I did a post the other day, which - among other things - explained why I hadn't done one in so long. But, since I hadn't done one in so long, I wanted to put pix in it. For whatever reason, most of my efforts to put pix in it failed, resulting in it only having one picture in it.
This wasn't good enough for me, so I saved it as a draft, intending to come back to it and try to put pix in it again. Eventually, I decided I'd just post it as is(with the one pic in it) and try to put more pix in future posts.
So, I went back to the draft, put a closing paragraph about "more pix in future posts, I hope" in it, and attempted to post it. It wouldn't work, and I ended up deleting the entire post! :(
So, I'm now gonna post a rather short post. Mostly cuz it's so late it's early and I'm a tad buzzed. I don't drink often at all, but I had one drink tonight cuz it was getting late and I wasn't getting tired and I wanted to go to sleep soon. It'll work, that's for sure, lol.
We had our church bowling night tonight. Becky went(bumper) bowling for her first time - and she did GREAT and had a LOT of fun too! She bowled 2 games, a 104 and a 75! I think that's pretty teriffic for a 3-yr-old! I only wish I'd taken our camera! :(
Bowling brings back a lot of memories for me. Being the only sport I've ever tried that I'm actually anywhere-near-close-to GOOD at, I've done it a lot. I even took it in gym in college and have my own ball.
But it's been SO LONG since I've bowled! In fact, I haven't bowled since our last church bowling night, which I think was over a year ago. Which means that I not only didn't do anywhere near as well as I'm capable of doing, bowlingscore-wise, but I'm sure I'll be SORE tomorrow! My thighs are already sore tonight!
There were about 25 people in our group tonight. I didn't get to chat with as many of them as I'd've liked to. I think next time, I'll just bowl 2 games instead of 3, so I have more time to mingle and chat.
I got re-elected as one of the deacons at church this year. I debated whether I wanted to serve in that capacity again or not, for several reasons, but eventually opted to be on the ballot. I got more than half the votes of the members at the annual meeting, so that means I'm an elder again this year.
We're making good progress at church tho, cuz we have an Elder for the first time since Kat & I went there! Kevn Gibson, who was one of the deacons last year, ran as an Elder this time, and got elected to that office. Imo, it was a no-brainer, slam-dunk, cuz I see him as one of the most spiritually mature men in our church, so I'm glad enough others agree with me that he got approved.
Another nice thing is that instead of only 3 deacons(and no elders), our board has 4 deacons(and 1 elder) this year. I think that'll be great for many reasons.
I have two new duties at church now that I didn't have last year. One is reading the announcements in the Sunday morning service. Randy's trying to divy up some of the "chores" and duties that tend to fall to him by default, and this is one of them. I'm ok with it, it just gets a bit "complicated" when Kat's at work and I've got Sarah(and Becky) in church with me. And, of course, I can't do it at all on weeks when I'm the one in the nursery. But, overall, I like it.
I'm also now one of 2 people who verify the "count" on the offering each week. Kevin wanted "coverage" on this, and I fully understand that.
But it's weird knowing(at least to some degree; in the case of those who give by check) how much(and how often) various folks give. Knowing doesn't really bother me, it's just weird. I hope it never becomes "awkward" or effects how I think of or treat anyone.
On that subject, I've been trying to give more thought to how I treat people and/or come across. Like tonight, at bowling, I didn't just want to be there for my own fun and enjoyment, I wanted to reach out to folks. I didn't(get to) do it as much as I might have liked to, but maybe I did more(of it) than I think I did. Or maybe I'm unrealistically expecting myself to have the same amount of "reach-out" opportunities I used to have at Single Vision Bowling Nights as a parent of 2 kids <4? I don't know. But as much as I criticize myself, sometimes, for being(what seems to me as being) too self-oriented, too impatient, etc., I know that even being aware of that possibility and/or wanting to be more others-focused is a good sign in itself.
For those who are wondering why I haven't done a blog entry in SO long, it's mostly cuz my father-in-law, Gary, died this past 1/9. It was VERY sudden and TOTALLY unexpected. It's already had/having some good "fruit", but I still wish I could wake up and find out it's all a dream.
I just didn't want to go on with my blog as tho nothing significant had happened. I kept wanting to do a blog entry that was some type of "tribute" to him. So, I kept putting off doing an entry, till it reached the point where if I didn't do one soon, I might never do another one. Which is why I did the "draft" entry the other day, and it's why I'm doing this one now too. But, even now that I'm writing(what's become) the first entry since Gary's death, it's still not much of a tribute to him. I guess maybe it's enough to note his passing here, say that I wish it hadn't happened, and say that I'll always love and miss him and cherish the fact that I came into Kat's life in time to get to know and spend some time with him.
I think one of the hardest things about Gary's passing has been telling Rebekah about it; explaining it to her as best we can, and trying to help her understand, process, and come to terms with it and all it's ramifications. From what we can tell, she's done an amazingly good job for a kid who just turned 3. She's even shown us pictures "of Heaven" in her kiddie picture Bible and said "I want to go there when I die and be with pop-pop". That's quite "heavvy" and intense for a toddler.
It's getting late, so I'll close here. I don't want to get further frustrated, or stay up excessively longer than this(2:15 AM), so I won't even try to put pix in this entry. I'll do my best to post some soon tho.
