Road To Perdition

OK, its day three of the Paul Newman homage blogs and today is about my boys. So Road to Perdition seems so right. On a side note, the movie was partially filmed on location in West Dundee & Geneva, Illinois when my sister--my bride and I lived near there in Elgin and in fact, the salon where we both got our hair done was used as in the making of the movie. In the film, Paul Newman gives us the following line:

"Natural law. Sons are put on this earth to trouble their fathers."

In fact the whole movie is really about father/son relationships and at times, reality seems to bear true Mr. Newman's character's statement.

But that is because of the selfishness of the fathers, not the children. A father who would make the statement above is a father who's focus is upon himself. It is hard work to make a man out of a son, and many men seem to think that men are simply born, not made...but father's must make their sons men, we must all follow the example of God the Father who told his one and only Son, Jesus the Messiah, that he loved him, that he was proud of him, and that he was good. God give me the strength to raise up authentic men, and to make sure that I would never have the attitude that the blessing that they are in my life, was nothing more than trouble for me.

From The Terrace

In light of the financial crisis gripping the nation AND this being Monday, I day I dedicate my blog to my beloved wife and focus on Spouse issues AND this also being the week I dedicated to paying a "blogitory" homage to the late Paul Newman, I thought this line from his From The Terrace film covered all the bases. In the movie, Newman's character is struggling with the idea of divorcing his adulterous wife and is talking to his boss, who thinks that divorce is a worse sin than infidelity. One of his key lines in reasoning thus is this one:

"The problem of infidelity is between a husband, and wife, and God. The problem of divorce concerns the whole of civilization. What is marriage? An exchange of vows, a contract. It is my duty to myself and to any man who is working for me that he honor all his contracts. "

This past week and today in the financial world (and the political one for that matter) have all been about a lack of confidence, a lack of trust in the ability of others to honor their contracts (bad debt is really nothing more than a broken contract).

It is no less true in the marital world. I honor my wife and God by honoring my role as a husband. I am a sinner, so I often fall short of God's will for me as a husband but I am redeemed by Jesus the Messiah and by grace through faith am a saint, and therefore I strive daily to be all that my wife needs and wants and God asks me to be for her.

It is not surprising to me then that in a world that views marriage as temporary, convenient, and disposable, they likewise view debt the same way. How do we restore financial security? It might just start by honoring our vows to wives and husbands, for better or for worse.

Doc Hudson

Paul Newman died yesterday and I thought as a tribute to one of my favorite actors, I'd pay a little homage to the man by having each post this week have something to do with one of his characters. So it will be business as usual, SUNDAY, today will still be a devotion to my Lord and Savior, the ONE TRUE GOD, the twist being it will involve a Newman movie character. Same will go for the rest of the week.

My boys just love the movie CARS and it has one of the great historical plot themes running throughout it, Individual VS Community. In one of the key scenes, Paul Newman's character, Doc Hudson, asks the lead individualist in the world, Lightning McQueen, "When was the last time you cared about something except yourself, hot rod? You name me one time." McQueen is silent in response.

This plot is used so often and appeals so greatly because it is precisely this struggle that each person has faced from the beginning on through to today. Is about me or my neighbor? Do I focus on my self, or on others? Am I willing to die a little to my self, so that I can live the greater as part of the Body of Christ?

In the end, Lightning McQueen learns that he needs to be part of a team and Doc Hudson in turn learns he needs to have hope in the future. Both valuable lessons for us as Christians. God didn't put us here alone, he's equipped us with the wonderful Body of Christ, the fellowship of all believers. We make a great team with Jesus the Messiah, who defeated sin with His death upon the cross, as our head. Our leader who saves us all by grace through faith so that we may go out each day and serve God by serving others (be a community).

Why Kids Lie

Little boys lie...er...ah...exagerate. Little girls tell fibs.

Boys do it as part of masculine communication. Men don't want to be the same as the other guy, they need to be the Alpha male but they need that bond of brotherhood. They need guys by there side. So the exagerations of responding to one boy saying "my dad's car can go 100MPH," with "well, my dad's car can go 1000MPH!" is all part of that brotherhood bonding through one-ups-manship. It can go to infinity.

Girls do it as part of feminine communication. But they don't exagerate, they fib to connect. They don't want to be the unique one, the alpha female, they want to be just like the rest so they fib to connect with the others. So if one little girl says her daddy is a doctor, pretty soon every girl in the room's daddy is also a doctor. Its all about sisterhood and the need to be the same as the rest.

