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Meridee’s Monday

2 CommentsMarch 8, 2010

My letter comes to you a little late today because I needed to spend the first part of my morning watching after my Nephew Joshua while Jannell had her weekly pregnancy visit. Jennifer was planning to meet up with Jannell , who is two weeks away from having Joshua’s little brother, but Hutch isn’t feeling well so she needed to keep him quarantined at home. At 2:30am this morning Hutch woke up with a tummy-ache and ran into our bedroom to tell us he felt like he was going to throw up. He was right. I was awakened to the sound and smell of Hutch’s dinner splattering onto our bed and him crying in the dark. Jennifer got him cleaned up and we changed the sheets, all the while trying not to throw up ourselves. It was a fitting end to our week…

On Friday evening, after what had been a very tiring and stressful seven days for several reasons, Jennifer and I and the kids met our new friends, the Harpers, at Mellow Mushroom for supper. Mellow Mushroom is Hutch’s favorite pizza place but he decided to eat salad and yogurt instead. We should have known something was fishy. When we got home we got a text message from Ryan Simmons of the band Addison Road. They are borrowing our RV/Bus for their tour with Sanctus Real. It worked out really well, or so we thought, since we’re off the road until Easter and don’t currently need it. Ryan’s text was short but informative…

“Call me. 911. RV engulfed in flames.”

I smiled when I saw the text knowing that it was a joke. The guys had been having some minor mechanical issues earlier in the week and we’d been joking about how that always seems to happens to them. Ryan did a really good job of keeping the prank going when I called him, acting somber and trying to convince me that the text was true. I hung up and called Brandon, their driver, just to be sure it was, in fact, a joke. Brandon went along with the prank as well so I did too, but I did get a bit nervous. A minute or two later I received an email from Ryan with this picture attached…

I texted back…

“Ok, so you were NOT JOKING, call me.”

The band was not on the bus when the fire started. The driver was in Kingman Arizona on his way to meet up with them in Las Vegas when he heard the smoke detector in the back bedroom ringing. He couldn’t see or smell smoke when he looked back but pulled over anyway. Once outside he noticed flames and sparks shooting from the engine compartment and immediately he and a stranger that had pulled over behind him tried to put the flames out with fire extinguishers. They couldn’t contain it and after a few minutes they had to abandon it for fear that the fire was going to spread to the fuel lines and explode. They had called the fire department but by the time they arrived they could only contain the blaze. A few hours later only a shell remained and the towing service took over the clean up. The fire was so hot that the rims melted into the highway and it took the wrecker service extra effort to get the Bus free.

The band is understandably shaken but they are continuing on the tour one show at a time. They are traveling in a caravan of rented SUVs for now until they get a plan sorted out. All of their merchandise (CDs, shirts, etc.) burned in the trailer they were towing but their instruments and gear were already at the concert venue so they are intact.

Jennifer and I are beginning the process of filing an insurance report and hoping to get a fair settlement. Even though we’d not owned this RV for a long time we still have many memories in it from last year’s travels and that’s a bit of a bummer, especially for our kids.

I’ve got to get going but I’ll be in touch-
Jeromy

Jeromy Deibler

Category: BlogPosted Under: Addison Road, RV Fire@1:48 pm

Mid-Week Wandering

6 CommentsMarch 3, 2010

It’s just the kids and me tonight. Jennifer is out with her sister Jannell for a special night alone before her baby comes. Jannell and Brian are expecting their second son in two years this month and instead of a shower Jennifer decided to take Jannell away for some quiet time. It’s been anything but quiet here. I took the kids to Toys R Us for something to do and they tried to loose me. They needed me for check-out though, so I got them back. Sadie-Claire skipped her nap and rode her scooter around the living room most of the afternoon and we watched the new Lego movie. We had freezer pizza and ice cream for dinner and now Hutch is begging me to play Legos with him.

