Time Flies

Where does the time go? It seems like everything has accelerated lately. I remember when I never thought it would be 2000 and here it is already 2009. Which reminds me and some of you remember this about me - others may not know - but 29 is my favorite number. For some reason God uses it to speak to me in the strangest ways. He did that on January 15th, the day Geoff turned 54. That day the headline on the sports page of the newspaper read, "Mason Jars Lakers" (apparently a guy named Mason was key in the Lakers' loss). He thought that was a clever headline (having been in the newspaper business many years ago, he's interested in that kind of stuff) so he read it aloud to us. I thought it was a clever play on words too but Max didn't get it so I explained to him that mason jars are the jars you use when you're canning...or it could be the name of a dive bar in Phoenix. That got Geoff's attention. We met at "The Mason Jar" on his 25th birthday - exactly 29 years ago. Now couple that with the year 2009 and I got excited. I believe this will be an amazing year for us. You may think this is crazy but I think God used that headline to help us remember meeting, to show us He was there and is here now, to show us how far we've come from that place and to get us excited about what's ahead. Geoff doesn't think like I do, but when I share these thoughts he does get it. He sees how God uses the number 29 in my life and he very generously accepts the fact. In other words, I don't think he thinks I'm crazy and that is generous! God knew just what he was doing 29 years ago when I found myself in a dive bar in Phoenix, Arizona with all my roommates making an initial connection with a guy who found himself there, too. It would take many months before we connected but the real story is that we eventually did. That headline might read "Mason Jar's Future Gilbert's". No one there that night would have believed it. It's true. Opposites attract - eventually. It's also true that God is good and He knows exactly what He is doing. It's also best to just go with it because He is relentless. Thank God.