The Routines of Life

Routine is good and I think we should be more thankful for it than we are. Somebody pointed this out today in Sunday school and I think that its so true. When life is routine, we tend to just live it and forget about the need for God in the midst of it. In reality, we should be more grateful that our lives are "boring" because that means things are going well and God is blessing us with a "routine" life for a period of time. We should use the routine times of life as a chance to grow closer with God and to spend quality time with other people. When life is busy and not as routine, those things become more difficult. This is my current challenge. :-)

So, the last couple of weeks have been fairly routine, which has been nice after all the travel and busyness of the prior weeks. So, I've been thankful for a slower schedule around here. The week before last was pretty normal. Didn't do a whole lot of stuff. Just worked and did house activities and whatnot around here in the evenings. Saturday (the 2nd) we cracked down on the guest room and really cleaned that up quite nicely finally. :) Saturday evening we went to Pastor Bruce's house for a Christmas party with lots of people from the church. It was a real fun time getting to know people better. :-) Sunday, after church, we went shopping around our area for a Christmas tree. We found a really nice one right before dark, rushed it back to the house, set it up in a hurry, and then raced back for evening church. :P We finished setting it up more normally on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday, Bec B came for a visit and we enjoyed being with her a lot. She introduced us to the show Monk which was pretty funny. On Thursday evening, this past week, we went downtown to Starr Hill to see a Pat McGee Band show. It was a really fun time and the smallest venue I've seen PMB play in. It was tiny! The stage was in a corner and they packed it with like 8 guys. :-P Very good show. Half-way through, Pat was like "I feel like doing something different". So, 4 or 5 of the guys came down off the stage right into the middle of the crowd where we were and played 4 songs acoustic-jam style which was very cool. Liz and I were right next to Pat which was kinda neat. I'd say that was my favorite part of the show. It sounded great. After the show, we hung around a bit and talked with a couple of the guys in the band. I got a picture with Pat. Good times. :-) This past Friday for lunch, Liz and I went downtown for the Chinese lunch buffet. So good and fun. :) In the evening, Liz and I put on some Christmas music, got a fire burning, made some hot chocolate and decorated the Christmas tree. That was a fun, cozy time. :) Saturday evening, we had two more Christmas parties to go to. First we went to James' house from church and had a great time getting to know some more Laurel Hill people there. Then, we came back and went to our next-door neighbor's Christmas party which was a great time too. Party animals. :-P Today has been a nice, restful, Sunday constisting of church and then chill/slow activities around here. :)

Liz and I have really enjoyed the people at Laurel Hill lately. Each week at church and Sunday school and through the Christmas parties, its been a treat and blessing getting to know people more. Everybody there seems genuine and Godly and it shows not just in what they say, but in how they live and how they treat us. I've never been around a body of believers like this before and its really exciting and encouraging. I feel like I need to shape up! It's not easy to "hide in the crowd" and Laurel Hill, but I think that's a good thing and I hope we get more involved with the church there in the future. :-)

Our happy Christmas tree:


Pat McGee Band show:


close-up acoustic PMB jam!:


me and Pat after the show: