Today was a great day as we spent most of it at the beach after sleeping in....well as much sleeping in as is possible when five kids are itching to get to the beach. I managed to not get in trouble once by kids or wife....this truly is a vacation (of course we were many feet from anyone who could witness my true dorkiness so that may be the key). I put on SPF 50 sunscreen at least five times throughout the day which means, with my Anthony, Miller, Stansfield, and Leamaster blood, I am a slight red on most parts of my body. The kids put on even more sunscreen but they have the additional blood of the Johnsons, Tuckers, Bonds, and Benningfields, which means we may as well go ahead and get the butter sauce ready to go with their lobster skin.
I did learn that I am, at least part, native American. Pick yourself up Ruby! This is according to Earl, who has a vacation house here after falling in love with the beach when he used to race greyhounds at the track here but actually lives elsewhere in Florida and is a Creek Indian, complete with all the knowledge of the Creek tribe including their association with at least one Randy Jackson song and how all the Creeks that were at least 1/16 were forced to move to Oklahoma but most of them claimed to be Scottish (or Irish....I was having to tell Caleb to not throw sand at his sisters during this part of the story) so they would not have to move to Oklahoma which is why most of the Floridans who claim to be Scottish (or Irish...thanks Caleb and your blasted hand of sand and ornery plans) are actually Creek Indians. Earl says that I have the undeniable facial features of a Creek Indian. I woke up a hopeless traveler and am going to bed a man with a proud heritage! Andrea is wanting to know if this could help us pay for college.
The topper of the day was after eating dinner in Grayton Beach, and adding further to the tax base of Walton Beach, we decided to drive down and check out the community at Grayton. All the University of Alabama boys that were buying their beer at the market next to the restaurant made us wonder if it might be a neat place to stay. With all the beer they were buying it is possible they will still be here passed out the next time we visit. Grayton is a laid back area with a great deal of sand, a great deal...enough sand to get a vehicle stuck. Luckily a very nice man in a jeep, who Lily is convinced was an angel because he appeared out of nowhere and drove off into the dark and was dressed very nice, stopped and helped us out of the sand. You may see the video on YouTube soon that Grace made while we were getting it unstuck including her yelling "Push, Push, it is going to blow up!" over and over. She also said several folks sitting on a nearby porch were yelling as well. I started to be humiliated but then remember the University of Alabama boys and realized that no one, except for my kids, the angel, and everyone who watches the video on YouTube is going to remember anything in the morning that took place tonight.
One other thing we discovered today is that Lily has the perfect aerodynamic body for boogie boarding. While Isaiah had been able to consecutively go the furthest with the waves all of his records were blown out of the water as Lily went at least double the distance over and over. Go Lily...Isaiah is filling an official protest which he outlined at dinner.
So, we are back at the condo, Jessica, wonderful Jessica from Republic bank, once again corrected our mistakes so our bank account is now back in order (at least until they get the debit for dinner), the ducks are still loud, and I am ready for a nice night of rest.....last night we had a major bedding shift as Hannah and Lily decided they did not like sleeping near the front door which meant that once again I did not get to sleep with Andrea...tonight, I just found out, there has been another bedding shift and Isaiah has been kicked out of the bunk beds and into my bed....it may not be the best night of sleep ever (Isaiah practices full body spinning in his sleep)...but I am on vacation.
Here I Dwell,
Rick
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Vacation - Day Two
We are here, I am now sitting on the balcony of our condominium which has a gulf view...however, the gulf view of the neighbors is greatly disrupting our gulf view, but still, we are here. Here is Santa Rosa on Walton Beach, Florida which is right next to Destin, Florida.
The remainder of our trip here was basically uneventful. I made my usual "count of kids" every twenty five minutes to make sure we had all the kids even though no one had been out of the car for the past two and a half hours, a fact that my dear daughter Hannah reminded me of....every twenty five minutes She finally told me that she would be in charge of counting Anthony kids and would let me know when someone was gone....I still asked and I still got in trouble.
The trip went pretty smooth until the last hour when, like clockwork, we revealed that we are not the Duggars. An argument erupted from the back row which caused the second row to chime in, I soon saw feet in the air when I glanced in the rear view mirror. I was assured that all seat belts were still buckled and that I still had five kids in the vehicle. I inquired if all the kids still had all their limbs and other body parts, I received no assurances.
