Weekly Swings

It's been one of the stranger weeks in a while for a number of reasons. It was a week full of brokenness and beauty, all rolled up into one. Just when I got to thinking that life couldn't get any better I'd get steamrolled by some sadness or unexpected surprise that would take me back to reality.

Because our realities include both the highs and the lows. It's how we deal with each that determines the trajectory of our future in many respects. We were just talking today in church about how someone who was "wounded" in their church experience can continue to point back to it as the cause for this or that, or they can choose to say it was part of what got them to "here." 

Which is really a great summary of tomorrow and yesterday. We take what we've been through, or what we will be going through and use it to either make us better, more mature, or wear it as a badge that defines us forever. 

The choice is ours.

As I said, my week had lots of ups and downs. Here's a sampling.

• UP: My daughter came back from a trip to Atlanta visiting a friend. It was so good to see her and get our house back to "full" again. As the week went on we got back into our "ships passing in the night" mode. Routines kicked in and there were friends to visit and sleep to be caught up on. Still, when we were together at meal times, it was really good. We're like a three wheeled car when she's not around. It felt good to get back to cruising speed again for a bit.
• DOWN: I talked with a friend who got news that her mom might have cancer. She asked for prayers because she knows my faith is deep and that I've been through this kind of thing before. News like this stops me in my tracks. It's sobering and yet, I realize the only thing I can do is pray. And so it goes.
• UP: My friend turned 50 last weekend. His wife threw a big party for him with about 100 of
  
  his friends and family. At the event, I couldn't help but look around at all the friends and family mingling and eating together and thinking THIS IS IT! This is what life is about. Celebration in the big collective. It was an diverse group of all ages and races. It was brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, parents and children. Beneath the surface though, there were also "brothers by other mothers," and "soul sisters." These are the people each of us have in our lives that feel close enough to us that it's almost like another sibling.
• DOWN: We got a call from our son on Friday telling us his friend had backed into our Santa Fe and knocked out a taillight. This is coming off a recent accident where Ben was at fault, so it kind of took our breath away. Luckily for us, their insurance will cover it. I was surprised at how well Ben handled it. We were actually able to laugh at the situation over dinner. This family is bigger than what we own. 
• UP: Saturday was a spectacular day and night spent with my wife and friends at the Steaming Cup and Bernies Tap Room chatting, watching NCAA basketball, and best of all, listening to our friend Nick Konkle (aka SnowCap Weber) play an acoustic set in front of a full house at the Steaming Cup. Good friends, conversation, drinks, and music is all good for the soul. People and connections are what it's all about.
  

So it goes. Up and down, this tire swing called life. We gain breath in our lungs at the highest point in the arc of the swing so we're ready when it gets knocked out of us when we hit the tree. 

The whole week could be summed up in what I saw while walking back from writing class last week. I walk at night and so it was about 9:30. Class always energizes me so I was feeling great during the walk in the cool March air.  Then, a few blocks from home I saw a rat the size of a small cat walking down the sidewalk across the street. There was a guy walking toward it that quickly took a detour around the vermin. I thought that kind of sums up life. 

Just when you think its all yellow brick road, there's a rat to bring you back around.

Here's hoping your week has more ups than downs. 

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