Lunch - skipped it
Dinner - half of a Little Caesars pizza
Father-Son-Bonding
Today I tried reading and writing again to keep up with this resolution. Read more, talk less. This is really not an easy task for me. I mean the book I'm reading is really really good. I actually crack up laughing out loud when I'm reading it. But the problem is that this book is about action. It's about doing things. And I am a doer so it makes me want to do stuff. And by "stuff" I mean pretty much anything other than sitting around and reading. So I didn't last long this afternoon.
The thing that did me in was when I read this chapter about 10-Year-Old Adventures. Bob did this thing with his kids where he took them on a trip when they turned 10. Anywhere they wanted to go and anything they wanted to do, Bob made it happen. No planning, no itinerary, just pure adventure. His daughter wanted to go to "High Tea" in London, one of his boys wanted to hike Half Dome in a snow storm and the other wanted to ride dirt bikes across the desert. Pretty adventurous 10 year olds. I think when I was 10 the only thing I cared about was ice cream. Kudos, Goff kids.
So the theme Bob relates to us in this chapter is how he tried to be a father in the way that our Father is a father.
Every day God invites us on the same kind of adventure. It’s not a trip where He sends us a rigid itinerary, He simply invites us. God asks what it is He’s made us to love, what it is that captures our attention, what feeds the deep indescribable need of our souls to experience the richness of the world He made. And then, leaning over us, He whispers, “Let’s go do that together."
So I closed the book and left the coffee shop. I couldn't sit there. Not with God whispering "Let's go do something together and experience the richness of the world." I mean, I know for some people sitting and reading is totally what God is whispering to them about. And that's their thing. But today, my thing was going for a bike ride.
Now I know I didn't last long at the coffee shop, but here is how I justified ditching out. A year ago I could not have gone on an intentional solo bike ride. I could have gone on a solo bike ride, but not an intentional one. Because a year ago I didn't know anyone here to not invite on a bike ride with me. Today was different. It took a lot in me to intentionally exclude my friends from this adventure and keep it between just me and God. But I succeeded and thus quiet time continued.
God and I rode about 10 miles thru East Nashville and together we grew mustaches and drank craft beers. Just kidding. We only rode 8 miles. But seriously, it was awesome.
I believe in adventure and in seeking it daily. I think Bob would agree with me. He took his 10-year-olds to do rad stuff because he wanted to teach them to pursue adventure on a large scale. But I'm sure, as a father, he also taught them to pursue adventure on a small scale. My dad used to do this thing with me and my brother called "Father-Son-Bonding." He would walk into the room and say, "Boys, it's time for some Father-Son-Bonding" and my brother and I would stop what we were doing and follow him. He would lead us outside, we would sit down, and he would bust out some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. And that was our adventure. We would sit outside and eat Reese's Cups together. I'm 24 years old and this is a thing that still happens. I love it.
Today my Father whispered in my ear and said "Son, it's time for some Father-Son-Bonding" and we went for a bike ride and it was awesome.
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