It was raining pretty heavy when we arrived much to the chagrin of the kids who didn't understand why lightening was keeping us from walking over to the beach. I soon succumbed to the pressure and we walked across to the beach with the promise from all five Anthony children, including Isaiah, that we would only wade and not get our body's wet. At the beach I soon recognized the feet that I had seen in the rear view mirror earlier and had to send Caleb into the surf to retrieve his submerged and upside down brother. The girls, who were grabbing shells before the crabs dug into the sand, soon pointed out that my shorts were wet from the surf and why was I allowed to get wet and not them. I then stupidly pointed out the situation with their brothers which only served to add weight to their argument. I, once again, lost, everyone but mom was now in the water, she was sitting comfortably, not wet, in a rental beach chair that we had not paid for.
Later we found a place to eat and then a Walmart to prepare for tomorrow. At both places we made up for the money we did not pay for the beach chair. Walton Beach tax base is greatly benefiting from the Anthony visit.
It is 11:00pm and I am on vacation. I hear the kids running around inside the condo but the downstairs neighbors have not yet complained (if I counted right they have eleven kids down there so we may remain off their radar), I just found a mistake on our bank account which has caused insufficient funds to develop, and we have some ducks around here that are louder than a train. It is 11:00pm and I am on vacation......Cool!
Here I Dwell,
Rick
The remainder of our trip here was basically uneventful. I made my usual "count of kids" every twenty five minutes to make sure we had all the kids even though no one had been out of the car for the past two and a half hours, a fact that my dear daughter Hannah reminded me of....every twenty five minutes She finally told me that she would be in charge of counting Anthony kids and would let me know when someone was gone....I still asked and I still got in trouble.
The trip went pretty smooth until the last hour when, like clockwork, we revealed that we are not the Duggars. An argument erupted from the back row which caused the second row to chime in, I soon saw feet in the air when I glanced in the rear view mirror. I was assured that all seat belts were still buckled and that I still had five kids in the vehicle. I inquired if all the kids still had all their limbs and other body parts, I received no assurances.
It was raining pretty heavy when we arrived much to the chagrin of the kids who didn't understand why lightening was keeping us from walking over to the beach. I soon succumbed to the pressure and we walked across to the beach with the promise from all five Anthony children, including Isaiah, that we would only wade and not get our body's wet. At the beach I soon recognized the feet that I had seen in the rear view mirror earlier and had to send Caleb into the surf to retrieve his submerged and upside down brother. The girls, who were grabbing shells before the crabs dug into the sand, soon pointed out that my shorts were wet from the surf and why was I allowed to get wet and not them. I then stupidly pointed out the situation with their brothers which only served to add weight to their argument. I, once again, lost, everyone but mom was now in the water, she was sitting comfortably, not wet, in a rental beach chair that we had not paid for.
Later we found a place to eat and then a Walmart to prepare for tomorrow. At both places we made up for the money we did not pay for the beach chair. Walton Beach tax base is greatly benefiting from the Anthony visit.
It is 11:00pm and I am on vacation. I hear the kids running around inside the condo but the downstairs neighbors have not yet complained (if I counted right they have eleven kids down there so we may remain off their radar), I just found a mistake on our bank account which has caused insufficient funds to develop, and we have some ducks around here that are louder than a train. It is 11:00pm and I am on vacation......Cool!
Here I Dwell,
Rick
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Vacation - Day One
Perhaps taking a vacation the week after a major church youth trip in Texas was not the best idea. An even worse idea may have been to attend a family reunion in Stillwater yesterday. To add to this, our plans to board Slinky fell through late Friday night so Andrea had to drop four of the kids and me off at the reunion and then turn around with Caleb and take Slinky to stay with her parents in Tulsa. The reunion was to end at 6pm so we felt that we had plenty of time for her to go and return, this was until I realized that all family members were pretty much finished reuniting by 4:45 which is when I saw people began to clean up. Andrea was still over an hour away, I quickly hitched a ride for four kids and myself (not that easy of a task). I say this may not have been the best ideas for two reasons, the first being that we were totally not ready for the alarm to go off this morning at 7:00am, and then again at 7:09am, then again at 7:18am, then again at 7:27am, then again…I have to stop here due to my poor math skills. The second reason is that Slinky is living the life of luxury at my in-laws, they had a heating pad ready for him to sleep on and sat and pet him for hours his first night. I feel certain he is going to laugh at the thought of returning to our mad house where he has to share attention with “those” five kids. So, at 7:something Andrea and I finally pulled our exhausted bodies out of bed.
