Archive for February, 2013

Day 179 and Counting…Signs, Miracles, and Trying To Get To San Antonio

Posted: February 28, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Friday, February 4, 2011

How to try to describe yesterday….

We got up in the morning still iffy about actually heading out on the roads to drive to San Antonio.  I mean, it’s about an 11 hour drive under normal conditions.  The conditions yesterday were far from normal.  Even on the major interstates, there was still about three inches of solid ice.  Around town, some of the residential streets were still nearly impassable.

I’ve never been a big believer in using a “fleece” to ask God for a sign, even though I understand that it is a Biblical concept.  I’ve just never had faith for it.  (See Judges Chapter 6:36-40 if you don’t know the context)  In this case, with our safety at risk, I figured I needed to know whether it was going to be all right for us to make the drive, so I asked for a small sign.

While he’s been in Basic, Taylor has only been allowed to eat what they feed him.  When he graduates, he gets a little bit of time to go off base with us and do what he wants, and what he wants is cupcakes.  Not just any cupcakes, though.  He wants cupcakes from The Cup, a specialty shop downtown real close to our loft.

Some of the downtown businesses have been closed due to the blizzard, however, and we hadn’t gotten any cupcakes.  We were going to have to leave early in the morning to get to San Antonio at a reasonable time, so I told God that if there was someone there at The Cup and they would let us in before they were open and they had any cupcakes made that they would be willing to sell us, I would take that as a sign that it was going to be OK for us to make the drive.

We drove around the corner and it happened just exactly the way I prayed.  A short time later, just as we were hitting the edge of town, we got a report that the interstate was closed ahead due to a fatal accident.  We were going to have to be rerouted onto a lesser highway that was likely to have even worse driving conditions than the interstate.

Even though we had the cupcakes with us as a tangible answer to prayer, I prayed again (like Gideon) and asked God to have the detour take us onto a clearer highway to confirm that it was going to be OK.  Almost immediately, the sun came out and we hit nearly clear and dry pavement.  God had shown us again that He was with us and keeping us safe.

I’d like to say it was all smooth sailing after that, but it was anything other than smooth.  In Oklahoma, we were once again driving on a few inches of ice and at one point, the car suddenly went out of control in a slide.  We slid all the way off the road to the right, down the slope of the embankment, then inexplicably back up and back onto the road pointing in the right direction and none the worse for the experience.  I imagined it was angels flying alongside and pushing the car back onto the road.

I’ll finish the story tomorrow…obviously we made it, but not without further adventures!

Day 177 and Counting…TV? None For Us, Thank You

Posted: February 27, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

I realize that this is unthinkable to most Americans, but Ceecee and I don’t watch TV.  At all.  We’re just not interested and there’s so much to actually do that it just seems like a total waste of time to sit in front of the TV or let the television schedule dictate our lives.

The only thing we watch is some sports or the weather channel when there’s storm danger or warnings.  Our daughter told us about the show, The Big Bang Theory.  We weren’t interested, but she insisted that it was good and we would like it and offered to bring us the first few seasons on DVD.  We’ve watched a lot of episodes yesterday and today and it is really funny.

We also got out and watched our wedding video this evening.  Cheesy, I know, but I wanted to.  It was crazy how young we looked.  Everyone always thinks the bride is the most beautiful in their weddings, but I have never seen anyone more beautiful than Ceecee at our wedding.  I’ll never forget the way she took my breath away when I saw her at the back of the church that day.

The great thing is, she still does.  There are times when I’m around her and I can hardly breathe.

On another note, we’re supposed to be going to San Antonio tomorrow to see Taylor graduate from basic military training, but the roads are still snow and ice packed and travel isn’t really advised right now.  We’ve already reserved a room and i can’t imagine not being there, so we’re praying about it and tentatively still planning to head out in the morning.

Day 176 and Counting… Loving The “Blizzard of The Century!”

Posted: February 26, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

So, I’m getting all kinds of blizzard warnings on my phone and I’m thinking, “I’m being paid to stay in my loft with my gorgeous wife and this is a problem, how?”

Of course, I’m being a bit facetious.  This is actually a very unusual amount of snow and winter weather for the Missouri Ozarks.  In fact, this particular winter storm is being dubbed as the “storm of the century” and such by local meteorologists.

The truth is, it’s probably a major problem for a lot of people.  In our case, we are looking out the windows of our loft and enjoying the whiteness and realizing once again just how blessed we are.  Being teachers, we don’t have to work today (or probably for the next few days by the looks of things).  We are warm and cozy in our loft.  We have plenty of food, and we have all of downtown right around the corner from us if we do need or want anything.

More importantly, I have a restored marriage that’s getting stronger everyday.  My wife is a true woman of courage, honesty, and love.  I can’t stop giving thanks for her or for what God has done in our lives and our marriage.

Now, what to do today….

Day 174 and Counting…Restoring St. Louis

Posted: February 25, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Sunday, January 30, 2011

The restoration trip to St. Louis has been more than I even hoped for.  Ceecee has been so amazingly sweet and loving and has just said and done everything right to make this an unforgettable and tremendously healing weekend.

When we set out in the car yesterday morning, we had to talk a little bit about we uncovered last Monday, which was OK, but I didn’t want to put a damper on the trip before we even started.  It’s just that we’ve learned through all of this not to let things sit and stew and become a problem later.  We’ve learned that you just say it and talk about it, but you do it in a loving way that puts the marriage first and any personal agendas to the side.