I got a call tonight from Addison Road’s bus driver tonight. They are borrowing our bus for their tour while we are home for a while. Strangely enough, the call came right after I downloaded their album from iTunes. I didn’t realize that Jennifer’s favorite song (Hope Now) was theirs. We’ve been trying to figure out who recorded the song for a few weeks, catching only bits and pieces of it on the radio, where they never announce who the artist is that performs the song. I got chills as I downloaded the song. Then their driver called to ask me how to get the bus generator started and the chills went away. Addison Road’s has had as many problems with the bus in one week as we’ve had over the past year. Figures.

Hutch needs to get to bed so I’m gonna go. A lot went on this week that I need to tell you about but I need to get past it a bit before I can collect the thoughts. Remind me if I forget. Talk to you Monday if not sooner –

Jeromy Deibler

Category: BlogPosted Under: Addison Road, Bus, Travel@10:30 pm

Meridee’s Monday

7 CommentsMarch 1, 2010

Good Morning, I hope this finds you well. I’m on my way to Merridee’s but decided to stop at the car wash to have Jennifer’s car cleaned. We have so many bikes and toys and pieces of gear in our garage that the car won’t fit so it sits outside in the elements all winter ruining the paint. My kids think the inside is a trashcan so the interior is a mess as well. I’d normally clean it myself but this seemed like a job for professionals. I actually enjoy washing cars. It makes me feel like a teenager again. I used to work as a lot-boy at my Dad’s car dealership when I was a kid. It was my first and last real job. I would catch a ride with him to work in the morning and spend all day in the sun washing and polishing the new cars and listening to music on my Walkman. With my first paycheck I asked Dad to take me to Service Merchandise to buy a $50 Sony headset radio, the model with the radio built right into the headphones. I spent seven hours a day listening to the best mix of 90s music getting a suntan. After work I’d jump in the pool to get clean and refreshed. I didn’t shower much in the summer. I always felt like the chlorine was enough to bleach away anything I’d picked up. Jennifer makes the kids shower after a long swim to get the chlorine off of their bodies. I will never understand this line of thinking. Last spring I installed a “shower” on our back patio so we could just rinse off in our bathing suits before we went inside. Jennifer doesn’t like when I call it a shower because it’s really a garden hose that’s run around the house, under the garage door, and connected to the hot water in the garage sink. On the shower end is a hose extender (the one you use to water hanging plants) that’s bracketed to the rain gutter. It works though, and it’s lovely on a cool night under the stars. I’m sure the neighbors think so.

I had a meeting about you this week. It was with Brody and Randy, the guys that take care of our Internet sites. As usual it was an education. As I’ve mentioned before, Jennifer and I picked the worst possible time to move to Africa as far as technology is concerned. While we were away (Fall 2006- Spring 2007) things moved on right past us and we had to come home and relearn how people connect. We’re getting there but still need help. Turns out that my Mom isn’t the only one who reads these posts. Brody says that I should send him everything that I’ve been writing – record reviews, songs, devotionals, stuff about the kids, anything – and he will post it. Merridee’s Mondays will still be my official weekly blog, but there will be stuff coming mid-week as well. Here’s the deal though… For this to work we need to be able to communicate. So send me your thoughts and comments and I’ll write you back. And, as I promised before, I won’t use this as a forum for personal gain, trying to sell you stuff.

So here’s how this will work for the time being. Merridee’s Mondays (written from my favorite bakery in Franklin) will be my normal Monday blog. “Hey Mom” posts will be stuff during the week that I’d normally tell Mom that you might like to know as well; stuff about the kids and our friends, etc. Everything else will come as a special report. I still haven’t figured out a clever name for them yet.

Talk soon-
Jeromy

Jeromy Deibler

Category: BlogPosted Under: Blogging, Car Wash, Communicating, Meridee's Monday@1:00 pm

Meridee’s Monday

CommentFebruary 22, 2010

A strange phenomenon happened in Franklin this weekend. Starting at about 11:00am on Friday a strange yellow orb appeared in the sky and stayed there until about supper time. It appeared again on Saturday and Sunday and lasted until about evening each day. Those of us who spend a lot of time outside vaguely remembered seeing this foreign light at times before, but most of us had forgotten it’s existence. The orb was bright and made everything yellow. Some of us even put on tinted glasses to soften it’s effect on our eyes. The orb also made the air dry and warm and pleople like me drove around in it with our roofs off and tops down. Our kids played in the street in flip-flops and we napped on the porch in the afternoons. The orb made everything better and everyone seemed to be enjoying it.

