A Monumental Day

Today is a monumental day, a milestone day in the Theule house. My oldest son, Noah, is graduating from high school.

Wow. Thirteen years of education has come to a close. He’ll be moving on to college, but this really is the first step out from under mom and dad. High school is finished. College is coming. He’ll be 18 soon.

The fact that he’ll be staying home for another year makes me smile. As stressful and odd this last year has been, I’m looking forward to having him home during his first year of college. He’s going to attend Grand Rapids Community College for one year before moving on to get his Bachelor’s in Physics.

A few weeks ago I lamented about his jar of marbles being almost empty (Marbles and Weekends), and now I take joy in the additional year of marbles he’s thrown back in the jar.

High school is finished.

He is an adult.

He is my son.

I’m proud of him.

Noah Theule is an incredible young man. He is kind. He is funny. He loves God and knows he is saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

What does his future hold? I don’t know. He doesn’t know. But I take comfort in the knowledge our God has a plan for him.

Noah Theule. Here’s to you! Congratulations on your graduation from South Christian High School. Your mom and I are proud of you. We love you.

***Irony Alert!!!! As I finished up this post, Harry Chapin came on Pandora singing “Cat’s In The Cradle”. Wow.

I Have A Confession To Make

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What in the world would I possibly want to confess on a blog? Deep dark secrets shouldn’t be confessed in public. Should they?

Well. Here it goes.

I cheated. I cheated on all my friends and acquaintances who are non-fiction writers.

I read a novel.

I’ll let this sink in for a minute…

Okay. Now that you’ve hopefully gotten past the initial shock, let’s discuss what led me astray.

I was bullied. A group of friends ganged up on me and insisted I leave the comfort of my non-fiction world. They tempted me with words like “fantasy”, “creativity”, “growth”, and “relaxation”.

It took them a while. But after months of pushing I finally gave in to their sweet temptations.

“I’ll just try it once”, I said to myself. “I won’t get hooked.” “I’ll be able to stop.”

I’m still clinging to those words. But it isn’t easy. Now that I finished one, I’m finding so many others to try.

I must stay strong.

The novel I read was recommended by numerous people. Is it possible they conspired against me and all recommended the same book?

What book?

11/22/63 by Stephen King

I couldn’t put it down. Seriously.

This past Saturday was dreary and rainy. I had the day off. I don’t think I ever left the house. I didn’t even turn on the baseball game.

I read the last 400 or so pages in one sitting. I’m not even sure if my family was home. They must have been. Someone must have taken the dog out at some point, right?

All kidding aside, it was great to get out of my comfort zone and read for pleasure.

11/22/63 is a huge book. If you’re thinking about reading it, and I highly recommend you do, don’t let the size get in the way. It’s a fast read. It keeps your attention. It also makes you think.

While it isn’t a horror novel, as many would expect from King, it does make you pay attention and it may cause some issues with your dreams at night. Nothing scary, but not your normal dream process either.

One thing that attracted me to this particular novel is the historical aspect. It is based on a specific event in U.S. history. The Kennedy Assassination.

I’m very much into presidential history. Not too long from now I’ll have read at least one biography for every president.

So there it is.

I cheated.

If you’re like me, and I know a large majority of you reading this have similar interests to mine, I recommend it’s time for you to cheat too.

Go ahead. You can do it. Trust me.

What novels have you recently read that you’d recommend? Make sure you tell us why you liked it!

What I learned from NOT writing my first book. Yet.

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During the summer of 2014 I was convinced I was going to write a book. My first book. I had a topic, and I had ideas pouring out of my head. The passion to write a book was oozing out of me. I even made an announcement right here on my blog. “I’m Writing A Book” July 2014

I was gung-ho. I was all in. The ideas pouring out of my head were pure gold!

And then a few weeks passed. And a few more. And a few more.

I was still committed to writing the book. I even made it my “Push Goal” in January when I went through a program to help me determine and define my goals for 2015.

I took my notes from the previous six months and created an outline for the book. I divided the notes into the appropriate sections.

My trusty journal was with me every day so I could capture ideas and thoughts and quotes for the book.

But there was one problem.

The passion was gone.

Did I still want to write the book? You bet! This is something I’ve dreamed of for a couple of years. “I’m going to write a book!”

I tried. I really did. I sat down with my notes and laptop a few times. But I couldn’t move forward.

Without the passion for the topic, I was paralyzed. I couldn’t move forward. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t continue.

So a few weeks ago I decided to stop. I told some friends. I told my wife. I told 2,200 friends in a closed Facebook group who I’ve been interacting with for almost two years.

Do you know what happened? Everyone who commented, and everyone I spoke with, including my wife, congratulated me for being able to set it aside. They know how badly I want to write. They know writing and speaking is what I’m supposed to be doing. They also knew something I didn’t. They knew setting aside the book would help me write more. They knew setting aside the book would help me feel free to be the person I need to be.

You see, the book I’m NOT writing is about encouragement. I’m passionate about pouring into others. The pressure I put on myself to write the book stopped me from being the encourager I want to be.

I was trying to write a book about encouragement, but I wasn’t encouraging anyone. Including myself.

Since setting the book aside I’ve been able to return to the activities that originally spurred the idea of writing the book.

I’ve talked to more people on the phone. I’ve talked to more people face-to-face. I’ve been intentional about touching base with people in real life and online.

I’m happier. I’m not stressed every time I do something on my day off not related to writing the book.

And one other thing has happened. I’ve written notes for the book in my journal almost every day.

So while I’m no longer writing the book, I’m making progress on writing the book. I can’t wait for you to read it. Eventually.

Have you ever set aside a project and reaped incredible rewards? Did you eventually go back and complete the project?