40th Birthday!!

Happy Birthday!!  It is finally here, ready or not, the time when you are just hitting your stride, the big 40.  This is a day of celebration, not mourning, a day in which we acknowledge how far you have come and how far you have yet to go. 

Randel, this is your day and I hope you feel loved and encouraged.  I hope you realize today, in a more rich and realistic way, how much you are loved and appreciated, not only by us but by everyone around you.  I hope you see very clearly how much still awaits you in life, that you are able to see the cup as half full and still rising.  Today is a momentous occasion worthy of fireworks and fanfare, not a celebration of the end of something, but instead a celebration of the continuation of a life well lived.

So today, as you think about your life, remember the last 40 days and the memories we have looked at, all the people who have written and told you how much they loved you, all the fun memories we have created and realize your life is one of great importance.  You are special Randel and I am fortunate to be the one who gets to enjoy your life with you!!  Have a happy birthday and remember..."You are just hitting your stride!!"

I love you, 

S

Day 39

39 years 364 days old...can you believe your day is almost here?  As we sit on the eve of this momentous event Randel I think the clearest word you have received is from Linda who said, "You are just hitting your stride."  I hope you can embrace this because it is true.  

You are less than one day from the rest of your life, the second chapter of a life that is only going to get better.  Seriously Randel you are vintage!!  So prepare for this, make up your mind to engage the words of Andy Dufresne, "The way I see it you only have two choices.  Either get busy living or get busy dying."  Randel you have chosen life therefore get busy living.  This is not the end.  It is just the beginning.  

I love you ,

Steve

Day 38

Okay, so this cake is not for you or even about you.  This cake is for me!!  Today is my 35th birthday, just two days before yours, and it has been a great one.  It has been great because of you.  Thank you for preferring me today, making me an incredible birthday video, making me a birthday cake and just loving me.  

I remember growing up and wondering why my parents didn't get as excited as I did when their birthdays came around.  I mean MY birthday was the most important day on the calendar for me why wasn't it theirs?  Birthdays were the day the entire world as I knew it revolved around me.  I could do almost anything I wanted and I was good at abusing my one day a year freedom.

But now that I am older, birthdays seem a little bit more like the ones my parents experienced.  Being one more year older doesn't exactly create the same level of excitement as it once did.  Yet, because of your investment, this was a special day.  It was a day where I felt appreciated, loved and encouraged, a day where I did feel special and felt a little bit of the old flame of birthdays.  Thanks for celebrating me today.  

I love you, 

S

Day 37

Today as we flew home from Waco I read an article in the USA Today about Paul Simon and the powerful poetry of his lyrics.  One of his greatest hits, taken from the album to the left, was the very familiar song "Homeward Bound."  He wrote this song while on tour in England as a catharsis of his deep homesickness... 

Every day's an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines
And each town looks the same to me
The movies and the factories
And every stranger's face I see
Reminds me that I long to be
Homeward bound.

Well today we are homeward bound.  We are bound for two little girls who make our house a home, who have desperately missed us while were gone, who in there own words have called us the "bestest mommy and daddy in the whole world!!"  Today we are leaving to go home and reconnect with the greatest calling that will help define the next 40 years of our life.  With three days to go until the new chapter begins take some time to celebrate these gifts. Sit back and think about your girls and just how much influence you have and will have in their lives.  Take some time and pray for them that God would give you wisdom on how to mother them in an even more life giving way.  For the reality is this...our girls will always view our house as their home and in the next 40 years our greatest hope is that when our girls think of us, no matter where they are in life, this song will pop into their brain because they know that we love them and will forever be home for them.  

You are a great mother Randel.  Your girls love you and they always will!!

Love, 

S

Day 35 and 36

In these 40 days of blogging for your birthday celebratioI fell behind a couple of times and this is one of those moments.  So the picture here says what I am feeling and the actual picture itself, well, its just supposed to make you laugh because it is pretty cheesy.

But if we are honest, me falling behind, not staying on time with something is pretty much true to who I am .  I am not proud of it, nor would I choose to be this way but, unfortunately for you, it is an accurate portrayal of my personality.  But you love me anyway. 

Now in my defense we were gone all day to our conference and my computer would not work well, if at all, at our hotel and my fingers were really tired all week;-), but I know I should have made a way and, let me say it here for all to see..."I am sorry and it will not happen again in the next 4 days!!  Will it happen again in our marriage, me falling behind, not doing something in a timely manner, getting tired fingers again that keep me from working or typing...most assuredly yes...and for that let me go ahead, for all to see, say in advance..."Sorry."  You are a patient woman Randel...most of the time...and I am lucky to have you as my wife!!

Love, 

S

Day 34

Does this movie remind you of our trip yesterday?  A crazy adventure that is best summed up in the words of the Grateful Dead, "What a long strange trip its been."  But the beauty of it is I didn't mind as we were able to experience it together.  Now I know I should have listened to you, I should have asked the lady at the counter what was taking so long with the flight, but I didn't.  And out of it came a story.  A story that we will never forget.  A memory that no one can ever take away from us.  How cool is that?

Honestly, I love the idea of creating stories that we can tell.  I love the idea of things that we do together that somewhere later on in life we look back and laugh.  Was yesterday perfect?  It depends on how you look at it.  Did we miss our flight and have to spend a lot of money on a one way rental car and then drive an extra 2 hours and have to wake up early to return our car and wait at the airport until the car rental place opened all before the sun came up meaning we couldn't sleep in  and then run late to our first session of the conference and not eat breakfast.  Maybe.  But did that last sentence make you smile because of how funny it looks because we have just created a funny moment we can talk about and laugh.  Maybe.  For the me the story was worth it.  In fact I might call it priceless and I love priceless moments.  

So heres to our long strange trip...hoorah!!

Love, 

S

Day 33

Now, our life is not like a prison, but sometimes itmight feel like it.  We feel stuck in a routine not able to be spontaneous and all we want to do is get out and do SOMETHING!!!  Welcome to a 5 day, purpose filled, time away from routine.  

We are going to a conference but lets be honest...it is a getaway, and I am excited to be with you.  I am excited about eating out without having to cut up chicken and say "sit down" 100 times.  I am excited about having a conversation without being interrupted.  I am excited about being "intimate" without worrying about who is going to knock on the door and ask for a drink of water and then ask us why the door is locked.  I am excited about being with you!!

So, with 7 days to go before the next chapter of your life begins, welcome to your time away.  It is not Costa Rica but we are together and it will be good.  

Love, 

S