Flat Tire

I wanted to ride my bike to work today,
So at the pump I wouldn't have to pay,
An arm, and a leg, and my salary for May.
So down to the garage I found my way,
But my hopes and desires for this fine day,
I discovered much to my dismay,
I would have to belay
One look at the rear tire, I knew right-a-way,
FLAT TIRE

Women Leave the Seat Up Too!

Just a little FYI to all my sisters out there. Yes, you think of us men as lazy, and one of your biggest pet peaves is the stereotypical male leaving the seat up on the toilet. OK. Fair enough. But why is it then you are not equally lazy for leaving the seat up--in the CAR! Yes, EVERY time my wife drives my car the seat is left up so close to the wheel that I can't even get in without first moving the seat...and my car seat is automatic!!!!
Oh and while we are on the topic, how can we be lazy for LIFTING the seat everytime we use it and you all are not lazy for failing to lift it when you are done? Hmmmmm. And you know when the complaint is the loudest? When you were too lazy to look to see if the seat was down.
Sorry...this vent brought to you by my car seat being left forward again...you may now return to normal programming...I'll try harder to leave the set down honey...quid pro quo?

GO to Church or BE a Church?

Bible study is a great way to spend some in-depth time in the Word. This week the discussion of the Pastoral letters (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus) led to some great time in the Word as well as some great time sharing what was on the classes' hearts and minds as it concerned the Word. One of the great things I rediscovered through this week's lesson was that God doesn't call us to "go to Church." What? Shocking I know from someone who advocates regular attendance. But...God DOES call us to BE A CHURCH. Going to church for many requires an hour out of their week, a couple of weeks a month. BEING a church requires committing your life to Lord and to your neighbors. May God give me the strength to be a part of His church here on Earth.

Froggy's New Neighbor

My oldest made a discovery this weekend. Apparently, underneath an evergreen shrub just on the otherside of our back fence in our neighbors yard, a garter snake has taken up residence. The area is not 10 feet from the garden in our yard that Froggy the toad calls home, so Froggy has a neighbor.
Shockingly, it was my oldest son, who last summer would freeze and scream if he got touched by a spider web, let alone actually seeing the spider, who spotted the snake and crouched in the grass just a few feet away to observe the snake. When he saw it again two days later slithering under the same bush, we knew it had made his home there. So now we have a toad and a snake living just outside my boys bedroom windows and they are loving it...now what kind of natural habitat can I create back there to attract the elephant they want?

8th Anniversary

Tomorrow is our 8th wedding anniversary. That means tomorrow we embark on year 9 of our journey together and I can say with confidence to my sister--my bride, that the ride continually gets better! I love you and look forward to our lunch date tomorrow and God willing may we celebrate many more anniversaries together.

Camping Sermon Anecdotes

During this past weekend's camping trip, Pastor used the sermon text of Ephesians 6. My son can still tell me what the first part of the text was as I ask him what was Pastor's sermon about when we went camping and he will say, "Obey your parents!" --Gotta Love that Pastor!
Of course, Pastor did not stop there and included the part about "Fathers do not exasperate your children" and then he went a step further and actually defined exasperate. (and there I was set to tell my kids it meant exterminate...as in God tells me I can go so far as to kill you, but everything else is fair game...no, not really) As part of that then kids were given opportunity to tell their fathers and grandfathers how they have exasperated them in the past...we followed with asking for forgiveness...which the kids then readily forgave.
Perhaps the best comment was made by the Pastor's own children as they told him that they get exasperated when he sang at Wal-Mart. I guess joyful noises should be kept out of public venues.

Dads sans Moms

One of the challenges Pastor laid before all the dads and granddads at the camping trip this past weekend was that if we can somehow manage to "do it all" for an entire weekend out-of-doors, cooking, cleaning, playing, and tucking in the kiddos, why can't we do it at home? Are we to come home after work and reach for the remote and expect to be waited on the rest of the year?
The Dads/Kids camping trip proves annually that we are not incompetent. So if we don't continue it in our homes the rest of the year, it only proves we are lazy.