Below is a little ditty inspired by just such little kid lie's

My dad is stronger than your dad,
and his car can go faster too.

Well compared to my dad, yours is a lad,
and he wears a much smaller shoe.

Well, here comes Suzie, let's ask her who's dad is bad,
I'm sure she will tell us true.

Suzie, will you please not make me mad,
and give MY dad his due?

"I do not wish to make you sad,
but what ever does your dad do?"

He's a pro football player and really rad,
I thought for sure you knew?

"Oh you have made me oh so glad,
Cause that's what my dad does too!"

"And now that you mention it Brad,
that's what all of us girls' dads do!"

Be Right or Get it Right? That is the question.

As a man, a loving husband, a doting father, I struggle big time with being right. No, I don't mean that I'm wrong a lot, in fact, I rarely if ever am wrong ;)

No, the problem is that I like being right. I take pride in being right, and sometimes BEING right, is just plain wrong. When my focus is on BEING right in a situation with my sister--my bride then I'm getting it wrong. If my focus is on GETTING IT RIGHT, meaning resolving the conflict with dialogue (not the monologues or diatribes of the BEING RIGHT kind), WE, as in the two made one in the flesh, are both RIGHT! Talk about your tongue twisters.

We need to strive to GET IT RIGHT and stop worrying about BEING RIGHT all the time.

God, help me to grow and help me to die a little to self, so that I may live a lot! And grant my beautiful wife the patience to allow me to get to be all that You would have me be for her.

Robot Servants

My son won a Giant Joebot from school and it came yesterday and we batteried it up tonight. He can now use the remote to drive the 3 foot tall robot into the kitchen, use the walky-talky feature to tell me what he wants and I could load that into Joe's backpack and he can then drive it back to his master. My son can just lay on the couch and be served with the mere flick of a finger. Technology is so wonderful.

So how does it apply to the Body of Christ? You know, how are we to go about serving the Lord our God by serving others if all the service is being done by technology? Don't get me wrong. This is not some anti-technology rant here, I'm no Luddite and love my bread pre-sliced and enjoy coming to work on wheels. I just think the culture technology brings with it can endanger the Body of Christ and its servant heart. It can make us get so comfortable BEING SERVED, that we forget all about SERVING OTHERS.

Coming Into His Own

My three year old is fast approaching his fourth birthday and the past month has been a developmental flurry that often finds me daily with my jaw dragging the floor. He really has "come into his own" and though he is like a DVR, recording and repeating everything we (or anyone else for that matter) say, his personality resonates through. He recalls things we haven't seen or discussed in weeks like they were just yesterday, and zings me at least once a day with a complex sentence that fits perfectly into the context of the moment. It is so wonderful to see him develop, yet sad to see how fast he is going, knowing that sooner than I like, I will have to let him go. Slow down a little, little guy, but keep on chugging along!

Date Night

Took my sweetheart, that is my sister--my bride, out on a date night this weekend. We saw a show, Scrap Arts Music, at the University and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves sans sons (home with sitter). It was great just to be out with her, we even had a lunch date the day before, and even though we're in our ninth year of marriage and see each other every morning and evening and spend almost every night of the year together, it is still a fresh and wonderful thing to come up with something we can do and share as one...a date night. Thanks for the date sweetie. Love you louder than the scrap musicians could pound on their junk!

Plant, Water, Grow

This weekend was the last for the vegetable garden plants. Most had born their last fruit of the season and it was time to turn them into compost for next year. I planted, I watered, I got my fill of tomatos, peppers, and cucumbers, but no zucchini. Nope, not a single one...from two plants mind you. Both plants grew. Both plants flowered. Both plants failed to produce. In the end, there wasn't much I could have done differently. Gave them more nourishiment? Perhaps more open air? No telling. OK, I'm sure some Master Gardener would tell me what I did wrong. They'd have a myriad of explanations as to why I got no zucchini. But in the end, even the most expert of farmers can't guarantee their crop.

So it goes with God's word and faith

1 Corinthians 3:5-11(NIV)~ "What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."

As Christians, we often spend our time, even waste our time, focused on the planter and waterer. They may be "master gardeners" and "expert builders" but the growing takes place only by the grace of God on a foundation already laid, Jesus the Messiah. By grace through faith we are saved and can "come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—[we] also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Lord God, please help us to grow in Your will and Your way.

