7 Years

Today, Laurie and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary. 7 years ago, our wedding ceremony took place at McLean Presbyterian Church about 10 miles outside of Washington D.C. She was working for Chuck Colson at Prison Fellowship Ministries and I had just started working at a software startup company called Intersect Software. We started our life together in Leesburg, VA.

We watched a video that our friends took when we first got engaged and then our rehearsal dinner. I was amazed at how much has changed since 2000-2001 (hair?) but also how much has remained the same. Over and over, I heard laughter (hence, the picture at the beginning of this post) in the background of all the gatherings that were captured on video tape. These gatherings included the sharing of story after story after story regarding the memories of close friends and family.

Laurie and I have shared a lot of laughter throughout our 7 years of marriage. We are now sharing that laughter with our two (soon to be three) girls. We are gaining more and more opportunities to share that laughter with our new friends here in Maple Valley and I am looking forward to the years ahead both here and wherever God takes us in the future.

7 years... my friends stole my underwear from my suitcase at this exact moment 7 years ago on May 26th, 2001. I still have plans for them...

Taking me back...

Music has a profound impact on me. I am always surprised by how a specific song can call forward a memory from the distant past. I am sitting in a coffee shop right now and a random Gin Blossoms song from the mid-90s is playing in the background.

How is it that I can clearly picture driving in my old Chevy Corsica in the cold winter near Edison, NJ on the way to a college interview? I can remember getting lost on the way with one of my friends making fun of me in the front seat. If I close my eyes, then I feel like I am right there.

Music

I have often reflected on how I could put together a music set that captures memories from throughout my life. If I actually took on this project, then I would be able to relive every chapter of my life from the first day I remember music to now... That could be really scary or really amazing.

Cleaning Up

Today, I assaulted the weeds in my front yard.

I was daydreaming during a meeting last week and my mind wandered to the uncontrollable weeds in my yard. I had a brilliant (not really) thought that basically went like this, "I have a weed whacker so go take down the weeds!!!"

This morning, I set out to do that. I started small but as I moved through the initial area I realized that I was only touching on the problem. I then systematically removed section by section until I could see the rock wall that was hidden beforehand. I started to see more and more results and that inspired me to continue the hard and dirty work.

In many ways, the experience points to numerous areas of life that often go unattended. For me, yard work often gets neglected but when I dedicate myself to the task I realize how I need to be doing it on a consistent basis to keep my yard clean. I can see how that pattern plays out in other areas too.

What weed whacking needs to be done in your life this week and in the coming weeks?