Christmas

Heidi and I kicked off our Christmas weekend on Saturday night. We met up with Kent and Sally (my sister) and the boys at Maplewood Mall. After some pseudo-Asian food in the food court, we rode the Carousel. Chase and I sat in a Tilt-A-Whirl type of seat and spun in rapid circles the entire ride. Afterward I felt awful, but he had a good time. We made our way to Savers where we played with the toys and Heidi and I scored a half-price steamer trunk.

After saying our goodbyes to them, we headed to Rogers for 48 hours with my in-laws, the Battens. Heidi’s brother, Dan, was in town from law school in Spokane, WA, so got some quality time with him and his fiancé, Ellen. Lyn made us some great food and I enjoyed watching football with Don. I am blessed to enjoy spending time with my in-laws.

In other news, the Broncos got an early Christmas present when the Bengals missed the extra point to tie the game at the end. I guess it is better to be lucky than good. The Broncos indeed got lucky. They must be living right. Everyone who follows football knows that the Bengals are not.

I still love Heidi more than I love football.

Here we go a caroling. . .

Last Thursday Heidi and I went with the Lost and Found (young adults) group at church to go Christmas caroling. What a blast. There were ten of us that sang at a nursing home in St. Paul. A few of the residents seemed to really enjoy our singing and the staff assured us that the others did as well. After we finished at the nursing home we headed over to sing for Paul and Cara who were sick and could not join us. They gave us candy. We finished the evening at Emily, Brenda, and Candace’s apt with refreshments and a White Elephant gift exchange. Heidi and I scored the two best gifts. It was a great evening.

The Broncos finally won a game on Sunday. They put a butt kicking on the Arizona Cardinals. With that win and losses by the Bengals and Jaguars, the Broncos are back in the playoff mix. If the Broncos can win the next two games, both in Denver, they are in the playoffs. In related news, I failed to make the playoffs in all four fantasy football leagues.

I have been to the Mall of America three times since Thanksgiving. What a crazy place. MOA is great for people watching and walking around, terrible for anything else. The sheer volume of people is astounding.

My Sweet Baboo will be on a silent prayer retreat the next two nights. That means I will be back to living the Bachelor life for 48 hours. She made me a pan of lasagna so I do not either starve to death or spend all my money at Wendy’s. I will miss my sweetie while she is there, but I am glad she gets this experience.

Fathers

The two years that I spent working at Rawhide Boy’s Ranch were valuable for many reasons. One of the important lessons I learned while working there was the importance of fathers. The boys at the ranch were all juvenile offenders and every single one, without exception, had fathers who were absent either physically or emotionally. In American society as a whole, there are men who sire children, but few fathers.

I have been thinking about this since two of my good friends have become first time fathers recently. Noah Orton Schurr was born to Matt and Denise last month and Glorie Claire Herder was born to Peter and Elizabeth last week. (Props go to Denise and Elizabeth for doing the hard part.) I am comforted to know that these children will grow up with fathers who will love them and nurture them. These children are in good hands.

My father (and mother, too) was there for me while I was growing up and I am grateful. God made the family to rely on both parents and we can see what happens when that system is broken down. Kudos to fathers!

A foggy, wet Tuesday

Heidi and I had a good time in Colorado, but the trip was too quick. It was nice to see family again. The Navigator’s HQ, Glen Eyrie, is like Rivendell at Christmas time. Beautiful. We got to spend some time with our future teammates in Senegal. Both of us enjoy the people of Mission: Moving Mountains, especially our team. We are excited to get to Africa!

The Broncos have gone from one of the elite teams in the NFL to a middle of the road team that is weak in all phases of the game. To make the playoffs, the Broncos have to win all three remaining games. They’ll have to play better than they did on Sunday.

Our support raising is going well, as far as we know. We are grateful for the support we have received thus far. We are kept pretty busy with appointments, but it is fun.

I am confident that I found a Christmas gift for Heidi that she will love. I accidentally found out what she was getting me but I am excited about it. It was a good choice. I sure do love my sweet baboo!