Friday, July 18, 2008

Are We Crazy?

First, let me say that updating a blog is slightly more difficult than I had predicted.  Yes, it's just a matter of writing updates, interesting thoughts, or randomness (the last I am particularly a pro) but when I think of it I either 1.  have nothing to say or 2. have too much to say and no where to start.  Ah, the dilemmas of internet communication.

So back to the rhetorical question: Are we crazy?  (No, I'd rather you didn't answer that question.)  We got a dog.  I mean another dog.  Yes, I have a nearly three-year-old and a nearly seven-month-old and a four year old dog.  And yes, I have just started a new job and Brad is starting a new job and our lives are a little turned upside down at the moment.  But we got a dog.

Let me rephrase that:  we got a puppy.

Most people would look at us, roll their "internal" eyes, and silently think we have been sniffing glue.  And there is a corner of my wisdom & education that would completely agree, though I don't even know what kind of glue to sniff.  Rubber cement, maybe?

Bayleigh/Bailee/Bailey (we haven't decided on the spelling) may have been a seemingly odd decision to make in the midst of our life circumstance but sometimes when life makes all the decisions for you, it's empowering to make a small decision for yourself.  A life-giving, joy-bringing, lower-my-blood-pressure decision that for a few moments each day distracts Brad and me from the disappoints we're facing.  She's giving my husband a "job" when he's feeling low about being between careers.

The name Bailey means "a person who manages the affairs for another entity" and in some odd way I think God is teaching us to allow Him to become our Bailey.  And though I'm struggling with His "goodness" in our lives, I'm simply making the choice lately to allow him to manage my affairs.  
 

So welcome to our lives, sweet Bailey.  Love us faithfully and we'll feed you fully.  Just please don't pee on my bed.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Pilot Episode

I've been thinking about starting a blog for months but have faced a serious roadblock: what creative name can I publish under?  I mean, to be really good it's got to have a great title.  Something profoundly obvious but obviously profound.  "The Life and Times of the Thompsons."  Nah, too boring.  "The Thompson Four."  Ugh, what if we grow? 

I was rocking Colby to sleep this morning and singing to lull his sweetness into dreamworld.  (Anyone in our house will tell you that I am oddly gifted at coming up with the most random songs at any given moment of the day.  To Do: write a Broadway Musical about our life and make millions.)  Again, in this moment, wondering about a blog, a title, and my mind began to wander:

The chapters in our lives are like the songs of God.  Some of them are deep minors with low notes and words filled with sorrow.  Others are upbeat tempos with the melody of joy and brightness because things are "just right."  We have refrains that are developed from the character we gain from walking through seasons with certain people or circumstances.

The chapters in my life, my novel, are all because sweet Jesus is writing His story in the grains of my heart & soul.  The songs that flow from these places are expressions of thankfulness, sometimes to God and other times to my husband, my kids, my friends.

And so begins an ordinary diary that tells about the extraordinary life that swirls around me.  Diapers.  Homemade baby food.  Marriage bliss.  An addiction to Target and an affection for puppies.  The memories that slip into my history and the dreams that are at the tips of my fingers.  Efficiency.  Simplicity.  Beauty.

I'm writing another song...