gratitudes...

this morning is COLD. it was in the 30's last night. and I woke up with that headachy shaky feeling I get when the weather changes out from under me... and i feel so grateful!

one of the things I'm grateful for is the "one-hundred dollar hoopty". It's this wreck of a car-a toyota corolla- from 1991 that got donated to us... a gift of love that was difficult to understand at first.

I put just under a hundred dollars and about 20 hours into her and got her running good enough.
she needs a new muffler. badly. but she's just 4 cylinders, so it's not that loud... i drive like a grampa, so no worries...

there are a LOT of "real" things I'm grateful for, though. Like Aaron Mansfield's new marriage, and the babies born in our community here. Like Kadin and Seth playing after school. Gosh, Kadin is a genius! He builds the most fascinating lego weaponry on sunday mornings.

I'm grateful for Charlie and Crystal and my man Riley. (how do you guys spell him?) I'm grateful for finding my friend Greg, and how Chris Deering's mouth has spilled so much grace this month.
I'm grateful for Sam, one of the godliest young men I've known. He's like when JP was young! Fired up! and silly! and wise!

I'm grateful for marcelo, my Brazilian boy, who at 17 has crossed the equator to spend a year in grey Ohio. All of his comparisons show us lacking. and we are. He has learned to shred on a skateboard, lately. I'm proud of him because he's braver than he looks. He is slaying dragons.

I'm grateful for my man aaron ross, who got his hair cut yesterday. at 13 he's dealing with the world in a wisdom from above, from time to time... he's a good man in training and i'm honored to be his dad...

it goes on, deeper and deeper, ending with my wife. there is simply nothing better on this earth than the love of a godly woman. having a wife who loves me less than she loves Jesus--whose first and almost only love is our Lord--has sanified me. She is a constant source of truth and wisdom. She isn't afraid of the trials of life. amazing. fearless...

some thoughts today.

and JP, thanks for the call.