Yeah, I accidentally wrote let it snot instead of let it snow. I kind of like the mistake though so I left it. Those kinds of mistakes have been happening often lately. I think it’s fate. God must be telling me something…hmm…

The ‘Couve is filled with two types of people and me. There are the extremists who go out looking for danger when the snow storm comes. They’re the ones doing cookies in crowded parking lots or driving 65 on the freeway. They grew up somewhere in the Midwest and therefore believe that they know how to drive in the snow no matter how bad. Those people scare me. Then there are those who cancel school because of one inch of snow, or those who hole up in the house because of a light dusting. They fill up their bathtubs with water to last the winter, they purchase last minute generators, and locate all their candles and flashlights. Those are all good things to do in a real storm, but when was the last time that the ‘Couve had a real storm?

And then theres me, or us as I should probably say. We don’t freak out, we hope that schools and work close just so we get the day off. We go rent movies in the snow, but we drive carefully. We enjoy it but don’t freak out. We locate the blankets and hot chocolate but we leave the candles for next to the bed. We have a good time with it.

I should have said that there are four types of people. There are the risky people, there are the carefull people, there is us, and then there’s my wife. She could care less whether there is snow or not because she can only focus on throwing up, eating, sleeping, and trying to give some lovin’ to Jones and I. Poor girl.

All this thought has spawned my new poll question, what is your favorite weather to encounter? Lay it on me, I can handle it.

We have a choice every day to live out of the past, the future, or the now. The way that we respond to any occurrence in life, any choice that we make, comes out of one of those paradigms. We are either making a decision based on the past, we’re making looking ahead to the future, or we’re making it thinking only of the present.

Many of us, I believe, live in the past. We may not realize it. We may never notice it. We may even not think it true, but we do. We carry around with us arrows sticking out of our back. They are wounds, noticed or unnoticed, that at one point in time told us who we were, or even worse, who we are. You’re stupid. You’re not worth much. You have to do __________ to be loved. You don’t deserve any better. You are gay. People aren’t worth your time. It’s up to you to keep the peace. And the list goes on and on. They come from our parents, from our family, from teachers and friends, from society as a whole. It might have been one word that stuck with you forever, or it may have been a thousand words repeated endlessly from those you loved. And we consciously or subconsciously have chosen to believe them. We opporate out of those hurts, not out of the truth. We live in the past.

We have a choice, though, to live in the present or the future. Which is better, I don’t know! Viktor Frankl in his book Man’s Search for Meaning writes about how those in German death camps had no future. As far as they knew the camp was thier life and their death, for them the camp was eternal in nature. And so, they only had today. According to Frankl, those in the camps had the choice to give up, to die inside (though their outsides died much more slowly), or the choice to live for the moment. Most, he says, spent their time trying to avoid death, worrying and scheming, they were not able to make the best choices for the moment. But there were a few who were able to overcome the obstacles in order to truly live (even though surrounded by death). They no longer feared death. They lived for today.

Christians, similarly, know that tomorrow is not promised. Don’t worry about tomorrow, Proverbs reminds us. Live in today! What can you do today to show grace to the world? Who can you love today? What difference can you make today?

Sounding quite the opposite, however, is the idea that Christians live in the future. We know the end, we know the story. We’ve got connections and need not live in fear about tomorrow. God will take us when he pleases and we know where we are going when he does. And so we see further than today, we see tomorrow. We don’t live simply for today, for what comes today, because we know that God has set out what happens tomorrow. We anticipate. We anticipate tomorrow, because tomorrow belongs to God. I may try to seize today for my own self, but tomorrow alone is Gods.

I’m on a journey of figuring out where I opporate out of. When I’m done I’ll let you all know.

I thought it was a good gift. In fact, I thought it was the highlight of the year. No kidding. Tara and Eric got us a set of Miracle Blades! Sounds pretty good right? Sounds like a great gift doesn’t it?
Well here’s the cold hard truth: I’ve got cuts all over my hands. Those knives are so darn dangerous even the handles are sharper than I ever imagined. The other day I was cutting through a block of cement, followed by a tomato (which it sliced neatly, quickly, and thinly) when I nicked my hand yet again. I’m still so angry. Why did they have to do this to me? Why did they have to provide me with these ultra sharp, ultra handy, quick cutting tools? Don’t they know that I wasn’t ready for such responsibilities?
Don’t worry though, I’m soon to be enrolled in a knife safety class at the local community center.

* Dear T & E, please know that this was actually the coolest gift ever. I seriously have cut myself like three times ’cause they truly are the sharpest knives I’ve ever used. Thanks again. Sorry we didn’t get you the second coolest gift ever: a Roomba.