But today things are back to normal. The sky is grey and damp and people are huddled inside the coffee shops warming their hands around mugs full of lattes and americanos. But the memory of the strange orb-in-the-sky and it’s effect still linger in our hearts. We hope it comes back soon.

Jeromy Deibler

Category: BlogPosted Under: Sunny, Weather, Winter@11:32 am

Meridee’s Monday

CommentFebruary 15, 2010

I woke up this morning to yet another blanket of white covering the neighborhood. Frankin was quiet as I traveled into town to sit at the bakery, which is uncharacteristicly empty today. I got to drive my Jeep here in four-wheel-drive and that makes me feel like a superhero. This winter has delivered the most snow I’ve seen in Franklin since Jennifer and I moved here sixteen years ago. I love it but Jennifer is miserable and Hutch is bored. I wish I was in Pennsylvania where my family is digging out from almost four feet of fresh powder. Last week my Mom sent me photographs of what used to be our back deck. It’s now dissappeared under soft dunes of white.

Fortunately the snow didn’t start until yesterday and our babysitter was able to get to the house on Saturday so Jennifer and I could go away for our Valentine’s Day “trip”. We traveled to a hotel in Cool Springs, about seven miles from our house in Franklin, for our getaway. We arrived and checked-in at three, watched a movie on tv, then went to dinner and out to another movie. We ate mostly chocolate and cheesecake and fell asleep reading books and magazines. In the morning we slept until nine and stayed in bed until eleven-fifteen then drove back home. It was no-pressure and that was special. I love my kids enough to die for them, but I need to be away from them at times. Jennifer said last night that we can actually “see” eachother when we’re alone together.

It occurred to me as Hutch and I showered this morning that I feel a little refreshed today, even after just a short time away. I realized that a“getaway” doesn’t have to be far away and for a long time. It can be just a night in town, or a movie, or a walk in the woods. I woke today more inspired and was even more patient with Hutch as he covered the shower with shaving cream, and he was more patient with me when I told him he had to clean his room and get dressed before he played Wii.

Everything is better after rest.

Have a peaceful week,
Jeromy

Jeromy Deibler

Category: BlogPosted Under: Meridee's Monday, Refreshed, Valentines Day@11:42 am

Meridee’s Monday

CommentFebruary 8, 2010

So much noise, so much talking everywhere. It’s tiring. So many emails to read, voicemails to return, blogs to follow. So much chatter, so little dead air. None of us like it, at least not all the time, but all of us do it. Quiet is so foreign now that we’ve given it names like “awkward silence” or “pregnant pause”. There are twenty-six people in the coffee shop this morning and all but two of them are talking, either to someone present or on the other end of the phone.

Jennifer and I alternate bedtimes with Hutch and Sadie-Claire. On nights when she’s with Sadie I’m with Hutch, and on those nights Hutch and I have begun a routine that both of us love. After we talk about the day and sing our blessing, I ask Hutch if he wants me to stay and hold him while he falls asleep. It’s a sweet time of quiet, but we are communicating none the less. I’ve realized in those moments that conversation doesn’t require speaking. Our togetherness in the quiet reminds him that I am present and I am strong. As I scratch his back I’m telling him that I love him and want him to relax and be comfortable.

I realize this morning that I’ve never thought about communication like this before and as I let my mind wonder I recognize how just how much I say without words. My eyes tell my story best. They communicate my sorrow or anger or dishonesty. (Jennifer can tell me whole stories with her eyes). And my face and body follows suit. The way I stand, the way I walk, and the way I dress tells others something specific and important about myself. Today they say I’m tired from a long day yesterday and eating way too much last night and that I really didn’t care how I looked when I chose my cloths for the day.

