Pieces of my world

I’m supposed to be in watching a video as part of the men’s retreat at the new church. I’ll get there, but it’s a comedy video and I’ve got some catching up to do here. Not that I’m opposed to laughing, and I know the power of developing relationship while laughing together, but it’s not the talking.

There was a lot of talking this morning at breakfast. Because I’m not in many conversations yet, I was able to listen and watch. There were guys laughing, catching up, having fun, and getting pretty serious about some of the stuff in their lives. It was a fun thing to observe.

Yesterday we (Nancy and I) had our own conversations with a familiar friend, Marcos. He was told this week, after surgery, that the tumor, while not cancer, is fast growing and not easily stopped. That’s the really nice way to say it. His response? “God will use this, too.”

Marcos is a Korea vet. For the past decade and more, he’s been a volunteer chaplain for the VA hospital in Fort Wayne. His own military experience and life challenges have given him some credibility in talking with guys about life and God. Now, as he faces a very uncertain prognosis, he’s got some credibility about talking with guys about death and God.

Thursday night, Hope and I started our semiannual Thursday night set construction date night. Not really a date, not with an entire cast and crew and some parents working on building a theater set, but still. This spring? “Beauty and the Beast.” Within the next two months, this blank stage, back with remnants of previous shows will turn into a castle. I’m looking forward to getting started on the banister.  I think it will be large and curved and delighfully challenging. It will be my fourth stairway for a Snider show.  (And Hope’s in the chorus, ready to sing and dance and glow. She loves the stage).

Thursday marked the end of two weeks at Grabill. My office is, for me, still clean and reasonably organized. I even took time at the end of the day Thursday (Friday is my day off) to make sure the desk was moderately organized. And so, of course, I had to take a picture.

For those who know me, this is a big deal. I tend to live in a measure of chaos. I can handle far more than most people. However, I’m trying this time to start with some system, so order, some structure. I’m thinking that it won’t hurt. And I’m thinking that some external order may help a little with some internal order.

And this is the hand that 25 years ago this weekend I watched wave goodbye. Twenty- five years ago this weekend, I headed back to Texas where I was in grad school and Nancy kept moving on the wedding arrangements. In March, we’ll celebrate our 25th anniversary (the same week as the musical, see above). But that weekend, leaving for two months, knowing that we wouldn’t see each other again until the week of the wedding, that was the beginning of the longest two months of my life. And the prelude to the best 25 years of my life.

It was worth saying goodbye.

Have a great weekend friends. I gotta go to the retreat.

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