with a big sigh

Breathe in.....


Breathe out....


Breathe in....


Breathe out....


Sorry, just practicing for the last night of baby class. Here's to hoping it's more worthwhile than the others. I'm come to the realization that I don't really like being in class, being taught things that I could just learn in books. I'm not a good student. Which is really scary if I ever decide when and where I'm going to go to school.
There is one reason I'm excited about going to class tonight. There are like 6 other couples in the class. One of the couples, Nick and Christine, sits next to us. They moved here in May, from up north somewhere, and their family is in Texas or somewhere. They literally have no one here. No family. No friends outside of work. We told them about Graeter's ice cream a few weeks ago, and last week Christine was by herself because Nick couldn't get out of work. Anyway, they live close to us. So tonight, I'm hoping that they'll join Kim and I at Graeter's after our last class, and we can invite them to church. But even more so, we can just start a friendship with them, so that there's someone here in town that they can call if they need anything. That's what being a good neighbor is all about, right? No strings attached.

I don't get a lot of opportunity to meet new people outside of church. I mean, I see the same people at the bank, at Kroger, and the lady who cuts my hair. But I don't really have a lot of outside contact. Kim gets some of it with her school buddies. I don't have that luxury. She goes out with her first grade team to breakfast about once a month and they laugh and talk about their students. Just kidding. Teachers never say anything about their students. Snicker, guffaw.

Anyways, prayers would be appreciated as we talk to Nick and Christine. They seem like good people...but I'm not sure they're the "churchy" type. We'll just have to see.

I picked up another book at Family the other day by one of my favorite speakers. Rob Bell, the pastor at Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, MI. His style of speaking is great. He's one of the few preachers I regularly download and listen to while I'm working. Anyway, his book is called Velvet Elvis and I really like it. If you're looking for a different kind of book, check it out.

On a different note, I had to have one of those conversations with a parent this morning that no one wants to have, but had to be done. Pray for that one, too. It went pretty well, but as a parent-to-be, I dread hearing those things that I had to relay. And I probably will. Just to keep things in perspective, it's going to be okay. Wrong choices don't always lead to wrong lifestyles. Sometimes they do, but it's best to nip them in the bud, as Barney Fife used to say.

Wow. From breathing exercises to Graeter's to preachers I like to Barney Fife. Talk about randomness.
I hate to be a comment freak, but if anybody's out there reading, I'd love your 2 cents on whatever you feel like.
Thanks for reading!
TJ