Ed Hochuli, Ed Hochuli

All I’ve heard all week long is Ed Hochuli, Ed Hochuli
And all I can say is I wish he had eaten more broccoli
For that supposedly improves one’s eyesight they say
And his call might have gone the other way
But really folks, while all this harshness and blame,
After all it really is just a game
And in truth it was an honest mistake
I didn’t catch it myself until the second take

And where oh where is the rest of the story?
That the Chargers defense came up short of glory,
Because after the blown call by our friend Ed,
Denver was backed up 9 yards, not moved ahead
It was the Charger defense and them alone
That could have kept the Broncos out of the end zone,
They gave up the TD, and yet were still up by a point
But they failed yet again, its they who disappoint
So enough with the scoffing, the blame, and the hate,
He didn’t cost you the game, it was your defense mate!

This is my ode to all those whining Charger fans that need to get back in touch with reality a little. Cutler GAVE YOU A GIFT, you didn't force that fumble, and Hochuli's error took the GIFT from you. It didn't put the ball in the end zone. Your defense could have still stopped the Chargers, you let them score. You then get another GIFT, they go for two and if you stop that you win anyway, AGAIN, you failed to stop the Broncos. YOUR DEFENSE LOST THE GAME, not Ed Hochuli. Move on and beat the Jets

Death By Hanging

Hung out with the men this morning at Men's Fraternity and another rich lesson with tough challenges lay before us again. In our small group we realized two important things: first, we needed to hold each other accountable as far as meeting the challenges we were being tasked with and second, we all needed to "Die to live"

At one point, it was posited that we needed an accountability punishment, what should the group do to the guy who didn't do his challenge work for the week. I humorously deflected the serious question with "Death By Hanging" Funny how the Holy Spirit can work sometimes. It was a joke, but it reminded all of us of the "Die to Live" concept we'd gone over the past couple weeks (and HAD NOT brought up this week) and it fit. We do need to Die to self by Hanging in there with our spouses. We need to die to self and hang in there with our brothers as well because we all realized how tough this truly is and how much easier it can be if you have the support of the other men in your group.

Great session, great group, what a great day the Lord has made!

Fear Factor

Tonight we talked about fear in our Book of Daniel class. Who in the text was afraid and what were they afraid of and how did that motivate their actions (or conversely how did they overcome that fear to act)?

It got me to thinking about "Fear" in the context of our faith again and that brought me back to a post I made about the Body of Christ back in March that really has relevance to what we discussed in class tonight.

Click on the link below to read that post

Fear is a Terrible Companion post

When it was all said in done, Daniel had friends. We tend to remember Daniel standing alone in the palace, but he has companions who stand with him. They had a lot to fear, the official had a lot to fear, but in the end, God provided...we SHOULD fear and love God!

Good to Bad and Back Again

Oh what a difference a day makes. Last week our kindergartner went from the epitome of integrity to the depths of dastardly. Every child will have his bad days just like every adult saint is also a sinner, and our son was no exception last week. The good news is that he has made a recovery from the bad day and has shown no eagerness to return to naughtiness.

Our 3-year old still tries to instigate the naughty...but even he is coming around and tonight even gave me a performance of his ABCs...albeit to delay his bedtime...but nonetheless a flawless effort of reciting the alphabet followed by the counting of numbers 1-15.

They keep us on our toes.

Yep, Soup Fer You

My beloved wife, aka my sister--my bride, made a fabulous soup from scratch yesterday. The scent of it was a delight all day long filling our house with joyous anticipation of our evening meal. It was created with one of her mom's recipes and ingredients from our vegetable garden (supplemented by fresh store bought veggies) and complimented by a grilled cheese sammich.

What a blessing God gave me through His creation of taste buds and the culinary gift he's blessed my bride with. Oh what fun it is to eat at my house. Yummy!

Where Has All The Harmony Gone?

We live in a society and culture that stresses the individual. It is rare thing today to find singing groups based on a combined set of voices, and if you do find one, they are likely to soon be breaking up to pursue "solo" projects. No one wants to be the voice lost in the crowd, they want to standout. We want our space, our facebook page...yes we even want our BLOG space where we get our say, where our voice gets heard over the crowd of others.

