Saying goodbye

I have had the pleasure of knowing Jeremy George since we were kids. We were pretty good friends up until 2nd grade when I moved to a new school and I believe his family went to a new church. However we reunited first in Kairos in 1997 and than as interns for Pastor Bill Heider where we once again became fast friends. Jeremy was part of the tri-fecta of men who once said that doing youth ministry is like getting paid to eat Ice-cream. We became so close that in the summer of 2000 I was invited to be in his wedding where he was married to Chairty. Now it is 2007 and it is hard to believe that he has been married for 7 years....7 years that regardless of what happens in the future he would not give up for anything.
For those of you who do not know Charity had a brain lesion that has severely impaired her. She cannot eat on her own, can only move her head a little, and can barely breathe. My heart has been broken time and time again as I have read the journals of Jeremy, His parents, and her family. However as many times as it has been broken my heart has been restored and encouraged as everyone involved has spoken of their faith, and how it has grown, in our Lord despite their situation.
Today Jeremy has sort of said goodbye to Charity. Not that he has given up hope nor has Charity spelled out anything more than "Thy will Be done", but they are starting to say their goodbyes, in case the Lord decides now is the time for her to go home. Here is today's journal, read, be broken, and be encouraged

Today, Charity continues to show clarity of mind and soundness of mind. As you heard from Phil already, there are some medical concerns that have arisen that are being addressed in a precautionary manner. I am so thankful for that. Our charge nurse is really a quality person who is monitoring Charity in a really wonderful way. She keeps us informed and shows great concern for Charity and us whenever she tells us anything about her condition. Today during speech therapy, Charity spelled out a request. That request spelled out "kilme." At first that seems like a desperate plea, but not if you take the time to sit and ask my wife why she said what she said. I asked her if she was more afraid of living like this than she was of dying. She nodded her head , "yes." I asked her if that was because she knew that there was something much better waiting for her. She nodded her head, "yes." I asked her if it was because it would be better to be with Jesus. She nodded "yes." My next reply to her was, "heaven must be the most wonderful place because none of this is there." She began crying as I embraced her and nodded once again, "yes." I then asked her if she was going to hold on to Jesus through this. Once again, and with an unsettling calm, she nodded, "yes." Jesus, You and You alone have kept my wife in her faith. That is more valuable to me than her getting better, so I praise You, my Lord and my God for what you have done in her heart and what you are doing. I sensed Your smile over her as she confessed her faith in You, and her love for You which today has surpassed her love for me and for our daughters. I praise You Jesus. Be glorified in my wife's life and testimony. Thank you for encouraging me today by my wife's faith. In Jesus' Name, Amen. Jeremy

If you want to read the whole faith story http://charitygeorge.com/index.php?page=blog

The Moo mobile is put out to pasture

So Matt always threatened to buy some rims for my van (The Mooo mobile) as I did not have hubcaps on two of my wheels. He said they would be able to rotate on there own, and he wanted them so he would not be embarrassed by his friend who didn't shell out $50 for two hubcaps. Now in my defense, I have shelled out between $400-900 each year for the last three years for this van and I was sick of doing that. I also knew I was driving this van into the ground and so I was not going to shell out $50 just for cosmetic purposes. But now the Moo mobile has been put out to pasture, it has moooed its last mooo and is now a cube of metal crushed by some compactor in some junk yard.
Why? Well the last thing to go was my turn left turn signal on the left side for both the front and back. And even though my mechanic had looked at it 4-5 times (it had been working intermittently over the past year), he could not figure out what was going on and so he said that he would need to tear apart the door which would cost me $500+. Now I have already spent $400 for a busted sliding door window and so there was no way that was going to happen. Alas I have almost gotten into 4-5 accidents because people cannot tell that I am making a left hand turn. Thus my father, the great man that he is, said I could have his car for awhile as he only worked 2 min away from the home. So for the past 2 months I have had his silver van and things have been going well.
Well at least until he almost got hit turning into our neighborhood because the person did not realize my dad was making a left hand turn. And so someone needed to get a car. And so we did. We now own a brand new 2007 Rav4. It is bluish-silver and is pretty cool. And so now my mom has joined the SUV craze and my moo mobile was turned in for a $900 credit. And now my dad has his van back.... so now what do I have? I bought my mom's 2001 Camery. It is a pretty sweet ride and everything works in it and thus we are all happy and satisfied.

Wednesdays

I love Wednesdays! Why because they are the day before Thursdays. And Thursdays are the day where between the months of April and October I can fly. I fly in the freezing rain of April, soar over the green grass of May, swing through the warm rays of June, float through the heat of July, sloag through the wasting heat of August, then soar once more through the cooling winds of September, and then fly once again through leaving light of October. All those wonderful Thursdays I am doing one thing an done thing only. I may win or I may loose. I may be the big defensive wall that flies out of no where to knock down your point, or the dancing bear as I make an unbelievable leap and grab for the win. Or I may gasp as my asthma clogs my lungs or I may be just too tired to do anything more than stand (yeah right). But I will, Lord willing, play Ultimate Frisbee every Thursday between the months of May-Oct and I will glorify the Lord with playing my best.

More Grey hairs

So today I viewed something which took 4 years off my life. Be afraid be very afraid
http://videogames.yahoo.com/featurescreenshot?eid=524368&index=46