zap zone

played laser tag with the church's middle school students tonight at Zap Zone in Ann Arbor. very fun. held my own, too. played some air hockey and arcade games, as well. stayed far away from the dance-dance-revolution or whatever it's called, though. didn't want to embarrass my family or my church.

drove one of the guys home afterwards, and really enjoyed getting to know him. what a sharp mind! asked him what he's reading--turns out he's reading C.S. Lewis's "the Great Divorce". chatted about his family, and asked him what he thought of his step dad. he replied, "he's a really impressive man. really impressive." when i asked him why, he told me his step dad was the first person to teach him about ethics, to help him develop his "moral compass". wow. in eighth grade, i would have been lucky to know how a magnetic compass worked, let alone one of those moral ones.

Pistons got beat tonight, alas. Philly's shooting was off the hook, what can you do? doubt they can keep it up, so i'm not too concerned at this point. much fun to watch Iverson do his thing, and Ben Wallace, too. loved when he drew the charge one on one with Iverson in the front court. don't laugh, but i actually found it inspiring. o.k., you can laugh. i'd laugh, if it weren't me.

grace in the news

my sister Grace's photo was on the front page of the Ann Arbor News yesterday...



lo rez pic taken by my smartphone, but you should be able to make her out in the center, wearing a hardhat. she's breaking ground for the new high school in Ann Arbor. (wow, i never made the front page. or any page, now that i think about it. way to go, Grace!)

wish i could have snapped a pic of the photo just below it - someone protesting the plight of the salamanders who are reportedly being displaced from their ancestral home by the new school (and who are being called, apparently by the less than tactful, "bugbait") holding a poster that reads: "bugbait!? so's yer mama." ouch! them's gigglin' words.

and no one should miss the article's closing quote from my dad. as my sister-in-law commented, he really knows how to capture a mood. a true example of an oratory master.

untitled

Ronni seems to be on the mend, praise God. like the feel of the air after a storm, the scent of wet ground, the growing translucence of the clouds, the sweet sound of drips and chirping and the occaisional rustling of leaves making harmony together. of course, there is still the assorted lawn furniture and downed branches to pick up, maybe some leaks to fix, but hey, rain is good for growing things right?

on an unrelated note, great post on u2 at 21st Century Reformation (scroll down to friday, april 8th's post). have tickets to see them in Chicago with my dad in May, and in Detroit with Ronni in October.

learning curve, part 2

so far...

1. ronni's job is harder than mine. what she handles with such grace, i stumble through at a snail's pace.

2. going to the bathroom at one's leisure (when there are small children to be cared for) is a luxury that seems to be afforded only to those with nannies. i will never take newsweek for granted again.

3. we are very well loved. i knew this, of course, but i knower it now. ER doctors (plural!) calling to check in. family helping, offering to help, praying, calling, even sending cash to cover extra expenses (a check arrived today, covering all of Ronni's missed piano lessons, our ER bills, and prescription costs to date). church family taking Colin during the day (Kim two days in a row, Amy today, and others scheduled for the next week), helping out at night, too (Jon tuesday night, Roger & Danni last night, Heather tonight and others on and on), and making meals, praying, sending cards, etc.

4. fish need food and plants need water. somehow i missed out on all that behind the scenes stuff. life needs care and attention to continue; i suppose that's half the lesson. God's giving us what we need every day, no fail; i suppose that's more than all the rest.

sticking with me from today's vespers office, like those gooey spider things you throw against the wall and watch them walk down, leaving an invisible trail:

(the refrain) surely, there is a reward for the righteous; surely, there is a God who rules in the earth. -psalm 58:11

(the cry of the church) o God, come to my assistance! o Lord, make haste to help me!

learning curve

for anyone who knows Ronni personally, several things are obvious right off the bat:

1. she doesn't deserve this.
2. this can't be about God teaching her something or refining her like gold or anything like that.

if I'm wrong about 1 or 2, then i can only think that the rest of us are in serious trouble, relatively speaking. which leads me to the following conclusions:

1. i definitely deserve this.
2. (a) this is about me learning something or getting refined like gold or at least tin, and (b) i am a slow learner.

so in the interests of helping Ronni get better (which isn't happening at all yet, alas), i will detail for God the various things i have learned so far.

but that's going to have to wait 'til i can get back to this again...which could be a while...

better half

it's been an eventful number of days since easter; hasn't been much time for blogging. quick blow by blow: the resurrection celebration was wonderful, full bellies, full house, and full hearts. then, shortly after church was done, Ronni started coming down with a very bad sore throat that cut short our dinner with her mom and sister. up all night, scheduled an appointment with the doctor on Monday, but then the doctor called in sick. went to urgent care, diagnosis: strep. antibiotics did the trick and by wednesday all was well. until thursday night, when a fever returned. things got worse through friday and saturday, when pain in her abdomen sent us to urgent care again. urgent care sent us immediately to the emergency room at St. Joe's out of concern for apendicitis. after a round of bloodwork and other fluid tests, an iv, an ultrasound, and a CT scan, we were sent home at 5:00 sunday morning, diagnosis: bad case of flu. no improvement sunday, up all night with various not fit for a blog agonies. talked to a friend who works at the ER and had looked at Ronni's tests. he asked a few questions and suggested we get back to the ER as soon as possible for a lumbar puncture. diagnosis: viral meningitis. nothing to be done but ride it out back at home.

so, we're riding it out. Ronni's riding out the pain - never seen her this sick before. can't eat, can't sleep, can't watch tv, can't read a book, can't hardly even drink. Colin and Elle are riding out the bumbling care of their hopelessly helpless dad. drew a bath for Colin last night, then forgot to actually get him in the tub. realized this morning, after an innocent question from Ronni, whose feverish brain is still working better than mine, that I hadn't had Colin brush his teeth in over 3 days. tried to give Elle a bath tonight, and couldn't figure out how to fit the thing in the sink. running around like a chicken with my head cut off. apparently it's possible to do more than just dishes and laundry while taking care of children, but to be honest i can't even keep up with those two simple chores.

thank God for great friends, family, and church. Colin's out putt putting with Jon B tonight, spent the day at the Griesers, Heather G. brought us dinner tonight, dad brought me dinner last night, mom's coming in the morning, etc. etc. etc.

gotta run...crying baby...