The Memory to Remember

Well, for the first time, I have experienced my son being better at something than me. For those who don't know, we are not speaking of a teenager here. He's not even four! I didn't achieve true victory over my father in a game until I was almost driving. Though the only game we really played in competition was Chess. Anyway, last night our family had a wonderful evening. Our small group was cancelled which gave us an opportunity to seize the night and declare it "family night." We took a trip to Target, saw Vance hanging out in the parking lot waiting on Michelle to jump his car off; All was normal.

When we arrived home, Gabriel wanted to play the game Memory. So, I put some blankets on the floor and our family crowded around the game and settled in to play. Little did I realize, I was being hustled by this four year old Memory Shark. He tied me the first game! The next game I won by one. Looking back, this would have been the opportune time for Gabe to encourage me to start playing for money. I can hear it now. "Man, Dad! You're good at this. Too bad we aren't playing for money."

After a while, Kelly took Noah outside and Gabe wanted to play a few more games. Mana a Mana. Double or nothin', pride is the bet. Again, we tied. Then, alas...the final game was a two pair victory for Gabriel. The Archangel of Memory. He defeated me. No help. No taking it easy on him by his old man. He just beat me.....and defeat has never been sweeter.

All work and no play makes Jonathan go crazy!!

Well, you may have noticed that I haven't been blogging much lately. I have had ideas. Yet when facing the prospect of typing them out, I found a lack of time and energy. I have been pretty busy across the board. Between work, church, work at church, church at work, family, etc., I have found myself shying away from blogging, which I enjoy. So, I'm back! I have found the time (though in a brief moment at work...forgive me) to blog. Here's what is happening lately:

• Still trying to sell our lot...(anybody...anybody?)
• Been to a REALLY cool Willow Creek Church Leadership Conference
• Have to write an article based on this leadership conference for my work
• Cool, fun opportunities on the horizon (can't give much detail yet)
• God is working on really great stuff at our church. Primarily in the following areas:
  
• Outreach Team
  
• Small Group Ministry
• Leadership/Volunteer Organization
  
• Been having and will have a lot of meetings on these subjects
  
• Gabriel has begun home school preschool and he is doing awesome! He really enjoys school and is like a sponge.
• Noah is discovering everything, everywhere and putting all of it in my living room.
• The project I am on has picked up in pace. Lots to do.
• Our Small Group is going well. It is stable, relationships are growing and we are going through a new series on marriage.
• God has been working in my heart, mind and soul and in my family. He has given me clarity on many issues (including a new vision for our Outreach Team which I am really excited about), while also stretching my faith and truly challenging me in many ways. All good, yet difficult and taxing.
  

I have noticed in the past couple of months that my energy and morale is waning. Thus, the title of this blog. One of the topics of the leadership conference was learning to understand what charges your batteries and what drains them. All of the above items I LOVE doing. I feel great about God working in my life and feel alive when serving. Yet, when the meetings are over and I come home late, it's quiet. My walk to the door is dimly lit by the porch light left on by my wife. My boys are already in bed and a "bedtime calm" has fallen over my home. At those moments, when there is nothing to do and my RPMs drop, I feel the strain. It isn't bad. We all feel it. And thanks to this conference, I think it is healthy to notice it, acknowledge it and find a way to recharge. That is my next mission. Should I choose to accept it. And you should do the same. :)

THE BIG BOYS!

Yesterday afternoon I took Gabe to Celebration Baptist Church to participate in their Awana Program. He acted like a typical three year old on the way there...timid. "Mommy, will you stay with me?" I promised I would!
We get there and I register him and then we sit down in the gym on the floor. Meanwhile there are tons of other children running around the gym playing with balls and just having a great time. Gabe asks if he can play too. I said sure! He gets a ball and starts playing and this older boy comes and tries to take it from him. Immediatly the mommy in me is thinking "You better give my kid that ball back!" But, I just sat there for a minute to see what was going to happen. Ended up, Gabe and this boy had a wonderful time. To the boy's surprise, Gabe could snatch the ball and chase after him as well as he. They played for awhile and then....other BIG BOYS started playing keep away from my baby. Again...mommy instinct kicks in and I tell them that playing keep away isn't nice and they should play together. Gabe just kept chasing them. He didn't care. Gabe actually ended up with the ball at one point and ran for his little life. A mean BIG BOY pushed him down right on the gym floor. My brave son got up and just kept on chasing them. Gabe taught me that he is big enough to take care of himself even when BIG BOYS play keep away from him. I left the gym feeling so proud of my little guy for standing up to those boys!
On the way to his class he quietly looked up at me and said, "You're not going to leave me are you?" Just kind of made it sweeter~

Fear Factor

Well, if I hadn't already been admitted to the "Official Motherhood Club" I was this week. My boys have passed around this wonderful 24-hour bug the past two days and I think now...I can officially handle anything Fear Factor can dish out!
Gabe woke up Monday with a tummy ache so he sat on the "potty" to go to the bathroom. Little did he know, nausea means something different. He threw up all over himself! Being the nice Mom I am...I grabbed the garbabe can...then came the pee! As he got sick, while sitting on the potty, he started to pee. The garbage can became a catch what I could! Just when I thought I was in the clear; it was now Noah's turn...

