Jumpers Stand By

I have never liked the idea of blogs. Who would have a running narrative about themselves on the internet, and who would be dumb enough to read it? But I still don’t know what Tumblr is and whenever someone says “blog-o-sphere” I want to punch them in the face, so what do I know right?

When Jamie told me she was making a blog she approached it from a therapeutic standpoint as a journal. I am all for journals, but it took a lot of reflection on my part to figure out what to write. I attempt to be a man of few words, and I am deliberate in their choosing. So with that being said, I am jumping in on this experiment and I will contribute to our metaphorical family diary, left open on the night stand with a web cam pointed at it.

“Life as we live it”

Life, like all the things contained within it, can be viewed through many different lenses, from many different angles. Jamie is my other half, bound by law in front of God. She is the love of my life and one of the greatest things to ever happen to me. Even though this life is shared by us and our wonderful children, we perceive things differently. Even when we agree, we will see it differently to some degree. Through this Blog I hope to be the Yang to her Yin.

To steal a line from Christian author Stu Weber, “equality does not mean sameness”. In other words, while Jamie is my equal partner in this voyage of life, we have different roles. Oh yes, I believe in God, morals, and <gasp> gender roles too! Jamie is the nurturer, the teacher, and the wisdom at home. I on the other hand am the harbinger, the defender, the laborer away.   

Psalms 144: 1 Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.

Jamie and I have been apart for almost 7 months, I write my first blog post from Bagram, Afghanistan. I am hunched over on my bunk, one of about 200 bunk beds crammed into a circus tent, with no air conditioning. I will be home very soon, but the respite will be short before I head off again. For the next year this blog will be one life lived mostly in two different places, until we can be together again next summer, living an entirely new experience in Europe.

On Jamie’s plane the seatbelt light is on, but on my plane jumpers are in the door, waiting on the green light to jump…