In a way, I suppose it was good for me.  I was out for a couple of hours today just clearing our drive to be able to get out, and I have a BIG snowblower too.  It just took a long time and with Ben off school, I was working hard to supervise him as well.  In the end the drive is clear, Ben did not injure himself or anyone else, and at 7:00pm EST I was able to take a shower for the first time today.  I am exhausted and just ready for the day to end.  I have plenty more to do, but as one of my friends and colleagues in ministry Father Bill Knapp (RIP Bill, now working from the “home office”) told me close to 21 years ago (I was in the ER with chest pains!) “Dead priests get very little done.”  It was life-changing advice that I have followed since.  I no longer push myself way past the edge.

I always hear people talk about living in moderation, but that concept doesn’t interest me either. Balance, I have found at least, is what it important, as well as both knowing your limits and challenging yourself.  Committing to mediocrity isn’t much of a commitment in my mind, and I do better when I don’t just settle.

Of course this is not to say that I live my life in balance all the time, because I certainly do not.  I am not suggesting I be a prototype for anyone.  I am to life what the Chicago Cubs are to baseball, long suffering and constantly trying to get it right.  Yet it is that evasive goal that always keeps me adjusting, and I pray the Cubs analogy would break down here, but like the Cubs I can get close to my goal and blow it all……frequently.

But all and all, I believe I would rather live in an honesty reality verses a delusional one.  (Tonight’s picture is of my wife just a short time before Ben was born….if only life had an epidural)
We were never promised paradise and in all honesty there are often more challenges in this life than we would like to have.  But it is in this life that we can find that balance and live it well.

And for me, that means bed.  Amanda has worked all day and is exhausted and sick.  Ben is already down probably headed for his 7000th consecutive 2 hour delay or snow day, and I know where my edge is.  I am just past it and feel the need to call it a day, heeding the advice of my good friend Bill.  I sure do miss him.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+