Last night my mind was r-a-c-i-n-g. Here' s some of the thoughts that occupied my night:
- Our annual Vacation Bible School curriculum from Group Publishing arrived. The Power Lab Theme looks terrific. I'm so excited to begin the planning for our June Outreach.
- When my son Alex was younger, I regularly used to form the "I Love You" sign with my right hand, hold it up, and lock fingers with him as he did the same. It was our unique way of connecting before he went to bed. We haven't done it in a while. We did this morning as we passed in the hallway. I need to be more mindful to tell him how much I love him.
- Cathy Lento recently gave my wife Teresa a simple set of Christmas earrings. They were "dangly". I really like dangly.
- Mike Huckabee is getting my closer attention. (And not just because he is a professed follower of Jesus...)
- My favorite Christmas song is an old recording of "Do You Hear What I Hear" by Ed Ames.
Remember him? He was the Italian who played the Indian Mingo in the Daniel Boone TV show. He was born in Malden, MA. He formed a quartet creatively called "The Ames Brothers". Once of his pop culture highlights is when he threw a tomahawk on The Tonight Show at Johnny Carson that almost struck a very private spot. When I was a kid, my father's vinyl record collection of Christmas music came out after Thanksgiving. Ed Ames' Christmas album was my favorite. When he sang, "Do You Hear What I Hear", I'd actually think that I could hear some of the things he was singing about... (Does anyone still have this recording? I haven't been able to find it.) A child's imagination is wonderful. If you get a minute, drop me a line and tell me what your favorite Christmas song is... Dominic the Christmas Donkey, anyone? - I wish I would eat more fruit. Bananas? Yes. Tangerines? Too much peeling. Apples? Delicious. Pears? Only if hard and tart. Figs? Gross. Dates? Imported Majoule please.
- I like getting Christmas cards but I let Teresa open them first. I enjoy the look on her face as she tears into them. Picture Christmas cards always end up on our tree. I gotta admit. I kinda selfish because I don't personally write too many Christmas cards myself.... Except for one - My friend Steve Alexander and I have been sending the SAME Christmas card back-and-forth for over 20 years now. In fact, we had to staple a second card to the original card because we ran out of space. This year it's his turn to send it to me. I'm still waiting, Steve....
- Red Sox - World Series Champs; Celtics 20-2; Patriots 14-0; Bruins (who cares?).... All this winning is almost becoming boring. I can't believe that I'm saying this... I think a little adversity in achieving our goals makes the drama more interesting.... Remind me that I feel this way when these Boston teams eventually stink and we begin talking about "the Good Ole Days".
- My favorite Christmas gift is tickets to an event or certificate to a restaurant. Both move me to spend time with others... Sometimes I can get neglectful about relationships... I always regret that... so these gifts help me to do what is important to me...
- Electronic viruses and trojans, spread over the Internet, are strong evidences of the Doctrine of Original Sin.
- My friend Bruce recently sent me a simple gift in the mail FOR NO REASON AT ALL... except that he was thinking about me and dropped me a line. It was a silly little book of crossword puzzles with a baseball theme. Well.... for about a month I've been seriously enjoying myself each night as I lie in bed and do about 15 minutes of this little book before going to sleep... a simple pleasure provided by a friend... thanks, Bruce.
Anything on your mind lately?
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