Lest We Forget

This upcoming weekend marks many things for many people. It is the unofficial beginning of summer, the first 3-day weekend trip opportunity in a while, the beginning of earnest garden planting or other summer projects, or school ending. It is also Memorial Day weekend.
John 15:13 (KJV) ~ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
It is a weekend that we take time out to remember that in this great nation of ours, we have been loved richly and we should honor the memories of those who have given their lives for us. For just as the church is not a building but the whole collected body of Christ (the people), so to is this nation, "WE THE PEOPLE..." Please take some time this weekend to remember those who have loved us so greatly.

Dad & Kids Camping Weekend

Boys in front of their tent


Boys ready for bed in their tent


Boys Eating Camp food


Our Tent at the site


The rest of the camp site (and that's not even all the tents!)

Well, we didn't quite break the 100 mark with just over 90 participants this year. It turned out to be a wonderful weekend again (our 3rd Annual event) made even better by the fact that we had a pastor led worship service this year for the first time, which was a terrific worship experience on Sunday morning by campfire!
My older son has done all three years now but this was the 3-year old's first time sleeping out in the tent and he also enjoyed it. We made a long hike around the lake and he ran out of gas on Saturday afternoon, had to be carried back and then took a two hour nap in the tent. The boys had hotdogs cooked over the campfire and S'Mores that night and enjoyed being out in the woods. Got a little cold Saturday night as a storm blew through but we survived. Can't wait till next year!

Weekend Off

We gave my sister my bride the weekend off as the boys and I did the Dads & Kids camping trip. That allowed mommy some time away from the boys and I and a chance to do both a garage sale and have a night out with the girls (some of the other mothers who had husbands/kids on the camping trip). She sold enough stuff to pay most of the cost for her passport to go to Mexico here in couple weeks and she enjoyed a really girls night out and even had a celeb sighting (Patton Oswalt, the voice of Remy in Ratatoullie) outside the restaurant they were at as they are filming a movie here in town (The Informant)
Glad you enjoyed your weeekend...but we sure did miss you even though we enjoyed ourselves camping.
Thanks for selling all my big clothes...definetly have to keep the weight off now!

Podcasting

Sermons are now online. I know there was an uproar and controversy when they first went out on the radio. Again with television, and once again now with the podcast. But whether your broad-CASTING or pod-CASTING, you are still CASTING.

Matthew 4:18-20 (NIV): As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.

Pod-CASTING on the inter-NET, what could be more fishers-of-men-like anyhow?

Dads, Kids, Tents, and no Moms

Well, the weekend will soon be upon us. Some dads and granddads of my church (and their friends) will be making our 3rd annual trek into the wilderness with our children to live outdoors for a night. It really is a fun weekend for all involved, and word has clearly gotten out as we are at (if not over) the campsite's capacity this year!
Many are looking forward to the Saturday night steaks (a new perk this year for the dads) but this will also be the first year that we will be having a Pastor led worship instead of a lay lead devotion and I think that is great myself. It will also be my younger son's first time camping out. His 5-year old brother is a veteran now of the two previous camp outs but this will be the 3-year old's first attempt. Mommy is standing by to run out and get him if he fails...but we are hoping to give mommy the weekend off.

Mexico Trip

My sister--my bride has made the decision to be a last minute replacement on a service mission trip to Mexico in a few weeks. She has done several of these service projects but this will be her first outside of the US and I pray for that whole group as they travel down there and serve God through serving others.
It also means that the boys and I will be bachelors for a week and we'll need the support of those around us as well. But we are thankful that our mother/wife will get a chance to serve our Lord in this way.

Camping this Weekend

Both the boys are getting excited about camping/fishing this weekend. It is the 3rd Annual Dad's & Kids camping weekend for my church and we have broken the triple digit mark in signups for the first time so there will likely be over a hundred of us out there.
My older son and I have participated in all three but we are bring the younger son with us this year for his first venture at camping out. It'll be just Dads (and Granddads!) and Kids for the weekend in the great outdoors. We are praying for fair weather and safety for the weekend.

the Mother I Married

I hope you enjoyed your special day as we took a little time out to honor you on Mother's Day yesterday. You deserve our respect and honor daily, but hopefully we expressed just how special you are to us yesterday. Your sons love you. I love you. Thanks for being so much a part of our lives.

Got Milk?

