Of quality time with my daughter.

Children grow up too fast.  I blinked and my baby is 13, soon to be 14.  So this afternoon when she wanted to go work on her soccer skills and her younger sister didn't want to walk with her to the local pitch (that's soccer vernacular for field), I said I'd go and surprisingly, she didn't protest.

Rather than walk to the school, I choose to take her down to campus an we played on one of the campus rec fields.  It was a beautiful hour.  We spent the time passing, working on shots on goal and corner kicks.  Afterward she wanted to get a smoothie from Juice Stop...so that's what we did.

She probably didn't notice but I loved every minute of it.  I know these moments are fleeting, the time she will want to spend with me is rapidly being replaced by the time she wants to spend with her friends.   This is a lesson that I wish I would have learned earlier.  Time with your little ones is very precious!

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

of a swish!

I love basketball!  I still remember my first basket on a 10' hoop.  It was during the time out of my dad's church basketball games.  I ran out onto the court and heaved, more than shot, the ball at the basket.  Miraculously it went!  I was six or seven at the time.  I'm nearly forty and still love to play the game and put the ball thru the hoop!

Tonight I had the chance to play with some guys from church.  It's a good group of guys, out for some fun and exercise, not trying to earn a contract with a NBA team or anything.  The most arguing we do is who's ball it is..."it was off me"..."no, I touched it last"..."no, it's your ball."  I like to think that my skills haven't diminished much, but physically I know I'm not the same.  Can't run as fast, jump as high, get around that young guy guarding me, but my brain still thinks I can, body just won't cooperate.

For me, there are not many things better than a swish that come off a shot that just feels good the moment you release it.  You catch the ball in rhythm, everything is in sync, your knees are bent, shoulders slightly forward, the ball does not dip before you raise it up.  Your shooting elbow forms a 90* angle, ball on your finger tips, your opposite hand is just guiding the ball.  Your focus is on the rim.  For some that is the front, other just over the front and for me it is the back of the rim. You raise up, shooting the ball at the apex of your jump, shooting arm extended, holding your follow thru for a second longer than feels normal.  And as soon as you release the ball, you know it is going in.  Your eyes stay focused on your target waiting to be rewarded with a SWISH and the accompanying sound of the swish from the net!
 

Had one of those shots tonight.  It was beautiful.  I have a personal superstition...never leave the gym on a miss.  Tonight, my perfect shot was the last shot I took, it went in, so I was good to go home.  (No it was not the game winner, but we did win the game.)

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

Of dance.

Let me be clear, I can't dance.  I try, but I have no rhythm.  Ask Wendy, I have a difficult time clapping in sync at concerts, games, etc...  She loves me anyway!  I enjoy trying to dance AND I especially like embarrassing my daughters with my dancing abilities (inabilities).

So it was a beautiful sight to me this morning to see the paper boy (looked like he was at least a high schooler, he may have even been in college) toss a paper onto a porch and then dance his way back to his car.  Granted it was 4:50am and there weren't many people out but he was dancing!  As the cliche goes "dance like no one is watching."

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

Of a drop of sweat, some encouraging words, the start of a final chapter & safety.

Another multiple beautiful moments day!

I've been working out seriously for a year and half...I can probably count on one hand the number of times that I've missed a workout.  For me one of the beautiful rewards of a good workout is sweat!  I love to feel a bead sweat start at the top of my forehead, travel down to the tip of my nose and drip off!

The beautiful reward of hard work! (it's a sweat droplet...Wendy said it looked like a spider.)

At the end of the workout, my partner and I were doing plank walk-outs.  My partners said we're going to do them across the gym.  I'm think end-to-end, thankfully it was just side-to-side!  Here is a video of a plank walkout...you should try it!

 

The walkouts started to get tough about half-way through, that's when my partner, who must have been able to read my mind, started to encourage me.  "We're half-way there!"  "Keep going!"  "Almost there"  "Don't quit!"  "You can do it!"  Those were the words that I need to hear and because of it I was able to push myself further than I could have alone!  There is much beauty to be found in helping someone, especially when they are ready to quit, ready to give up on themselves, because it's tough.  Or because it hurts.  Take time to offer encouraging words to someone, you never know, it might just make ALL of the difference!

Today was beautiful because of the start of the end.  Today was Simon's first day of the last year of preschool!  

He's getting so big!

It's hard to let go of this chapter in my life, but transitions open the doors for new beautiful moments.  I love that he still comes running and yelling "DADDEEEEEEEEE" when I walk in the door from work!  There aren't too many moments that are more beautiful than that!

Finally, the most beautiful part of the day is not this picture:

oops!

but that the occupants of our car and the other car were not hurt!  

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

Of a great end too!

The day ended beautifully too!  Not only was I able to enjoy this beautiful Nebraska sunset, but I also got to play a quick nine...the game itself was hit and miss...I'd hit the ball and miss my target:-)

But every now and then everything comes together for the perfect swing. Tonight it was the last swing of the night. I had a ball that got scuffed when it hit the cart path earlier so I decided to donate it to the range. I picked out my target, went through my pre-shot routine, told myself to clear my mind and just swing. I took the club back nice and easy, relaxed, soft hand, started my down swing with my feet, cleared my hit, lagged the club head, turned my wrists over as I released the club continued turning thru impact (with all of those swing thoughts, no wonder golf is so difficult!)...and what'd you know the ball flew true. carried the 250 sign and got grabbed by the trees at the back of Mahoney Golf Course's driving range! When a golf swing all comes together it is a beautiful thing!

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

of a great start!

A beautiful start to the day!  This was my treat on the way to bball.

Have a beautiful day!

of the imagination of children.

It's Sunday, I go to church on Sunday.  I thought for sure I would write about the beauty of the Lord's Supper, but a couple of things happened that captured my heart today.  Today I was taken with the innocence and beauty of the imagination of children.

This morning as I'm reading the paper, Simon comes up to me and tells me he is making a bandana.  He's really in to Jake & the Neverland Pirates.  So he brings me a a couple of pieces of paper that he had cut into strips asking for some tape to turn it into a bandana.  I told him it was a little short so he went and got another strip.  We taped it together and I put it on him and he goes running off ready to play.  Soon after he designated me to be Capt. Hook! And we played and sword fought for a while.

The flash was a little too bright for him!

Later at church, during the passing of the Lord's Supper, as I'm contemplating the Lord's Atonement, I look over and see Wendy and Maddie laughing.  Wendy leans in and whisper's "Whitney just clinked cups with Maddie."  Maddie thought she was trying to hand her the little cup then she just smiled and looked at Maddie and clinked the cups. It was hilarious.

Today my day was made beautiful by the pure imagination of my children!

What made your day beautiful?