for the record

things i dread going into the new year:

having to absolutely de-clutter

then pack and move yet another time

the college app results

re-joining the economically active

and saying goodbye

yet again.

reflecting on genesis

think about it. if ol' Abram had known at the end of chapter 11 that he woud end up in chapter 22 by and by he might well have had a panic attack and dug himself into a cave deep in Ur.

i'm pretty sure there's a lesson for me here for 2012.

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. 

I will strengthen you... I will help you, I will uphold you...

- isa 41:10

already?

almost over.

another year

feeling very blessed.

disclaimer: 

number of candles reflects number available in the drawer 

and not the actual number represented.

rockefeller plaza

what i've been thinking:

hans brinker-esque silver skates topped by 

buttoned-up peacoats fur hats and wool mufflers 

zipping by under a clear winter sky.

what i finally see:

by HOM

northface jackets and beanies pouring from a crowd as thick as the london fog.

ny, ny

wrong time to visit. just because i love the energy and excitement and lights and memories. or perhaps simply because i love the energy and excitement and memories.

as it is HOM and i and J2 find ourselves in a party of a dozen or so in a horrendous crush of the rest of humanity all trying to fit into the rockefeller plaza. and times square. and the roads. also the air.

what i say is, remind me next time.

irritants

whatever - like - you know - seriously - just sayin'
top five most annoying words of the year.

wow, if we completely proscribed them we would end up with, um, dignified silence?
by golly!

o come let us adore him

the choir outdid themselves today, HOM tells me. beautifully full cathedral sound unlike the more usual suboptimal offering. wonderful invention, condenser microphones.

immanuel

surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows

... the chastisement for our peace was upon him

and by his stripes we are healed. 

thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

precious mem'ries

slumming it out on the couch with HOM and J2 watching:

food network challenge

house hunters

storage wars

ghetto justice

brainless stress-free feel-good entertainment that lends itself to much amazement and armchair commentary. 

bringing up father

HOM and J1 talk about business things. here is how i would evaluate this company, HOM says. these are what i look at. this is how i make my calculations. when the telephone call is over HOM looks at me. did we just talk about what? his smile says.

when your nineteen year old son asks a question that you can craft an answer to and there is enough mutual regard that he listens to your answer, it is both a relief and a privilege.

Immanuel

beyond the fun and laughter and sense of obligation and duty and the tyranny of the default, there is one reason only why i can sing: i sing because i'm free.

near the cross a trembling soul, love and mercy found me - there the bright and morning star shed its beams around me. the birth of the baby. the death of the man. wretched sinner. redeemed, atoned for, justified, sanctified. thank God.

o come let us adore him - cantata 2011

i practice the alto voice diligently for the cantata tomorrow. although, as i tell J2, i'm not sure i need to bother. due to manpower constraints, there is one lone alto this year to an entire posse of sopranos. i can pretty much make up my own melodic line and no one would be the wiser.

this is our final cantata with cabin john church. it's been a precious run.

decorum

we discuss gift-opening strategies in asia and in the states. back east, it is the height of ill-breeding to open a gift in the presence of the giver. over here, it is an untainted discourtesy to leave a gift unexplored on immediate receipt.

it's the concept of face, we explain to J2. so that the giver who may not have brought a lavish enough gift is not embarrassed. i guess americans are simpler people, J2 says. they don't agonize unnecessarily. you bet, i tell her. chinese people, of course, own the patent on angst.

the cost of discipleship - bonhoeffer (1939)

cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church, bonhoeffer says. we are fighting today for costly grace. thus begins his classic treatise on Christ, his follower and the world. 

i wish i had read this earlier, i tell HOM. it contains much useful teaching about my christian walk. and yet i probably could not read this earlier. it is too magnificent to read too soon. one needs to plumb the depths of depravity before he is able to gasp in relief and pleasure at the gift of grace and accept bonhoeffer's premise* without quarreling with him.

*his premise being total, willing, joyful, privileged obedience to Christ.

invictus - john carlin (2008)

the sub-title says nelson mandela and the game that made a nation. in a nutshell, an absorbing account of how a superbly astute politician seduces an entire nation over to his point of view in a totally gracious, appeal-to-the heart-respect-the-head kind of way, complete with a rousingly feel-good ending.

by the end of the book, i have:

• heard 3 songs on youtube: nkosi sikelele, die stem, shosholoza,
• a amazed appreciation that south africa underwent not a revolution but a reconciliation,
• acquired a budding interest in rugby, and
• been inspired.

although he does overdo the comparison with religion motif a bit. forgiveness and reconciliation are fine, but redemption and atonement are best left alone unless you know exactly what you are saying.

an officer and a gentleman (1982)

HOM makes me sit through the dvd with him. it's about time, he says. it'll give me an idea of what my son has endured. 

if you want to know, this is my first new drama movie in ten years or so. somewhere along the way between more youthful days and the age of decision i stopped watching anything more stressful than cars. it's a nice show, i discover happily. i had forgotten what fun it was to watch a good movie with a guaranteed good ending.

the agony & the ecstasy

reading this week:

invictus by john carlin
the cost of discipleship - ending soon, okay?
insights on romans - chuck swindoll

all in paper form.

books of the year

the non-fiction is the undisputed king this year although j.d. robbs provided much entertainment too. 

and the assured writer of the year is:

dietrich bonhoeffer

precious mem'ries 2011

the LORD turned to him and said, "go in the strength you have... am i not sending you?"

