Monday, March 5, 2012

high:low number one.

there's this precious little family we know and love. each time we sit down to dinner with this family, we know that two things will be expected of us.

one: we must clean our plates and eat seconds if our hearts desire.

two: we must participate in their family dinnertime ritual, a ritual that consists of each diner sharing the high and low of their day.

when shane and i first witnessed and participated in high:low (or peaks and valleys, as some families call it), we were amazed to see how abundant and diverse the conversation was. the parents and their three children were having real conversation. not the generic, "what'd you do in school today?" (though there's obviously nothing wrong with this question). the kids were engaged with their parents and us, their guests. after our first experience with high:low, and with every subsequent encounter, shane and i have vowed to do this very thing with our children someday.

until then, we want to document our highs and lows here and share them with you, if you're interested.

we're hoping to make this a weekly thing -- the highs and lows of our respective weeks. fingers crossed that we stick to it.

week of february twenty-sixth
shane:
high: in the month of february, i taught a series during youth group entitled "who do you think you are?" i stole the title but that's beside the point. during the last week of the series, i got to combine two of my favorite things, the word of God and zombies. i attempted to show that as a follower of Christ, we're called to have qualities that are strikingly similar to a zombie. it's a stretch, i know, but it was a lot of fun. go ahead. try and connect the dots.

low: last week i started a new class called hermeneutics. the name alone is horrible. i'm learning, though, as i make my way through this new degree, that i have some old habits to break when it comes to studying and school in general. the lowliness of it all is that the obnoxious amounts of reading i've been assigned mean more time away from rene. boo hiss.

rene:
high:  discovering and watching the new movie anonymous on dvd. my lovely husband humored me and sat through it (somewhat willingly). what's great is that he enjoyed it. i double, triple enjoyed it. so good! since buying it on monday, i've watched it five times... no exaggeration. see it if you haven't already.

low:  creating a new budget for our little family in the anticipation of one day growing our family. i never liked math and i never liked being told what i can or cannot do (or spend). but, budgeting wasn't all bad. i was reminded, while budgeting, how generous and good my husband is. he wants so much to take good care of me, of us, and i am forever grateful.

5 comments:

  1. You should have ppl comment their highs and lows so that its like a nation wide or maybe even world wide dinner table. That would give you quite a large family. Just saying. I'm excited to hear your saving for a family. Love you guys.

    Your friend,
    Cliff Adams

    P.s. Shane I would like to hear what this zombie talk is, if you ever want to talk about it again that is.

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  2. i like the worldwide dinner table analogy. you're a smart cookie, cliff. shane says "you're on" (concerning the zombies, etc.). miss you, buddy!

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  3. ps. what was your high:low last week?

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  4. Yay! I love having other blogs other than my own to read! And I love the ideas of highs and lows!

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  5. High- Starting the process of sitting down and eating dinner at the table, on the few nights that we see each other, and working out with my mother. You know it has been so long since I have actually done anything with just my mom like that. She would always do a little ten minute video workout and I would just read or something. Now I have been doing both with her and it is one of the greatest feelings in the world. My mom acts such like a kid that it is full of laughter and love. I use to say that I would be fine leaving my family but recently I have come to need this family time more than I knew. Weekly niece visits are amazing.

    Low- I saw someone while at walmart for the first time in a long time, and seeing and thinking that I shouldn't or couldn't talk to them was a hard concept for me to understand. You guys know me and I talk to everyone, most of the time, or some random guy will have a sit down conversation with me at the mall. That has happened before, my sister and mother had to announce it was time to leave lol.

    Cliff Adams

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