Goodness time moves so fast these days...

It seems like sometimes, in this stage of life (which will go undefined for the moment) one week or one day or one minute can change your life. Such as the instant where my wife told me...

"Baby? I'm pregnant."

I suppose that's pretty big news. So now life is filled with planning and preparing and smiling. A lot of smiling.

Have you ever had one of those days when your job makes you so frustrated that you never want to show up again? Yeah, so, pretty much every day for the past, oh, about two months has been like that. And when I say every day, I mean every day. And so last weekend, I officially decided to find another job. Pray for me... This is the only job I've ever had. Transition to anywhere will be tough.

Which also happens to bring up my next thought... When you have hope, life seems happier. Regardless of what that hope is, knowing there is something to look forward to is like knowing it's gonna rain in Texas. (It's dry here, and rain... well, you get the point.) Today was actually a good day at work. I knew that this job won't be around much longer. And that made it better. On the way home, I pondered my emotions and thoughts... Hope is life to the soul. As Christians, isn't that true? At the end of the day, think about it: No matter how incredibly hard the day was, or the week was, or the month or the year... at the end of everything, Heaven awaits. Not much longer now... and yet, isn't that the absolute beauty of life? Knowing its short... knowing that every moment is precious, and was given specifically to you, to enjoy, to ponder, to... know.

This next phase of life - the one defined by baby-planning and job hunting and lots of prayers and good food and a beautiful wife to share everything with - will be amazing, hard, and beautiful. Only God knows what's gonna happen next.

TOMORROW IS THE DAY!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I know that was cheesy. But I am so excited! I get to marry the world's most amazing, most beautiful girl.

I love you Rebecca Lynne Branch!

It's a beautiful Wednesday evening, six forty-five with the sun peaking around clouds, and glistening off the tips of the freshly rain-swept grass. The trees are gently swaying in the breeze, pale green with definite signs of new life. Now the clouds break completely, giving way to gorgeous deep blue skies. Work is done for the day, and I have time to just breathe in the wonder of spring. Life, though stressful at times, is good. Not just good... wonderful, in it's own way.

(I love it when she smiles at me.)

I think I've forgotten how to really write. I mean, I understand how to get my point across, but I miss being able to just sit down and let words fly through my fingers. Guess I'm out of practice.

Life can be so simple. I never understoof what they meant when they talked about how they missed the simplicity of life. I get it now. I've spent two hours today talking with co-workers about all these issues at work, and it randomly hit me: It's not as hard as we want it to be. Yes the bills have to be paid. Yes I need a raise. Yes there's pressure sometimes. But in reality, we tend to make it seem like each of our lives is harder than everyone else's. Woe is me because I have a bigger rent payment and I'm not getting enough hours. Seriously? Is God not bigger than a rent check? I'm learning that I underestimate God. A lot.

(They say in order to write about something, you must be passionate about it. Does writing about life mean I'm passionate about life? Hmm. I hope so.)

So, life is simple. I like it that way. Don't misunderstand me. I understand the gravity of fulfilling responsibilities. But I'm tired of making it a bigger deal than it is. Someone mentioned the other day that they wondered why you'd care to see the earth from space. I responded that it would really give your own life perspective. It was really just a natural response in my mind, but think about it. Our existance is to serve the purpose of bringing glory to God. Why make it harder? We can run ourselves to the ground with plans and careers and relationships and cars and everything else imaginable. Yet in the end, our lives come down to one solitary, determined purpose: To bring the Creator of the Universe glory, and to show the nations that same glory. All these other things, if not served to that end, are utterly meaningless. Yes, I just said that. Meaningless. If I don't use the money I have to glorify God, it is worthless. My career? If I don't bring honor to His name in it, it doesn't matter how many promotions I get, it becomes irrelevant.

On top of all that, in candid honesty, life is happier when you understand that in everything, our purpose is to know Christ and to make Him known. Just the thought makes me smile. There was once a book I read about a boy who had a gift. He couldn't speak much, but when he spoke, he spoke great wisdom. In one paragraph, he talks about how simple it actually is to fall in love with our Redeemer every day. He said (paraprased) "Some people think it's hard. But really, just speak His name to the stranger in the marketplace, or joyfully give him glory at your work, and soon, you'll find yourself falling in love." Try it. It's true.

I learned something new today. (Guess that proves you can teach an old dog new tricks.) I didn't get to have a break at work today, because I was in charge and I wanted to make sure everything went well. Anyway, point being, when I got off at two thirty, I grabbed some food to eat. Mario, one of the cooks, was on break, so I figured I'd try to see how he was doing. I mean, really doing. And he got all excited. He speaks broken English, but he speaks what he knows very well. He explained to me that he has a great desire to learn English better, but at both of his jobs, everyone else speaks Spanish, so he was having a hard time learning. I asked why he wanted to learn so badly, and he responded that his wife and his son both spoke english flawlessly, and he wanted to be a better Dad and husband and show that he could learn too. Then he gave me some surprising information. "I am an industrial engineer in Mexico. My wife is a psychologist." I'm like, why did you leave?! He went on: "I finish the college in Mexico. My wife, she studies much. More than me. In America, they say only need to learn English, then maybe get GED credit, and then she only take 12 exams for college, and she will have American college degree." I was impressed. Here we have a pretty quiet guy, who does his job well, and he's an industrial engineer? His wife is a psychologist? He wants to learn English, but feels like he's held back at both of his jobs. So, I started thinking about it, and I'm pretty determined that I'm gonna do every darn thing I can to help him. He's not so different from me. I mentioned to him that sometimes I feel like I'm not as smart as other people, because other people work with computers and stuff, and I still work in fast food, though as a manager. He got really sympathetic and said "Yeah, me too." Then we discussed the intricacies of the English language, and how if he understood Texan, he wouldn't have any problem with English anywhere else in the country. What can I say? Things are just better in Texas.

So the sun is dipping below the horizon, shadows are growing longer, and the clouds are blushing a light shade of pink. I can hear birds chirping, and somewhere, someone is playing a flute. No, really, I can hear a flute. I'm not just imagining it. This time.

And I'm done. For now. But maybe I'll write again soon. I'd like to. It helps clarify things. Perhaps next time I'll tell you about the Indian Medicine Man I met, who wasn't actually a man... yeah, ask me about it.

(Note to self: Stop underestimating God. Maybe that's a note to you too.)