There are lots of reasons for that -- most notably the ones who run around our house in Disney movie-themed pajamas every night.

We also spent a good amount of time working on Stephanie’s photography business.

But the new year is always a fun time to reflect on what a year has taught me, and share that with you, for whatever it’s worth. So, you  might actually see a few posts from me over the next few days. They are likely to be hyper-introspective and even soppy, so… consider yourself warned.

Today, I’m sharing one of my favorite songs of 2011.

It wasn’t new in 2011, and it may or may not be familiar to you.

The song is Dancing In The Minefields by Andrew Peterson.

I’ve actually been enjoying this song, along with most of Andrew Peterson’s, for years now.

But this year, for whatever reason, it seemed especially profound and inspiring to me.

The lyrics are pretty straightforward and probably not too much of a stretch for most folks (hear the song and read the lyrics below): life is full of landmines.

Fundamentally, the landmines are all the effects of the Fall of man: pain, suffering, illness, disappointment, discouragement…

That imagery takes a different shape for each person from day to day. But at the end of the day, we’re ALL living in a minefield, and we never know when the next one is going to blow up in our face.

The song pretty much assumes that we don’t need to be convinced of this.

But what I love about it is the picture he paints of marriage being about DANCING in the minefields.

That picture implies so much to me.

It’s not about trying to avoid the landmines.

It’s not about mourning how hopeless the situation appears.

It’s about holding hands and dancing through the ridiculous situation -- taking every little excuse to celebrate and not getting stuck for too long when there’s an explosion.

I also love how the song pretty much just assumes that we all know that marriage is hard:

It was harder than we dreamed but I believe that’s what the promise is for.

What promise?

And how is this possible?

Where is the motivation to keep going when there are so dang many setbacks every day/week/month/year?

The last verse explains it:

‘Cause we bear the light of the Son of Man
So there’s nothing left to fear
So I’ll walk with you in the shadowlands
Till the shadows disappear

‘Cause He promised not to leave us
And His promises are true
So in the face of all this chaos, baby,
I can dance with you

There it is: we can hold hands and dance through the minefields because we have hope in the sovereign, good God who we’re trusting to hold it all together.

And in that way, marriage is celebration of the Gospel.

I’m not sure I can come up with the right words to explain how special that picture is to me.

But hopefully the song speaks for itself.

Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtTa81LyuQM

(if you are reading this on the blog home page, lyrics are after the jump)

I was nineteen, you were twenty-one
The year we got engaged
Everyone said we were much too young
But we did it anyway

We bought our rings for forty each
From a pawn shop down the road
We made our vows and took the leap
Now fifteen years ago

We went dancing in the minefields
We went sailing in the storm
And it was harder than we dreamed
But I believe that’s what the promise is for

“I do” are the two most famous last words
The beginning of the end
But to lose your life for another I’ve heard
Is a good place to begin
‘Cause the only way to find your life
Is to lay your own life down
And I believe it’s an easy price
For the life that we have found

And we’re dancing in the minefields
We’re sailing in the storm
This is harder than we dreamed
But I believe that’s what the promise is for

So when I lose my way, find me
When I loose love’s chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith, till the end of all my days
When I forget my name, remind me

‘Cause we bear the light of the Son of Man
So there’s nothing left to fear
So I’ll walk with you in the shadowlands
Till the shadows disappear

‘Cause he promised not to leave us
And his promises are true
So in the face of all this chaos, baby,
I can dance with you

These two are on track to put me in an empty grave.

But man… what a life it will have been!

Last year, I attempted to write some thoughts to capture how I feel about my son, but I realized it’s just about impossible.

So this year, you get 7 minutes of Josiah telling you all about his favorite songs, shows, toys, sports…. oh, and the biggie: does he plan to get married.

This video is PURE Josiah.

Enjoy!

I’m not interested in boasting about myself or comparing my life with yours.

I just have to point out how awesome our friends and family have been this week.

First of all, I need to brag on my wife:

Kharis turned 1 last week, and Steph pulled out ALL the stops for her birthday party. I watched her spend hours doing research, shopping for ideas, cutting out Mini Mouse ears and bows, trying to find the right fonts and colors, making gift bags, ceiling decorations, cupcake holders, party food…

She poured herself into making sure that Kharis had a birthday to remember.