Got Milk? We've all seen the white mustachioed celebrities on billboards and magazine pages promoting the drinking of that wholesome dairy product. I've always thought that those that promote breast feeding for newborns should do a spin-off ad of an infant on its mother's shoulder after a fill-up and a burping with a big grin and a slogan that reads "Got Mom's Milk!"

Today is in fact a celebration of those mothers that provide for us from the beginning. They nurture us for months inside their wombs, feeding us as they feed themselves and God equips them with breast milk to continue that feeding and nurturing as infants. It's healthy stuff and it helps create a bond between that mom and child that lasts. God has equipped our mothers to be awesome.

1 Peter 2:1-3 (NIV) states ~ "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."

Where else can one "taste" a world free of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander, but in their mother's arms? The Lord is good and I thank Him today AND EVERY DAY that he provided me with such an awesome mother and so many wonderful spiritual mothers who fed me with that pure spiritual milk as I grew up physically and in my faith. I thank Him today AND EVERY DAY also for providing me with a loving wife and mother for my two sons and pray that they continue to be raised up physically and in their faiths with her guidance and that of the spiritual mothers God provides them in their lives.

Happy Mother's Day all you Mothers (both physical and spiritual) out there. May God continue to bless you!

You Funny. No, You Funny!

My youngest (3-1/2) loves it when make silly noises or say silly things. He'll giggle and tell me "You Funny" to which I often reply, "No, You Funny!" and pretty soon we are locked in a near-perpetual see-saw battle of "No, You Funnies."
What does it mean to say to someone they are funny? Why do comedians crave laughter? Perhaps it is just that we enjoying making others feel good. Laughter is a feel good reaction. So when my son and I join battle in the clash of the "you funnies" we are really just telling each other, over and over, that "you bring me joy. You make me smile. You make me happy." And it is true every time I say it

If I build it, who'll come?

This week I embarked on one of the handyman projects. I will attempt to box in my sons' playhouse in a mulch bed so it will be up out of the grass and give them a softer and better defined play zone. Easier for me or my wife to mow around also. I'm no Frank Lloyd Wright. I am no master builder. I am what is affectionately called a "slap it together" type.
So when I'm done, I wonder if the boys will like it? Will the mulch bed become their new pretended Seven Seas as they ride their imaginary pirate ship playhouse (which is equiped with a ship's wheel and telescope) to distant shores? Unlike Ray Kinsella, I hear no voices in my backyard and have no visions of a returning Blackbeard delighting in the thrill of the mulch with an hearty "Arr-Arr-Arrgh!"
But I must build it anyway. Maybe I'll get'er done soon!

Bricks and Mortar?

As an archivist & historian, I work a lot with old photos. In describing and cataloging those images you work to accurately categorize what is depicted in the image, what date was it taken, who is in the image, etc.

Ever look at one of the myriad of coffee table books produced annually loaded full of historical photographs. Local historical societies love to produce those and they are a great way to view the past. Many of them feature images of church buildings, as they often are the icons that have stood in the community longer than many other structures. A caption might read "St. Luke's in 1920" under a stark black-and-white image of the building, perhaps with an automobile parked out front to give it a chronological context. Most of us have seen these images or books before. But did you ever see one where the caption read "St. Luke's in 1920" and the image was of nothing but people? Hmmmm. Makes me wonder. Just what is a church again?

Froggy Returns

Well, with work continuing in getting our yard ready for spring/summer, I turned on of our gardens again this past weekend and unearthed our old toad friend "Froggy" My sons both came over and said hello to their backyard neighbor. Was good to see that he had weathered the cold that had returned last week and had also decided to remain in our garden instead of moving on.
The boys wanted again to bring him inside--it was clear he liked us as he had stayed in our yard and so he must want to be there indoor pet as well--but they accepted the fact that Froggy must remain outside in our yard.
Actually, convincing them to leave him outside was fairly easy. Just needed to remind them that Froggy the toad eats bugs. If he lived inside with us, we'd have to bring bugs inside for him to eat. Thankfully, neither of my boys are big bug fans so they were quite happy to leave him outside when they heard that. Of course, as they get older, they might start outwitting me, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

The Work Continues

My sister--my bride and I got more accomplished this past weekend. Our biggest thrill was hitting a yard sale on our street and finding dressers (something we have always been in desperate need of with two boys is drawer space) and lumber (we've needed wood to help frame in some garden and play-areas) and we found it all and the price was more than right. That of course created more work for us in terms of getting the stuff home, getting it cleaned up for use and then getting it where it needs to go. That work continues but together my wife and I remained united in effort to make our house a home for our family...and we love every minute of sweat equity we put in it.

