Circus!!

Took the fam to the Barnum and Bailey circus in Grand Rapids last night and had a blast!!! The girls were pretty much mesmerized the entire time, especially Ava who was too excited to take a nap on the way up so she seemed to be in a catatonic state just staring with her mouth open=) That only lasted until the cotton candy started flowing and we got our second wind!! Speaking of cotton candy, it was ten dollars!!!!!!!!!! All I could think of was my own little commercial, "five pounds of sugar at walmart, one dollar, one pound of pink sugar at circus complete with ridiculous hat, ten dollars, memories with my precious girls, PRICELESS!!!!"

I caved and also got us some skittles and lemonade, although I wouldn't go as far as to spend TWENTY EIGHT DOLLARS!!! on a small circus stuffed animal.

The only real bummers were my inability to stop thinking of all the "when animals attack" episodes as they brought out the tigers and elephants, and then wallowing in shame for secretly wanting one of them to actually go crazy!! ( i know, it was terrible!!! Am I a bad person? I didn't want to see anyone get stomped or killed, maybe just the trainer mauled? is that too much to ask? .....I'm kidding!!!)

Also, I was really hoping to get my picture taken with a PETA protester, but there were only two!!! How weak is that? That's all that they could muster for a circus? I saw more of them at the mickey d's on westnedge handing out unhappy meals and complaining about the nuggets coming from chickens that are thrown into scalding water alive! I tried to explain that the feathers have to come off somehow, but they didn't care. These two had a sign that said "torture is not entertainment", I thought about arguing and using reality television as my basis, but I decided not to. Neither one of them wanted a picture with me or one of my chicken nuggets, even though i made sure there were no feathers. They wouldn't even try one with hot mustard which i thought was pretty close minded and lame. I was hoping for a whole crowd of PETA so I wouldn't have to eat the entire twenty piece myself. Oh, well, I didn't let that spoil my night.

couple classic lines,

Addy about the tiger tamer----"he better watch out, or he's gonna get attacked!!" (I told you we watch those shows=)
Ava on her first bite of cotton candy-----"mmmmmmm, it tastes like sugar!!" gee, really? I thought I got the veggie flavor.

overall they put on an amazing show and we had a great time!!!!

the dangers of success?

In our staff meeting yesterday, we looked at the different phases of growth as a leader. While we covered a wide gamut of issues, the one that really stood out to me was the possible danger of success. How success or natural gifting can actually cover up for deficiencies of character or a refusal to grow in areas of your life.

I immediately thought of Sampson. We are all familiar with his story, but we can miss an important part of his life. Sampson was called by God and given super human strength as a gift. He was successful in every endeavor and any time he needed God to make a way, He did. Whether it was killing a lion with his bare hands, smiting (i love that word) a thousand philistines with a donkey jaw bone, or getting water to gush out of a hole in the ground when he was thirsty.

Then along came Delilah. Sampson already had a history of desiring women outside of God's covenant, and he did not heed his parents warnings. I believe he gave into his desires partly because he was blinded by the things God was still doing thru him. Because the consequences for his sin were not immediate, he put himself in the "this could never happen to me" category.

Imagine his scenario. He is dating a girl who has been payed off by Sampson's enemies who want to know what has to happen for him to be made weak. Sampson would make up a story like "you have to tie me with new bowstrings", and low and behold he would wake up tied in new bow strings! Then he would summon his strength, snap out of them, and kick some major philistine booty. This happened three times in a row so even if Sampson wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, he had to figure this girl was up to no good!!!! Instead, his success caused him to wrongly believe that the sin in his life was no big deal. He thought, God can't really disapprove of this, after all, He is still using me. I've been mega successful in what I'm called to do. I can "feel" God. Ultimately, his refusal to confront the lust in his life, ended up costing him his.

