Overnight Flight

Our trip home was a direct flight, which was WAY better than the three planes to go to Colorado, and left at 11:30pm, arriving in Boston at 5:30am.  The kids slept reasonably well on the plane and both Kristen and I got a little shut eye as well, but it made for a very long workday for me.  The kids not only slept on the plane, and in the car, but they slept in their beds once we got home until noon!  Knowing our kids, you know how out of the norm that is.

Flying W Ranch - observations

We went to Flying W Ranch, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado tonight to finish up our trip. While I am not a huge fan of country western / country / or western or whatever mix everything was tonight, I did get a great few things from watching around me tonight...

Here is the first thing and I will follow up with a couple more.

The organization that they had at dinner time to deal with a large number of people was fantastic. I thought the MC did a great job of keeping people engaged while groups started through the line. They gave clear direction with a little humor so that it wasn't a list of things to do or not do BEFORE people started. They helped people get through the line as we went...especially those that had little children or older people who wouldn't be able to carry the plates with the food through the line.

It was neat to watch as everyone had jobs, did them well and the result was pretty good.

So, nice job to the folks at Flying W for helping our experience be a little more enjoyable because you did dinner as well as you did.

What a great reminder

Ps 141 - Passage�Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com: "�3 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
������ keep watch over the door of my lips."

This was part of the reading I was doing for my bible study group tomorrow and it just stood out as a great thing to always pray for and to praise God for when we are successful.

I think psalm 141 has a great number of great pieces in it, but I love how David lays it out right at the beginning of the psalm...so whether it be in regards to his words to God or to man; whether it be what he asks for or has been given; or what he wants to do or has done, may God be guarding over his tongue and lips so that they do not cause harm with anyone.

Friday morning men's breakfast - Colorado edition

I delighted in being able to attend an early morning get together of brothers in Christ with my brother-in-law John earlier today.  To Nate, Rob, Jacob and John I say a personal thank you for allowing me to join you and to learn from you as you worked through Genesis together.  I find it encouraging to see men get together, share, pray and hold each other up to live the life we are called to live....and I got a great example of that this morning in this group.  I was also incredibly blessed to be prayed for by the group as well.  I pray that you all will hold together with strength and discipline and that in won't be too long before I can join you all again.

To our reading this morning, may God grant each of you the ability to hold fast in troubled times as Joseph did, to have leadership skills beyond those shown in both Pharaoh and Joseph during the times leading up to and through the drought, and to have the ability to put God first as Joseph did right away as he spoke to Pharaoh.  Each of us knows that it is not by our own strength, but by His and may we rely and trust in that always.

10 YEARS

WOW...and not just for how good you looked in this dress or for how great you look today.

10 years.

I am a lucky man and I thank God that I have you in my life.

May our next 10 build on what we have done together, encourage even more experiences to remember and our strengthen our continuing trust that God has a plan for both of us that we have the joy to find out  about with one another.

Searching For God Knows What

Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I like reading Donald's books. He does have a great way of writing that draws you into a conversation...one that you want to participate in. You come to appreciate his point of view and I think that he makes some fantastic points throughout the book, points that I will probably use myself at some point or another in conversation with others. That to me, means that he has written a good book and has, at least, good perspectives on certain things.

As I read it though, I did think about a couple things. I think Donald works well with two groups of people...
1. People who have struggled with Christians in the past, who have negative impressions of Christians, or people searching and wondering about Christianity. Miller presents a great witness for people in these circumstances. His focus is on God's love for all of us...acknowledging how often Christians fall short of the goal to act as Jesus did, concerned more often about the rule than the person...which is exactly where the Pharisees got hung up.
In speaking to the relational aspects of Christianity, he presents a great way to view Christianity and a great way for those interested to maybe start asking questions.
2. People who are Christians that have a good grasp on fundamentals. The key here is that you read what Miller writes knowing the background of scripture so that this is not a theological base...but rather commentary on a sound base that helps you view things differently. Once you have a base of knowledge, it is possible to get dogmatic...stuck, and I think Miller can help break someone of that, however, if this is the basis of a person's theology, than I think they would suffer for not getting the basics that are necessary first.
I really enjoyed the book. I love the thoughts about Adam and Eve, the lifeboat syndrome and even his take on Romeo and Juliet. I think someone reading this can not only enjoy a good read, but get some great insights...like they were taking to a friend. For that, read the book. However, read it with another friend and discuss so that you can help each other process the things he brings up as well...

View all my reviews >>

Excited

This message has been created early and queued up to hit the web while we are flying to Colorado.  Totally excited to spend time with my family, see some friends and hopefully create a few awesome memories over the next two weeks.
With needing to have 5 tickets now, this is going to get rarer and rarer...so, hoping to really capture this time and have the kids really absorb the love that their uncles, aunts, grandparents and friends have for them.  They don't get as much contact as I would like and I don't want them to not know their extended family, their cousins and all these others that love them so much only from afar.