It was clear that our departure goal of 8:00am was not going to work since I had not even packed yet, but we shot ahead anyway. Things were going smoothly until I went out and opened up the back of my dad’s SUV which we borrowed for the trip only to discover that the luggage room had somehow disappeared. Mom and Dad coyly mentioned this to me last night as I took the car but, having never seen the car with the seats all up, I felt that it would be fine. This morning, as I stood there with a stack of suitcases I began to doubt my confidence.
As I began the harrowing process Isaiah comes out carrying his toothbrush in hand, “Do I need to bring this?”
Near completion I had to go inquire if Andrea was really serious about going on vacation with us since we could really use her seat for luggage….she said I would have to buy her an airline ticket, I looked at our bank account and quickly found room for all the luggage and her. At least I thought it was all the luggage, as four of the kids were in the car in their claimed seats, I see Grace come out of the house pulling a suitcase….Isaiah’s suitcase.
“Oh, yeah,” he said from the back, “I meant to bring that.” He then returned to his DS.
Finally we were in the car and on the road, “Wait a minute,” Isaiah shouted from the back of the car, “Do you mean we are not going to church? I thought we were going to church first.” We then attempted to explain the entire Florida vacation plan, “Oh, yeah,” he commented and then returned again to his DS.
We chose to rely on the Garmin to direct us on the trip; Gar has never failed us thus far. What we did not know was that Gar has some prejudice against the major roads in Texas; we now are intimately acquainted with the small towns of northeast Texas. Particularly Bonham, Texas which is where we stopped for lunch, we knew it was time for lunch as it was at this point that Isaiah began to torment his sister Hannah, that was a point of no return…food was the only solution, that and sitting at separate tables. Gar led us to a downtown Mexican restaurant which was very good but apparently has no concern for speed; we were now over an hour behind schedule.
Because the clean bathrooms at the Mexican restaurant were not good enough we soon had to stop for a potty break. This was possibly our biggest mistake. As we approached the outside bathrooms of the Shell Station in somewhere, Texas, the manager came running out with a light bulb.
“You will need this,” he began, “ and you won’t want to use the men’s room since it has been stopped up since this morning, darn (I am using my pastoral censorship here) teenagers, that is why we are installing an inside entrance so we can keep an eye on what goes on in those. They stuffed an entire roll of paper towels in the toilet yesterday and I am the only person in town that can do plumbing!” He then began to walk back into the store where we later discovered that he is also the corndog and ribs cook as well, “You will need to have someone stand outside the door because it does not shut all the way.” I soon saw the look of horror in Hannah and Grace’s eyes. I went in first and attempted make it suitable for a princess, paper towels on the seats and all trash put in the can. It didn’t work and they soon yelled at me to come in and help them with it…this was not completely understood by the locals who were also standing in line for what must have been the only working toilet in town.
“We will just wait,” the girls said as they left the bathroom.
The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. We are saying that a large area of east Texas smells very bad since no one admitted responsibility for the odor. The bridge over the Mississippi gave the girls quite a scare as they were not sure it was properly engineered, a fear that I do not think is a reflection on Louisiana engineers, just my girls life of doubt in…well, just about everyone and everything.
So here we are, at the Fairfield Inn in Baton Rouge getting ready to get a good night’s sleep before we head to Destin, Florida tomorrow morning.
Here I Dwell,
Rick
We are watching “Ice Road Trucker” so I think I will be ready for just about anything on the road tomorrow.
It was clear that our departure goal of 8:00am was not going to work since I had not even packed yet, but we shot ahead anyway. Things were going smoothly until I went out and opened up the back of my dad’s SUV which we borrowed for the trip only to discover that the luggage room had somehow disappeared. Mom and Dad coyly mentioned this to me last night as I took the car but, having never seen the car with the seats all up, I felt that it would be fine. This morning, as I stood there with a stack of suitcases I began to doubt my confidence.
As I began the harrowing process Isaiah comes out carrying his toothbrush in hand, “Do I need to bring this?”
Near completion I had to go inquire if Andrea was really serious about going on vacation with us since we could really use her seat for luggage….she said I would have to buy her an airline ticket, I looked at our bank account and quickly found room for all the luggage and her. At least I thought it was all the luggage, as four of the kids were in the car in their claimed seats, I see Grace come out of the house pulling a suitcase….Isaiah’s suitcase.
“Oh, yeah,” he said from the back, “I meant to bring that.” He then returned to his DS.
