Hey everybody.
I have a friend who described the environmental qualities necessary for blog-writing thusly: "I must have vast wastelands of time." I couldn't agree more. I haven't updated this blog in more than a month in great part due to my lack of real free time. Sure I have plenty of time when I'm not obligated to work on anything in particular, but I often end up feeling guilty for not working on something more pressing, so I completely waste my time with something mindless like watching TV or something. These are the times I miss having a normal nine to five where I have a concrete time I'm off and can do whatever the heck I want after getting off. Ah, sometimes I miss mindless work.
So let me give a quick recap of the month.
On November 20, Mandi and celebrated dating for a year, woot! It's been a good year for both of us, and breaks records on both sides for duration of relationship. And will continue to do so (still unofficially). *wink*
November 24, I went with a group to go see one of my favorite musical groups, The Swell Season. The two singers in the band were the main characters in the film Once, one of my very favorite movies of all time. (I recommend it with reservation, as it has a LOT of foul language. They're Irish, it's going to happen.) The venue is general admission, so we got there an hour and a half before the doors opened so we could get a good spot in the standing-only ballroom. We waited for HOURS for the show to start, and my body was tired from standing still for so long, but we were right up in front! I got to see one of my songwriting heroes as close to the stage as is possible. Click here for some of my youtube clips of the show.
I went to Bend for Thanksgiving with the folks, brother Drew and his wife Ashleigh, and sister Daylan. Had a great and relaxing time away from everything.
December 5 Mandi threw me a surprise birthday party at one of my favorite places in Portland, Backstage Pub. It's a poolhall built into what used to be the backstage part of an old theater. Huge 80 foot ceilings, with a couple more private rooms. I wasn't suspicious of any surprise party at all, and Mandi suggested heading down to Backstage to kill a little time before we headed to birthday dinner. I was completely clueless. She mentions to me, "We should check out what's going on in the upstairs rooms," and I see the "reserved" sign and tell her we shouldn't go up, so as not to bother the people up there. She insisted we check it out anyway, so against my better judgement I went up there with her only to discover it was reserved for me with 15 or so good friends there. It was pretty fantastic.
December 13 Mandi and I were driving somewhere when I felt something funny in my back, usually a precursor to the back going completely out. So I was careful not to do anything to aggravate it any further, doing what I usually do to avoid a really bad episode. Even though I think I made all the right decisions, treating everything with care, it seized up, and I was stuck walking bent 30 degrees to the left. I made an appointment to see my old osteopath even though I don't have any insurance. I figured with an adjustment or two I could at least get back on my feet. Well, a friend of mine suggested a different, more affordable option, one that may give me a discount as I'm in ministry. So I went the next day only to find out I don't qualify for their discount, despite being a poor uninsured person in ministry. So, in great frustration (no fault at all of the friend who recommended that particular clinic, by the way) I decided if I was going to pay full-price for an adjustment, I may as well go to my regular doctor. I called his office to find out the next available appointment was for December 27, which wasn't going to fly. So Mandi and I started calling several other chiropractic connections to no avail, and I was getting SO flustered because I didn't know when I would be able to walk normally again. We left messages at several offices as it was approaching closing time for most clinics. I laid down at Mandi's house in a state of helplessness when I hear Mandi talking on the phone. We have a couple new friends, Tim and Lauren, awesome people, and Tim happens to be a chiropractor. Lauren called Mandi and said Tim could hurry over to the office that same night, or open up the office especially for me in the morning and get things set straight. Wow! So we met them the next morning and Tim did some tests and cracked me back into place. Then he came over to my house that same night and did it again. Who makes house calls!? I've gone in to his clinic four times in the last week, and am walking upright and even sitting with little or no pain. I don't have insurance, but he's made it incredibly affordable for me to visit this many times. Starting this Wednesday we're going to start figuring out exactly what's causing the recurring problem and see if we can't eliminate it with some intentional treatment. Please pray we're able to figure out why this keeps happening. And pray a big old blessing over Tim and Lauren while you're at it.
We had our church's Advent service last night, the 20th, and it was by far the very best Christmas service I've ever attended. I got to help plan it, but it certainly wasn't what made it good. There was just so much genuineness! I love my church full of real people! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Plus I finally got to play Sufjan Steven's "Holy, Holy, Holy" with Beth Johnson, my worship music right-hand woman and fellow future-missionary. We were supposed to play it last year, but a snowstorm forced the cancellation of the service. Anyway, the evening was a beautiful redirection of the season.
Well folks, that's the news from Lake Woebegon where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.
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