As we approached St. Louis, we had talked about where we would go and what we would do, but there was something that kept bothering me, so right before we got to town, I just asked my wife if she minded if I changed the agenda a little bit.  I told her what I was thinking and feeling, and what I wanted to do and she was more than fine with it.  She said that if it was important to me than we should definitely do it.

That’s how this weekend and how our “new” love has gone.  We communicate, we’re honest and open, and we put each other first.  I’m not sure why we needed to go through so much pain and heartbreak to get here, or even if we needed to, but I’ll never stop being thankful for what we have now.  I’ll also never stop trying to build what we have now into a house that will stand up to the test of time and the storms of life.

Day 172 and Counting… Reaching Out

Posted: February 21, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Friday, January 28, 2011

Have I mentioned that my wife is amazing?

We’ve been going to North Point Church since we’ve been back together and we’re loving it.  They have small groups that meet in homes and Ceecee has been wanting to make some new friends, so she’s wanted us to join one.  The main problem is that I work so many nights at Macy’s and my schedule varies from week to week, so I don’t have regular nights that are free.

They have this event every few months where you show up and mix and mingle and try to find a group to join.  Tonight, I had to work, but Ceecee went by herself.  She called me at one point and said she’d found a couples group that was going to be starting up on Tuesday nights and she wanted to join.  I told her that I often worked Tuesday nights, so I might not be able to go often, but that was fine if she wanted to.

Later, she called and told me that she had joined the Tuesday night group and that if it was OK  we were going to be starting a group at our house on Sunday nights.  I asked her how that came about and she told me that our daughter and her husband, who hadn’t been going to church much, would come to a group if it was at our house.  Then she said she ran into another couple we used to know who also said that if we had a group they would come to it.

So she went to check it out and in a couple of hours she had joined a group and started a group.  Like I said, amazing.  I love her more all the time!

Day 171 and Counting…Back On Our Bikes

Posted: February 20, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Thursday, January 27, 2011

The weather was nice enough to take our bikes out today, so we got in 12 miles after work.  Well, let me qualify that.  The weather was nice enough FOR US to take our bikes out.  Of course there are cyclists who ride year round regardless of weather, but we are not those cyclists.  We’re wimps when it comes to riding in the cold.

Anyway, it was a nice ride and the first time we’ve been on two wheels in a while.  This weekend, we’re taking an unscheduled restoration trip to St. Louis.  After what went down  Monday, we need to get to our city and fix some hurts and disappointments.  I’m a little scared of what fallout there might still be, but we’re also really committed to seeing ourselves healed, whole, and as strong as can be, so I suspect this is going to be a blessing on multiple levels.

Day 168 and Counting… A Setback and An Opportunity To Affirm

Posted: February 18, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Monday, January 24, 2011

Sometimes it feels like no matter how much joy and newness we’ve found, the past will never let us go.  We’ve come so far and overcome so much and it’s truly been an amazing, wonderful journey.  At the same time, we both keep figuratively looking over our shoulders and waiting for things to begin to crumble.
These six months have had the highest of highs and some of the happiest moments of my entire life.  They’ve also had some real challenges and every time we allow ourselves to begin to think we might be in the clear to keep moving forward without any setbacks, we seem to run right smack into another setback.

Today was a tough one, to say the least.  Some things came out that weren’t supposed to come out and they were serious enough to threaten all that we’ve been able to build since last August.  It was a painful and frightening day and it reminded me how fragile our love still is and how much we really have come through.

On the other hand, it ended up being an opportunity to reaffirm, in the strongest of terms, our commitment to one another now.  It was a chance to show each other and the powers of Hell itself that nothing will come between us or destroy the love we are building.

Day 166 and Counting… An Icy 5K

Posted: February 16, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Saturday, January 22, 2011

Well, we survived the Resolution Run this morning.  It’s a 5K sponsored by a local running store and they give you a $25 gift card to spend there, so it’s almost like the run is free.  We had to tiptoe over the ice, so our times were terrible, but my knee held up, so that was a win.  I didn’t push at all, but I was glad not to have any pain.

Day 165 and Counting…Pre-Race Fuel?

Posted: February 15, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Friday, January 21, 2011

Still dealing with some leftover fallout from our separation.  Ceecee forwarded me an email from that guy who has still been contacting her,  I thought he was pretty much gone, but she sent it to me this morning and was very apologetic. It was another of those “Can we talk?” messages. It’s not like she hasn’t repeatedly told him to leave her alone, so she didn’t need to apologize for it, but I asked her if she would allow me to get involved now.

Before this, she always asked me not to, but today she said to go ahead, so I replied to it.  Maybe this will be the end of it.

Tonight we’re going to a little local place called Tony’s Famous Spaghetti.  We’re calling it “pre-race fuel” since the 5K is still on for tomorrow.  It’s really just an excuse to eat there because it’s good and inexpensive, but pre-race fuel sounds good.  There’s still a layer of an inch or two of ice on the road in a lot of places, so this should be interesting in the morning.

Day 164 and Counting… Snow Day, Check!

Posted: February 14, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Thursday, January 20, 2011

We got our snow day and had a lot of fun.  We walked through the snow to this little place called Homegrown foods where they sell local produce.  The actual reason we went was for homemade peppermint marshmallows.  It’s not far from downtown and we also went to The Cup, so it’s a very unhealthy snacking day.

We have a 5k on Saturday, which will probably be cancelled due to the snow on the ground that won’t be melted by then.  I haven’t run that far since my injury, so I wanted it to be a chance to see where I am in my recovery.

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