The afterburn from Service is as good as getting high.

So the last two years have been a pretty good ride.  Pretty Good Ride being defined as follows:

a ride with sufficient rises and equally complimentary falls to stimulate the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and invoke an increased awareness of being alive; traveling through time at such a pace that encourages the heart rate to accelerate for brief intervals while not overtaxing the human body and psyche as a whole.

(Merriam-Webster feel free to give me a call and offer that job)

There are a few facets of the ride that allowed it to be pretty good.  Things like love and support from blossoming friendships was a must.  A cute little boy was high on the list as well.  Hope and faith played equal parts.  And the one that hits me right. here. is service.  There were people providing us with services left and right.  And I'm not talking about the service you get at the drive thru at McD's.  Because it's pretty good as well but I'm talking about the service you get from your fellow brothers and sisters on the street, in the mall, in church, over the phone, through txt, and in baskets left on your doorstep.  Those things made all the difference in our little world.  Whenever our little fam got bogged down with all the temporal blah blah blah, our friends stepped up to the plate (sometimes unbeknownst even to themselves) and lightened our burden enough for us to carry on with smiles on our faces.  If that ain't in the Spirit of Jesus Christ I just don't know...

Therefore I have prayed nightly for Heavenly Father to grace me with the spirit so that I may recognize the opportunities I could have to pay all of that forward.

I've had a few opportunities here and there but isn't it funny...I've gotten 47 opportunities this past week!

And after seizing upon those opps, I also discovered/remembered/realized that service provides you with a feeling akin to being high.  But better because there is no come-down.  Better because you walk away knowing you've actually done something right.  Better because the Christ Light that builds up under your skin and makes you feel like you may burst, the build-up that can spill over in unbecoming ways if you don't manage the flow appropriately, it suddenly finds an outlet and spreads like butter on warm toast in the most delightful way all day long and into the next as well.  Just like a drug, you start feeling like you're hallucinating as the sky becomes bluer, the air crisper, the people surrounding you more beautiful, your baby and husband are suddenly more appreciate and helpful, diapers don't smell so bad, and my...I think my wrinkels are fading???

OK I made the last part up.  Isn't it amazing that we have the capability to boost others AND our selves in this manner and fashion?  Isn't this just another way in which our creation is stunning and filled with grace?

A bonus to all of this was my other more minor discovery that they have returned VH1's Pop-Up Video to their programming!  I truly enjoy educating my son on the music of my youth.  I hope to impart to him the most positive aspects of my experience.  As these band members age and curse less, get sober, and enjoy maturing fashion sense while still pumping out great riffs and choruses I maintain hope that my child will have a decent soundtrack to the beginning of his own pretty good ride.  Ride on, child-o-mine, and turn that thang up!  But not too, loud, you'll ruin your ear tools.