1 Peter 3: 8-9 (NIV): "Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing."

Compassion, sympathy, love, humility...these are what it takes to live in harmony according to the Word and that means being selfless. Repay evil or insult with what? Well, with a blessing of course. Someone puts you down, cuts you off, causes you harm...bless them. That is a tough one I know. But what else can we do for our own evil, our own insults, our own sins against God which justifiably earned us all the death penalty, were repaid with a blessing, the blessing of Jesus the Messiah and who took on that punishment for us and died so that by grace through faith we have life eternal. Eternal life doesn't begin when you die and go to heaven, by grace through faith we are already living it, so why not live in harmony with one another and lend our voices to the mighty chorus singing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men"

Where has all the harmony gone? It is right here, right now, we just need to live it out.

Red, White, and Blue Today

Patriot Day was a day ago so why am I in Red White and Blue?
I was supposed to wear that yesterday, could I have missed my cue?
Or is it that this was a conscious choice, something I planned to do?

You see I believe in the response, not the tragedy, but the reaction.
Its not about the calamities, but rather the follow-on action
And so I wear my colors TODAY, as a reminder of that abstraction

Patriot Day was yesterday and that I cannot deny
I wear my colors on the day after, primarily as a way to imply
That every day, on "We The People," I surely can rely
And what else would you expect from one born on the FIFTH of July!



I'm wearing my Red, White, and Blue today to remind myself that America is defined not by the tragedies, but rather by how we have lived and responded in the wake of those tragedies.

Seven Years Ago Today

Seven years ago today I was working as a customer service rep for a big corporation. I hated the job. I started at that company a year before in a job I enjoyed but had been "moved up" to customer service and it was awful. Managers and middle managers and productivity consultants all with different ideas changing things every other day and the only respite being 40+ calls a day from customers who were angry and upset and ready to let YOU know it. I dreaded going to work. It was getting to the point where I would arrive in the parking lot in the morning and pray in the car for God to please give me an easy day. That Tuesday was one of those days. Monday had been a bad day. So I sat in my car and prayed for an easy day and went in to work. By mid-morning the phones weren't ringing. No one's phone was ringing...it was as if the phone lines had suddenly been cut. It was the quietest morning I had spent in customer service. By lunch time the corporate office had decided to close up business for the day and wouldn't reopen until Thursday. Had God answered my prayer? Should I have prayed for a difficult day instead?

Seven years ago today was a benchmark in the lives of so many. It changed so many lives, so many families, so many communities. People spent today remembering. Remembering loved ones departed. Remembering where they were or how they found out. Remembering the tragic images of that day seven years ago. I remember that I sat in my car and prayed for an easy day at work, and unfortunately I got exactly what I had wanted.

May God comfort those in need of comfort today and continue to heal the wounds still festering in the hearts of so many people, so many families, and so many communities

F3 is Back

Hurray, today is the day, we finally get F3 going again after the long summer layoff. That means our congregation's Wednesday programs are back in session, from 4s on up through confirmation, then youth and adult options as well, every square inch of space and young and old alike will gather tonight, for some Family, Faith, and Formation (and likewise some Food, Fellowship, and Fun!).

I've missed seeing many I only see on Wednesday's (as they attend different worship times from me) and spending that time in the Word. This wil be my first chance to actually attend F3 class, as I've been teaching Crossways throughout the first two years that we've had this so it is very exciting for me in that regard as well. May God continue to bless our congregation through F3 as the Holy Spirit works in our hearts minds, both young and old.

Integrity

When my kindergartener started school a couple weeks ago, he started on a system where his behavior in class would be measured in colors for each day. Each night he would bring home a folder which would indicate whether or not he was good (green), had a discipline issue (yellow), or worse behavior yet (other colors). Up until yesterday, he has brought home green every day of school. Yesterday was a yellow day. We asked him about it last night and he quickly told us that he had hit one of his classmates. We challenged him to return to school today and apologize to that student and strive to get back in the green the rest of the week. My sister--my bride took him to school this morning and informed his teacher that he was to apologize to his classmate that he had hit the day before and that we had talked to him about not getting any more yellows this week. She looked surprised and then asked the aide if my son had had a yellow yesterday. They both had him down as green, he'd been fine yesterday. So they asked him why he had colored yellow in the box on his folder for yesterday instead of green. He responded that he did that because he had hit his classmate and that was wrong.