The Bible says something about Jesus being able to look into another person’s eyes and see their heart. I think He wants me to learn this art as well; to be able to hear and speak without words. Like Jeremiah Johnson and the Indian girl he met in the wilderness. I think it would make life more interesting and colorful. And I would take some of the pressure off, the pressure to say the right thing.

FFH

Category: BlogPosted Under: Communication, Connection, Meridee's Monday@2:28 pm

Meridee’s Monday

CommentFebruary 1, 2010

Hutch is at the bakery with me this morning. School was canceled again today because of the snow and he’s literally bored to tears. We took a walk through the woods yesterday but that wasn’t nearly enough stimulation. I make fun of southerners and their overreaction to winter weather but this time the snow is pretty legitimat, and it’s stuck around for a while. I’ve been told that Williamson County (where we live) has got one (1) snow plow which is why all but the interstate remains covered with snow and ice. I have a Jeep so we’re getting around ok. The Jeep makes me feel powerful, like a superhero.

On Saturday, the morning after the storm, we went out for breakfast and tried to find a sled, but all the stores have already stopped stocking them, so we headed over to the Ingrim’s for a visit. Jason and Culley are in our community group and their daughters are the same age as our kids. They live on a seven-acre hill in Franklin and have a great sledding slope. They’d been literally snowed-in and were glad for the company. Their sledding hill began from their front door and they had a sled to we gave it a go. The thin layer of ice made for a perfect surface and in about 20 seconds you could be at the bottom of the hill. Jennifer watched me take the hill and couldn’t resist. She jumped on head-first and pushed off. We watched as she got smaller and smaller and wrecked legs over head at the end of the run. What we couldn’t see from the top of the hill was that, in her attempt to stop the sled before sliding into the sewer drain, Jennifer pushed down on the front of the sled breaking through the quarter-inch layer of ice she was sliding on. When she did the sled stopped but her face didn’t. All of her forward momentum was directed into the ice, her forehead leading the way. From the front porch it appeared that Jennifer popped up unfazed, but as she made her way up the hill it became clear that something bad had happened in the wreck. When Jennifer was about 100 feet from the house we could see blood and the closer she got the worse the carnage became. The ice had carved a curved line in Jennifer’s face from the center of her forehead to just below her left cheekbone and the sharp little shards of ice that implanted themselves into her skin were melting into little red spots. Her eye was already beginning to show a bruise. Our first reaction was surprise, then Jason said “Quick, get the camera.” He wanted to be sure to document the event. Cully took Jennifer inside and cleaned her up a little and we decided we should all quit while we were still alive.

Jennifer is recovering well. She’s still beautiful even with a bruised face.

Stay warm,
Jeromy

FFH

Category: BlogPosted Under: Jeromy, Meridee's Monday@11:35 am

‘One Of These Days’

CommentJanuary 28, 2010

FFH

Category: VideoPosted Under: Featured Videos, One Of These Days@1:32 pm

Meridee’s Monday

1 CommentJanuary 25, 2010

It’s amazing what a difference twelve months can make. Last year this time we still hadden’t play the first FFH show since the break and I had been on staff at Fellowship for just a few months. I remember how slow things were then, how relaxed and wide open the landscape seemed. As I reflect on this past week I realize how drasticly things have changed in the past twelve months. I also recognize how ungrateful I am. During those slow months of recovery I wished so bad for momentum, for motion. Now I find myself anxious and busy and wishing for more space. I’m rarely satisfied and content. It’s a sin that I’ve battled for as long as I can remember. My counselor in Africa told me once that experience without reflection is worthless. So here’s a couple of things I’m thinking about as I look back at last week…

Hutch started a new school last week. It’s a two-day program to compliment Jennifer’s homeschooling routine. He was nervous and clingy when we walked him through the visitation but after we dropped him off he came alive, appearently. He always gets rave reviews from sitters, teachers, and other parents who keep him. Sometimes we wonder what happens when we drop him off and why he doesn’t remain in that more-human form when we pick him up. Mrs. Jan, Hutch’s new teacher, said he was wonderful and Hutch told us when he came home that his first day was one of the best days of his life. Then he started fussing because we wouldn’t let him play Wii, which seems to be sucking his brain out.

