Minutes to Memories

TEN QUESTIONS:

1. Did I help make life better for anyone this week?
After an awkward court date recently, I was able to deliver Easter baskets to my CASA kids this week. The baskets were donated by a local organization, and I hope they made the kids smile.


2. Did I reach across lines that divide and meet someone new this week?
I had the honor of reading John 19: 1-37 in a Good Friday service at Christus Victor Lutheran in Ocean Springs at noon this past Friday, followed by attending a funeral at Bible Baptist Church in Pascagoula at 2pm. I enjoyed hanging out with my preacher friends in Ocean Springs as well as giving hugs to my grieving friends in Pascagoula, but I also enjoyed meeting new people in both places across denominational lines.


3. Did I learn anything worthwhile this week?
I learned from the cardiologist that my heart is in really great shape! Now, on to the gastrointestinal doctor in about ten days.


4. Did I spend time with close family and friends this week?
We really enjoyed a huge Easter dinner with our friends, the Smiths, today. They are such a special family to us, and we had a lot of fun hanging out there. With our impending move, it seemed like we talked way too much about us, but the Smiths are such gracious friends they didn’t seem to mind.


5. Did I take the time to notice nature this week?
We busted our tails working on our yard yesterday, but the day was so beautiful. When I stopped for lunch, I sat outside in a lawn chair (mostly because I was nasty!), and I should sit outside in lawn chairs more often. 70 degree temps, blue skies, cool breeze, and bumblebees and butterflies flitting around the air.


6. Did I have fun this week?
Tom and Laura coordinated a young adult group trip to a hockey game Friday night. Around 30 of us watched the Mississippi Seawolves put the hurt on the Texas Wildcatters to the tune of six goals to one. The Havards sat on our left, the O’Connells on our right, and the Raifords behind us. It was extra fun to have fun surrounded by such neat people.


7. Did I do my best at my job this week?
I delivered an Easter sermon for the 10th year in a row, and I did a pretty good job if you count how good you did by audience tears. I told the full story about Jade and seeing her at Mallonee’s wedding a couple of weeks ago, and it was interesting to see the tears scattered throughout the audience. Telling the story of Jade on Easter Sunday just seemed like the right thing to do.


8. Did I engage in a discussion of things that matter this week?
I have had mucho fun discussing Barack Obama’s speech on race with my Hungry Hungry Hippo friends. I love talking about important stuff there.


9. Did I read or hear or see a good story this week?
I read “Soul Among Lions: Musings of a Bootleg Preacher” by Will D. Campbell this week, and I also made progress on my other two books – “Jesus For President” by Shane Claiborne, and “Grace (Eventually)” by Anne Lamott. Lamott is irreverent, and there was a great line in her story about parenting her teenage son: "You've got to wonder what Jesus was like at seventeen. They don't even talk about it in the Bible, he was apparently so awful. " I know this is sacrilege to a few hundred million people, but it made me laugh out loud. Which is dangerous when you’re reading a book.


10. Did I feed my soul with music this week?
I have two new friends with the same name, and they took care of me in the world of music this week: (a) Jamie from Arkansas led me to my “crank it up” song of the week – “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” by Warren Zevon. I found a version on YouTube with Zevon performing unplugged on the BBC, and I’ve been singing the chorus all week long; (b) Jamey from Mississippi pointed me toward another great Todd Agnew song, “Mercy in Me.” I found this one on YouTube, too, and to tell the truth, I actually liked the video someone made to it even more than the song! Give it a search and check it out.