there's a lot i could talk about today ... the mixed-message church service philip and i attended on saturday (do we only pledge allegeance to a heavenly kingdom, or do we flag wave and sing "America the Beautiful"?) ... how surreal 4th of july fireworks are over the ocean, in the rain, with hardly any people around, quiet but for the booms and thunder, in a group but feeling disconnected from every human being alive ... how well chicken kabobs go over at a party ... how my 16-year-old sister laughs at me for spelling "nuptials" wrong on public webspace ... how it's my other sister's 22nd birthday today, and i can't remember the last time i spent her birthday with her ...
but i think all i'm going to say today is that i spent saturday afternoon with philip and our friends david and amy, who just had their baby, ana, two weeks ago, and i love being around david and amy for many reasons. they are peaceful people. they have a sustainable rhythm of life that energizes them rather than drains them. they have many relationships, but they're not running around like crazy people trying to maintain all of them. they take naps and eat healthy food. their house isn't full of crap; their lives aren't driven by materialism. when they sit on the couch together, they cuddle. when david looks at a picture of his wife, he says, "look at that woman. i can't believe what a beautiful family i now have." they talk about deep subjects and read books. they don't own a TV. they write music. they ride bikes. they had ana naturally. when i'm around them, i see how life can be - how it doesn't have to be hectic, and it doesn't have to require bigger and bigger paychecks. i see what God had in mind when He thought of marriage and child birth and raising a family. and it doesn't seem so impossible to get to that place.
saturday was a good day.