A glimpse under the hood: the ceaseless activity of my mind.

08 April 2007

Easter Sunday

A few weeks before Easter Sunday, I informed my wife I wanted our family to attend a community based (aka non-denominational) outdoor sunrise service for Easter Sunday worship. When asked if I intended to include our 4-year-old and 6-year old sons I responded, “Yes.”

She probably agreed, at that time, because I’m not a morning person and can rarely force myself out of bed, especially on a weekend. We rarely make our church’s earlier worship service on any Sunday because I cause the family to run late. Surely, she thought, the novelty would fade away before Easter.

It didn’t.

I jumped out of bed this morning and was actually the catalyst motivating everyone to welcome the bitter cold (for Alabama 26 F is bitter cold) predawn morning. We all bundled up and made it to the riverside outdoor service with a few minutes to spare.

The collection of one hundred or so worshippers combined with numerous clergy was refreshing. We sang along with an acoustic southern group, prayed together and listened to a fitting sermon. The different skin tones, worship styles and musical preferences of the worshippers didn’t matter for one hour this morning. My experience was one of reverence and equality.

My sons even commented how much they liked outside church and asked if we could attend it at least once each month. I still don’t think they understand why it only happens once per year, mainly because I don’t. But it doesn’t matter, after the service we did Younger Son’s favorite church activity: going out to eat. And after a big breakfast, church location was a distant memory.

01 April 2007

Blogging again

I’ve actually had a few requests to begin blogging again. That’s nice. Anyway, I’ve decided to try again. We’ll see how long it lasts…

Bam It Damn It

This weekend I took my two sons to dinner while there mom had girl time with a friend. I gazed out the window next to our corner table while the boys played games. I was lost in random thoughts, enjoying the few seconds of down time, when my younger son (YS) loudly announced: “Brother said damn it!”.

Both boys stared at me waiting for my reaction. YS’s eyes twinkled with excitement; he so rarely achieves the joy of exposing his older brother’s mistakes. Older Son’s (OS) eyes locked on me in a blank stare. I stayed silent and worked to restrain a smile. The pause on my part allowed them to pick up the conversation.

OS: I did not say damn it.
YS: You did. You said Damn it.
OS: No, I said Bam it. Buh-buh-buh, with a B, bam it. Not, duh-duh-duh, with a D, Damn it. I said buh-Bam it.
YS: Really? Ok.

And they returned to playing. Sometimes, no reaction on my part really is the best way to go. The hard part was not laughing, thus encouraging them to become more dramatic and heating up the fight. I was glad they kept calm and discussed the issue. They even resolved it. Maybe they are learning some of the life lessons we diligently try to teach.