And here’s what it looked like in the end:

Steph: you rock.

But I also need to brag on Steph’s sister, “Aunt Addy”, who took a break from law school and her summer internship and flew all the way from Oklahoma just to spend 2 days helping us celebrate.

Oh, and did you see the cake she made? That was some cake mix, vanilla icing, vanilla fondant, and food coloring before she got ahold of it!

“Aunt Addy”: you rock too.

When “Aunt Katie” and “Uncle Anthony” (and honorary “Aunt ‘Lisha”) pulled into the driveway, Josiah was hiding in his room with the door shut, because he was freaked out by all the people in our living room. But they walked right through the crowd, found him, gave him a new bat and ball and hat, and brightened his day right on up…

And then there’s Steph’s parents and grandparents who drove down from Virginia…. in her mom’s case, that was after working all night.

Or our friends who postponed a trip to the beach for a couple of hours to celebrate with us.

Or our friends who found time between raising twin babies, selling their home, and getting a graduate degree to come spend a few hours with us.

Or our friends who manage to pull off a 4-jobs, 2-kids lifestyle but still made time to come celebrate with us.

Or my mom who brought enough vegetables to feed a soccer team and a big carton of home-made salsa.

I was overwhelmed by all the grace our friends showed us this weekend.

To everyone who made time to come help us celebrate our daughter (and the end of a year with a toddler AND a baby under one roof):

Thank you so much.

You rock.

]]> http://www.therieslands.com/2011/08/03/can-i-brag-for-a-minute/feed/ 3 http://www.therieslands.com/2011/06/01/just-for-fun/ http://www.therieslands.com/2011/06/01/just-for-fun/#comments Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:53:18 +0000 Zack http://www.therieslands.com/?p=5344 It’s been a few weeks since we posted anything.

There are lots of reasons for that, and I suppose I’ll eventually make the time to catch the world up on what’s been going on in our lives.

But in the meantime, here’s the first photo from the 2011 Riesland Summer Vacation.

Oh, and here’s the shameless plug: If you want photos like this all over your walls, you should hire my wife!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABDEpUOpsrQ

Every day he makes me smile.

Most days, he makes me laugh out loud.

When my dad gave a speech at my wedding, he said “I feel like I won the lottery.”

I think I will probably say the same thing every chance I get when it comes to both of my babies.

But Josiah recently entered a new stage…

I suppose we could call it the “I just realized that I can learn more about the world by asking questions” phase.

Or maybe IJRTICLMATWBAQ for short.

Here is the conversation we had over breakfast Saturday:

J: What’s that?!!?

Me: I don’t know. What is it?

J: It’s peanut butter!

Me: That’s right!

J: What kind?

Me: What kind of peanut butter?

J: Yeah! What kind?!?

Me: I don’t know. You tell me.

J: I don’t know either!

Me: It’s creamy peanut butter.

J: What kind?

Me: Um… it’s just creamy.

J: What kind?

Me: CREAMY! Creamy peanut butter. Made from peanuts.

J: Peanut butter is made from peanuts!

Me: Yep.

J: What kind….

If Stephanie or look totally exhausted next time you see us, it’s because we have 100 conversations like that every day.

It’s amazing to watch Josiah grow up right before our eyes and to see those little wheels in his head spinning as he pieces together his understanding of the universe.

But man…. the kid has a LOT of questions.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyt3tIvVqxQ

Josiah and I had some fun while Steph and Kharis played with the camera:

Like any good ‘generation Y’ parents, we captured the moment.

Chewing on her bib.... we figured that since she tries to eat everything, then real food would be a breeze.

Already giving me a 'dad, put the camera away' look

First impression: What the!?!?

This is NOT milk!

Yep, spit it out.

Or, if you prefer these fancy new “motion” pictures:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlJxJYZSp8M

Worry not though, friends. She’s eating like a champ now!

The theory was: most babies are hard work, and Josiah was the happiest, easiest baby we’d ever seen, so our next one was going to be payback.

Nope.

This is my daughter :

(oh, and feel free to start trying to sweet-talk / bribe my wife into taking some pictures for you)

Or “Why I Usually Don’t Answer The Phone When I’m Home”

Or “Why I’m Happy To Work A 12-Hour Day Today”

You get the idea…