Finally we were in the car and on the road, “Wait a minute,” Isaiah shouted from the back of the car, “Do you mean we are not going to church? I thought we were going to church first.” We then attempted to explain the entire Florida vacation plan, “Oh, yeah,” he commented and then returned again to his DS.
We chose to rely on the Garmin to direct us on the trip; Gar has never failed us thus far. What we did not know was that Gar has some prejudice against the major roads in Texas; we now are intimately acquainted with the small towns of northeast Texas. Particularly Bonham, Texas which is where we stopped for lunch, we knew it was time for lunch as it was at this point that Isaiah began to torment his sister Hannah, that was a point of no return…food was the only solution, that and sitting at separate tables. Gar led us to a downtown Mexican restaurant which was very good but apparently has no concern for speed; we were now over an hour behind schedule.
Because the clean bathrooms at the Mexican restaurant were not good enough we soon had to stop for a potty break. This was possibly our biggest mistake. As we approached the outside bathrooms of the Shell Station in somewhere, Texas, the manager came running out with a light bulb.
“You will need this,” he began, “ and you won’t want to use the men’s room since it has been stopped up since this morning, darn (I am using my pastoral censorship here) teenagers, that is why we are installing an inside entrance so we can keep an eye on what goes on in those. They stuffed an entire roll of paper towels in the toilet yesterday and I am the only person in town that can do plumbing!” He then began to walk back into the store where we later discovered that he is also the corndog and ribs cook as well, “You will need to have someone stand outside the door because it does not shut all the way.” I soon saw the look of horror in Hannah and Grace’s eyes. I went in first and attempted make it suitable for a princess, paper towels on the seats and all trash put in the can. It didn’t work and they soon yelled at me to come in and help them with it…this was not completely understood by the locals who were also standing in line for what must have been the only working toilet in town.
“We will just wait,” the girls said as they left the bathroom.
The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. We are saying that a large area of east Texas smells very bad since no one admitted responsibility for the odor. The bridge over the Mississippi gave the girls quite a scare as they were not sure it was properly engineered, a fear that I do not think is a reflection on Louisiana engineers, just my girls life of doubt in…well, just about everyone and everything.
So here we are, at the Fairfield Inn in Baton Rouge getting ready to get a good night’s sleep before we head to Destin, Florida tomorrow morning.
Here I Dwell,
Rick
We are watching “Ice Road Trucker” so I think I will be ready for just about anything on the road tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Saved by the Diet
Last night was another rushed evening at the Anthony household. I barely got to sit down and eat dinner with Andrea and the kids before I had to hurry Lily and Hannah to batting practice prior to their final tournament game of the season. So, all during the game I looked forward to getting home and eating a hearty helping of spaghetti, my real dinner, which Andrea had assured me was awaiting me in the fridge. We lost the game, which is why I said "final" earlier, and which is why many of the parents, after sitting in the heat night after night, seemed to be leaving the game with a smile on their face. After the game we hit Maggie Moos for an end of season celebration and then home and then back to family video to return the four videos and two games which were due by midnight but purchased with our report card "A's". Finally, we were home and I prepared for my awaiting spaghetti. I got into my pajamas, I took off my glasses, and stuck the plate in the microwave. Once it was finished I decided that it would be nice to add some Parmesan cheese to the top. I looked around in the fridge, without my glasses, and finally found a different looking container in the door that didn't look exactly like cheese but it was closer than anything else in the fridge. I started to sprinkle some on my spaghetti when I remembered my anti-salt diet and made the right choice, I put the "cheese" back in the fridge unused.
I made a good choice.
This morning I pulled Hunter, Isaiah's anole, out of his cage in order to clean his habitat. We are getting ready to head to Dallas for a church youth trip so Grandma or cousin Maggie will be taking care of Hunter and we felt a cleaner container may make the entire process a bit less revolting. Once I had his home clean enough for an anole I put him back it and sprayed some water on the sides (anoles are apparently very picky about how they receive their liquids). Then I thought that it would be nice to feed him so I began to look for the crickets which were no where to be found. Before giving up I remembered that Andrea and I both had visited every pet store in the area yesterday only to find no one had crickets but that everyone expected a delivery soon, much like my Christmas search for Wii Fit. Andrea had decided to substitute meal worms for the crickets since it had been a few days since we had fed Hunter and his color was quick changing to a funeral black. I searched the house only to find that the meal worms were as evasive as Hunter would like to be. I then remembered my Parmesan cheese. I remembered that it didn't look like Parmesan cheese, it didn't smell like Parmesan cheese, it had absolutely no resemblance to Parmesan cheese. I put on my glasses only to find that it was not Parmesan cheese but meal worms.
