"Spring Is Here?"

March 20th, 2009.
Officially, the first day of spring.
Here in Pittsburgh, PA it's 45 degrees,
overcast, and kind of drab... but then again
that's Pittsburgh 90% of the time. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

But even in the up and down temperatures that
each day brings, spring is in the picture. The trees are budding. The flowers are peeking through the ground. The birds are starting to
find nest mates. The grass is beginning to look
green again.

I long for warmer days. The opportunity to be outside and alive in the warmth of the sun.
IT'S COMING! I know it is.

Spring is when life is breathed back into the black and white of winter. And thankfully
God gives us a microcosm each March/April of His ability and desire to make all things
new again. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone,
the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Thank God He makes all things new.

"The Cabin Fever"

February is never a dull month around the Trimble abode. 2 of our children were born in this month, so birthday parties are the way to break up the mid-winter blues. This year, with the fabulous victory of our Pi-ck-sburgh Stillers, and 2 birthdays, and a trip to the Natural History Museum to see the dinosaurs, I really can't complain that the winter is dragging on, and on, and on, and on... etc. You get the point.

Spring is around the corner. Swimming lessons, baseball practices, multiple family birthdays, a 10-year wedding anniversary (anyone know of a good wedding anniversary gift made of tin); lots to look forward to.

Yet, somehow, sitting here listening to the 5-year-old whining like a 1-year-old, the 2-year-old whining like the 5-year-old and the 5-month-old maintaining the only quiet I no longer enjoy (only because he's asleep); in concert all of this with the snoring of a yellow lab, I find myself cramped in this cabin.

Don't get me wrong, I love unconditionally. I wouldn't change where I am right now with anyone else. But with the sun beaming brightly in complete disregard for the 25 degree temperature, I long for the ability to mow the lawn. OUCH!

There are millions of fathers who never get to spend more than a few hours a day with their children. Surely they miss some of the best of their children. Most of the time I don't envy them. But this cabin is shrinking. And I am, as are my children, ready for the sun to be in harmonious expression of a spring 70 degree day.

"XLIII FOR SIX"

I've got a feeling... STEELERS WON THE SUPER BOWL

"HERE WE GO!"

HERE WE GO!

4 agonizing hours later, and the sweetness of another Super Bowl trip is tingling my nerves away.
It might be cold and snowy and rather miserable here in BeavCo, but the next two weeks of Steeler mania is going to fill the airwaves, the restaraunt chatter, the bus talk, the grocery line fodder. It will dominate.

2 things I have sought to stress and impress on my children is this:
1) love God, know God, have a personal relationship with God, serve Him wholeheartedly.
and 2) There is no other team worth rooting for unless it's the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bleed Black and Gold.

I remember within the first week of Mike Tomlins hiring by the Steelers, somebody asking me what he's got to do to be loved by the Steeler nation. And to me the answer was simple: "Win a Super Bowl, and they'll love you forever."

HERE WE GO!

"Going, Going... HELLO!"

Well, the new year has arrived... 2009! Much like thanksgiving time is used by some to reflect on all they are thankful for, the new year brings resolutions for the new and reflection of what has past.

The holiday season is, in my humble opinion, still going forth as long as the Steelers are in the hunt for the Lombardi; yet, tomorrow, we here in the Trimble abode will say good-bye to our christmas trees. (the lights outside much to the mrs. non-delight, will remain up until that first 70 degree day of 2009.)
What was 2008 to me? It was a glorious week serving God in the Dominican Republic in February. Immediately followed by the elimination of my job upon return. It was the entire house turning 34, 6, 4, 2 and well, I won't tell you how old the lady of the house is.
It was camping with friends in West Virginia, and camping again with friend in Raccoon.
It was transition from K to 1st grade for Noah. It was our first and last run at coaching t-ball.
It was planting our own home-grown trees in the park with Abby. It was 2 nights in the hospital with Luke. It was the birth of our fourth and final child Levi. It was full of parties and planning,
rainy and sunny days. It was a week of cleanup in Galveston. It was time spent with family and friends. It was all things joy, to the glory of God.

What will 2009 bring with it? I can only imagine. I want to live life as an open book;
to experience all God has to offer and to do everything according to His purpose.
I understand I will fall short, but in that, I understand the He is there to pick me up
and carry me home.