Grassstains.net

The Office Project moves steadily along . . .

I’ve been following various friends either on Facebook, their blogs, or in the course of daily conversations, as they set forth with resolutions for the new year.  Like most, I too have considered various things that I have resolved to do in the past, should do for the future, or want to do simply because it will be good for myself and my family.  But . . . I know me, and I know most of these resolutions will start out strong, and die a quiet death – like that resolution to read the bible in a year that finds itself suddenly confronted with the reality of Leviticus.

Anyway, I have found myself considering resolutions a bit differently after reading a recent entry in Don Miller’s blog.  Don approaches the idea of resolutions from the perspective of living a good story, and I found his thoughts helpful.  Maybe you’ll feel the same.  Part one is here, and part two is here.

Received some pictures from one of the families who journeyed to China at the same time as us.  Like us, their daughter was from Shenzhen, and they sent some pictures of this city as we drove through it on our way to the Hong Kong airport and home.  In some ways, that day seems like such a long time ago, even though it has only been about four months.  While we feel Emily is quickly integrating herself into our hearts and home, the pictures of Shenzhen were a reminder of how far she has come.

I don’t know if she will remember the day we all drove this route together.  I don’t know if she will remember throwing up on the bus minutes after these pictures were snapped.  I don’t know if she will remember anything from China, but I know these will help a little.  I hope she remembers much, and comes to praise God mightily for all He has done in her life.

In our home, we have never emphasized Santa Claus much, as the birth of Christ is the thing that motivates our hearts in this season, but today I read a post about the real Saint Nicholas and recent attempts to forensically reconstruct his face from his skull.  It was pretty cool, and it will be fun to share the story of this man with Andy and Emily.  For what it’s worth, Andy was telling his friends at 5 that Santa Claus was a fake, even though to our knowledge he had never heard that from us.  We just didn’t bring him up.

I particularly like the ding . . .