Six of one and half a dozen of the other

I think I might need to "pretty" up my text for my posts now. Mamalissa always does some color and it looks all inviting. Oh well, I'm no girly and I think Henry Ford might have been on to something when he said, "The Customer Can Have Any Color He Wants So Long As It's Black." Of course, this attitude eventually made Ford the #2 automaker in America instead of #1 but hey, black is beautiful.

So apparently certain remarks in my last post vindicated women across the world (okay maybe the state) and did little to console men. I won't expand on the topic here (mamalissa was not impressed) but any man who wants to send me a private email I will pass along to you my theory on how inter-marital abstinence is one of the leading causes in a mega-industry that is undermining an already vulnerable culture of marriage and family and devastating the foundation of strong cultural and personal progress and excellence!

As another week draws to a close the Hamilton family saga continues to weave its pattern of opportunities and challenges, amusements and trials. It has been very interesting for me to experience some of the things that I have. I feel like the pumps of greatness are being primed. Not that a life has to be filled with challenges and failures to be great or successful but I dare say no person has ever achieved any level of greatness by stepping out in faith into the great well-known. I only wish I had been ready for his challenge sooner in my life than now. But the Lord puts us where we need to be when we need to be there. I'm here now, eager and frustrated; confidant and humble.

A couple quick stories and I'll let you be. The first story is about humour (British spelling because I want to live in England) and humility. Everyone on my side of the family knows that I never wanted to have kids. In fact there was nothing that I wanted less. I had heard that a doctor would not perform a vasectomy until you had children or were over the age of 25. I turned 25 shortly after I moved to Utah and before I arrived I had made a list of urologists so that when I turned 25 I could save the world from having to deal with more than one of me.

Obviously that never happened and I've gone on to sire four kidlings. But the humour and humility part is this. Not only has God given me four little souls to provide for He gave me the four cutest kids in the entire world to care for. (Yes, yes, I know that there are many of you out there who think yours are the cutest kids and blah, blah, blah so let's not argue the fact. I know that mine are the cutest and if you want to pretend that fifth cutest is first cutest than you and your not-as-cute-as-mine kids can tell yourselves what ever you must to sleep at night.)

On top of that He made the children so cute (cutest in the world remember) that just about the time I am getting ready to sell them to the circus or give them to the gobblers (an allusion for those who braved "Golden Compass") someone comes up to me in public and says, "Your kids are so cute!" My first instinct is to go Hans Solo on them and answer, "I know." But then I take my reverence out of my pocket and I remember to be humble. I give a slight nod, stretch a tight smile across my face that I hope reflects, "Oh, they are indeed an heritage of the Lord." (Psalm 127:3) and not, "Oh really, well then you chase them around the church house (or search for them in Wal-mart or figure out what busy street they have crossed on their bike or try and get into the hotel room that they just locked all your stuff in [GO Jez and Trina you are my heroes]) because before you reminded me of their cuteness and my love for them I was fixin' to give them a little down home southern discipline." God does indeed have a sense of humor.

But it gets better because when I left home Monday to come back to Provo my little Peanut came running to the car saying, "I want to come with you, Daddy." [translated from the original 2 year old] Then my precious Princess, Sissy Coley, came out and waved good bye to me standing on a corner of the street where she could see me all the way to the end of the road and then returned to the house with tears in her eyes. And thus, we are humbled. The sad part was that I made a promise to her that she and I would do something together this weekend and it is not going to happen now.

Story number two, my car broke down on the way from Spanish Fork to Provo where I was suppose to look at an apartment (that I didn't get to look at). Long story short the car needs a new water pump, new belts, new plugs, new seals maybe something else but by this point I was feeling a little light-headed and the room was going dark. Bottom line I'm "stranded" (can you really be stranded in a town that you technically live in even though you don't really live there? Confusing.) I am taking the opportunity to use the sour fruit I've been given and concoct a sweet libation. So I've volunteered to work tomorrow. Nothing like a little OT to cheer a person up.

Well this will bring to a close my post. Hope it has been inspirationally entertaining and informative. And hey, if anyone wants to foster four orphans and their mother for a few months (can they really be orphans if both parents are living, one lives with them , and they are wanted by both?) Anyway, let me know and maybe we can work out a deal or something. (You did say if there was anything you could do to help! :-) )

I love you all for who you are.