B is for…
- Babies. I still can’t believe we’re having one. That just totally blows my mind. Every time Carolyn walks through the door after getting home from work, it still startles me when I see her babyized belly. (She said I should write a blog post–based on experience–about what not to say to your pregnant wife, such as, “Whoa!!!”) I can really see the wisdom of God in having people bring in a new generation about every 25 years. And it’s cool that at any given time, someone somewhere is adding a new person to the population. If we didn’t have little children around us, life would become so stale. As much as we might resist, we tend to set like cement. Every new child is like wet cement. They’re still shapeable, impressionable. They have a fresh perspective on everything and still marvel at everything their senses take in. For example, a child on a playground will see a bug and yell, “Bug! I see a bug!” All the other kids will run over to stare in wonder at the bug. Meanwhile, as adults we tend to view bugs simply as something to be sprayed or stepped on. Wow, I just totally can’t wait to hear Laura Marie’s observations on the world around her. I’m so thrilled that I get to witness her trying to put the pieces together.
- Bathrooms. I’m so grateful I live in the era of indoor plumbing. While there’s something primally pleasing about standing in the woods under a starry sky and… um… communing with nature, it sure is nice to have indoor facilities when it’s 20 degrees outside. And being able to take a hot shower at any time? That’s just awesome. The only problem with bathrooms is their constant need for cleaning, which is not exactly a skill I’ve got in my toolbox.
- Bologna. Can we just go ahead and officially change the spelling to “baloney”? Is there a Facebook group I can join to promote this cause? When I was a kid I absolutely loved bologna sandwiches. Some of my favorite memories are staying with my grandmother in Fort Worth and eating the delicious bologna sandwiches she made me. Now I can’t even smell the stuff without feeling like I’m going to puke. What is it about being a kid and being able to eat nasty stuff? My repertoire also included Spam and Vienna sausages. Does anyone even know exactly what those things are? Doesn’t it violate some law of nature for a sausage to be able to spread? And people wonder why I spent several years in adulthood as a vegetarian.
- Bible. What an amazing thing for us to have: a book written just for us by God Himself. In this country we grow up knowing that the Bible exists, and so we take it for granted, most of us rarely if ever even reading it. But think about it. I mean really think about it. The God who is truly God and can do anything and made everything that exists including us has given us about a thousand pages of His thoughts. He’s actually given us a big ol’ book to communicate with us! What an incredible thing for us to have. It’s really a pity to think of all the years I wasted ignoring the Bible and not believing it. What a shame for so many people today to have access to God’s thoughts and not even believe it! What unbelievable riches we have in the Scriptures. What a timeless, valuable treasure, this ancient volume!
- Books. I can totally relate to the little four-year-old girl I recently heard declare: “I love books!” Books rock. Books contain endless possibilities. It’s cool how you can take the 26 letters of our alphabet and combine them in unique ways to tell an infinite number of stories and share a limitless amount of ideas and knowledge. It’s especially cool when you realize that–let’s be honest–some letters like “c” and “q” really aren’t necessary. But in the interest of fairness they’ll still get their own moment in the Random Thoughts in Alphabetical Order spotlight.
- Bolivia & Bangladesh. Though they’re nowhere near each other and we’ve never been to either one, Carolyn and I pray for these countries and hold them dear to our hearts. For over a decade, through Compassion International, Carolyn has sponsored a girl named Eliana in Bolivia. Eliana has a baby sister named after Carolyn! I’ve sponsored a little boy named Sujan in Bangladesh for a couple years now. (In case you’re wondering, Bolivia is in South America and Bangladesh is in Asia, near India.)
- Baseball. Our voracious consumerism has ruined a lot of great things in this country, and I’m afraid the great game is among them. But it’s still the great game.
Surfing the Inner N8 
Fantastic posting, homeslice. Tons of thought-provoking tidbits, but I’ll just reply to one. In defense of “C,” it’s totally necessary when combined with other letters. How else would you spell “Batch” or “Cheetah?”
You know, I was so sure someone would raise that objection that I almost addressed it in the post. The answer is simple: replace the “c” with a “k.” After all, if a letter is only necessary when it’s combined with another letter, then it’s really not necessary at all and could potentially be replaced by any letter. Another option, and one that’s more c-friendly, is to keep the “c” but have it always make the “ch” sound.