Thinking I was having quite a normal day, I decided to go to Comcast (all the way across town) and about two minutes before we got there Noah just screamed. When I turned to see why...you guessed it, he got sick. All over the car seat, himself, and the car! Luckily I had extra clothes and plenty of wipes! I put Gabe in the booster seat, Noah in Gabe's carseat and back home we went! So...Fear Factor here I come!

The One

I love my wife.

She’s the one I have loved so desperately since the age of fifteen.

She’s the one whose love I have craved, desired and needed every moment since that day.
She’s the one whose voice fills a void I had never known existed.
She’s the one whose pain I feel, joy I strive for, happiness I long for, passion I desire, encouragement I thrive on and life I will protect with my own.

She’s the one whose laugh, whose love, whose smile….whose very being drives my existence.
She’s the one to which all that I do, all that I have…all that I am I give.
She’s the one to whom my children come when hurt, happy, excited or scared. As do I.
She’s the one from which our children will grow stronger and wiser.
She’s the one who gives me strength and yet is my greatest weakness.
She’s the one for which I do not need a commandment to love.

For she’s the one.

To my wife of seven years…you have always been the one.

The Capitol

Yesterday, I had a chance to take the boys for an outing. It was just us guys, since Kelly was at a doctor's appointment. I will admit that this kind of outing doesn't happen enough. It is something I must strive to do more. So, for that reason I wanted to make the most of it. Gabriel wanted to go to the "Red and Blue" place to eat. Having missed this conversation he must have had with his mother, I was at a loss. Kelly was able to figure out his logic and we deduced that he was referring to KFC. So, after some good chicken and yummy biscuits, the men were off for an outing.

I decided to take the boys to the Capitol. I actually wasn't sure if they would enjoy it or not. I was taking a gamble. To my surprise and joy, Gabe was REALLY excited about going to the "big building" (as described driving up Appalachee Pkwy). So, excited, in fact that I thought he was going to drive me insane when I couldn't find a parking space right away. "Daddy, you missed the big building! We have to go back! You can park there. How about there? Can you park there, daddy!?"

I first took them both to the 22nd floor observation deck of the new Capitol. As soon as the elevator doors opened and they could see for miles in every direction, they went crazy! They loved it! They both climbed up on the ledge beside the windows and leaned on the glass to look down on the city below. "Daddy, look at the little cars!" "Hey, I see a yellow car!" "Whoa! Daddy, is that your work way over there?" It was a lot of fun.

We then went into the old Capitol and checked out the Governor's office and some of the cool artifacts they have in each room. It was an opportunity to teach the boys some cool history. Again, they really seemed to enjoy it and Gabriel wanted to go into every rooom. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay long. Mommy's appointment was over and we had to go meet her. I told Gabe "we shall return." Apparently, he begged his mom to do just that. "Mommy, we didn't see everything. Can we go back now?" YES! My boys like history!!

On a closing note, I have to share my favorite moment. It was when we first arrived on the 22nd floor of the new building. I wanted them to have fun on our little outing and hoped they would enjoy the view and the history as much as I do. After playing and looking out every pane of glass, Gabriel spoke to me in the most childlike and sincere tone. "Wow...this is cool!...Daddy, thank you for bringing me here." Going back to work has never been harder.

You're in My Space

My Space. Hmm.....To join My Space, is to lose my space. Here are my thoughts on this new and rapidly world dominating new social site. I'm just not a fan. Honestly, it isn't that I don't like it. Well, yes...yes it is. I don't really like it. Maybe it is just the way I am. I have never been one to want to go to a high school reunion or chat online with random people. I'm much more of a face to face socializer. And since My Space is a 24 hour 7 day a week high school reunion and online chat room with random people....naah...not for me.

Something else I struggle with is a little more philosophical. Friends come in and out of your life as you grow older. Life moves forward and changes. You change. This is really necessary, in my mind. What My Space does, is to provide a way for which everyone who has ever known you can stay in your life. It means people that in the past would have played their role in your life and moved on....now find you again and try to pick it up where you left off. Is that healthy? Can you keep up with friends...past, present and future and still move forward in life? Okay...so that's deep, but I have considered it.

Then there is the whole "I see you and you can't see me" aspect of it. I heard a radio discussion about the success of My Space, recently. It struck me when one of the individuals said that it's success is due to the fact that it is voyeurism. Before you get defensive, I'm not calling you a pervert. My Space simply provides a chance for you to check out what's going on in someone else's world, view pictures of them, see discussions between them and their friends all without interaction on your part. Having always been the "Close the blinds!" kinda guy...I don't like the idea of posting my pictures on the website so someone else can go..."I found Jonathan Conrad's My Space site....he looks so ______." Whatever the blank is there....I would rather see you face to face than have you click into my life, judge it and move on.

Kelly recently signed up on My Space. Which is why I am thinking about it. She enjoys it a little more than me. She has had several high school friends check in, posted pictures of us on the site and searched out many of her friends. She's had a lot of fun with it. She might win me over eventually. However, currently I am still unsure. But for now....you too can be invade My Space.