I wonder how many of us don't heed the voice of the Holy Spirit to repent of certain sins because our lives don't fall apart right away? We tend to think that If this sin were really an issue, God wouldn't be blessing me like this, or surely I'd be miserable. Is God calling you turn in an area of your life? Maybe you know you need to end a relationship, forgive someone, or ask for someone's forgiveness. Maybe its a "secret" sin like gossip or pornography, but you've fooled yourself into believing its not that bad. Let's not be like Sampson and think because we still have a measure of spiritual "success," its not that big of a deal. All sin hurts the heart of God and ends up costing more than you want to pay. James 1:21 "LAY ASIDE all filthiness, and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness, the implanted word, which is able to save your soul" What is God wanting you to "lay aside?"

I'll end this post with the hope God offers even in the midst of sampsons failure. Verse 22 of chapter 16 tells us that "before long, his hair began to grow back." Why would the bible writer feel we needed to know something as seemingly obscure as that? Because it shows the grace of God at work. Even though he failed and missed out on God's best because of his sin, the thing that identified him as called by God did not take long to reappear!! The same is true for us today. No matter what we've done, or where we've been, before long, the grace of God begins to reappear, and just like Sampson, we have the final victory over our enemy!!!!!

"a humble heart and a contrite spirit, God will never deny"

your choices matter

Unless you've been under a rock as they say, I'm sure you've heard about the recent exploits of a few famous people. Serena Williams had an explosive verbal tirade at a lines person during her tennis match, and Kanye West grabbing the mic from Taylor Swift and telling her someone else deserved it.

Both actions were obviously regrettable and each one issued their own version of an apology. Its not my place to say whether they were sincere or whether they have "done enough" to satisfy their critics. I guess my fear is that it can be really easy to point the finger at someone else's mistakes, because it takes your mind off of yours. I know I've gotten upset during sporting events, and while I may not have said the things serena did, it still wasn't right. And you can argue that Kanye has a history of these incidents and should know better, but I wouldn't want a history of my sins brought into the spotlight. I've screwed up more than once in many areas of my life. I'm not making excuses for either one, I'm just saying I'm glad none of the dumb things I do have been on television. I don't want to be one of those "let me get that speck of out your eye" christians, when I have my own planks. Maybe instead of heaping how bad they are on them, its best to say "they made a mistake, I hope their apology was sincere and they change"? I don't know, just a thought.

Here's the real question I want to ponder, how do my choices affect others? As the spiritual head of my household, how are my choices playing out in the lives of my wife and children, because they do.

I was reading in Joshua about Achan who kept some of the spoils of Jericho buried under his tent after the Israelite's victory. God had commanded His people to bring everything into the treasury, but Achan chose to take a gold brick, some garments, and a bag of silver coins for himself. When Israel was then defeated by a tiny nation, God told Joshua that it was because of sin in the camp. When Achan's choice was exposed in chapter seven, we are told that he, AND HIS WIFE, SONS,AND DAUGHTERS, were all taken outside of the camp and stoned.

I'm sure Achan never thought his greedy choice would ultimately cost his family their lives. He may have even thought he was doing it for his families security. Imagine if you were Achan's children and had no idea what dad had done, no direct involvement, yet you paid with your life.

I don't want my choices to negatively affect my family. If your children hear you choose to talk bad about certain people, it affects them. When they see what you choose to watch on television, it affects them. Whether or not you choose to value them by giving them your time, affects them. If your constantly obsessing about how you look, or how much you weigh, it will affect them. Maybe its pornography, or lying, or something they know nothing about. Understand that every choice affects those you love, as well as you. As christians, and especially men, we must strive to be pure, honest, and wise in the things we choose, recognizing that what you do, influences more than just your life, whether you know it or not.


Dueteronomy 30:19 "Today I have given you a choice between life and death, between blessing and curses. Choose life, so that you AND YOUR DESCENDANTS might live"

kindergarten

Today marked Ava's first day of kindergarten. She will be going all day from 8:15-3:15. This is going to be quite the shock to her system as we have been making sure she gets to bed by 10:30 all summer to prepare her for this=) I thought I might be a little more emotional, but Kendra and I were both ok. She was so sweet and just gave us a hug and a kiss and that was it!! I've heard that once your children are in school all day, time really starts to fly and I believe it. Did a wedding this weekend and tried to envision myself walking one of my girls down the aisle...............way to scary. Had to block that thought out!!!!

I love you Ava, I know your light for Jesus will shine bright!!