Pam

Valentines' Day....hmnnnnn.... Last night after church I made the trek to Walmart to pick out a card and a little gift for my love. Some observations....

1. Walmart was packed....

2. I thought by going the night before that I would beat the crowd.....na....

3. Women in line seemed more annoyed with all the people than the men did. Maybe that is because men are more used to experiencing crowds when they shop for Valentine's day. One woman said to me, "You would think it was Christmas." Who knows, maybe some people think it is.

4. Lots of flowers were being purchased. Of course, mostly by men.

5. I saw a bunch of people from church that was there. One lady gave me credit for not waiting until the 14th. She was impressed.

6. While shopping is not my favorite thing... Pam is my favorite person. We met on Feb. 22nd, 1980 at a birthday party at college. Neither of us were looking for our future spouse at the time. I had lots of school to finish, and she was almost done and on her way to Jamaica to work with a missionary. I was unsettled in a lot of ways...she was pretty secure in who she was and what her future held. But that night things really did change. I went to back to my room and told my roommate "I met someone tonight." I was in Luuuuuuuvvvvvvvvv. We spent alot of time together over the next six weeks and they say,"the rest is history..."It was a whirlwind time of campus walking, talking, a date or two to McDonalds, kicking leaves, and a trip to her home in Nebraska. ( all in the first six weeks). I asked her to marry me then. ( Kids... its too quick, but when you know, you know.) We were married in April of 1981.

Over the years we have had lots of great experiences. We have had a few that were not so great. But who in this world could have filled the place of Pam in my life? I don't know if there is only one person for us in life, but I do know that Pam was and is the perfect person in my life.

Let me tell you just a bit about her...

She loves God... from the very beginning there was no "put on" when it came to her relationship with God. She showed me what it meant to love God in real and tangible ways. She also has shown me what it means to love God through disappointment and sorrow, fear and uncertainty. 27 years later, through thick and thin, she still loves God. She is real with her relationship with God. And He so real to her.

She loves me... I am not an easy person to live with. I have been prone to be obsessed about my work, sports and other pursuits. But she has always accepted me for who I am . She expects me to figure things out, and when I don't, she does not beat me up... she often patiently waits for me to learn the lesson and kind of says, "I could have saved you some of that lesson learning." ( its the kind look that I get sometimes.)

She is a great friend. She listens to me vent, unload and unpack things from my day. She laughs at my really bad jokes, always says something good about my sermons ( even when there was not much to say), makes an occasional suggestion and defends me wherever she can. She has sat through countless basketball games, lets me go to any game I want... and knows more about basketball than most serious students of the game. She loves the Huskers. And she loves the Ducks almost as much.

She is a superior mother. I could not imagine that our four children could have ever found a mother that loves them more. She is there for them. She listens to them. She is their best friend. She counsels them. She cries with them. Her phone rings all the time, and I know who it is. It is one of the kids....wanting to ask a question, share a moment, or just say "hi." Sometimes I get grumpy about all the attention they get from her, but then I remember that this is one thing that I love the most about her. Her kids love to come home. And when they do,it is fun. Her kids ( and her husband) eat dinner together and sit at the table, sometimes for hours, just talking and laughing. Our daughters husbands are comfortable here. ( So is the boyfriend). I can assure that that has more to do with her than me. People talk about how great our kids are. Pam is the first to say, "It is God..." And it is ... but it is also a mother like Pam. It is no real surprise to me. She has a mother who is just like her...

She will be a tremendous grandmother. Grace has no idea yet, but Pam will be the best. ( no offense to other grandmothers). One thing is for sure, just as four kids and a husband have been prayed for over the years, Grace will have Pam in her corner, asking God to protect her, bless her and to help her grow to Love Jesus. (She already does).

As we grow older, I would not want to spend one moment of my life without Pam. Wedding Vows say, "till death do you part." That's us. We are lifers....and because of that, the future is bright for us. No matter what comes at us, what places God takes us, we are in it together.

Together... thats what valentines is all about. Together.

I could go on... but you need to go... more about her another day.

Eight Questions.....

It's Friday night. Pam went with some church friends to a Casting Crowns Concert. It s a fun thing for her to do.

I was planning to head to a basketball game, but a bad cold has sidelined me. Rest is important.

So its times for some questions.....

1. The congress passed the economic atimulus package today. Now, a 1200 check sounds good to me... but with a huge deficit in this country, how does this 170 billion dollars get paid for?

2. A football player from Nevada called a press conference and announced that he was "choosing" the California Bears. The problem was the California Bears did not ask him to choose them. Nobody did... not Oregon, not Washington, not Oklahoma State, not California. What was he thinking?

3. I have four great kids and a wonderful wife. How did I get so blessed?

4. John McCain is the "presumptive" Republican candidate. Who is the "presumptive" vice presidental republican candidate?

5. What is going to happen to my nice quiet neighborhood when a apartment complex of 250 units and a Kum and Go invade later this spring? ( Both within 1000 yards of my house. Guess thats progress.)

6. If the price of a barrel of oil drops from 100/barrel to 87/barrell, why doesn;t the price of gas drop 13% in a week. ( I know there is an explanation, but it does not make sense.)

7. Could it be that after all the talk about the longest political campaign ever, that on Feb. 8th we have our two tickets? Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama verses McCain/Huckabee? If it turns out that way I will suggest that in 2012 we not spend 200 million dollars just to weed out the long list of "hopefuls"

8. Did we ever think that the strongest college basketball program in the state of Oklahoma would be ORU? Wow....

More questions later...

Super Bowl 42

I wanted the Patriots to win. I just thought 19-0 was too much to pass up.

But the Giants won. My Dad called me before the game to tell me that he was picking the Giants. He wins....

Great game... some great plays by the Giants made the difference.

A few observations

1. When you start 0-2 your season is not over. Just ask the Giants
2. When you start 0-2 the quarterback gets all the blame. But come back and win the
Super Bowl, and the QB gets alot of the praise.
3. Owasso's own R.W. McQuarters must be pretty happy. That moves him into elite
company with others such as Garth Brooks as Owasso residents who have made it
big.
4. It is a long off season for the loser of the Super Bowl, even when you win 18
out of 19 games. When you win 18, you still want to win the last one more.
5. Coach Bill of the Patriots is a very mysterious dude.

6. Entertainment???? Tom Petty was pretty good at half time. Jordan Sparks did one
of the best ever at the National Anthem. I did not understand Alicia Keyes, so
that did nothing for me... and Paul A ( and her dance) was regretable, forgetable and any other "able" you could think of. She needs to stick to judging... Commercials... nothing really jumped out... I wonder if any of them thought they were worth the money?

Well, enough of all that... Super Bowl 42 is history. Now, lets get to the next big day in Oklahoma- Signing Day for college... That is Wednesday