A Winning Season

I finished up the softball season on Saturday. The team still has one more game plus the tourney, but I'm done because I'll be out of town for the next few weekends. We're currently 9 and 7...first in our division and currently seeded fourth for the tournament (which gets us a bye for the first week). No matter what happens next, for me, it's a winnin season.

Now, to some a 9 and 7 record wouldn't be something to celebrate, much less blog about, but after 5 straight seasons of losing records (most seasons only winning one or two games) it's a big deal for me.

It's like they say, 'One man's average season is another man's treasure season' (or something like that).

Georgia Football!

As of 6:00 pm tonight...
70 Days 23 Hours Till Georgia Football.
Go Dawgs!

Top or Bottom?

Trip got a new (to us) bunk bed from Mrs. Chris (our babysitter). He loves to climb up, and slide down the side. I asked him today what he thought about sleeping in his bunk bed last night. He said, "It's o.k."

It reminds me of the times when I spent the night over at a friend's house and he had a bunk bed (never had a set of bunks myself...an only child problem, I guess), we would always fight over who would get to sleep on the top bunk.

Aaah, those were the days!

Save Me From That Dog!

We were over at some friends house the other night. They have two little dogs. Quinn loves dogs and was all over these little guys. At one point Quinn started stomping his feet and one of the dogs, thinking he was wanting to play, started barking. The barking freaked Quinn out and he started crying. Trip happened to be standing right there and grabbed Quinn and in an all-in-one motion hugged him and moved in between the dog and Quinn. It was one of those big brother, "I'll protect you" moments. Later, when I asked Trip about why he hugged Quinn when the dog barked he said, "Quinn was scared and I wanted to help him."

The most fascinating thing is that Trip is, in general, a scared-ey cat (no pun intended) and typically gets a little freaked out by dogs. It was a great demonstration of selflessness. I could learn a lesson.

On a similar note, on a different day several months ago, we were at a birthday party. Quinn was playing with a toy and a bigger kid (about Trip's age) came and took the toy away from Quinn. I saw a look come across Trip's face that I've never seen before. It was one of those, "I'm about to take you out" looks. I assured Trip that everything was ok, and Quinn had already moved on to another toy. I think I saved that big bully kid's life. I think Quinn's pretty lucky to have such a good big brother. I think this is the only time in my life that I've ever missed having a sibling of my own. Ok...I'm over it now.

Consistency

Here is a great post on Consistency by Seth Godin.

Makes My Heart Sink

Before I start, a little history:
Typically, Trip gets out of bed once each night, not long after we put him down. We usually send him back to bed and tell him that he'll get in trouble if he gets up again. Usually he stays in bed and it's no big deal. Sometimes if he's sick coughing or something, he'll get up several times...no big deal...we comfort him and help him back to bed. There has been a time or two where he's gotten up multiple times for no apparent reason, and he usually gets a light spank on the bottom and that does the trick.

To the story:
Last night, as I'm getting ready to head to bed myself, I reach the top of the stairs and can see that his door is opened, but I can't see him. I was slightly aggravated that he had opened his door and gone back to bed, and headed toward it to close it (so I didn't wake him while I was getting ready for bed). As I rounded the corner, there he was sitting indian-style in the opening of his door. I don't know if I had wrath in my face or what, but as soon as we made eye contact, he bowed his head in shame.

My heart instantly sank in my chest and I went to pick him up. As I reached for him, he started crying, assuming that I was going to get upset with him and that he was in trouble. I hugged him, and assured him that all was right with the world. I asked him how long he'd been sitting there and he said, "3 minutes." Since he can't tell time, I was looking for more of a "just a few minutes" or "a really long time" response...so who knows how long he'd been sitting there.

After I'd determined that there was nothing wrong with him, Amy & I put him back in the bed. He was, by this time, smiling ear to ear and said, "Dad, I sure do love you."

What's remarkable to me is how quickly my attitude turned from frustration (that he'd gotten out of bed and opened his door) to empathy and love (once I saw his contriteness). And, I was also struck how much he appreciated my grace. I think you'd have to be there or you'd have to experience a similar situation with your children to understand the emotion within me during this episode, but I can't help but think about how God feels when we are sitting there helpless in our situation because we've disobeyed His instruction, and how He loves to forgive us when we're contrite. I hope, when I'm in a similar situation, that I can stop my (proverbial) weeping and look up at Him and say, "God, I sure do love you" when he gently and graciously lays me back down in the safety of the shelter that He's provided for me.

Old Faithful & A Little Child

I'm sitting here at Yellowstone waiting for Old Faithful to blow. Next to me sits an elderly couple with a small poodle. Next to them sits a dad and a little boy. The little boy looks to be about 2 yrs and doesn't give a rip about Old Fathful...he's totally facinated with the dog. I don't know what the lesson is in the story...but I love a kid who's in love with a dog.