The Bunny That Said, "WOOF!"

Today after work (Starbucks), I was getting my usual Lemonade when a young girl of about two or three walked into the store with her family. I have never seen them in my life. They looked like a nice little family. The little girl held in her hand a stuffed bunny rabbit. (I can only assume a recent gift from the ever generous Easter Bunny) The little girl was holding the bunny before her and saying out loud "Woof, woof!" as if the stuffed bunny were a dog.

I smiled at her and said "Well that has got to be the first bunny I've ever seen that sounds like a dog."

The little girl looked at the bunny and then looked at me. She quickly walked the few paces of space between us and proceeded to hand me the bunny. I politely accepted the bunny and then began moving his arms and legs. Then I did the unthinkable. I made the bunny woof at the little girl.

"Woof, woof!" said the voice of the rabbit I had chosen to use. The little girls eyes widened. She stared at me and then the rabbit. There was no fear to be found on her face. Complete innocence was seen suspended on her pink cheeks and her eyes twinkled at the sound of her very own bunny rabbit "woofing" back at her.

The bunny rabbit being voiced by me asked her how her day was going. It was at this point that I realized maybe all the little girl knew was how to "Woof". So I had the bunny rabbit wave and then gently handed the stuffed "woofing" rabbit back to its owner. She accepted him with open arms.

I told her to hug him and never let him go. A huge smile splashed across her face and she hugged her dear rabbit very close. I told my new friend goodbye and began to leave.

The little girls father, who had been watching the entire time, looked at me, smiled and said, "thank you so much for that moment."

I smiled back and told him "make sure she takes care of the "woofing" rabbit" and walked out the store.

While I was driving home, I was thinking on the episode that had just written itself before me. One of the things that struck me about the scene was the fact that the little girl had enough trust to hand over her prized stuffed "woofing" rabbit over to me. In a matter of seconds she had made up her mind that this strange man standing before her was okay to share her beloved rabbit with.

Now I have always been a big proprietor of children having more faith in people than actual adults do. I believe that children and youth see this world differently than you or I. The trust they have in their parents is mesmerizing. Their ability to start conversations with anyone and everyone is a gift from God above. Children may be the biggest boundary crusher in the world today. You may be able to speak eloquent words and may have the wisdom of Solomon, but the smallest smile or shortest giggle of a child can melt almost anyone.

A few thoughts began to form in my mind after the few moments with the little girl. Can children see straight into the heart of adults? Can they sum up in a matter of seconds whether the person before them means them good or harm? Can they see deeper than those of us who have been scarred by the troubling things of this world that cause us to isolate ourselves and trust no-one?

One theory that I have on this, though flawed it may be, is that perhaps it is because these children have just come from the heart of God. In their innocence they understand who we are supposed to be and who we are. They have faith that people are good. Or they can actually see that someone is not good. (on many occasions I have seen this go either way with children around adults)

Maybe I am not making this read right. As children are just coming into their lives on this planet perhaps a bit of Heaven comes with them, and as we grow older, we seem to forget what that Heaven was. And those on the other end of the spectrum may understand this as well, they may have this gleam in their eye of a bit of understanding as they are on their way out of this world. Perhaps these "older" folk can see the life well lived. I have met many a grandfatherly figure in my life who can sum me up in a few moments time. Almost always these moments are awesome. It comes from wisdom and living and learning and falling and believing and Faith.

There have been a many times where I have seen grandparents and their grandchildren experiencing this thing we call life together. Watch it sometime. There is sort of magical dance that happens there. And those of us in-between and watching from a distance feel like we missed the joke or the moment. We just don't get it.

The truth is I am grateful for children and for those who have come before me and are a little further down the road. They teach me things I have forgotten and yet someday soon I hope to re-capture.

Today was a blessing. I don't think I will quickly forget the "Little Girl and The Bunny That Said, 'Woof!'"

The Vinyl Treasure Of The Week

As some of you know my wife and I recently purchased a turntable. (Doug Hanks album was the first to be spun)



In the past few weeks I have assembled a pretty good collection of Vinyl. And since I frequent the record shop every so often now, spending a little bit of my tip money, I have decided to put up a feature here on a semi-random basis called: The Vinyl Treasure Of The Week.

