Two Books and a Movie

In the last few days, I finished Tim Keller's The Reason for God and Eloise Jarvis McGraw's Master Cornhill. One is a brilliant Christian apologetic and the other a brilliant historical fiction account of a boy who survives the Great Plague in London in 1665, and the fire that destroyed the city the following year.

I also watched in part Jack the Giant Slayer. I did not watch the whole thing, and I also only heard a small part since it was on the plane (listening to something with earbuds makes me feel weird).

An interesting thread is woven through all of these. I'm still turning the thoughts over in my mind, but I notice there is a particular desire that people possess which leads them again and again to love beauty, to admire loyalty, and to need relationships.

I want to let it sit for a bit, but after reading Keller's book, and then the story about London, and watching the movie following those stories, I find the connections stunning.

Now I am going to try to sleep. On a plane. Yes, we'll see how that goes...

Playing Beat the Clock

Today I hit the floor running. And I haven't stopped.

I have taken out and tried on just about every dress I own. Michaela helped me decide what was going and what was not. My clothes are pretty much packed, I need to organize my toiletries and get shoes together. I suppose I should take a couple of books.

I bought Dramamine! Dramamine will be my friend while we are on the ship. 

There are so many things that I want to write down. I'll have to get to that another time, though, because playing beat the clock is usually a losing game. It keeps ticking!!

A Mix in My Head, As Usual

Here I sit in the airport, all by myself. Well, I'm not technically all by myself because there are quite a few other people also in the airport...but I am traveling alone, back to Dallas.

Christian, Eliana, and I left Dallas this morning, and Wendy met us at the Orlando airport. The kids jumped in her car, I gave her a hug and told her she was awesome, and ran back into the airport in order to catch my next flight.

I discovered it was delayed. (Was I surprised? No. No, I was not, since I am flying Spirit.) (I won't complain too much. The kids'suitcase didn't get lost, and the same plane that is flying me to Chicago is also flying me to Dallas [along with the other passengers...I do not have a private plane], so I am not missing a flight because of the delay.)

Why do they overbook every flight? They always ask for volunteers who will give up their tickets for free-round trip tickets. Does this save them money in the long run? Is long run hyphenated, therefore long-run? Help me out. Who can answer these questions?

What was I talking about? Even I don't know. I am looking forward to getting home, as there is still quite a lot to do before we go.

Here are two other things on my mind:

My dad had surgery today. He had a tumor (not the dangerous kind, I think) (Mom or Dad, fill in as needed, please) removed from a nerve in his leg. Please pray for his recovery. Thank you!

I know that Ann Voskamp has been writing about her experience in Africa. Her most recent post looks devastating, but in that good, perspective-shattering-and-readjusting way. I am at the same time scared and excited to read it.

And those are the things rolling around in my head right now. It's always a mix in there.

Foiled Again

Well, Google is up to some shenanigans again. I can't get to my pictures without upgrading to Google+. Do you know how I feel about Google+?

No sir, I don't like it.

I did upgrade once, and I discovered that the only thing I could do with photos was share them. Through an email. There was no way to get to the html code which I use in order to post pictures to the blog. 

In light of the fact that I have to fly to Florida tomorrow, and it is 11pm, and I'm not entirely done with my List of Things, I am going to have to set aside my post with photos of Joe Nathan signing the kids' baseballs, and a few other fun pictures from the game. 

Oh well. 

I don't know how much I'll get to write here while I'm gone, but I'm planning on writing elsewhere and then sharing. I hope that each person who reads this is having a good summer's start. 

Now I'm off to fold socks. An exciting start to an extraordinary adventure...

A Teaser

As everyone knows, the best thing to do after surgery is go to a baseball game.

Seriously, though...Mike's stint in the hospital was brief and successful. We are both glad to be past that.

There are many things about our evening at the ballpark that were extraordinary, and Mike Maddox, the pitching coach, waving in our family photo is just one of them. This was the most fun we have had as a family at a game, and I'm so grateful that we have friends who bless us like this. I hope we can pass that along at some point.

I think passing blessings on is much easier than passing kidney stones, and much more fun.

I couldn't resist. Please accept my sincere apology. More on our night tomorrow...I know you're on the edge of your seat.