Tag: Free

Joy

Joy. Every night at dinner. And I do mean every night, we pray a little prayer I made up to help our son recognize life’s target:

“We pray for Peace in our Soul, Joy in our Spirit and Love in our Heart. For all our family, all our friends and especially all those people less fortunate”.

Yesterday, I met Joy face to face. Seriously.

I desperately needed a haircut. My wife has cut my hair for 30 years. In the 70’s it was only once or twice a year. No big deal.

Now, it’s every 3-4 weeks, to stay professional for work.

There are few people on the planet who work as hard as my wife. If you think you work hard, I put her up against anyone, anywhere.

Anyway, to give her a break, I paid for a haircut and met Joy. Joy is a Christian, a singer, a Pastor’s wife, a mother of four (19-26), a stylist, and one of God’s little helpers.

She helped me feel good about loving Jesus. How? Because of the way she talked about Him, as if he lived at her home.

I want to talk about Jesus like that too. Thank you Joy.

Carpe diem, jeff noel 🙂

Crazy Busy

“Crazy busy, but I’m not complaining. There are people who don’t have jobs. So while I can barely keep my head above water, I’m not complaining”, I answered this past Sunday at Church.

He said, “That’s a great attitude”.

“Thanks”, I said back.

“He quickly added, “My brother has been out of work for two years. He’s tried to kill himself twice. The second time was last week. Had I seen you at the gym, and gotten home an hour later than I did, he would have been dead”.

How quickly can one person’s reality and pain hit home? Like a bolt of lighting.

Everyone is going through some sort of hell. Everyone. And if they aren’t currently, they either have recently, or will soon.

All I’m saying is that we should be kind to each other and not place too much (none really) judgement on others. We have no idea what hell they’re going through.

Peace, jeff noel 🙂

Short Stuff

After yesterday’s longer post, thought a short post would be appropriate.

“Wisdom is knowing when you can’t be wise”. — Paul Engle

Thank you for following this blog.

Carpe diem, jeff noel 🙂

Unfair Advantage, jeff noel

Unfair advantage goes to jeff noel and his nine-year old son.

What the? Huh?

Yes, unfair. Completely unfair.

Or maybe, just maybe, it’s an absolute and utter competitive advantage.

Depends on how you view the cup.

Frequently (way too frequently) our son has migratory joint pain. It lasts from a few hours to a few days. It infests his ankle, pinky finger, wrist, knee, elbow, palm, foot, shoulder, and sometimes his hip.

And, it picks one single location, not all simultaneously. Just one.

Whenever it impacts from the waist down, it will limit his mobility. Doesn’t stop him, just limits him.

Ever seen a three-legged dog?

Sometimes he’s a one-legged boy. Everyone at his school gets it. It’s Chapin. He’s special.

Outside of familiar surroundings, people think there’s something wrong – “Why don’t his parents take him to a doctor and get him checked, and fixed”?

Dude, you have no earthly idea how many doctors, treatments, tests, x-rays, needles, medicines he’s seen.

But my wife and I have.

And even so, we feel blessed beyond measure.

And, ironically, as I type this, Jeremy Camp’s “There Will Be A Day” is playing….. There will be a day, with no more tears, no more pain, no more fears. There will be a day, when the burdens of this place will be no more and we’ll see Jesus face to face…:

To be continued…..Meanwhile, carpe diem, jeff noel 🙂

Ton of Bricks

It hit me the other night, like a ton of bricks.

As I was returning from the trek to the top of the old Sears Tower (as of July 16, 2009, Willis Tower), I spotted a father carrying his young son.

I had an epiphany.

At 9PM, it’s quite common for children to be tired of walking. So carrying is par for the course.

My carrying days are over.

Chapin is now nine, over 70 pounds, and a third-grader.

Who carries anyone fitting that description?

I wish I did.

Parents, grandparents, and other relatives. Carry like there’s no tomorrow, because someday, there will be.

Carpe diem, jeff noel 🙂

PS. Tomorrow, being the glorious Monday we know it will be, I’ll share an unfair advantage my son and I have over other families.