Often I complain about parenting…it ain’t easy…and no one really told me that. Yet, I can’t think of anything I would trade in the world for one of my kids.
Today is Micah’s 8th birthday! And below he has become king of the pumpkins!
Archive for the 'My family' Category
Who Said Parenting Was Easy? (Song Inspiration: Boys (lesson 1))
Published October 9, 2009 Music , My family , Youth/Children's Ministry 1 CommentMy parents warned me about a lot of things. They taught me many good things. But there’s one thing they forgot to mention. Parenting isn’t easy. I’m not even talking about the complexities of raising kids in our current culture, how to discipline, etc.
I’m talking about something more basic: LOVE is hard. Sometimes I wonder if I love my kids TOO much. No, I’m not talking about spoiling them. And I’m far from a perfect dad. It’s just that my kids are still relatively young and I feel like their lives are passing me by as fast as wind-blown sand on the beach. I’m realizing that I don’t really have much time with them. And there’s so much I want them to learn from me. I believe that I balance my life as much as possible to leverage my life into their’s. But it doesn’t seem enough. And sometimes that creates sorrow in my heart…
…until they get off the bus and I’m waiting for them. We skip home. I pour the milk. They grab the cookies. We sit and eat. Sometimes in silence. One of them giggles. I laugh. And we talk…sometimes just about silly stuff…and sometimes about life or what it means to die or deeper things. My sorrow goes away. For I love being and talking with my kids.
And then I get them off for another day…
What about you? What makes parenting difficult or easy for you?
Here’s a song that I can’t stop listening to. It sums up much better than I can describe in words what I’m feeling.
Song Inspiration: “Two Sets of Jones” by Big Tent Revival
Published October 3, 2009 Music , My family 2 CommentsTags: 2 sets of Jones, Big Tent Revival, Marriage, worship
Are you married? If so, you know how important it is to have a solid marital relationship. You can’t put it on auto-pilot and it works best if God is at the center and is the focus of your marriage. I’m so grateful for my wife Jennifer. She’s my best friend.
Even if you’re not married, all relationships need to be built on Christ’s foundation.
Here’s the original video of “Two Sets of Jones,” a song Jen and I have loved since it first came out many years ago. I still can’t listen to it without tears coming to my eyes. May it encourage you in your relationships.
10 Reasons I Love Our Church (FCC)
Published August 11, 2009 Community , First Christian Church , My family , Youth/Children's Ministry , worship 1 CommentTop 10 reasons I love FCC:
10. You are some of the best friends a man could have in the world.
9. Many of you are transparent enough to grow! You don’t mind emailing or telling your pastor how life (or something else) is kicking your butt. You don’t mind being honest with me when life seems like hell. Can you tell I like honesty and transparency and authenticity; not “masked Christians?”
8. We’ve got the best “staff” (paid and unpaid) in the world. I couldn’t imagine doing ministry with people who are more equipped to serve God.
7. You allow me to be me. Sounds easy enough, but I’m not your normal pastor.
6. You compensate me well enough to not complain.
5. We have the best praise band in the world.
4. The building is pretty awesome.
3. Our children’s and youth programs are exactly what our community needs.
2. [And this from my kids] Because it’s our family and we act like family together. yeah, that’s exactly it. That doesn’t mean families don’t disagree or have their issues. We ain’t perfect. But we’re perfect for each other.
1. You take care of your pastor when he or his family are sick. Even though my birthday on Sunday seemed terrible and my whole family is basically quarantined because of the flu, we got an ice cream birthday cake (thanks Marsees!) when there was no cake for my birthday, a birthday dinner (thanks Kimberly, Sandra, and Becky), and another dinner the next night (thank you Myra). On top of that I got a ton of birthday calls, cards, notes, and emails. Plus, there were even more people concerned about my family. Thanks for letting me skip the Heritage service Sunday to take care of them.
I had a great vacation…OK, I’m lying. It was good, but not great. The weather was spotty. We blew a tire. One of Reagan’s good friends was killed in a car accident while we were gone. OK, it wasn’t even good. But we’re alive and blessed so I’ll stop grumbling.
Philippians 2:14 says, “Do all things without grumbling….”
I really need to work on that. The goal is blamelessness and innocence. Grumbling hinders that.
No, not the anniversay of this blog…my anniversay of marital bliss with my wife Jennifer. OK, it hasn’t all been bliss, but more than not!
I couldn’t have done better. And she certainly didn’t have to marry down…but I’m grateful to God that she did!
That's my girl!
Kids Say the Darndest Things
Published June 24, 2009 Lessons from my journal , My family 1 CommentTags: children, funny, kids
My son Micah is 7, but when he was 4 I wrote down 2 funny incidents that took place less than a week apart:
Micah went up to our neighbor whose lawn was especially long because their mower was broke. He said, “When are you gonna cut your grass? Aren’t you embarrassed?”
We were getting into the church elevator (the old, small one) with a very large woman. I said, “Micah, head to the back. This is a small elevator.” To which he replied, “No dad, she’s just a large woman.”
Do you have any funny stories to share about your children?
Dad, It’s Father’s Day so I’m reflecting a little bit about how good of a dad I am to my children. That led me to think about you and how you raised me. Here’s a few reasons why you are a great dad:
1) Your relationship with mom has always been a good example to me. And that’s true today too with Marilyn. Children of divorce have a higher rate of divorce. That word is not even in our vocabulary. You always stuck with mom through the thick and thin.
2) The time you spent with me made me feel special and loved. All those sports games we attended and those you coached. Those made a difference.
3) Encouragement. Even when I was involved with things that you might not be passionate about (seminary, band), you encouraged me verbally and with your generosity and with your presence. Thanks!
4) Involvement and relationship with our children. Within reason and when able you visit and even care for our kids. That means a lot to them and me.
Have a great Father’s Day! You deserve it.
I don’t blog about movies too often here…let me think…probably the last one as Dark Knight. Anyways, took the kids to UP last week. Wasn’t expecting much. It’s for the kids and we sprung the extra dollar per ticket to see it in 3-D. Regardless of whether you see it in 3-D or not, the movie is awesome. I cried (which is not unusual) several times and thought it was one of the best movies I’ve seen in awhile. Without giving it away let me just say that the movie is a great metaphor not only for dealing with ageing and change, but also for the church as it struggles to find it’s voice in the 21st century. Go see it!
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