Great news, Gina found my flash drive!

And I pulled out the trusty old walkman to listen to while I ride my bike.

Don’t worry, there is no blood or guts in this novel. And the picture is completely misleading. I’d almost say this book is kind of sweet. Yep, that’s right. Although the book is about an unsolved . . . crime (or maybe not) it’s feels like King is using this book to make a comment on storytelling as much as he is using the story to tell a story. That’s confusing, I know, but I enjoyed the book, and if it were a movie, it would probably get a PG rating, so set aside everything you’ve heard about Stephen King, go to the library, and check out The Colorado Kid.

I’m very angry with myself. About a month ago I lost my MP3 player, which stinks because it’s bike-riding weather and now I can’t listen to my books-on-tape (will we ever call them books-on-mp3?). THEN on Saturday I lost my Flash drive. Stinky!

The jump drive did have my contact info on it so we’ll see if it gets returned. . . . probably not. The embarrassing part is that I had about 3000 words of a story idea on there and I don’t like people to read my stories until I’ve edited them about fifty million times.

Update #1: Found
Update #2: And Found

I just got back from my Youth Minister’s meeting, and I get to set up a video web conference for our diocese. It’s just an experiament for now. We’re trying to come up with a way to stay in touch even though our parishs are hours apart.

When I started putting together this new site, I swore I wouldn’t spend any time putting it together, I’d just slap something on the web and run with it . . . it’s now 2:19 a.m. and I have to force myself to quit.

Tomorrow I’m off to Jefferson City to collaborate with my fellow youth ministers about youth ministry in our diocese. I super excited and I hope big things happen.

Hey Mike and Jon. It was great talking to you guys today.

I am constantly amazed by how much love God allows us to feel.

Lillian is sitting up by herself, and she likes to suck her bottom lip which just makes her even more adorable. She doesn’t really laugh, instead, she squeals; It’s cute, but it hurts my ears.

Most of our regular youth ministry meetings are just about over, which means it’s time to shift gears. My goals for the summer are:

1) to hang out with our teens as much as possible.

2) to do yet another major edit to our Confirmation program.

The family is fed, the kids are bathed, read, and in bed, the dishes are done, the laundry’s folded, the house . . . um, clean enough, and the bills aren’t due tomorrow, so today is a happy day.

Once upon a time, I remember saying, “I’m not afraid to have kids, they won’t change my life that much; after all, I’ll still be myself.”

Ahhh, silly Doug.

Trying to “be myself” causes 100% of the problems in my life. The more I let go of myself (that is to say, the more I let go of my pride), the happier my family is.

THE core teaching of Christianity is self-sacrifice. That is what Christ did for us, and what he asks us to do for each other. Self-sacrifice is an important part of love. I’m not talking about full-blown martyrdom, but rather, simple humility.

Absolute Truth: You cannot love without begin humble.

I don’t know how marriages work if they aren’t founded on the principals of Christianity. You might think that is an incredibly ignorant statement, and I’d agree with you. I don’t know enough about other faiths to know whether if self-sacrifice plays a part in their beliefs, but self-sacrifice is the most important thing Christ did for us, it is the first thing he asks us to do, and it’s the most important element of marriage. Not communication. Not commitment. Humility: the constant struggle to love others as much as you love yourself.

That is what makes a family work. When I get home from work, I want to sit down and read a good mystery novel, but my son loves Richard Scarry, so that’s what we read. I want a cool new ultra-portable eee pc, but the car needs new tires. Being selfish always has horrible consequences.

And what do I get for all this? Love. True love. Powerful love. Straight from God, passed on through my beautiful wife, and kids. The kind of love that makes you know that life has meaning. Joy. Security. For Eternity. And if you’re wise enough (or in my case, the Holy Spirit shields you from your own stupidity) you’ll find a spouse who can teach you the true beauty of humility, a spouse who is easy to love. I adore my wife.

“There is no beauty as enduring as a humble and gentle spirit”
~phs 1 Peter 3:4