Every week my good friend mike and I face off on the tennis court in an epic battle of skill and wills. although there have been a few incidents where testosterone driven competitiveness takes us over the brink, in most cases we have great matches and remain civil:)
last tuesday we took our wives to a tennis match at the van andel in GR between Pete Sampras and Jim Courier. It was sponsored by an organization working on a cure for Leukemia and all proceeds went to that. The match wasn't the greatest, Sampras pretty much killed him, but hanging out with mike and Liz while watching some of my child hood heroes was pretty cool.
Sorry about the terrible pics, I forgot my camera at work and had to use a disposable one that is designed to be used between six and eight feet away. Unfortunately, our seats weren't that close.
lately, my two year old daughter Adalyn has decided that when she doesn't want to do what I've asked/told her to do, she covers her ears with both hands and says "talk daddy". Of course once I've repeated myself, I know she still heard me perfectly clear, (or could at least recall what I had said before she covered her ears), but she continues doing what I've asked her not to as if now there was no way I could hold her responsible. After all, her ears were covered:)
As so often happens to me, when I think about the challenges of being a dad to my girls, I put it into the context of God as my daddy. As ridiculous as it seems to me to have Addy cover her ears when I'm speaking to her, I can't help but feel convicted at the times I know God has spoken to me and I pretend I didn't hear so good.
Sometimes we can think pretty highly of our "christian" performance. I haven't killed anybody, I don't steal, I'm not cheating on my spouse, but we miss the still small voice of God that wants to prune every branch of our lives for the purpose of bearing more fruit! (john 15:2)
Whether its the apology I know I need to make, the person I am supposed to reach out to, the "prayer request" that is nothing more than gossip, or the prideful lie that I can accomplish what God has for my life on my own, I want ears to hear what the spirit is saying, so I can obey and grow.
As for Addy covering her ears, thankfully big sis is there to be here second mom and relay the message again ever so graciously:)
Our friends Bob and Michelle from church have a beautiful property equipped with horses, ponies, dogs, cats, and large dung piles!! They were nice enough to let the girls come over yesterday and experience all of it. Ava was quick to don her pink cowgirl boots and kendra wore her 8 inch heel fashion boots making them both very equestrian-y.
I think Ava would still be there feeding them grass by hand right now if we hadn't forced her (crying of course) to leave. Addy did it once, and that was enough for her. To her credit though, she was the first to ride the pony, while Ava sat back wanting to make sure Addy didn't die or something before she tried.
gotta love the priceless shot of them by the big pile of poop:) Addy was talking about that one for a while!
Big Thanks to Bob, Michelle and especially the twins for sharing your beautiful animals with us!!!!!!!!
Wow, I've got to check ebay more often!! I'm sure some of you ran across this story already, but how pitiful that Michigan makes the news for selling a house for 1.75!!!!!!! For the mathmatically challenged, that is less than the cost of eight chicken mc nuggets at mickey D's!!
This is how crazy our world is, at the same time a house is selling for under two bucks, burger king launches a campaign in the u.k to promote a 200 dollar hamburger!!!!!
They could have potentially owned 114.2 homes in the saginaw area for that lunch!!!!!
In the middle of this financial crisis facing America and the world, an important principle can be learned. Nothing happens overnight. Banks and companies do not fail overnight. We may be just hearing about it, but irresponsible lending practices, wall street greed, and lack of competent oversight have been going on for some time now.
Thats the same way things work in our lives. Your marriage issues didn't just start last weekend. Your kids don't wake up one morning and decide to rebel. Are your financial issues a result of stretching yourself too thin?
We may seem so surprised when it all comes to a "sudden" head, but like a volcano, the rumblings have been going on underneath the surface for a while first.
That is why it is of utmost importance that we put God first in every area of your life. The government, no matter who gets elected, is not going to solve your problems for you. Our allegiance must be to a lamb, not a donkey or elephant.
Become a tither if you aren't already and put God first in your finances. Establish church as a priority for your children, it has to be more important than band, sports, or their job. Get accountability!!! Who is in your life that you can go to when your marriage is bumpy, when you feel like life is spiraling out of control? That is what the church body is for!!
As christians, we need to recognize that during this hard economic time, especially with the holidays coming, more and more people are going to be in financial and spiritual need. I am asking for eyes to see, so that I can be a blessing to those around me as we contend with Jesus for the hearts of this generation.