Minimum Wage ~ Maximum Effort

Is there really such a thing as a "minimum wage?" Of course, legally speaking, there is such a thing but in reality, if I owned a company instead of employees I could just go out and recruit volunteers. The AD could read:
"Great Place to Work needs volunteer staff to do the work"

I'm sure they'd be lined up at the door to "volunteer." OK, maybe not. So, I'm forced to go out and hire a worker or two. The law says I have to pay at least a certain amount (the minimum wage) so I do. What does that say about me as an employer? If I pay my employees the LEAST amount allowable by law, what message do they get from me in terms of how much I value them? What is the minimum I can pay them to get them to do all that I ask? What is the maximum effort I can expect from them for that level of pay?

And that leads me to another problem. Just what is a maximum effort? If you give it your all? If you give 110%? Is that really the maximum effort? Honestly, if you think you've given something a maximum effort and you didn't die from exhaustion in the process, was that really a MAXIMUM effort?

We live in a world ruled by MAXs and MINs, MINs and MAXs. We measure everything, value everything in terms of MINs and MAXs, MAXs and MINs. What is the MAXimum you'll pay for a gallon of gas before you switch to walking to work? What is the MINimum amount of times I need to attend church in order for the church to continue subsidizing my childs education at the parochial school?

Romans 6:23 (NIV) states "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Hmmm. What is the minimum wage of sin? Death...same as the maximum wage...still death. God deals strictly in absolutes...no minimums, no maximums. Sin = Death It doesn't matter how much or how little, there is no minimum amount of sin to earn death, and likewise, there is no maximum. The least and worst sinners both earn DEATH. But...and that is one of those all important "buts" there in verse 23, that wage is already paid. The debt we owe...death...was already paid and so instead of Death, we have life. Not just some life. Not just a minimum standard of living. No not even life to the max...but rather ETERNAL LIFE. Life that never ends (and therefore is absolute life, not a minimum or even a maximum life).

In John 10:10-15 (NIV) Jesus the Messiah says "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep."

Christ Jesus uses those all to familiar worldly terms to help us understand. There is no minimum wage that can convince a hired hand to give a truly maximum effort (his life). Only Jesus was capable, but His kingdom is one of absolutes. We are saved, redeemed, and in Christ Jesus, we have ETERNAL LIFE. Maybe it's time we started living in those absolute terms. Not in terms of what is the minimum or maximum, but in terms of we have life and have it to the full, forever and ever, Amen!

What to wear to Grandma's birthday?

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. The boys sang her happy birthday over the phone and while I was talking to her then they determined (of their own accord) that it was time for them to take a bath. They disappeared down the hall toward the bathroom. I continued talking to my mom, knowing full well they were not able to actually turn the water on themselves but shortly thereafter, the boys returned. Now, something was different. It seems they were now actually ready for the bath to begin because there standing before me were two stark naked boys begging me to come and fill the tub.
"Mom?" I said
"Yes." she answered
"The boys got dressed up for you birthday. They are standing here in their birthday suits."
(of course we concluded our conversation and I got the boys bath going) Oh what joy they bring.

Worth Weighting For

This past Sunday's weigh-in saw me break the 50 pounds lost mark for 2008. Since I started Weight Watchers online the 2nd week of January, I have lost 54 pounds. Still many more to go but that is one big milestone crossed over. Staying the course and continuing to lose is next.
On that note, excitement and momentum is building up for the upcoming Dads & Kids camping trip. We have just two more weeks to wait and then it will be here. Sign-up sheet is filling up and the kids (and even us Dads & Granddads) are getting excited. Should be a great time.
As this is the National Day of Prayer, I urge you all to to spend some time tonight offering your prayers to God. I especially ask that you remember those who are hurting, who are struggling against illnesses or struggling against oppressive forces beyond their control, and that you ask God to bring them all some comfort, some healing, and the hope that comes from knowing they are saved by grace, through faith.