If you follow me on Twitter or if you’re my friend on Facebook you likely know I’m a property manager for a few rentals in Tallahassee. You probably know that because I’m often complaining about how the job seems to interrupt my life at seemingly the most inoppertune times. Back in November the job tried to interrupt me again, except I wasn’t in the state.
Life
Blog posts chronicling my continuing adventures. Sometimes I like to write about what’s going on in my life.
Oh to have better words, higher thoughts, purer motives, stronger restraint, fiercer courage, enduring peace, tireless hope & requited love.
@jaledwith
Andrew Ledwith
The future is full of possibilities and opportunities. The question becomes, how will I get where I’d like to go? How do you live a life on purpose? Is that even possible? What will I have to sacrifice? What am I willing to endure?
Who will come with me?
Over the past two months my long-time friends Rob and Shaun each have gotten engaged. Shaun and I met in ’06 not long before he became a Christian. I met his fiancée Sara her freshman year at FSU while I was helping to lead a guy’s freshman Bible study. Rob I’ve known since I arrived in Tallahassee in ’02. He has been a constant source of encouragement and entertainment to me. I’m sad to say I don’t know his fiancée Jenna well but I hope that changes in the future. Congratulations to each of you!
But here on my blog I always find a way to turn someone else’s big news into something about me. It’s just the way I roll.
Hear me out; I’m not just being narcissistic. Over the past three and a half years I’ve watched four of my then-roommates — Kyle, JD, Joe and Aaron — get engaged while I lived with them. As you might imagine, this has become a bit of a running joke amongst my friends. New roommates are warned that it’s simply a consequence of living with me, that they don’t stand a chance. I distinctly remember Aaron scoffing at the notion when he moved in. Ha! Pwned. (And he’s not complaining.)
Today I gave a presentation at a transportation demand management symposium on the basics of how to create a Facebook page for their program. Overall I didn’t think it went too badly. It did end up being a lot shorter than I anticipated (I left a lot of time for questions and my listeners didn’t have many), but I said what I came to say. As someone who does a good bit of public speaking in a number of settings I can tell you that that’s really the best result possible, when you leave satisfied with your effort.
But I’m also someone who craves the genuine approval of others. Disapproval, dismissal, and token praise have been like death to me in the past. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve been difficult to get to know all through my life. I don’t want to let you know the real me because that might mean you’d reject me.
As with most conferences there were evaluation forms to be filled out at the end of our time together. I was sitting at the registration desk waiting for the final session to begin when my eye spotted the two stacks of completed evaluations. I couldn’t help myself. I had to know what people thought of my presentation.
I arrived in Black Mountain, North Carolina late Friday night. I had spent most of my day in the car; the drive from Tallahassee is roughly eight and a half hours. Driving long distances always takes a lot out of me. My eyes were heavy as I unloaded and lugged my things up to the motel room on the second floor.
I had to make two trips to get everything upstairs. First I brought up the suit I planned to wear to the wedding which I had hanging up in the back seat. Once it was in the room I went back down for my suitcase and messenger bag. As I walked back up I noticed that someone had hung some of their laundry over the outdoor railing. Strange. I proceeded to my room where I crashed to sleep.
This was supposed to be a slow, relaxing week. I was going to recoup from my trip to Austin and get to some writing I’d been excited about for weeks. Instead I’ve had my time and attention focused squarely on my home, which was robbed on Monday while my roommates and I were at work.
Strangely, my laptop was not stolen even though it was sitting in plain sight on my desk. At first I thought the burglar simply hadn’t managed to get to my room before something spooked him, but yesterday I started to notice some items that seem to be missing. It’s frustrating, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. My roommate Zack had the most taken, including his laptop. Tyler lost a watch and some fancy cufflinks.
It’s an unnerving experience. I’m not even that angry about losing my things (though had my laptop been stolen that wouldn’t be true). I’m more upset about my privacy being invaded and my discretionary time being taken. And while so far I’ve kept my cool I know this is the sort of thing that can bring out the worst in me.
I’ve been reading Isaiah this month. This morning I was in chapter 45. Verse 7 says:
I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.
You read that right. God creates calamity. He said so Himself. (Now, I’d hardly call this ordeal a calamity, but you get the idea.) It’s comforting to know that even this is under His sovereign control.
You can take a look at a few more photos here.
I’d had enough. Without any set destination, I got in my car and started to drive.
Back in March I made the decision to take the first Monday and Tuesday of May off from work so I could attend a Florida Navigators regional staff meeting. They hold a few of them throughout the course of any given year, but I hadn’t been to one since 2008. My original plan was to drive to St. Petersburg after church on Sunday and make it into town in time for dinner with the staff. But I didn’t follow through with that plan, at least not those travel plans.
I had my phone off all weekend while I was out of town on a retreat with the FSU Navigators. When I turned my phone back on I found that I had received the above image in a text from my cousin Ryan. Ryan is just a couple months younger than I am. He lives out in California with his wife Julie. He had found an old stack of birthday cards and postcards that he’d never thrown out. He said this one was by far the best find. I’m not sure, but I think I was 5 when I dressed up as Batman for Halloween (I was really into the Adam West version). It’s pretty clear my mom wrote the message body and address, while I penned the greeting and signed my name.
I love stuff like this. It makes me smile to think of how much trouble I probably had forming those fourteen letters and the sense of accomplishment I must have felt when I sent my cousin a letter all by myself, just like a big person.
Have you ever come across something from your childhood out of the clear blue that made you smile?
Rob likes costume parties. Actually, he likes dressing up no matter the occasion.
