Moved

Bat and Christa have moved, no thanks to me.

All thanks goes to Heidi, Phil, Kirin, Tari, Renee, Erin, Martina, Deirdre and the rest of the cast of thousands.

I'm going to be part of the moving in team, helping Bat and Christa get set up in a house they own and can't be kicked out of with little notice.

They've found a nice place closer to Green Bay and worthy of their years of trust and service. God again shows His goodness to His servants.

50: A Better Recap

Music Sung:

(at the vows service thingy)
Beautiful Savior: the big 10 & Keaton
7 Fold Amen: the big 10 & Keaton

(at the reception thingy)
Edelweiss: grandchildren
Heidi and grandchildren: Some Kind of Song About German Fraulein
Piera/flute with Heidi/piano
Cale: played a song he wrote
Cale and Drew: played and sang a song they wrote
Jim and Connor: Jim played and Connor sang a Third Day song
Jim: played and sang a song
Teia and Izzi: sang "For Good" from Wicked
Kellen: sang "Burn Out Bright" from Switchfoot
Jen: sang "Come Rain or Shine"
Greg: sang "Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone"
Jen and Greg: sang "When I Fall In Love"
Everyone: sang Edelweiss

50: Final Thoughts

Yesterday was a day where we kids tried to stretch ourselves out and plan and think and organize like our parents have done for us for all of our years. We tried to bring them the joy and happiness they have brought us. And I think all of us kids can agree that the pursuit of that service, to think wholly about someone else and their happiness, is rewarding. And exhausting.

It was an incredible experience to hear the different voices singing, see the different gifts God has given our family. It was amazing to hear how many of you read this blog. What an amazing family, an incredible couple. And...it's not over. NOPE.

50blog: A Good Idea, but

Turns out between connectivity issues and zoe issues and people flying around and me getting the times wrong on the various events, the blog went the way of ...non-live blog.

Here's one entry I penned in hopes I could get online:

So after four years of not singing, we decide to pull out an old standard and easily the hardest choral piece and put it together in a bout 8 minutes. pretty good. next up, grandkids who may not have any idea of why they’re singing. Or what they’re singing. Even in the families with the most tradition and the highest sense of history we sometimes lose something in a new generation.

Found out from jim that the two microphone system might not be two microphones. Or a system. It’s warming my heart to see it come together.

Count on people telling others to “chill out”: unofficially, two. I think that number is destined to grow.

Saw bob and betty barnes and cousin Stephanie. Makes me feel almost 40.

50blog Subtopic: Zoe

Zoe, on cue, has decided to allow herself to be put down. So she can better look around, maybe play with the little toys hanging over her bouncy chair. I think she's wondering why we never put her down before....

50blog: The Requisite Hotel Room

What kind of adventure would it be if you didn't have a bunch of Batiansilas shoved into a hotel room? This is quite a room for our standards, and we made the most of almost every square inch. I laud the mighty Country Inn Suites because of HIGH SPEED INTERNET. It's very pro-blog.

We got to this suite late because...because it all came about late. I was supposed to call mom and tell her I wanted to come up 6/14/08 and I neglected it, everyone assumed it was a tacit vote to stay south; then I weakly voiced a thought of coming up which came about.

Talked to Heidi on the way up and she told me that the room was checked in and the key was waiting. And that I still haven't told her what I'm singing and she knows I'm busy but she really doesn't know...is Jen singing? We have to update the Powerpoint.

Good points. For some reason, I am feeling the tension in my genes, through my DNA. There's some fried people up north.

To make the drive north ever-so-Shakespearean, lightning ignites the eastern sky, over the lake God's spectral light show. Maybe a reminder of there is planning and there is power. And I hold both.

P.S. Heidi - we just decided on the song on the way up. And I downloaded Jen's accompaniment while here at the room.

Went through the song with Kellen a bunch. He's going with "Burn Out Bright" featuring my acoustic masterings.

50: The Quasi Live Blog

On this momentous, incredible day - an anniversary of when two flawed and sinful human beings looked in each other's eyes and made a promise that transcended them - I honor my mother and father with a quasi liveblog. That it may be well with me and that I may live long on the earth.

Quasi because i'm not sure how much internet I'll have or how often I can update. Live because I'm here. And so is Zoe, and Bat, and Christa and the other approximately 50 people. We all woke up today and decided we were going to live. And God said that was good.