A quick thought

It's late on Saturday night, and because I'm a music minister now, I need to get up early for church. So I'll keep this one brief...

Wife is away for a week, spending time with her family. I am happy for her, but I miss her a lot. At the risk of sounding cheesy (or maybe rude), I really didn't expect to miss her this much. I expected to be able to preclude my loneliness by having some quality alone time, and while I am having some good time to myself, I am still lonely. In the last few days I've read several chapters of Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and listened to a couple of podcasts. Here is something that has struck me hard today...

I think that the metaphor of the church as the bride of Christ is one of the most beautiful metaphors God has created. I believe He gave us the gift of marriage to allow us to experience His love from a couple of perspectives. Through marriage we more fully understand romance, commitment, and intimacy from the perspectives of both the Lover and the Beloved. Through marriage we have a unique opportunity to grow deeper in our relationship with God, to fall more in love with Him.

Marriage isn't perfect, though. We are a rebellious creation, prone to disobey the Creator who loves us, and so our relationships with one another are flawed. As we become more Christ-like individuals, our relationships become more pure, but we can never quite reach the relational perfection we were originally intended to experience. So I think another experience marriage gives us is that, as we learn to love our spouses as Christ loves us, we become more like Him, all the while loving Him more in contrast to our imperfect selves.

Yes, I am 8 years old

I feel like a kid again. Wife and I brought several items back to Waco from KC this week. They include: her wedding dress, my bicycle, some delicious granola my mom made, and my LEGOS! YES! We have spent the last few evenings building Lego sets. And I have spent the last few mornings, between breakfast and going to work, building even more. Love it love it. I love the creative aspect of Legos, the constructive aspect, and the sound they make when I rake my hand through them. Ah, to be young again.

In other news, Wife and I went on a date tonight! That's right, keeping the romance alive. I won't tell you how long it had been since we had been on a date because I cannot remember. This time we went to Uncle Dan's BBQ. It was alright, I give it a B minus. Having grown up in Kansas City (the barbeque capital of the world, people!), I consider myself somewhat of a barbeque connoisseur. Connoisseur is really another word for snob. Anyway, Uncle Dan's had decent food, though the brisket was a bit dry. My complaints were the lack of barbeque-restaurant atmosphere and the small portions. An excellent BBQ eatery piles on the meat. Uncle Dan's workers (nephews?) did not.

We continued our date at the movie theatre, where we saw Iron Man 2. It was, in a word, awesometasticlysweet. It had all the makings of a good movie... a thousand fight scenes, cool technology that doesn't exist, a lack of mushy mush, and Scarlett Johansson (just kidding, wifey!). Heather would have enjoyed it more if she hadn't had a headache, but she liked the movie pretty well. We'll probably buy it someday.

Lessons from Grandma

Some of you may know that my grandma Jan has been fighting with cancer for several months. In the last few weeks, her condition deteriorated and we were told that she didn't have long. She passed away this afternoon.

Grandma was never loud, rarely bold or outspoken, but she taught me powerful lessons through the way she lived.

I believe that one of Grandma's greatest joys was delighting in her family and friends. Most of the photos we have of her show her smiling gently as she watches her family... watching us open birthday gifts, swim in the lake, or chat with one another. I can still remember her laundry closet, the "art gallery" as she called it, where she displayed crafts and drawings my sister and I made. They stayed there until she moved about three years ago. I recall going to her house in elementary school and spending the afternoon cutting out cookies and icing them with her.

Grandma also demonstrated for me the meaning of humble service. She loved to host holidays and birthday celebrations. She never once complained about preparing meals (and they were always huge and delicious). Her house was continually spotless, though I can't remember ever actually seeing her clean it. Anything the family needed, Grandma would quietly provide. A gift card would occasionally appear in the mail with a note telling me it was "for a rainy day." Never needing to be asked, and never asking anything in return, Grandma served us.

As I said before, Grandma wasn't outspoken. Yet she always seemed to me a strong person. She could be independent if she needed to, but she was also a very gentle wife, mother, and grandmother. Always listening, she could tell when a conversation was becoming passionate or confrontational, and she would quietly interject a calming word or gentle pat on the arm. She understood the value of peace in our lives. She understood the need for silent mornings sipping "lake coffee," for quiet Bible study during the day, and for listening to nighttime crickets from the screened porch. She never failed to point out how still the lake was in the evening, and always noticed a hummingbird in the backyard.

I can think of no other way for the Lord to call Grandma to himself than "softly and tenderly." She was a woman who truly understood God's grace for us, and lived daily in his peace.

The good old days?

Working at a college textbook store sometimes makes me reminiscent of my own college days. I've been out for nearly a year now, and I'd like to take give an introspective retrospective perspective on my college memories.

What I miss:

-Hanging out with Justin, Kyle, and the guys that randomly came over to our apartment

-Late nights with pizza, soda, video games, and movies

-Being surrounded by music

-Having to stay organized (oh man I love organizing!)

-Working toward goals, both large and small

-Walking around outside

-Learning stuff

-Late-night Wal-mart trips

-The ability to shirk real-life responsibility with the excuse of being a college student

What I don't miss:

-Constant assignments

-Busy busy busy schedules

-Dramatic girls, err, people

-Changing dorms/apartments and roommates

-Packing up and moving every summer

-Crummy meals all the time

-Being Heather-less (awwwwww)

So, readers old and young, what do you miss or not miss about your college days?

Church pics! Yaaay!

Here are some pictures I took of FBC Mart, where I am the new music minister.

This is the front of the church, with the sanctuary on the left and the building with classrooms on the right.

Here is the sign in front of the sanctuary, telling how it was established.

This is the front of the sanctuary.

The sanctuary has some very pretty stained glass.

Here is part of my "office." I didn't take a photo of the messy part. It'll take a while to tidy up.

Hey, blog! It's been a while.

My wife bought the Glee version of Jessie's Girl on iTunes this evening. She's playing it over and over and over and over (and over) to see how many times it takes before I snap like a drumstick on an 80s pop music snare (dzjhhhhhhhhhhhh). <--Lame simile AND ridiculously-long-snare-reverb mockery.

This only happens because, of the two iTunes gift cards we got for our wedding, she claimed the one with a higher value.

She's lucky that I am a very VERY nice man.

Cowden's Confessions.... #2

I came home for lunch today while Wife was at work (we work together now). Upon observing the food in the refrigerator and cabinet, I determined my choices were:

-Peanut butter and jelly sandwich

-Leftover pasta from yesterday (which I knew would be tonight's dinner)

-Cereal (Wife's breakfast)

-Eggs and bacon

I decided to enjoy menu item #4, with a pear added for nutrition.

I cooked up the bacon, which we all know produces one of the most holy aromas on earth. (I believe it is the earthly metaphor how the throne room of God smells.) Next I cooked my eggs, added them to the bacon plate, and, with much joy in my heart and stomach, took them in to the living room. I sat down on the couch, picked up my plate, set it on my lap and... gasp... the bacon slid off onto the floor!

In an attempt to justify my next action, I should explain to you that we recently purchased a vacuum, and Wife loves to use it. I'm at least 42% sure that she has vacuumed the bit of carpet that caught my bacon within the last month. That said, and keeping in mind how incredibly delectable bacon is, you'll understand that I picked it up, examined it closely for any sign of foreign nasties (hair, dust, small rodents), and returned it to my plate.

Then I ate it.

Shhhhh.... don't tell my wife!