The meal worms were none to happy about my discovery but Hunter and my stomach were more than grateful!
Thank goodness for my God forsaken low salt diet.
Here I Dwell,
Rick
I made a good choice.
This morning I pulled Hunter, Isaiah's anole, out of his cage in order to clean his habitat. We are getting ready to head to Dallas for a church youth trip so Grandma or cousin Maggie will be taking care of Hunter and we felt a cleaner container may make the entire process a bit less revolting. Once I had his home clean enough for an anole I put him back it and sprayed some water on the sides (anoles are apparently very picky about how they receive their liquids). Then I thought that it would be nice to feed him so I began to look for the crickets which were no where to be found. Before giving up I remembered that Andrea and I both had visited every pet store in the area yesterday only to find no one had crickets but that everyone expected a delivery soon, much like my Christmas search for Wii Fit. Andrea had decided to substitute meal worms for the crickets since it had been a few days since we had fed Hunter and his color was quick changing to a funeral black. I searched the house only to find that the meal worms were as evasive as Hunter would like to be. I then remembered my Parmesan cheese. I remembered that it didn't look like Parmesan cheese, it didn't smell like Parmesan cheese, it had absolutely no resemblance to Parmesan cheese. I put on my glasses only to find that it was not Parmesan cheese but meal worms.
The meal worms were none to happy about my discovery but Hunter and my stomach were more than grateful!
Thank goodness for my God forsaken low salt diet.
Here I Dwell,
Rick
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
All Things to All Men
I was just listening the "The Story" on NPR which is one of my favorite radio shows. The radio story was about a couple who got a new land line telephone number which they soon discovered had previously been a prayer hotline. They could not convince the callers that this was no longer the prayer line and soon found themselves immersed in the problems and concerns of complete strangers.
It reminded me of an experience I had with my grandma Bill when I went to visit her after I had moved to Colorado. We were visiting when her phone rang which she went to answer. I could not help but eavesdrop as I heard her say, "OK, so that will be two large pepperoni pizzas, now what is your name and address?" She then hung up the phone and walked back over to me and proceeded to pick up the conversation where we had left off.
My curiosity finally got the best of me and I asked her about the call. She then shared that the local Pizza Hut had recently put out a flier to the students on campus and mistakenly listed her home phone number. She told me that she had notified Pizza Hut who had corrected the mistake but not before there had been hundreds, or more, fliers distributed. As the calls had begun to come in she attempted to explain to the callers of the mistake but they seemed resistant to accepting the information. So, she had just given in and started taking their orders. I am sure that as complaints began to arrive about pizzas not being delivered Pizza Hut determined to never make this mistake again.
I will never forget the image of my grandmother taking pizza orders without any hint of a smile or guilt.
I wonder if this is what the apostle Paul was talking about in I Corinthians 9:19-23....
Here I Dwell,
Rick
It reminded me of an experience I had with my grandma Bill when I went to visit her after I had moved to Colorado. We were visiting when her phone rang which she went to answer. I could not help but eavesdrop as I heard her say, "OK, so that will be two large pepperoni pizzas, now what is your name and address?" She then hung up the phone and walked back over to me and proceeded to pick up the conversation where we had left off.
My curiosity finally got the best of me and I asked her about the call. She then shared that the local Pizza Hut had recently put out a flier to the students on campus and mistakenly listed her home phone number. She told me that she had notified Pizza Hut who had corrected the mistake but not before there had been hundreds, or more, fliers distributed. As the calls had begun to come in she attempted to explain to the callers of the mistake but they seemed resistant to accepting the information. So, she had just given in and started taking their orders. I am sure that as complaints began to arrive about pizzas not being delivered Pizza Hut determined to never make this mistake again.
I will never forget the image of my grandmother taking pizza orders without any hint of a smile or guilt.
I wonder if this is what the apostle Paul was talking about in I Corinthians 9:19-23....
