Talking it out

Have I mentioned in this whole blog how amazing my husband is? Well he is. It is funny how sometimes you do not want to talk about things. They will just go away if you don't, right? I am glad to have a husband who will push me. Push me to talk to him about those things I have tucked away. He is right. It hurts when you talk about them but it feels better the next day. I am thankful God spoke to him to poke at me a little and get me to talking. This is just my way of really letting him know how thankful I am for him. He may not be a chef but he has so many other special things about him that make me love him so much. Thank you baby!

The Beautiful Lady Has Sung.

Weeks and weeks, night after night, she worked so hard. Just to tell you how long it's been, I went with her for "callbacks". It's the round after the first audition where they start figuring who gets what part. It wasn't warm enough yet for flip flops. And I love wearing flip flops. For weeks she spent multiple nights a week rehearsing. Spent lots of money traveling back and forth. Never giving up when some things didn't go her way. She missed it too much. She loved doing it too much. Even though she came home sometimes exhausted, frustrated, angry, sore, six nights over the last two weekends made it all worth it. Made it worth it for both of us. Her, because obviously this was why she spent the time, money, energy, effort. To be under the lights, friends she loves and those she hasn't met watching her perform. Me, because I got to watch her for the first time. I'd heard her sing before. She'd sing along with Carrie Underwood when we to see her in concert. She'd even sing along in the car (I gotta take that B-52's cd and hide it somewhere). She even sang at church sometimes. Those were cool. But this was different. Watching it be her turn, this was cool. Now, the program will tell you she wasn't the "lead" performer, but that's subjective. I know several people who thought she was. Which leads me to...

Thank you so much to everyone who came to the finale night. Gas is expensive, no one else we know lives near Lewisville, a record breaking heat wave all told everyone to stay home, stay indoors. But there were so many people who didn't listen. They wanted to see her. And it meant so much to me. It meant even more to her. She was tired, she was a little ready for it to end. (She napped for like 7 1/2 hours earlier in the day) But knowing how many people made the effort, spent the gas, took the time to come see her, gave her a little boost. Way better for your heart than a RedBull boost, this was Lindsay knowing she was loved. What was so amazing, the majority of those who came, were friends of mine. I was blown away at how many people showed up for her. I was sitting behind them all (seeing the show 4 times before that night, I didn't mind surrendering the best view to someone else), I got a little teared up when I looked around at how many people came so far, were sweating so profusely to support my wife. Once she catches up on her rest enough (probably just in time to do another musical), I hope it sinks in to her how much she is loved, by those who quite honestly don't have to. The last couple of weeks she's been watching the scales so closely. Working really hard at lowering the number that pops up. I've been working really hard at convincing her that whatever number does pop up, it has absolutely no impact on how beautiful she is, how much I love her. My hope is that she sees that even though she didn't have the "lead role", there are a lot of people, many who aren't in our "tree", that will travel great distances and sit in syrup-thick humidity to see her come alive. No matter how high up her name appears on the program or how low the number on the scale is, she is deeply loved, exactly the way she is.

The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him.

For anyone who reads this on a regular, or any really, basis, this will seem very strange. Not only is it not going to be about me/us, it will have no hint at all of Colorado. My friends Jamie and Jennifer Webster have done something similar to what we have in this blog. Only the topic of theirs is nearly two year old Caden, their son. It's really cool, since Caden hasn't quite mastered blogging yet (though I'm sure it won't be long), it's a snapshot into the world of Caden Webster. There are a ton of pictures as you can see if you click on the link, but as I was looking at it the other day, there was one that jumped out at me and hasn't left my mind for very long since.

What fantastic moment that was captured. I don't know what they were talking about. I can't even tell you for sure if they were talking at all. But there is such a look of absolute adoration, on each side. Jamie is so focused on his son, and whatever the moment is about, Caden is engrossed in his father. There is such beautiful scenery around, and none of it's noticed. The only thing that matters in that moment is each other. So many kids, way too many kids don't have any moments like this. And Caden may never fully comprehend how much his father adores him. But this is such an authentic, honest, powerful statement. I have a ton of great friends, probably more than my share. There are handful who when they have/will become fathers, I don't worry at all. I pray for them, but not in a concerned, "Lord please help this kid, I know too much about his dad." Caden is not one of those children. The moment Jamie told me they were pregnant with him, I thought, "that will be a well loved, encouraged, and strong boy/man." And then you have these moments, luckily captured with a camera, to prove that. The son looks up to his father, and the father looks upon with pride, love, and unfiltered joy. This is such an example of Christ-like love, I guess that's why I can't get this picture out of my mind.

Jamie is one of those people that no matter where he goes, no matter who he's around, he fits in without compromising his true self. Everyone loves him. Everyone should. I've often said, "if you spend 10 minutes with Jamie Webster and walk away not liking him, it's your fault". No one knows that more than Caden. And no one cherishes Caden more than Jamie. I've just never seen a better picture of fathering well. And I'm not in the least bit surprised by it.