The Mundane

Another beautiful fall day. This can't last forever, but it would be nice if it did. The bright sun on the colored leaves thrilled my heart again today. I noticed that one particular pair of sunglasses made the colors very vivid. I liked it.

I'm at home, fairly alone. Scarlen is home but she is taking a nap after starting work at four this morning. It was a crazy night for me. I slept well until I jolted awake. Thinking it must be around six in the morning, I was disappointed to see that it was only one a.m. Once my mind started rolling, I got up to work on getting things together for morning worship for Sunday. When I entered our lower level family room the lights were already on and Lynette, our permanent house guest was sitting on the sofa with lap top in hand working on her homework. She asked what I was doing and I told her I had homework to do, also. We chuckled together and then I got down to business. Our assistant pastor will be ordained Sunday so it is a rather special service which requires special preparation. I worked until three o'clock when Scarlen's alarm started going off signaling her time to rise and shine. As I crawled back in bed I smiled to think of the crazy schedule this family keeps. Lynette works late into the evenings at Christian Haven, a home for troubled kids. She doesn't get home until eleven thirty or so. So, the shower and the beds get very little down time here.

Isaiah has a basketball game in Crown Point this afternoon at four o'clock. I didn't think we would go but he asked this morning, "Are you coming to my game?" Why certainly, we are. Even though we have attended more middle school ballgames than we could count, it is still fun to watch the kids particpate in those activities. Their little personalities come out. One sees their nervous twitches or their concerned facial expressions. But the times they relish in the victories is priceless. The team spirit comes through strong as they high five and hug each other. That is a lesson well worth learning, most of life is a team effort as opposed to the "I" thing.

Tuesdays my daughter, Lauri, works. That kind of crimps my style. I think that is how she felt when I worked. I don't begrudge her a couple of working days a week but it is rather boring sometimes when she is gone all day. That is just pathetic, isn't it? I guess I've become pretty dependent. Lauri was talking to one of my nieces. The niece mistakenly looked upon us as being pretty perfect. Lauri laughed with her and told her we are just as dysfuntional as the rest of the population but we just have fun over our dysfuntion. That's my Lauri. She has inherited her dad's wit and her mom's sensitive heart. We see that in most of our kids. Thank you, God, for passing on the good stuff.

Kendra has a gloucose test today which she isn't looking forward to. No big deal, we all know, it's just having to drink that STUFF. I'm sure the test will have a good result and we will be happy when she is through with that one. As Ken says nearly once a week, "How did our children ever come into the world healthy?" Kendra follows the doctor's advice quite closely and nowadays they encourage pregnant moms not to eat lunchmeat, drink coffee or soda, and not to travel after 32 weeks. Her dad just grinds his teeth at all that stuff. On the other hand, I have always known not to eat lunch meat and not to drink the caffiene drinks whether or not one is pregnant. It isn't that I have been terribly strict about it but I know the facts, Jack. It actually thrills me that the medical people are finally beginning to get it. We are all entitled to our own opinions about those things. Ken pretty much stands alone in the family on those issues. Most of the rest of us put some stock in eating healthy.