I have come to different revelations of how little control I have given him over the years. Tonight was another one of those times.

I usually let God’s will just happen. I have been very passive. It seems that I have always stumbled into His will for me, even while married and now a dad.  But there is a better way. Scripture says that the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. I can cause God’s will to happen to me instead of me happening to it.

At the end of service I spent some time in prayer and I felt like the Holt Spirit dropped something in my heart. “You have been living on bread crumbs when a feast is available.” It is time to pick up my knife and fork. I will bring about change in my life and take the next step towards my destiny as I draw near to Him. It is only in His presence that I am filled. No more spiritual starving. I will not be satisfied by leftovers any more.

I have decided to open this up to the public. Since I chose to open this “can” thru this venue, it seems fitting that I open it up to my (3) readers to help choose. I do however reserve the right to veto popular opinion (if our national democratic process can do it so can I).

Please feel free to add any that come vie inspiration, perspiration or consternation.

Here is a list of some of the nicknames that have come and gone over the years:

Hodgson (me and my best friend referred to each other by our last names)

Big Dumb Guy (not one of my favorites. My English professor in high school called me this)

Big Bird (from the summer I bleached my hair)

Yandel (a girl in youth group called us Yandel and Yandelle)

Dragons (my brother calls Danielle and myself D&D… Dungeons and Dragons)

Daniel-son (my father-in-law)

Tall Drink of Water (very uncomfortable story that is attached to this… maybe later)

Big “D” (I’m tall… not diarrhea)

Dad (ya’ll can’t call me that)

Babe ( ya’ll REALLY can’t call me that)

As I ponder the point of nicknames I can’t help but consider the origin but more importantly the evolution of the societal phenomenon. It may seem obtrusive even sad for me to be desirous of such a moniker but since you have humored me thus far let me explain.

When I was a young child I was not the man many of you have come to know. Few would remember the frail, plastic-coke-bottle-glassed boy. He too desired a nickname… and one did he receive… four eyes. Though witty was he and self assured, the nickname stuck like warm gum on the sole of your shoe.

It took many years to outgrow the scars and memories of those times. Scars that, though covered with good memories and times, still bring sadness and a melancholic disposition that has but one cure… a new nickname.

I have previously written quite plainly of my disdain and abhorrence of nicknames. It was that way until I was able to go back to that little boy of yore and decide that it was time. Time for a new day. A new perspective. Yes, even a new nickname.

So, with this, I doeth beseech thee, o giver of nicknames. May you, with great insight and awesomeness, bring a soothing balm to that poor boy of yesteryear and GIVE ME A STINKING NICKNAME.

i think that when these moments come they are most be acted upon. you may have the chance to learn a lesson at another time but the context is different. lessons are to be learned when they are presented so they can be built upon. you no longer have the opportunity to grow and experience life with those around you with this new revelation of self. i have learned difficult lessons very quickly like the importance of no. and i have learned simple lessons slowly like the importance of laying on the floor for play time.

i grew up a bit today. not because i turned 30. i grew up a bit because i have seen myself as what they need. not that i have arrived. not that i will be it tomorrow. i have seen what i am capable of and it is good.

daniel: man… it has been like 3 years since we have gone out to eat. this is really nice.

danielle: wow… you’re right. the last time was august 18th for brunch. that was fun. we should totally do this more often.

emma: (screaming) PACI! PACI! PACI! (that is what she calls a pacifier)

daniel: oh yeah… that’s we we don’t go out often.

anna: aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh. pppbbbbbhhhhhhhh.

(at this point danielle calls upon super powers, only known to mothers, and pulls a paci out of no where immediately calming emma down and manifests a chew toy for anna which curbs an otherwise unavoidable and catastrophic meltdown)

danielle: oohhhh

daniel: what is it?

danielle: oh nothing, you would just laugh at me.

daniel: possible, but what is it?

danielle: there is a little old man over there eating by himself. (this actually combines two things: her misunderstanding of people eating alone and she always thinks little old men are sad for some reason.

daniel: so?

danielle: he looks so sad sitting there all alone. i should go give him a hug or some candy.

