What can i say here? this morning i woke up 1 and a half hours before my alarm was to go off- thinking “what ‘d i get myself into?” and then ” oh well its here…” so i drank a press ate a small bowl of applejacks then suited up in to Captain Redbeard. Sarahs up and real happy- not so much about me jumping into freezing waters, but happy theres EMTs there on standby with an ambulance running. im so excited that pulling out of our driveway i jerk the wheel too soon and get it stuck in the 2ft snowbank edging our curb. all this snow and still i haven’t purchased a shovel, so rather than spend who knows how long rocking the car- Sarahs yelling ” go get the rake!” So in looking back, i smile. and laugh! life presents another unexpected picture of oneself , that you could of never really thought up: Saturday morning, your driving down an indiana road and spot a bare-chest pirate in knee-high snow raking it out from beneath a station wagon! anyway, we made it to the lake. and we were so thankful for all of our friends that came out for support, Thank you ALL! the event began by us all reciting the special olympis motto, then they had a guy with an Olympic torch lead us all -plungers – to the hole. So he passed off the torch to someone down at the hole, and HE JUMPED! then another , and another – before long it was me… so i charged and jumped-with my pirate sword held high in the air & as i leaped, my paper pirate hat from LJS fell over my eyes, and a blind decent into freezing wet needles & pins. but honestly that part wasn’t all that bad compared to getting out of the water. my boots laces were covered in ice immediately – later sarah said my beard was too. Definitely though for me, the most discomforting part is from your digits- your toes and fingers. it took me so long to untie my double-knotted boots, and even putting on wool sock was quite a battle. i came out of the men’s room damp, however in dry clothes and around the corner was many more familiar faces, Liz and Allison made it too. they watched the highlights on our video camera. The after-party was down the street where there was chili, nachos, karaoke, and awards. I was involved in all of them. well, not the karaoke. but as far as costumes go- between a cowboy, couple guys dressed like the blues bros., and the butterfly lady, the public liked Captain Redbeard the best! AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!! and so it was that i was presented with best costume award. today was a new and fun experience for me, but it wouldn’t have been half of grand a time that it was had it been without my wife and friends there with me. Thank You LORD for all the amazing, creative, and meaningful ways You share love.