- judges 6:14

discovering that the steps open up one by one

that the strength we are given equals the days

and that the treasures far exceed the promise.

in working with the youth this year my own youth have been blessed.

precious mem'ries 2011

studying the book of romans

with HOM

and the youth

and the adults

has been an undeserved, glorious, blessing.

my heart stands in awe of your Word

- psalm 119:161

precious mem'ries 2011

telephone chats

father & son ties

bobby flay! broadway! 

ny, ny!

blue vistas!

tiramisu on demand

talking about life with J2

putting hands to the same plow

ebenezer

d.c. cupcakes

some things are better in our memories,

that's what i say.

today's secret, not-on-menu flavor, is

milk chocolate squared,

in case you were wondering.

bobby's burger palace

so we have lunch at the burger joint in d.c.

tell me why one of our fellow customers is there 

ordering his sandwich and fries

in a grubbily unmistakeable 

WHITE LAB COAT?

because, whether he works in a lab or with patients, 

i don't even want to imagine 

who the bacteria of the day might be.

on a side note:

i never want to eat another mcdonald's burger again.

crunch time

irreversible things happen in split seconds. like the awful craack of the rear view mirror as you back into the garage and a reciprocal craack as you run over it on the floor. where are teenaged drivers when you need them to blame?

tiramisu days

J2 makes this.

i'll say this: if you don't know what goes into it 

you can eat with greater impunity. 

on the balance, she's a useful kid to have around, is J2.

yes

in the midst of the glitter and tinsel and festive frenzies 

today i am reminded that christmas leads to the eventual question: 

was i there when they crucified my Lord?

twosome time

so we want a private time with just the two of us, full wi-fi access abundant space and adequate hot water pressure, ease of commute and a free conscience. the best option is looking to be a staycation with forages at will into d.c. rockville and tyson's, while J2 does her own thing at school.

there is much to be said about living on the edges of a tourist hotspot.

perspectives

in the way of expat communities, i am introduced to a young woman from the old country. the conversation turns to high schools. her husband went to mine, she says. your husband is from the year 19xx is he not, someone asks. that's my year too! i say. would i know him? apparently not. 19xx is the year i went to high school and the year her husband was born.

2011, in gratitude

to learn that God is able to, and indeed does, watch between us when we are absent one from another.

to discover wondrously that He is able to do new things on tired soil, to see a road built in the wilderness and a river made in the desert.

to remember that He goes on the journey through the waters and the flames.

then Samuel took a stone ... and called its name Ebenezer, saying, "thus far the LORD has helped us."

- 1 Sam 7:17

forethought

winter break looms. can't make a lunch date, my friend says. i need to sort out our holiday plans.

oh. 

our holiday plans this year are to ensure the college apps go off on time.

advent accessories 2

christmas is emphatically made in china these days.

advent accessories

lots more of these around the neighborhoods this year than in any of our previous years.

HOM's theory is that their floridness is a barometer of the prevailing economic sentiment.

rawr.

this has been

one of those weekends that begin with friday night commitments leading onto saturday commitments leading onto sunday commitments and then just when you are about to settle into some couple time your daughter actually makes it back home punctually.

social network

new facebook trend:

of people thanking their gods for their significant others and wishing all manner of blessing and longevity upon them, ON THEIR FACEBOOK STATUS, on their birthdays anniversaries and other dog days. significant others who, as i understand it, reside in the same household or presumably have access to restricted communiqués.

you won't catch me doing this. i'm too busy cringing.

remember when

i drop by our freshly renovated neighborhood library. it is a cheery place with soaring windows giving on to a little park. children scamper about practically adult-less. with fearless abandon! the adults have conversations with each other. inside the library! the shelves, bless 'em, are to shoulder level and no higher. and not a single wood panel in sight either. 

this is very friendly and modern and i answer my cellphone in it with impunity. but i do miss, just a wee bit, the mustiness and the enormous oak tables and the resident dragon and the secret treasures. most especially i miss the quiet.

fields of yesterday

i spy the high school track people pounding the pavement. suddenly i see in my mind's eye another high schooler running. over summers and winters at pre-dawns and evenings and from texas to virginia, as i do the soccer mom thing and wait.

memories sometimes come unbidden and blindside you.

twenty-one

every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights... 

- james 1:17

it's been good. i still do. gimme more.

feliz navidad

i'll say this.

it's one week into december and i've contracted a full blown case of christmas carol fatigue. enough already, please!!! 

christmas shopping

time was when you went to the store to buy their gift card. these days my neighborhood grocer's has a couple of aisles' worth of competitors' gift cards for my spending pleasure. copping out on the cop-out gift, that's wot i say, and that's wot i've done.

tempus fugit

J1 calls from camp. training is starting to wind down for the year. how quickly time has passed, he says. his father laughs. only to you, HOM tells him. to me it passes slowly enough, as i ask God for your safety daily.

and yet, i suppose it has passed quickly enough too. almost a year down, with cadet school almost over, and he's still hanging on. reason enough for thanksgiving.

sign of times

gettin' cold these days.

a day in Dog's life

8 p.m. to 2p.m.

sleep

2 p.m.

lunch
wait for J2

greet J2 wildly on her return from school
wait for walk

4:30 p.m. to 6:30  p.m.

walk

wait for HOM to return

greet HOM wildly on his return

wait desperately for treat

6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

get treat

haunt the dinner table

evening ablutions

8 p.m.

repeat (vide supra)

room service on demand

personal butler included

whoever said it's a dog's life in a commiserating tone of voice

clearly was not a pet dog owner 

in the twenty-first century.

ready for christmas

here's Dog, all freshly groomed

in his new bed

and as ready as he's going to get.

looking ahead

countdown to year's end:

advent calendar begins

caroling practice

shopping!

snow shovels!

stock-piling!

there is a depressing regularity about how consistently the final two items make their appearance annually. to think that in texas we actually welcomed snow days.

techncal glitch

stickykeys on acccount of heglass of cranerry juice OM upended over the keyboard.

december!

first seasonal frost this morning. my poor fingers are still numb from the school run. was it for this i welcomed the cold weather?