Lesson from Jude's "Potty" mouth

If you read the last note, you will know what I am referring to with respect to "potty words".

So, that episode, besides being a great thing to write down for posterity and to share with everyone was also one of those moments that God shows me how much I can learn through my children...when I pay attention:

What was the thing that I learned from Jude?

Well, I think one of the funny things that we do as we try to become more "Christian" is to watch our language.  We don't want to use swear words...and so, over time you hear a "Christian" drop fewer and fewer "f-bombs" or launch fewer and fewer "a-bleeps" and so forth.

This is as it should be.  I am not commenting so much on that, because I think that is right and healthy.

I guess the thing that caught my attention with Jude was this.  When he was angry, he reached for whatever the worse thing he could find to say, and he said it.  We all might smile at how cute and innocent it was, but it was said from a place of complete anger, frustration, outrage.  If he knew other words, he would have said those...and we wouldn't have smiled and thought it funny.  We essentially let it go because he didn't use what is accepted "harsh language", he used other language.

It is one of the things I used to say as a teen..."It doesn't matter if I say "X", it is just a word."  "I am sorry if you have issue with it, but I don't take it that way." And so forth.  I really thought I was pretty smart and above it all...maybe I wanted to perceive myself as more intelligent than others...I am pretty sure I even had a conversation with my parents about it at one point ;)

Anyway...I think the real substance lies underneath all of this.  That is  just like Jesus said when he started breaking down the "rules" on the Pharisees.  They could say that they had never committed adultery...but they would get caught when he said the root of that was lust.  They could say they had never murdered...but they would get caught when he said the root of that was anger.  Jude could get away with not swearing cause he said "toilet", but the root of the problem was the same as if he had said something much more "ugly" by conventional standards....and he is only 2.  It wasn't about the words.  It was about the emotion, the choice made and the intent he had.

It is that line that God calls us to walk.  To not follow rules for the sake of the rules...and not to not break the rules simply for the sake of saying we haven't broken them...the rules are not the end game and neither is the currently acceptable language that society uses....however, whether you are dropping an "f-bomb" or calling someone a "toilet", the intent may very well be the same and put you in the same place of having broken the intent that God laid out with the rules...to love each other as God loved us.

Just think about that the next time you go to say a "Christian" version of a swear word and think that you deserve kudos.

Your thoughts?

Potty Words

Jude is currently right on the cusp of being potty trained (yes, go ahead and ask me again in 6 months to see if I am saying the same thing...) and I think that this awareness of control around potty training has made him very particular and touchy about changing his diaper.  Today at nap time, he was wet and after he had fallen asleep we realized that he was wet through to his clothes.  Kristen picked him up to change him and he woke up.  As you can imagine, he was not happy.  Yelling, screaming, kicking...the whole 9 yards of fit and rage.  And that is where our fun memory takes place..in the midst of this fit.

However, to give the proper perspective, I have to bring up the background as well.  For the last several months, as Jude has become more and more a toddler that was exploring his independence, we have been correcting and disciplining Jude for his language.  He has heard things from his brothers, from shows and so forth that we are trying to correct and ensure he understands what is acceptable.  Each time he has gone outside the boundaries, we tell him, "That is not ok.  We don't use potty words."

So, flash back to today.  Jude is in a complete rage over our changing his diaper.  He is SO angry with us that he can hardly stand it.  His face is red.  His teeth are clenched.  His is kicking his feet and swinging his fists to get us away from him.
As we hold his legs and feet so that he can't hurt us and as we try to calm him, he reaches for the only thing that is left to hurt us with....his words.
He yells at the top of his lungs, "YOU ARE A TOILET!"

The worst? "potty" word that there is :)

The written note

Just a quick note for posterity...
I love my grandmother and I love the notes she still writes to us.  Below is the cover of a card she sent to Kristen and I not long ago and within it was a handwritten note on all the available space within and on the backside of the card just to encourage us, ask after our lives, and inform our family of what was going on with her.

It is really an awesome thing to get.  I mean, who doesn't still get a kick out of getting mail that isn't a bill, an advertisement, or whatever other kind of junk you normally get?

It is a treat...a rarer and rarer privilege in a day and age that sees more and more text messages, emails, voice mails and even video calls and messages.  To get a handwritten reminder that someone cares about you and spent the time to write to you is now an infrequent activity.

Now, to put this into context, I can't even tell you how many people she most likely tried to keep up with like this...she has children, many grandchildren, great grandchildren, friends, siblings, etc.  I imagine that she invests significant time in doing this each day and week...and that is one more reason why I cherish seeing them.

Makes me wonder that despite my horrific penmanship, who might like to see a note from me this week?