This weeks treasure is none other than David Bazan's cover of Leonard Cohen's-Hallelujah. I have to say I have been looking for this a while now and on Saturday afternoon at my local record shop, during the national record day sale, I was given this little gem for FREE. Yup, all I had to do was purchase a few things and I was handed a grip of cool singles. Imagine my surprise when flipping through the free vinyl and finding David Bazan staring back up at me. This sight literally made my day.



For those of you who don't know me well, Mr. Bazan and his other band Pedro The Lion were one of my favorite bands in high school. Bazan has always been one to push the limits and make me question a ton of things in my daily living. His "Whole" Ep rocked my world over and over. Over time I have snatched up every little piece of his work I could find. (Recently this has come to include vinyl additions as well, by the way "Curse Your Branches" is a wonderful thought provoking album)And now here in front of me sat this exciting new piece of joy to add to my little collection of Bazan. I was stoked.

Bazan has made a few turns on the table the past few days and I must say I am loving every single minute of it. Here's to many more Vinyl Treasure's of the week. CHEERS!

Books Came...

I am already half of the way through Saint Patrick (Jonathan Rodgers) and can not wait to start the others. Still have a few others to read first though. Cool tidbit, four of these books are actually signed by their authors=freaking cool!



Books in the picture:
1. Andrew Peterson-North! Or Be Eaten & On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (2 total)
2. A. S. Peterson-The Fiddler’s Gun & The Fiddler's Gun Letters
3. Annie Dillard-Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
4. Jonathan Rogers-Saint Patrick
5. Madeline L'Engle-Bright Evening Star: Mystery of the Incarnation

What are you reading???

New Books and Wishlist

Just Purchased and on the way:
1. Andrew Peterson-North! Or Be Eaten & On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (2 total)
2. A. S. Peterson-The Fiddler’s Gun
3. Annie Dillard-Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
4. Jonathan Rogers-Saint Patrick
5. Madeline L'Engle-Bright Evening Star: Mystery of the Incarnation

Wishlist:
1. Matt Mikalatos-Imaginary Jesus
2. N.D. Wilson-100 Cupboards (and the rest of the series)
3. David Michael Slater-The "Book" Series
4. Jonathan Rogers-the Wilderking Trilogy
5. Rick Riordan-Percy Jackson (series)
6. Walter Wangerin Jr-The Book of the Dun Cow & The Book of Sorrows
7. Mrs. Charles Cowman-Streams in the Dessert

Let this seep in...

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:8-11

Most Influential Movies For Each Year of My Life

The Rules: Basically picked movies that I love. The one rule I had was there could be NO franchises, trilogy's, or sequel's to any of the movies I picked.

Here goes-

1983 Strange Brew
1984 The Never Ending Story
1985 Breakfast Club/Clue
1986 Hoosiers
1987 The Princess Bride
1988 Oliver and Company
1989 The Dead Poets Society
1990 The Hunt for Red October (with a salute to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
1991 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
1992 Sneakers/Far and Away/A River Runs through it
1993 Gettysburg/Tombstone
1994 Iron Will/ The Shaw-shank Redemption
1995 Mr. Holland’s Opus
1996 The Rock
1997 Good Will Hunting
1998 Saving Private Ryan
1999 October Sky (not much to pick from...)
2000 Almost Famous/High Fidelity (Top Two Movies of All Time!)
2001 Moulin Rouge
2002 We Were Soldiers
2003 Love Actually
2004 The Life Aquatic
2005 The Family Stone
2006 Little Miss Sunshine/V for Vendetta
2007 Into the Wild/Dan in Real Life/Juno
2008 Kung Fu Panda (honestly really wasn’t much to pick from)
2009 Up

An added Bonus

Favorite Directors(Top 3):

1. Cameron Crowe
2. Wes Anderson
3. Baz Luhrmann

Faith Revealed

Every single day we try and solidify our Faith in God, and the very next day He shatters everything we thought we knew and understood about Him. O how He reveals in bits and causes our Faith to do the splitz. (I like it this way though, if I could figure Him out, why would I ever need Him?)