Friday, November 30, 2012

A Long November...

Not much posting going on.  We spent several Saturdays attending ONU football games and hanging out with the Fish family.  I introduced the kids to Ivanhoe's milkshakes when we visited Taylor University.  We spent a nice Thanksgiving at Tom and Donna's, after taking the kids to see Wreck It Ralph the night before.  And, we've all been sick and on medicine at some point.  Anyway, a good November, but looking forward to December.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Thought for the Day

In my quest to enjoy books, movies, tv shows, and music, I sometimes discover a favorite by accident.  Conversely, I also run into some duds.  What I'm learning, though, is that sometimes I just wasn't ready for whatever it was.  I may come back to a book years later and really enjoy it.  I may re-watch a movie, only to have it become a favorite (at one point, I actually like Rodney Dangerfield's Back to School better than Ferris Buehler's Day Off, which is now in my top five favorite movies).  This happens with music as well.  I remember having Hootie and the Blowfish's first album and not really listening it to it much, until it was everywhere on the radio.  This brings me to Switchfoot.

About 3 years ago, I bought Hello Hurricane by Switchfoot.  It was a special Thanksgiving sale at Family Christian and I thought I'd give it a try.  ABC was playing some of the album while going in and out of commercial breaks during college football games, and I liked what I'd heard.  Only, I had tried to like Switchfoot several years earlier and never really found myself listening to the CD's.  Hello Hurricane changed that.  I'm not sure what changed, really, but that album was like a sucker punch in a good way.  Nearly every song grabbed ahold of me.  The lyrics challenged me and the music moved me.  I've since seen them in concert and tried to obtain all their albums.  I find myself listening to the songs I dismissed earlier, and really connecting this time.  In fact, some seem to be even more applicable.  And this brings me to the thought, or lyric, of the day.  It's the chorus of the song "This Is Your Life", which from The Beautiful Letdown.

                                This is your life, are you who you want to be?
                                This is your life, are you who you want to be?
                                This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be?
                                When the world was younger and you had everything to lose

As I've passed 40, this seems more and more applicable.  It's a great check on my values and priorities.  Anyway, I encourage you to check them out.  You won't be sorry, and you may find a new favorite.