Fuzzy

It’s fascinating to watch all the ways that different family traditions can meld together in a marriage.

Are you a Christmas morning or a Christmas Eve kind of family when it comes to opening the presents? Is it positively fundamental to your functioning that everybody sits down at one time for the family meal every night, or did you grow up in a house where things were a little more casual? We call these OYO meals at our house (On Your Own). What sports teams will you root for? There are the religious questions, like, “could a Braves fan possibly marry a Mets fan?”

Then, there are things like fuzzy dice.

Fuzzy dice made their first known appearance in my in-laws’ family when my then 16-year-old future wife got her first car. They awaited her patiently, gently swaying in the breeze, their happy fuzziness bringing life to her very first rear-view mirror. Seeing the comedy, but also mortified at the prospect of social ostracism that the teen world might offer to any fuzzy dice-bearer, she took them down -- but they wouldn’t go away that easily.

They’ve since made the rounds. When least expected, the fuzzy dice have surprised the driving experiences of her brother, father, mother, and now -- your truly.

Understand, there are rules on the fuzzy dice. First, the dice must always simply appear in the family member‘s vehicle, as if delivered by magical fuzzy-dice elves. No one should ever be caught red and fuzzy dice-handed, for such would show a true lack of dice-delivery skill.

Secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, there must be ever-increasing levels of fuzzy dice “tacky quotient.” The first dice were plain white, standard issue. Since then, there have been many variations on the concept, including a set of light-up dice that plug into the cigarette lighter (our contribution, and we’re very proud) and the latest tiger-striped, color-coordinated dice that appeared in both our vehicles this past Thanksgiving.

Holly’s dad is the current vehicle dice champ, having infiltrated our garage while the whole family visited over Turkey Day. Whilst we all slumbered in a turkey, dressing and football stupor, he was hard at work. Our gold sedan received a lovely set of dice --- black, with white dots, and gold tiger stripes. They were at once dashing and gallant, adding a sporty flair and jungle edge to our otherwise average family car.

Meanwhile, our good ol’ red Cherokee received an upgrade as well --- dice that matched its mate‘s, only the stripes on these were red instead of gold. Rule 3: never, ever let the colors on your fuzzy dice clash with your ride’s paint job. That’s just wrong.

But this year I have added a fourth rule that may change the face of fuzzy dicing in our family forever. Nobody’s ever taken this step. I’ve kept them up.

That’s right, every day your preacher drives a jeep with red, tiger-striped fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view. I know you must be proud.

I had actually taken them down for a while (I mean, that’s just what you’re supposed to do), but then when giving the jeep a post-Christmas clean up, I found them in the backseat floorboard and just found myself compelled to restore their dignity.

Here’s why: they make me happy. I read an article about happiness this week that said “research tells us” that a person’s happiness is directly related to the number and depth of significant relationships that they have in their lives.

Those dice remind me of the importance of family, the incredible importance of silliness, and that there are people out there who’ve known me for a long time, who love me, and who understand me as the guy whose name didn’t always start with “Rev.”
They remind me not to take myself too seriously, which is something that happens all too easily. In some odd, quirky, yes -- tacky way, they give me just a little bit of perspective. Perspective is priceless.

It might make more sense for a Christian to have a cross hanging from the rear-view, or maybe to build one of those flower, rosary and Mary statue mini-shrines that you sometimes see on the dashboards of cars. I’m always envious of the artistic talent of the driver, though I must admit that it seems the way something that big obscures your line of sight might actually offer more danger than protection.

I like the dice. They sort of remind me of all I don’t know -- when the dice are rolled, nobody knows how they’ll land. They remind me to take chances, follow God’s lead and know that he runs the show. They’re a little reminder of the things that don’t change no matter how random life might sometimes seem. Relationships -- family -- God -- all the good stuff.

And they’re fabulously, beautifully, ridiculous. Now that’s what I call a family tradition.

Grace & Peace,
Adam

LIFE AT SOTH:

Welcome to new members Kevin, Denise, Madeline and Sam Wall! They moved to Douglasville in the last several months and have decided to make SOTH their new church home. We are honored to count them among our number. Sunday was truly another great day in worship!

Worship this Week: Our worship this Sunday, at both 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. will honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His ministry is a testimony to the work that God can do when Christians feel a real depth of calling and are willing to act, no matter what the cost.

Worship Next Week: Next week, January 22, will begin our discipleship series for the new year, “Turn It Over.” We will play on the visual theme of a green leaf, vibrant and growing --- as we’re all encouraged to turn over a new leaf of faith in 2006. Look for a direct mailer to the community and for new roadside banners announcing the good news of a fresh start to all who pass by.

Wednesday Nights: Next Wednesday night, January 18th, we’ll have our community meal together, beginning at 6:30, followed by a presentation of the John Wesley sites that Adam and Holly traveled to on their trip to England with the North Georgia Conference. Yep, it’s a good ol’ fashioned travel slideshow, so everybody come on out and be a part.

Beginning on Wednesday night, February 1, we’ll begin a new book study that follows our “turn it over” theme for the new year. The book, Seismic Shifts, will be available for order beginning this Sunday. It’s all about the seemingly little, but very significant changes that we can make in our lives that draw us much deeper into our walk with God.

New Ministry Forming: SOTH is exploring how we might begin an after-school childcare program for families with middle-school children in our community. We’ll have an informational session for those who might want to get involved --- next Tuesday night, January 17th -- 7:00 PM at “The Ranch” conference room.

Our Prayers for Baby Noor: Thanks be to God for the first hurdle of surgery that Baby Noor has cleared. All reports are that the surgery was very successful and that she faired well. May our thoughts and prayers continue to support this wonderful little girl and her family. For more information on all the ways that we will continue to be in mission and outreach, go to www.lifeover.org