I’m in Chicago today attending a conference called CATALYST ONE DAY.

My lead pastor Tim and I are here not because things are going badly in our ministry, but because things are going great. We’ve seen that methods typically have a shelf life to them and thankfully we both like to shake things up just for the sake of shaking things up. We both believe that you should try new things, innovative things, even when something is working well. So we are here for ideas.

We’re here for a catalyst.

Can you think of anything in your life that might be going well, but might need to change anyway?

Maybe it’s something that’s going not so well…and it’s definitely time for a change. Care to share?

I take lots of pictures with my iPhone. They are bad photographs…but they are good pictures.

These are the pictures that you need to grab when there is no REAL camera around. They typically include subjects that you’re capturing for proof purposes. Such as:

Proof that my hair is sometimes overly ornate.

Proof that Ava loves me anyway.

Proof that I clean up okay.

Proof that I use pink bathrooms with dinosaurs in them.

Proof that Ava is multi-talented.

Proof that people get wedding photos and video in weird places.

Proof of strange thinking on whiteboards.

Proof that Ava smashed her finger.

Proof of donating a “double red”.

Proof that my little Finnabon was teensy weensy.

Proof of fancy little morsels.

Proof that Finn loves his mama.

Proof that our men’s group actually does stuff.

Proof of 400 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts given away on Christmas Eve.

Proof of large quantities of sushi.

Proof of Ava eating that sushi.

Proof of proper matching sunglasses.

Proof of matching hair color and prettyfulness.

Proof of tongues that don’t match.

Today’s lesson is:

Don’t miss the pictures that aren’t going to be great photographs.

Take them anyway.

You’ll cherish them later.

Today is our 7 year wedding anniversary. I’d be dead and gone a couple times over if not for Allison.

We went to high school together, but we were just acquaintances. She was a good kid and I was a bad kid. We were connected to each other by a couple of medium kids. I’d always thought she was beautiful, but never expected that I’d have a chance. She called me for the first time to invite me to her graduation party. That’s where I dropped my best line in history.

“Oh hey, I was just thinking about you actually.”

Proximity turned into friendship.
Friendship turned into infatuation.
Infatuation turned into obsession.
Obsession eventually turned into actual love.

Our first official date was to a Kroger’s grocery store in the wee hours of the night. I drove her there in my 1987 Ford Tempo decked out with masking tape racing stripes. Who wouldn’t want to be with me?

We dated for a few years and got married in the same church that her parents and grandparents were married in. People had their doubts. No way that the punk with crazy hair and lots of piercings could make it work with the goody two-shoes who had never smoked a cigarette and got the full-ride scholarship to college. It worked though…it worked really well.

Some of the things that have caused me to fall deeper into love with Allison over these last 7 years might be considered strange to some people, but they make me want another 70 years together.

* Allison is the Crime Dog.

No case goes unsolved in our house. She wants to know why something happened if it makes even the slightest of nonsense. Each family member is interviewed and any clues are investigated.

* She likes cheap jewelry.

I’m not a cheap person. I can always justify a reason to buy the best of something in my head. Allison doesn’t want the best though. She wants something…rarely. And when she does want something, she just wants it to look decent…not be a certain name brand. Her wedding ring cost $700 and she likes it.

* She believes in me.

I meet so many men whose wives don’t believe in them. If I have a crazy idea, or something that I feel strongly about…she encourages me to go for it. She tells me that she thinks I can do it.

* She lets me lead her.

Or at least she let’s me believe I lead her. The truth is, my leadership has grown stronger because it’s important that I don’t do something that I know she’ll think is stupid. Her intelligence challenges me to be a better leader of our family.

* She likes guy movies.

And we like to sneak each other kisses during the girl movies.

* Allison is the mama bear.

She takes far more offense than I do when someone attacks me or our kids. It doesn’t even matter if I am in the wrong…she’ll fight for me. I can run to her when something rough gets through the wall.

* She doesn’t need constant entertainment.

Which forces me to relax a little bit.

* She thinks I’m smart, handsome, and funny.

I know because she tells me.