I’ve been a fan of Andrew Peterson for a while now. His newest release (Counting Stars) was released today. My favorite song is the gospel-saturated tune “Dancing in the Minefields.” It is a song about commitment, marriage, and Christ-like love.
As such, I want to dedicate this to my beautiful wife, Whitney.
It’s harder than we dreamed, but I believe that’s what the promise is for…
And we bear the light of the Son of Man, so there’s nothing left to fear. So I’ll walk with you in the shadowlands, until the shadows disappear. ‘Cause He promised not to leave us, and His promises are true. So in the face of all this chaos, maybe I can dance with you.
We had the pleasure of spending the Memorial Day weekend with Whitney’s brother (Kris), sister-in-law (Brie), and their daughter (Grace). It was so fun to see our family. Grace is growing up quickly. It is fun to see how verbal she is; she talks non-stop (like her aunt!). We did some walking, swimming, and went down to the beach. We had fun cruising the ocean front and eating some delicious BBQ. My favorite part was laughing together every night. We weren’t very good at taking pictures, but here are a few we did manage to snap.
Whitney and I love to take Freckles (our adorable Border Collie mutt) for walks. Today we took her out to play a protracted round of fetch. Besides a few distractions she proved again to be intelligent and agile.
I’d like to say a very deserving “Happy Birthday” to my lovely mom. On Friday we were able to enjoy a wonderful day of festivities. Whitney and I ‘surprised’ mom at work with a bouquet of balloons and a Starbucks Frappaccino. Later that evening we all ventured out to Downtown Norfolk for a celebratory dinner and a time of gift-giving.
I am so thankful for a wonderful mother. Not only is she responsible for my Armenian good looks but she has been a consistent, godly influence in my life. As I get older I realize how rare it is to have a mom who devoted her time and energy into raising her children to know and love Jesus. She has demonstrated herself to be faithful and caring, a woman of prayer and love. In many American churches the accolades of service and ministry are often directed to the “Christian celebrities” when, in reality, faithful parents (such as mom) deserve the credit.
For many it might be hard to see how the tedious day-to-day activities of motherhood relate closely to the gospel, but the two are intertwine. A few years ago I sang a song to my mom on Mother’s Day. A particular verse from that song seems appropriate at this point:
How well do you have to know someone to ask them to help you move? I mean, do you really want some casual acquaintance carrying your underwear drawer or helping you sort through your comic book collection?
At what point is it appropriate to ask someone when they plan on having kids? This is a question that my wife and I are asked often. I usually respond by asking the inquirer when they are planning on having kids. If they have the Duggar-syndrome, I ask them when they are going to stop having kids or just inform them that they have enough children for the both of us.
Social conventions are just weird. For example, when you randomly talk to someone that you’ve never met before (maybe at a restaurant or in an elevator) and you say, “How’s it going?” What do you do when they start unloading all of their baggage? It seems appropriate to be kind and gracious but it’s still awkward.
My only solution is to find people that you can really get to know well. Share your life with those people. Then it won’t feel awkward when they ask you to help them move, share their problems with you, or question you about your reproductive plans!
In true Dave Black fashion I am showing pictures of taking my dog on a walk. These picture are not merely gratuitous as we made quite an intriguing discovery in the back of our neighborhood.
Tucked away behind the shiny, new houses near the river that runs behind our neighborhood, Freckles found a beautiful, historic family burial spot.
The sign attached to the burial spot indicates that the graves belong to the “Wright Family.” Most of the graves date from the early 19th century. I am aware that the developer of this suburban oasis bought and converted what was originally farmland into its current incarnation as neighborhoods.
As some of you may know from previous posts or personal knowledge that my dad is a pastor at a church working mainly in the area of music ministry. I liked the way Neue magazine humorously explained music ministry in an article titled “Low Pay, High Stress: Why Church Jobs Are Some of the Worst Jobs.”
Payscale.com recently named the 15 most stressful jobs — that also pay badly. The results came from a survey they did in which 36,000 people ranked their jobs based on the quality of life the job gives them.
Number five on the list was “Music Ministry Director.” (This is where everyone who isn’t in music ministry gasps because we thought all you had to do was pick some songs and sing well. Sorry for not realizing your job was harder and paid less than “Gym Membership Manager.”)…
You may have noticed an absence of posts the last few days. The simple explanation? My wife and I bought our first house! Between the walkthrough, closing, painting, and moving I haven’t had much time to write (or do anything else).
Needless to say, I will be back at it come Monday. I have plenty of thoughts on current events (think Men’s Figure Skating) and some book’s I’ve been reading (I’m on an N. T. Wright kick these past few weeks).
Hope all is well, here is a picture of our new homestead.
My wife and I have no kids. Until we do, we plan on showering an inordinate amount of affection on our puppy (we call her a puppy even though she’s two years old). Here is a nice slideshow of our little girl.
Her name, by the way, is Freckles and she is a Border Collie (i.e., too smart for her own good) mutt. We got her from an animal rescue agency in North Carolina.
renrutkram 