The Hopewell House

This is D reporting in. H let me kick her off tonight and write a lil bit.  It's been quite a week and when I was driving home today had a realization. I was hit by the Winter Blues.  I wake up at 6am. Walk the dogs in the dark and its 30 degrees outside.  I get ready and drive to work at 9 am and the Sun is coming up. It just so happens to be in my eyes the whole time.  I stay at work and until 4:30 and head home.  The sun is already going down, and I know that when I get home I have and hour till its dark.  This slowly leads into a small comma where all I want to do is stay in, watch TV, and do the same thing over again.
Some people call it seasonal depression, i just call the winter blues.

I called H and confessed that I needed something tonight.  I had a couple ideas of things to do around the house, but we needed to get out.  We gathered our minds and went to one of our favorite restaurants.

So the point.

Get out of your house.... don't let the winter take you down.  We have to remember the things that we love to do and do them.

step two:   The Challenge
When we were in Florida for christmas, I was challenged to spend more time in prayer.  I laughed to myself while driving a 95 nissan truck with no stereo.  I drove it around a lot and I had plenty of time not listening to the radio.  I briefly thought what it would be like to not have a radio in the car.  I thought it would be a good way to be intentional with my time in while in the car.  There are a lot of good things we can think about. That thought quickly faded.
We arrived home and I had not thought much about this challenge.  The next day after we came home, my car had died in the parking lot and I had to jump it with our civic.  I accidentally crossed the wires and nearly killed my battery.  I was really annoyed and by my stupidly and quickly fixed the problem.  I thought I needed a new battery but I let it charge for about 10 mins.  I tried the ignition one more time and luckily it started.  We began our journey home and i turned on my radio... much to my dismay... it did not turn on.... I had to laugh out loud... Its funny when you try to run away from something that you are supposed to do.  I decided to take the challenge.
this next year I am not going to listen to music while I'm driving....
To the extent, i was driving home on monday, and i pulled up Norah Jones on our ipad... after 2 seconds, i gasped and turned it off... I told God, that is how much i loved him.  If you know me, you know that this was a big deal.

well all in all; 1.  Don't let the winter blues take you.  2. Don't run away from something you are supposed to do.