Me, of All People...

Got a longboard last weekend. Can you believe it? It's so funny to me. Larry Ray has officially moved me on over to the dark side...I mean bright side. I really do like it so much and one day I am going to go down a really big hill with all my longboarding heroes. My brother will be so proud.
And I just have to say it, to the boy's dismay, isn't so cute?
Wish me luck. I have no helmet.

I Got Three Dollars Burning in My Pocket, I Know I Know...

Alright, alright. I know it's been such a long time since I have written. And even now, I write under obligation, not out of a desire to share some exciting news or brilliant thought that I hope will change your life or make you think I am really cool. But, I write nonetheless.

This past weekend was one that I will remember for a long time. I started my move to Lewisville on Friday evening. Kari and I packed our cars full of boxes and furniture and she drove south and I headed north. My new home is in the sweetest apartments and I will be living with an old roommate from a couple of years back. I know that it will be good, just different. And for those of you that know me well, know that I just don't do change well. I grieve for a few days and then I move on. It's my process.

As Kari and I loaded our last items into our cars and finished cleaning the house on good ol' Russell Avenue, we stood on the side porch not quite sure how to say goodbye to one another. I mean, we would see each other come Monday at work, but we would no longer call to check in on our way home for a McDonald's late night snack, grocery run, or hear the yell of a "goodnight" from down the hall as early as 9:00pm. Both strange and sad. We finally let a couple of tears fall and then we managed to laugh through the sting of it all.

As I got in my car, I cried some more. Good tears. Cleansing tears. The kind of tears that you should cry when you are being separated from one of the biggest blessings that has ever occurred in your life. So I cried in the silence. And then I turned on my Ipod. I deemed the song that came on quite appropriate, yet bittersweet. Matt Redman's, Blessed be Your Name. It was appropriate because I have had a love-hate relationship with this song for a while now. I am wise enough to know that you can't stand in church, belting out these lyrics, if you don't mean it. You must be willing to praise Him as He both gives and takes away.

So, my season of living with Kari has come to a close. And it has been good, so I praise Him. And I am sad that it all has to change. And I must choose to trust that the Lord's plan is still good and redemptive and best for me, even when I am so uncertain of what His plan is. And so I will praise Him still...

I left Kari with a parting CD of some of our greatest hits since living together. Here is that list:

If I Could Do It Again byCorey Smith
Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson Girls
Desperately Wanting by Better Than Ezra
Don't Stop Believin' by Journey
Halloween by Matt Pond PA
The One Who Loves You the Most by Brett Dennen
Leave The Pieces by The Wreckers
Hey Ya! by OutKast
Heavenly Day by Patty Griffin
Divine Romance by Phil Wickham
Cosy In the Rocket by Psapp (Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack)
Kiss Me In the Dark by Randy Rogers Band
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
Gotta Have You by The Weepies
New Soul by Yael Naïm
How to Save a Life by The Fray
One More Goodbye by Randy Rogers Band
Cotton Eye Joe by Starsound Orchestra Dance
Goodbye by Patty Griffin

I love you, Kare Bear. Thanks for loving me for me. There is no greater gift in our friendship.

Love, Fraggle