Jennifer is still coughing. It’s going on three weeks now. She sounds like a life-long chain smoker. My brother-in-law Brian suggested that she go ahead and start smoking since she’s already got the cough. The zpack had no effect and she thinks it’s time to go back to the doctor.

Sadie-Claire woke up at 130am this morning crying like she was being bitten by a wild animal. After a while of trying to calm her down Jennifer just put her in our bed. For the next hour she kicked me in the back. Even still, I love when the kids sleep with us. I know it will only last a few years and then they’ll be over it so I try to enjoy it when it happens.

Derek, a frind of mine from church, is sharing the coffee-table with me. He was here when I got here so I plopped down beside him. He’s meeting a friend of his from Vandy who is dropping off medicine for Haiti. Derek is taking it across town to another friend’s medical practice. He is currently in Haiti working twenty hour shifts. He’s doing mostly amputations with no medicine or anestesia. The meds will be sent to him to assist in the surgerys. And I’m in Mayberry with my 1/3-Caf Americano listeneing to music, typing on my laptop, complaining about being too busy and too tired.

Father forgive me.

FFH

Category: BlogPosted Under: Meridee's Mondays@1:44 pm

Meridee’s (Midway) Monday

2 CommentsJanuary 19, 2010

I would normally be at Merridee’s this morning but instead I’m at Midway Airport in Chicago, standing at gate B1, smelling the popcorn popping from across the building. We’ve been here this weekend for show. No pre-boarding today, the kids stayed in Franklin with family this weekend so we have to line up with the rest of the cattle. This was the first time Jennifer and I have gone away to play shows without them in over a year. When we returned home from Africa in 2007 we decided that, if and when we ever returned to turing, we’d make every effort to bring them with us and we have, until now. The kids’ cousin Elias was in town this weekend so we knew they’d much rather be home playing Wii than on another airplane so we decided to let them stay. Jennifer is in the terminal toy store buying gifts for them, probably partly out of guilt because we miss them and also because this was a really nice break for us to be alone together.

In downtown Chicagao today the fog covered all the tops of towering buildings making them seem all the same height. Brian (our drummer and Jennifer’s sister’s husband) was in the backseat of the van taking a sales call about one of the cars he has in inventory, and as I drove through the city center I thought about how, even with the suffering in Haiti, everyone in Chicago still has to go to work. We all watch as networks broadcast the unimaginable scenes of devestation; orphans sleeping in the streets, people fighting over food, and yet we have to go on with life up here, life as normal. But everything that is usual for us seems so pointlees with the knowledge of such suffering happening simultanously. We do our best to help while we go through our normal motions, from celeberties organizing telethons, to $10 text donations, to church bake sales, but we can only do so much. After that all we can do is pray and remember. Remembering is important though. I think it’s written into the fabric of our beings. It’s why we remember Dr King, or the sufferings of the Holacost, Pearl Harbor, or the 9/11 attacks. It’s not just a wistful thought. It’s an acknowledgement that something happened then that effects us now, even at a distance, and will continue to effect the course of history.

One of the most striking interviews that I’ve watched during the Haiti coverage was with their President. Like most of the city’s buildings, his palace had collapsed and was unlivable. He said that he was trying to figure out, among other things, where he would sleep that night. In an instant he was like everyone else in the city… displaced, homeless, uncertain. Like the fog made everything the same height this morning, suffering levels the playing field. And as we pray for the Hatians and remember there need we are reminded that we are all small, all human, and all vonerable. And that gives birth to compassion and compassion give birth to action.

FFH

Category: BlogPosted Under: Martin Luther King Jr., Meridee's Monday, Travel@11:50 am