As I write to report on Christmas and close out 2008, I am amazed to see that in a little over five years I have written 250 editions to our newsletter (or posts now that it is also a blog). I am truly amazed that I have stuck with it this long.
CHRISTMAS 2008. We have had a great Christmas here. The weather turned really nice -- warm enough that I even dug out some shorts to wear around the house. That’s a far cry from Monday.
As you may have guessed, the big gift around our house is a new Wii (however, a Nintendo DS was not under the tree). If you have not kept up with home video game systems the Wii is a step up from the GameCube (and a major advancement from the Atari 2600 I grew up with). The sound and graphics are better and the unit can handle more complicated games. It can also get on the internet (though it doesn’t do satellite connections well -- BOOO!!). The neatest thing is that the controllers are now wireless. They are also motion sensitive. On top of that, the Wii can also detect if the controller is pointing at the TV, and where on the screen it is pointing. Not only are you untethered but lots of games actually make you get off the couch and move around.
We have two game discs: Wii Sports and Wii Play. These discs include things like billiards, a shooting gallery type game, tennis, golf, bowling, and boxing. Watching someone play is about as fun as playing. For example, when Nate swings his golf club or baseball bat he sometimes spins a 180 and falls to the floor.
We have gotten the most laughs from boxing, not from watching what’s on the screen, but the person doing the fighting. This is because the player holds a controller in each hand and actually throws punches. Jenna truly does hit like a girl. Ben simply flails at his opponent’s mid-section. Nate, on the other hand, sends his body into all sorts of contortions and dance steps in his attempt to KO his opponent. I’ll have to say, the boxing game will make you break a sweat.
Of course, all this motion requires plenty of open space in front of the TV. You never know just how much space an active kid might require. Ben and I were bowling against each other last night. When it was his turn I did my best to move out of his way while still being able to watch the TV to see how well he bowled. Within about four frames I discovered I needed to be wearing safety equipment to guard against flying limbs. On my next trip to Wal-Mart I am going to look for a face mask ... and a cup.
THOSE RESTLESS BOYS. I was scheduled to run sound for last Sunday’s service. The boys usually don’t sit with me in the sound booth, and when they do they leave early for Children’s Church. This time they did sit with me, and by the second half of the service they were tired of sitting (there was no Children’s Church because it was Christmas Sunday). By the time the boys started getting restless we had gotten to some music in the service which was keeping me about as busy as any of the musicians playing an instrument on stage. Every time I saw them do something out of the corner of my eye something would happen to require my attention on the sound board. I corrected them as I could but was helpless to do to much because I needed to keep my mind on what I was doing.
At one point Nate got up and darted behind my chair only to trip over the chair leg. I’m sure the people below us were wondering if something was coming through the ceiling. I had already told Nate to sit once so when this happened I was none too happy. I spun around, grabbed his arm, and yanked him back to his chair. I know my feelings were pretty transparent on my face because after the service several friends who sat behind the sound booth and have boys older than mine ribbed me pretty good.
What made me laugh was what Lori Swann shared with me. Her son Wil, who is the same age as Ben, said that watching Ben and Nate made him tired. Wil, buddy, you ought to live with them. (A few paragraphs ago I had to run them and their sword fight out of the study where I am typing. The battle sounds are getting closer again as I type this ... yep, there they go. I’m about to send them outside to play.)
A PRAYER REQUEST. On November 3, 2004, I wrote in this newsletter the following request for prayer:
I heard some news yesterday that is really sad. Randy Chatman is a friend who is just a few months older than I am. He grew up less than a mile from my house and we went to school from the 1st grade through the 12th grade together. While we haven't seen each other much since graduation he has always been one of the nicest people I've known. He has just been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). I am at such a loss to understand and simply devastated for him.
Randy’s ALS progressed over the years. Recently it was becoming hard for him to breathe. Randy passed away yesterday. His parents, Bill and Anna, are crushed. (Mr. Bill raises the crops on Mom’s farm and I sometimes mention what he’s doing in the fields here.) Randy never married so his parents and older brother, Darrell, are the closest relatives he leaves behind.
As far as I know, Randy is the first of our high school graduating class to pass away. Randy was just four months older than I am.
Joe
