Pass Through The Pieces.

I’m sitting here in my office listening to the “Once” movie soundtrack.

All the boxes are unpacked and music is starting to fill the new Map Room. I’ve got all my guitars, my computer, recording gear, mics, cables, books and all the things that make this space my own, laid out to where I can get to them.

It feels so good to settle in.

Next weekend I turn 32 and we’re having a little party. Nothing fancy– just some friends coming over to drink some Yazoo (local brew) and grill. I think we’ll have a bonfire in the back yard if the weather allows for it.

I have much to be thankful for. I have a great life and am abundantly blessed with a beautiful wife and a wonderful little boy. My wife calls me honey and my son calls me dada. (in his own unique and chirpy language) I’ve got a treasure chest full of dear friends that feel like family. They call me Jerry. (Something my 10th grade history teacher (Mr. Spears) started when he called roll on the first day of school back when I lived in Ohio)

I love my job and I’m growing as an artist which each passing record and each passing year. The time is going by so quickly now. I can tell because Eli is growing so fast.

I am getting a good bit of gray washed through my hair. I don’t mind it one bit. Bring it on, I say. The crown of wisdom; I need all I can get. I’ve waited a long time to get my hands on some wisdom. I sure could have used it in my 20’s.

Why despise growing older? Being young is fine but life is so much more interesting the older you get. You have to stay hungry for the good stuff. It’s so easy to check out and just coast in the cruising lane. Even in your 30’s. The world will beat you down. The culture will dehumanize you and turn you into a consumer. And it’s tragic because we are created in the image of God Almighty.

I want to be the 50 year old man who is still learning new things and pushing out further and further into the good stuff. No retreat to complacency.

I’ve been thinking of someday teaching myself how to lay brick like Winston Churchill did during WWII. He was so involved in planning and fighting the Germans that when he needed to rest and regroup he would go to his home outside of London and build walls with brick and mortar. He built walls all over Chartwell which stand to this day.

I’m not fighting any wars but I am alive in a fight of a different kind. I fight fear, I fight pride. I fight community and self-comparison. There are no guns involved but there might as well be. Fear chokes out all kinds of things and really needs to be put in its place or it can overtake you. The only thing that has ever trumped my fear is the Gospel.

I fight that too.

But things are changing. I have a softer heart. Genesis 15 broke me wide open this past year. I had breakfast with Kevin Twit at Cracker Barrel recently and told him that Genesis 15 is the most beautiful thing I have ever read. (He preached a sermon on it which can he found at the Belmont RUF Podcast in iTunes.)

I learned a lot this last year about being patient. I recently learned some carpentry while renovating our 110 year old house. Measure twice, cut once. That’s a good bit of wisdom that applies to more than carpentry. Could have used that in my 20’s too!

All of this must be going some where. It must point to something or someone.

I think of what happened in Genesis 15. I find my story there and I find my courage to grow older there too.

I want to drink it deep. Good friends, good beer and all of God’s good gifts.

Cheers, friends.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 9:15 pm by Jeremy and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.