I've never been able to wrap my head around the enigma that is female gotothebathroomaloneaphobia. Lest you were deceived into thinking only adult women succumb to this peculiar trait......... I give you my daughters, who also refuse to go alone:) Addy usually just sits on hers to show her moral support for Ava without actually going herself. I wonder if that's also true when my wife and sister go together at the restaurant? Maybe some of you gals could comment on this and let me in on what really goes on behind bathroom doors while your husbands are alone at the table. Is everyone peeing, or are some of you strictly in a support role? I guess maybe I should just be happy none of my guy friends ask me to go with them...........In the words of Dr. evil, "thats not something one dude should say to another dude.....creepy."
If your anything like me, you probably are still wondering if what you just witnessed is for real..........It is. These are real people and this is really happening. As I sat in somewhat disbelief watching this, two thoughts came to my mind. (well three really, but you already can see they are somewhat crazy so I won't list that one.)
1. people cannot live in the absence of purpose. Why did Rick Warrens book sell ninety gajillion copies? Because every one of us was designed by God to live out a mission bigger than ourselves. This video is an example of what happens when human beings do not pursue the mission God designed and gifted them for and accept a substitute.
Jesus, as He was about to be executed, (John 18:37) told Pilot, "for this "cause" was I born, and for this "cause" I have come into the world. That I should bear witness to the truth."
Just like our savior, we need to realize we are living for a cause. Our mission in life is to represent Jesus. We live as a new kind of human being, used by God in the redeeming of His creation back to Him, one lost person at a time. It's the only thing that is eternal. Being a good steward of the environment is important, but its not why we are here. Lets not drift thru life thinking our only calling is our job or family (both important things) and miss the "cause" God has for us on earth. 2 corinthians 5 tells us we are his ambassadors sent to represent Him to our world! Ask yourself, what does that look like for me?
2. the second issue I have is that these people mourning the loss of forest in America, tend to be ultra liberals who will fight to the bitter end for the rights of women to abort a fetus at any time, for any reason. I can;t speak for these specific people, but generally they feel any restrictions on abortion is a trampling of the "rights" or privacy of women. This is one of the most tragic ironies on earth and another example of a misguided mission. I admire their passion, but when did trees become more important than children. I will never get it. Where is the wailing for human lives snuffed out?
Enough ranting, remember what we do on earth, echoes in eternity. People, far from God and hurting, are what really matter.
Yesterday was my big debut as the parent helper in Ava's preschool class. I was in charge of bringing the snack and juice, as well as making sure it began with the letter "c". Lot's of pressure I know, but I finally went with care bear fruit snacks, (I was going to go all healthy with carrots or cauliflower, but I didn't want the kids to hate me)
My tasks included getting the snack ready, putting all the papers in the kids backpacks, as well as going thru all of them first to check for playdough that good preschool parents make at home (not us) or money for field trips. I felt like airport security as I'm in the back rifling thru everyone's bags. I only found a few weapons and some suspicious looking powder that I was pretty sure was just arsenic, but I took it to the principle anyway. A few kids might be a little short on field trip money, but that's what their parents get for sending cash.
I then took each child one at a time into the hallway to test their knowledge of colors and shapes. I assured them that if they couldn't identify a rectangle, it was only 20 lashes and not to worry. In all seriousness, I was quite surprised how many knew almost all of them. Grey was a tough color for some and oval was the toughest shape. Most guessed either circle or egg:) It was interesting to see how different children responded to not knowing them. Some would just guess, some would shrug their shoulders, but most would just kind of look at you blankly with sort of a shy smile while repeating um, um, um, um. It was very sweet.
All In all it was alot of fun and I just love interacting with and observing kids at that age. God bless Mrs. Thomas and all other teachers called to pour into our generation and we'll see how Kendra fares when its her turn!!!
I am a man who has gotten exactly what he DOESN'T deserve. After years of living for myself and spiraling into drugs and partying, on march 14 1999 Jesus Christ rescued me from myself. Since then, I am far from perfect, but have never been the same. I am the senior associate pastor (kind of like assistant to the regional manager:) at the most amazing church ever (radiantchurch.tv) and the people there are amazing!!
I have a beautiful wife kendra of 8 years and two incredibly cute daughters, Ava and Adalyn.