Here I Dwell,
Rick
Monday, June 15, 2009
A Full Day
Yesterday I had to preach in a drug store pair of reading glasses. My glasses had to go to California to be fixed in order to keep them from jumping off of my face. I think that this was just a ploy for them to go to Hollywood and see movie stars but that is just speculation. Anyway, the drug store glasses are only for reading and not tri-focal like my real glasses. The reading glasses mean that I can see to read but cannot see far without falling over or throwing up. I thought through the entire situation on Saturday night as I prepared for the next morning, I blew up my message outline to a size 20 font and then placed the two large print pages visibly on the stage table Sunday morning. The only hitch was that at the last minute I added a scripture which meant I had to put my glasses on twice during the message. While preaching it hit me that I could leave the glasses on between scripture readings and just tilt them up.
Evidently, the tilting up did not look too good. I was made aware of this fact as we sat at Sunday lunch and my extreme goofy look quickly became the topic of discussion. I think my mother even joined in on the conversation in agreement…I know my own wife did not even attempt to come to my defense. Apparently, Grace, my eighth grade daughter had spent a great deal of the sermon attempting to get my attention to “dedork” my classes. My seventh grade daughter Hannah had joined in and then most of our youth girls had also tried to rescue me for dorkland. Andrea and ninth grade son Caleb did not join in the frantic hand motions during the sermon but did confess to unsuccessfully holding back laughter. Lily and Isaiah shared that they were glad that they were in children’s’ class during the message so they did not have to witness the horror that took place in worship.
I actually had fun sitting and laughing at myself with my family. I have had lots of practice; I have given them plenty of reason to laugh.
That evening I was headed to Pei Wei for Andrea and my Sunday night stay at home date when a Captain Kangaroo lookalike in a red convertible Mazda impatiently passed me as soon as he could. Although I was not excessively speeding I am sure that I was going the speed limit or a little higher but I found that I was not going fast enough for the Captain. As I caught up to him he waved his fist at me, an act that I did not remember ever seeing outside of black and white movies.
“I could have made this light,” he shouted.
“Yeah,” I responded in a pastorally mature voice, “I’m sure that it was really important to get wherever you are going.”
I sat there, still being the mature pastor, unable to let it go, “I have five kids,” I said as I turned to him, “they go up and down this street frequently.”
I was both proud that I thought to use the kids yet underwhelmed that I did so in such a minimalistic fashion. I waited for his equally mature response but he had none. I saw him consider what I said and then say nothing. I wanted to revel in triumph but I could not get over the fact that he said nothing. We had plenty of time as we waited for the light to change and he said nothing.
When I got home I wanted to make fun of him as I told Andrea but I had a tough time getting over the fact that he said nothing.
As I ended the day I was happy that I had laughed with my kids and glad that I had seen the example of the Captain. It was a full day!
Here I Dwell,
Rick
Evidently, the tilting up did not look too good. I was made aware of this fact as we sat at Sunday lunch and my extreme goofy look quickly became the topic of discussion. I think my mother even joined in on the conversation in agreement…I know my own wife did not even attempt to come to my defense. Apparently, Grace, my eighth grade daughter had spent a great deal of the sermon attempting to get my attention to “dedork” my classes. My seventh grade daughter Hannah had joined in and then most of our youth girls had also tried to rescue me for dorkland. Andrea and ninth grade son Caleb did not join in the frantic hand motions during the sermon but did confess to unsuccessfully holding back laughter. Lily and Isaiah shared that they were glad that they were in children’s’ class during the message so they did not have to witness the horror that took place in worship.
I actually had fun sitting and laughing at myself with my family. I have had lots of practice; I have given them plenty of reason to laugh.
That evening I was headed to Pei Wei for Andrea and my Sunday night stay at home date when a Captain Kangaroo lookalike in a red convertible Mazda impatiently passed me as soon as he could. Although I was not excessively speeding I am sure that I was going the speed limit or a little higher but I found that I was not going fast enough for the Captain. As I caught up to him he waved his fist at me, an act that I did not remember ever seeing outside of black and white movies.
“I could have made this light,” he shouted.
“Yeah,” I responded in a pastorally mature voice, “I’m sure that it was really important to get wherever you are going.”
I sat there, still being the mature pastor, unable to let it go, “I have five kids,” I said as I turned to him, “they go up and down this street frequently.”
I was both proud that I thought to use the kids yet underwhelmed that I did so in such a minimalistic fashion. I waited for his equally mature response but he had none. I saw him consider what I said and then say nothing. I wanted to revel in triumph but I could not get over the fact that he said nothing. We had plenty of time as we waited for the light to change and he said nothing.
When I got home I wanted to make fun of him as I told Andrea but I had a tough time getting over the fact that he said nothing.
As I ended the day I was happy that I had laughed with my kids and glad that I had seen the example of the Captain. It was a full day!