this scene plays out almost every time we go anywhere. the reason i bring this up is that danielle was up north this past weekend with the girls… so i was home all by myself. well, tuesday night i called her to see if it was ok to go out to eat at red lobster (yes i asked if it was ok. if you are not married you won’t understand and if you are i don’t have to explain). she said it was ok and asked who i was going with. i told her that i was going by myself and she just laughed at me. the real funny thing is that the host sat me right next to a booth at which was sitting a little old man… by himself. i smiled.

so… since i figure i have a bit of time on my hands and its been a while since i strolled thru my blogdom, i thought i would catch up on my blogfriends. the number of sites that i frequent is immaterial for the point of this discussion. lets say that it is more that 3 and less than 10. (chances are good that if are reading this you are in fact a part of that number… congrats) now, i am at my second stop getting ready to read the 51 comments already posted and danielle walks out into the living room where i am seated comfortable on my big red couch (those of you that have been to my home know how big and red the aforementioned couch is and can imagine how comfortable i was not only in my blogolicious utopia but also in my big red couch)

danielle plots down next to me (also enjoying that bigness and the redness of the couch). i am under the impression that she is doing this to either a) bring great joy to my life by cuddling up next to me as i peruse eworld b) merely enjoy the big red couch that happens to under me or c) some combination of the two. apparently there was a fourth much more devious option that i was unaware of. it was to usurp and cut short my blogadelicness. she without asking or telegraphing her intentions or anything TOOK THE LAPTOP!!!!!!! this is actually a bit of over exaggeration. she, truth be told, slid it over so it was on both of our laps so she could read easier. BUT STILL… I WAS READING THAT!!!!!!

the whole event took about 5 minutes and now i have it back. now that i have had a chance to reminisce, it took me longer to write and you longer to read this than i had to wait to get the laptop back.

i’m done complaining now.

mens softball in and of itself i find to be an oxymoron. i don’t mean to offend any of the professional mens softball players that happen to subscribe ot my blog BUT come on… really. have men come this far that we can’t even play fast pitch softball let alone hardball. gez o petes. this seems to be one more way that we have found to emasculate ourselves. granted, i would be the first to not only strike out at EVERY turn at bat in any thing other than slow pitch mens softball, i would be ‘that guy’ that got relegated to ‘equipment manager’, but at least i could have my dignity.(?) none the less, i digress into accepting the fact that mens slow pitch softball is here to stay… and i am apart of it.

after saying all this i sure hope i don’t completely stink. i am not so sure i would be able to deal with that. i am one of the younger guys on the team at 29 and am a bit concerned with our teams overall abilty to stay awake during the entire game let alone come out victorious. anyway, i am just showing up for the keg party afterword (that last part was a joke… really… no for real it was a joke, i promise).

anyway, this should prove to be fun. i am actually looking forward to it.

as i left i called danielle and told her i was on my home. she informed that she had taken the girls to a park across the street from our house. this made me happy cause i love going to the park with my girls. emma no longer needs to watched like a hawk, and anna just sorta sits there. so i got there and we had a great time until it was time to leave. emma didn’t want to go even when bribed with the ever popular ‘chicken and fries’ from red robin. so, danielle leaves with the car and i push our double stroller home with one screaming kid and one kid that keeps grunting (more on that later as well).

after we got home we noticed some of our neighbors standing outside. we, being the outgoing and forthright people that we are, decided to go and introduce ourselves. we ended up meeting just about all of our neighbors. there are several other 2.5 year olds, yeah. this is going to be good summer for play dates.

after red robin is successfully navigated (emma didn’t eat much which is typical) we decide that we NEED to get some house work done. well… my mom calls and says that she is going to come over and work in our yard. the previous tenants had a dog and left its ‘presents’ all over the yard. my mom filled three big yard bags of the stuff. she was coming back to finish tending to the several flowered areas. this meant that i would most likely end up working outside as well.

i spent about 1.5 hours just in our front yard raking the leaves out of the bushes and the lawn. i don’t think the previous tenants ever raked. there was moss growing under several of the leaf piles.

anyway, all that to say it was a pretty good day. we laughed, cried, yelled, smiled, bled, worked and relaxed.

(sorry no major laughs here… i’m not always funny… just ask danielle)