appropriate room, kids room should be returned to its current status prior to departure, etc).  Additionally, there is no question as to what meals are covered, which are "potluck" and which ones are on our own.  I'm a guy that needs black and white - clear boundaries of operation and specific objecives.  I can operate with this e-mail in hand, without a doubt.  I give the directions two thumbs up!

Merry Christmas!

Finally!  A tree has been assembled and placed in our family room.  The nativity scenes are set and sweets are beginning to fill our deep-freeze as Rachel prepares for our Christmas Day drop-in.  Still, we've only gotten 1 gift and somehow we are going to get the rest tomorrow for our huge extended families in 6 short hours.  That should be interesting!

Praise the Lord our life has slowed down a bit at work and in school; now it's about to get spun up again with a busy travel and Christmas season.  I'm anxiously awaiting my final grades for this semester's schoolwork as well as my Christmas gift: my first laptop!  It's only taken me 10 years of owning a computer to get to this point - and it is definitely good timing!  I'm about to spend 5 weeks somewhat away from the family for a class and it will be good to have my own portable PC to video chat with the family and keep up with the blog.  Anyway, I hope everyone is having a really blessed holiday season.  May God grant you peace this December and New Year!

Shrek the Third

Shrek the Third, 2007 - PG

Mike Myers and his crew are settling in to what may prove to be a "Land Before Time-esque" franchise.  It has proven to be a successful formula to date, that is big fat ogres belching, farting, screaming, laughing, being sarcastic and in the end, learning something about themselves while building someone else up.  Same story - just more characters this time.  John Cleese somehow was able to get his Monty Python buddy, Eric Idle, into the picture as Merlin, the outcast magic professor, and Justin Timberlake even made an entrance as a High School loser.  I'm not sure what I thought completely yet, but I did enjoy it - of course.  The long dream sequence with Shrek was a bit overdone and almost scary, and some of the jokes have become a little tired by this third installment, but overall it accomplished its mission of making me laugh and occassionally feel a little gushy inside.  Especially after the last semester I had, the AF classes I took, classes I taught, music I've learned, business trip I had and lack of sleep, this movie was a great way to give my mind a rest!  My favorite line came at the end when a character was trying to make everyone feel good about themselves and then said, "And the only thing standing in the way of becoming that creature . . . .is . . . .you" This character then pointed to some random dude and everyone just about ganged up on him as though that were the guy standing in the way of their success.  OK, you had to be there.  I'm still laughing though.  My recommendation: wait until it's in the "2 for 11" bin at Wal-Mart to pick up a copy.  I know we'll have to if I plan on buying it on our budget!

So much to say, so little attention

I know that most folks don't have enough time to read full blog entries, so I'll try to provide the BLUF (bottom line up front - a phrase I recently learned from a fighter pilot friend)

So, here's the BLUF:

1. #3 is less than a month away!  We are excited with every kick and shove that protrudes from Rachel's belly, and the kids are just as excited as us!

2. Tomorrow I graduate my fourth class of students this year!  They are definitely a class act!

3. Still no Christmas tree up - that's how busy it's been

4. Christmas concert this sunday will finish off a very busy guitar-playing and choral season.

5. Paul Johnson was named GT's head coach - we'll see how it turns out; he comes with good credentials, though so did Chan Gailey.

6. Finished grad work for this semester, now I just wait for my grades (please pray)

7. A recent AJC opinion article stated that "abstinence only campaigns can't be trusted" - what in the world are we coming to?

Oh well.  That's it for now - not a typical blog entry, but I thought it was fair to bring you up to date.  Soon I'll be setting up a page to track my monthly utility expenses in my search for the lowest bill during a time of too much consumption!  God bless.