Here I Dwell,
Rick
Friday, June 5, 2009
Watching People
Growing up, I remember my Uncle Jim always wanting my cousins and I to go downtown Stillwater with him to watch people. I don't remember ever going but do remember him coming home laughing about all the different people he had seen. He would just go sit on a bench on main street for hours enjoying watching people. I thought he was crazy. How could anyone enjoy spending hours sitting on main street when there was acres of pasture land and creeks to explore. In his later years, while he was still able to leave the house, he moved his people watching to Wal-Mart. Every time I would go visit him he would say, "Ricky, you are not going to believe what I saw at Wal-Mart the other day!" He died last year, I wonder what type of people give him reason to wonder and laugh in heaven.
Being married to a psychology person has caused me to have a greater appreciation for watching people. She loves to watch and analyze why people do what they do. She has helped me to a better understanding of others which has really permitted me to be far slower to become angry, annoyed, or aggravated by the actions of others. Attempting to figure out the "why" of behavior allows me to be much more gracious and patient with others. It also has given me ample opportunity to look at many of my own actions and the underlying reasons.
While I think Uncle Jim just enjoyed the actions themselves I have a feeling he would have had a great time discussing the "why" with Andrea. They would have had many actions to look at and analyze in this world.
The past eight days have provided me with an abundance of interesting people to watch and consider. A couple of weeks ago Caleb, Hannah, Andrea and I were asked to be "people in the diner" along with other scenes in a movie being shot here in Oklahoma. Andrea was unable since our shoot day was last Friday, a day that Andrea was teaching an intercession class at OU. My sister Beth was then cast as my wife which my brother-in-law and my son Isaiah both agreed was creepy. Usually Caleb is up for these type of projects but his one had a major hitch - he would have to get a haircut fifties style. Caleb has very thick and long hair that is full of body causing it to stick up and out in every direction you can imagine. Although I am not a fan of long hair on guys I have come to appreciate his hair as it allows me to spot him a half mile away on the soccer fields or on his school grounds at lunch when I drive by. The casting agent needed to know that day if we agreed to do the project so I picked Caleb up from school that day. Even though the scene would be basically just us and the two "A" list actors, neither really impressed him. What did impress him enough to agreement however was the fact that it would be a possible twelve hour day which, even at minimum wage, would be a big contribution to his XBox fund. He spent the days leading up to last Friday googling "fifties hair cuts" to see what he had agreed to. You would have thought he was going into major surgery. On Friday, as we sat in the makeup room and watched the pile of hair on the floor grow to a massive height he began to look like a totally different kid. I have to admit, that day, with the fifties clothes he was wearing I was not too excited but I am now liking this new look alot....he continues to ask me why, after an entire week, his hair has not yet grown back. We did use this haircut to convince Isaiah to get his hair cut which I was a miracle.
Anyway, back to people watching, it was very interesting to watch these famous actors and all the people around them.
I also had opportunity to people watch as I took our church young people to Student Life Camp at Windermere in Missouri. First I have to say that this was possibly the most exceptionally planned and executed camp I have ever experienced and that is saying alot since I worked on traveling staff of Centrifuge for two plus years and have been taking kids to camps since the early eighties. The staff, speakers, and musicians were all not only exceptional at what they did but they were also great examples of servanthood and humility. I am taking a group of elementary children to another Student Life Camp in July and looking forward to it very much. There was, however, a very ugly acting church group attending the camp as well. The adults in this group were possibly the most hateful people I have ever seen (not just at a camp but truly anywhere) and in turn their young people were equally hateful. Thankfully our youth were not impacted much by this group so it did not diminish our kids experience.
What was interesting to watch about this group and the celebrities at the movie shoot was that they all seemed to be acting out of the same place. They all seemed to have a need to impress or tear someone down, they all appeared to reveal a certain level of insecurity.
On the other hand there was the junior high age boys that came with our group which included my son. I loved listening to their discussion and watching them interact. One had a girlfriend by the end of camp, while the others found most every girl there annoying. What I especially enjoyed watching about them was the fact that their behavior was not defined by anyone. While I would watch so many others in worship raising their hands or dancing around, often watching what others were doing, my junior high boys stood their with arms crossed calmly singing along. They weren't being a distraction but they also had no need to fit in with the crowd. It did not bother them at all if they were not doing what everyone else was doing nor did it bother them that others were acting the way that they were. When worship was over they moved on to the next thing which was often catching crawdads in the creek. There was this immense sincerity that I believe came out of an inexplicable security, which is all the more amazing considering their ages. They didn't need to impress nor did they need to tear anyone else down. Amazingly I found these junior high boys the most enjoyable to watch and analyze, it is seldom you get to see people just being who they are and ok with it.