I guess when you are wearing the full armor of God at school, things like honor and integrity matter, even in kindergarten. Well done son. (And to your brother as well as he has been spectacular in his adjustment to pre-school and not seeing his brother most of the day)

Maternity Wear

One of the things my sister--my bride has noticed with this current pregnancy is that much of what is in fashion today can be mistaken for maternity wear AND vice-a-versa. Her recent acquisition of a few new maternity outfits made her stop and think that she could possibly wear some of this stuff after she gave birth. From the husbands perspective though it is all about answering that dreaded question: "How does this look on me?"

I'm of the opinion that this question should only be asked as a multiple choice question AND THEN, ONLY AFTER the spouse tells you their own answer first. It should go like this:

The wife asks: "Honey, how does this new top look with these pants? Is it A fine B kinda off C makes me look fat, or D who'll even notice with as bad as my hair looks? I'm leaning toward B, what do you think?"

The husband, after careful consideration says "E"

The wife groans "your choices were A, B, C, or D!"

The husband quickly retorts (best done while ducking at the same time): "E is always ALL OF THE ABOVE, dear, and the answer is almost always ALL OF THE ABOVE on multiple choice tests!"



All kidding aside, my wife usually never puts me on the spot like that and never gets upset if I tell her the truth and will actually thank me when I suggest something doesn't look quite right. Furthermore, is there anything more beautiful than a pregnant woman? You're gorgeous sweetie!

Preparedness

"Did you take your umbrella? It looks like rain today."

Has your wife ever sent you out in the morning with one of those? It's her way of saying, "be prepared." As winter rapidly approaches I'm sure the news shows and papers will trot out their annual "how to prepare your house, your car, your yard, your pet, your physical health, etc. for winter" segments. This past few weeks has seen the same with how to prepare for football/tailgate season. Its all about being prepared. Who wants to be the one guy sloshing through the monsoon soaked to the bone cause you forgot an umbrella as you go into work in the morning? Who wants to be the one at the tailgate with a grill, brats, canopy, lawnchairs, frisbee, radio, and friends, only to realize you forgot the charcoal? Ok, so maybe the person parked next to you lets you in under his umbrella and all your tailgating friends love brat-cicles or again, the person parked next to you brought an extra bag of charcoal. Who would you rather be then, the unprepared one or the guy parked next to you (aka, the prepared one)? Yes...we all would rather be prepared. That's why we go to the trouble of making packing lists for trips, having that emergency kit in the trunk of the car, or installing that sump pump battery back-up. So are we prepared to witness?

1 Peter 3:15-16 (NIV): "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

ALWAYS BE PREPARED TO GIVE AN ANSWER

ALWAYS BE PREPARED TO GIVE AN ANSWER

Wow is that scary. For many of us, always being prepared to give an answer depends on our ability to always avoid being asked the question! It's easy to be prepared to give an answer when you go out each day purposefully avoiding the potentiallity for such a question. We'll study for an exam, we'll watch the weather each night and dress & accessorize accordingly the next morning, we'll weatherstrip and insulate and pack that emergency road side kit in the trunk, but do we ever bother to be ready with THE ANSWER? We live in a world where that question can and is being asked every day by people desperate for the answer...AND WE HAVE IT! So where is our confidence? Where is our preparedness? Are we ready to breech that home and hearth threshold each morning and go into the world ready to share will all who ask that God loved the world so much he gave his one and only Son so that none of us that believe in Him will ever perish?

Oh we know the truth. We know we are equipped by the Holy Spirit to give THE ANSWER. We know THE ANSWER. We live our lives by THE ANSWER. And yet, for many of us it is just easier to avoid the question than it is to be prepared to GIVE THE ANSWER. Lets get prepared. Lets get ready to go out and seek the seekers! Lets SHARE THE ANSWER. We are not alone. The Word is filled with reluctant messengers called to share THE ANSWER with an angry and disagreeable world. It is our turn. We need to step up and go. Preparing for that rainy day? Look outside...it's pouring!

Symphony al fresco

The Symphony al fresco set up in the park
We packed up a picnic and went on a lark

The Symphony al fresco played Leonard Bernstein,
We enjoyed "West Side Story" as we continued to dine,

The Symphony al fresco played the Blue Tango,
As the masts on the boats danced a fandango,

The Symphony al fresco concluded its show,
The boys had enjoyed it and were reluctant to go,

The Symphony al fresco packed up and departed,
We all wished that they had only just started.