It is amazing what confidence does for you and how you act.
Here I Dwell,
Rick
Being married to a psychology person has caused me to have a greater appreciation for watching people. She loves to watch and analyze why people do what they do. She has helped me to a better understanding of others which has really permitted me to be far slower to become angry, annoyed, or aggravated by the actions of others. Attempting to figure out the "why" of behavior allows me to be much more gracious and patient with others. It also has given me ample opportunity to look at many of my own actions and the underlying reasons.
While I think Uncle Jim just enjoyed the actions themselves I have a feeling he would have had a great time discussing the "why" with Andrea. They would have had many actions to look at and analyze in this world.
The past eight days have provided me with an abundance of interesting people to watch and consider. A couple of weeks ago Caleb, Hannah, Andrea and I were asked to be "people in the diner" along with other scenes in a movie being shot here in Oklahoma. Andrea was unable since our shoot day was last Friday, a day that Andrea was teaching an intercession class at OU. My sister Beth was then cast as my wife which my brother-in-law and my son Isaiah both agreed was creepy. Usually Caleb is up for these type of projects but his one had a major hitch - he would have to get a haircut fifties style. Caleb has very thick and long hair that is full of body causing it to stick up and out in every direction you can imagine. Although I am not a fan of long hair on guys I have come to appreciate his hair as it allows me to spot him a half mile away on the soccer fields or on his school grounds at lunch when I drive by. The casting agent needed to know that day if we agreed to do the project so I picked Caleb up from school that day. Even though the scene would be basically just us and the two "A" list actors, neither really impressed him. What did impress him enough to agreement however was the fact that it would be a possible twelve hour day which, even at minimum wage, would be a big contribution to his XBox fund. He spent the days leading up to last Friday googling "fifties hair cuts" to see what he had agreed to. You would have thought he was going into major surgery. On Friday, as we sat in the makeup room and watched the pile of hair on the floor grow to a massive height he began to look like a totally different kid. I have to admit, that day, with the fifties clothes he was wearing I was not too excited but I am now liking this new look alot....he continues to ask me why, after an entire week, his hair has not yet grown back. We did use this haircut to convince Isaiah to get his hair cut which I was a miracle.
Anyway, back to people watching, it was very interesting to watch these famous actors and all the people around them.
I also had opportunity to people watch as I took our church young people to Student Life Camp at Windermere in Missouri. First I have to say that this was possibly the most exceptionally planned and executed camp I have ever experienced and that is saying alot since I worked on traveling staff of Centrifuge for two plus years and have been taking kids to camps since the early eighties. The staff, speakers, and musicians were all not only exceptional at what they did but they were also great examples of servanthood and humility. I am taking a group of elementary children to another Student Life Camp in July and looking forward to it very much. There was, however, a very ugly acting church group attending the camp as well. The adults in this group were possibly the most hateful people I have ever seen (not just at a camp but truly anywhere) and in turn their young people were equally hateful. Thankfully our youth were not impacted much by this group so it did not diminish our kids experience.
What was interesting to watch about this group and the celebrities at the movie shoot was that they all seemed to be acting out of the same place. They all seemed to have a need to impress or tear someone down, they all appeared to reveal a certain level of insecurity.
On the other hand there was the junior high age boys that came with our group which included my son. I loved listening to their discussion and watching them interact. One had a girlfriend by the end of camp, while the others found most every girl there annoying. What I especially enjoyed watching about them was the fact that their behavior was not defined by anyone. While I would watch so many others in worship raising their hands or dancing around, often watching what others were doing, my junior high boys stood their with arms crossed calmly singing along. They weren't being a distraction but they also had no need to fit in with the crowd. It did not bother them at all if they were not doing what everyone else was doing nor did it bother them that others were acting the way that they were. When worship was over they moved on to the next thing which was often catching crawdads in the creek. There was this immense sincerity that I believe came out of an inexplicable security, which is all the more amazing considering their ages. They didn't need to impress nor did they need to tear anyone else down. Amazingly I found these junior high boys the most enjoyable to watch and analyze, it is seldom you get to see people just being who they are and ok with it.
It is amazing what confidence does for you and how you act.
Here I Dwell,
Rick
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