The Symphony al fresco will be back next year,
And we will be there, excited to hear



The above inspired by this past Monday evening's performance of the Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra's concert in the park which we enjoyed with the boys. The backdrop was Lake Decatur and there were six sailboats (or yachts) anchored together and the six masts really did seem to dance to Anderson's "Blue Tango" as the boats were being gently rolled by the waves. It was an enjoyable evening. Our youngest loved it, and was even pretending to conduct during the performance while our oldest wished he'd gotten more playground time, though he really did enjoy "Jupiter" from Holst's "The Planets."

Aaaaaaand There Off!

We, meaning 40 men of my community, showed up at 6am this morning to begin year two of Men's Fraternity together. We will actually be doing both year two "Winning at Work and Home" AND year three "The Great Adventure" all this year, finishing up in late May. There were even a few first-timers there which was great to see but the consensus among those of us who were in it last year was that it felt great to get back going again and even better to see each other again on a Thursday morning. Even the rain couldn't dampen our spirit, and it could go without saying that the Holy Spirit will be at work in the hearts and minds of all of us again this year.

Look out world...by the grace of God, here we come!

Running Like Usain Bolt

The Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt's recent performance in the Olympic 100M final was burned into my memory as I watched the Olympic coverage late one night. I was immediately nudging my sister--my bride, who was reading a book, about what I had just witnessed. I was flabbergasted that he had thrown his arms out, in essence putting out air brakes, before he ever crossed the finish line. I kept telling her that he could have run that even faster. In the end it was the fastest man in the world celebrating before the race had even ended, as if he knew he'd already won.

That image creeped back into the forefront of my thoughts during Saturday night as we discussed Philippians 3:14 in the context of Hebrews 11:1-16 which had been the sermon text during the worship we had just attended. The gist of the topic is well summarized in Hebrews 11:13 (NIV) "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance"
The Philippians verse reads: "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. "

So we are talking about focus, about running the race and keeping our eyes on the ultimate prize. That is when Usain Bolt's image popped into my mind. We've already won the race and yet we are still running. (see my Grow Up! devotion from two weeks ago) So like Bolt, it is okay to throw our arms out wide. But as the Body of Christ, we throw our arms out wide to help those beside us along their way as well. One of the best ways to stay focused on the prize is to serve God by serving others, helping them to focus as well. If we are helping others along the path, that means we are on it ourselves and also, we are likely to find help staying on it from our fellow travellers.

The Body of Christ then can run like Usain Bolt, celebrating long before the finish because we know we've already won and throwing out our arms wide to gather in as many other travellers as we can along the way.

Popcorn Envy

Well, a long weekend allowed us to give the boys some options for fun activities on Sunday afternoon and so they chose going to the movies. We went to the nearby discount theater so all 4 of us got in for what it usually costs just one of us (even at Matinee prices!) so we splurged on the big bucket of popcorn. We got our seats with my sister--my bride and I flanking the boys (keeping them in the middle is a great way to keep them under control) and that meant they took turns holding the 55 gallon drum of popcorn so that we could all reach it. Eventually that giant vat of buttery popped corn rested on the lap of the three year old. Now, keep in mind that he could barely see over the top of this thing when it was on his lap, he nonetheless guarded as if the golden fresh wonder snack were truly made of gold. When I tried to reach down to grab a handful, I was rebuffed with a sharp "NO!" and only after a little motherly coaxing did he offer me a single kernal as my share. It was one of those moments where you wish you had the camera cause he was quite a sight with that bucket.

Eventually he allowed the rest of us to eat our fill as well, and we had an enjoyable afternoon at the movies together.

The Whip in our Marriage

Friday afternoon the phone rings in the Archives and on the line is my sister--my bride with a quick question.

"What is a WHIP?..." she started

Of course, at this point, all of your minds are racing, but honestly, mine wasn't and before she could even finish with "...in baseball" I already knew that she was in fact inquiring about Walks + Hits per Innings Pitched being the baseball stat man that I am.

It didn't even strike me as funny until long after we hung up that she had just asked me what a whip was? Man oh man, I get a set up line like that and I'm not ready with a witty punch line? Next time I'll be ready.

"What's a WHIP?"

"Simple sweetie, thats We + Him In Perpetuity = the only WHIP that gets cracked in our marriage.