Thankful

OK, anyone can say they are thankful for their health, their spouse, their children, their job.
So I've come up with a list of lesser stature, but still meaningful to me.

I am thankful for
1) The 25 minutes of extra sleep every night since we stopped milking the goat, though I do miss the milk when making mashed potatoes.
2) Our 3 vehicles with a combined mileage of over 562,ooo, which is to the moon and back plus about 240 trips to Walmart and back as well.
3) The fact that the pantry doors have not come off of their track for almost 2 weeks
4) I never started smoking and neither has my wife
5) I took my fathers advice and took a typing class in high school
6) The fact that a slice of bread and 30 hungry chickens can always make me smile no matter how bad of a day I've had.
7) I haven't had that many bad days to begin with.
8) No more leaky basement. No more basement for that matter.
9) Steve, even though he's an idiot.
10) I have long enough breaks to blog

The Happy Meal Gospel at the McPlayland Church

My children LOVE McDonalds. They love it so much, like Pavlov's dogs, they salivate at just the sight of the golden arches. "I'm hungry!" or "I'm thirsty".."Can we just stop there to get water?"
Occasionally, I actually indulge them, but, I'd be a fool to think the trace amounts of nutrition they receive were any match for the fat and sugar intake. But it's convenient, it's fast, and it takes very little effort on my part. The kids are full and they are happy.
The kids are full, but not nourished. They are happy, but not satisfied. Even the toys they receive entertain for a moment, but are quickly Goodwill fodder at the next bedroom toy purge.

My children like Children's church too.

I love and respect all of the countless believers who pour their hearts and souls into children's ministries. But, at what point in church history did going to church with your family turn into driving to the same building on Sundays and going our seperate ways?

Why are families segregated? Is it because "big church" is too boring for children? My guess is, if its boring for a 10 year old, its boring for a lot of 40 year olds too. Breaking our backs trying to entertain the kids with flash and pizazz seem to leave little room for the still small voice.

Is it because children aren't ready for the "solid food" of the adult teaching? If that is so, why don't we send new Christians to "Kids Church" until they are ready? Is there some Junior Holy Spirit that goes to the children's service? I think not. Who better to teach children how to enter into worship than Mom and Dad?

How do we discuss what we've learned, if we don't hear the same message? Why don't I get to color a picture of Moses?

I know there are countless reasons people may give, but to cut to the chase, its because its the current paradigm in the Western Church, we don't respect the spiritual potential of our children.
How do we break free from this paradigm? I don't know.
Isaiah 11:6 reads,
"The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. "

I for one, don't want to be in trapped in "big church" when THIS happens.

Balancing Acts

Children love to test their balance and, in turn, their parents heart rates. From pivoting back and forth on one leg of a stool while drinking hot chocolate reading "Calvin and Hobbes" to walking on the edge of a wall which, in their mother's eyes, is as high as Victoria Falls, when in reality would cause one, maybe two broken ribs at best.
I guess this prepares us in our lives for all the balancing we have to do. One person who has to walk a tightrope all the time is a wife. How does she manage such a frail thing as the male ego?
How does she encourage without patronizing? How does she motivate without nagging? How does she comfort without enabling self-pity? My wife has been walking that tight rope for nearly half of her life (it will be exactly half her life November 4th, 2006) Sometimes, I think she's really slipped, when in fact, her footing is sure, her parasol perfectly placed for balance. It is MY perspective, face down in the net, that is out of whack. But, she'll admit to more slips than I've noticed.
And now, as our oldest son is just 14 months away from being a teenager, and two more right behind him, she's going to have to walk four different wires. As she looks down, she fears, just as before, that a slip will cause far more damage than what is really the case.
She's gonna need a good pair of shoes and big long pole for the next 50 years or so.
You go girl!

How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb or (How to Avoid Common Marital Strife)

The other night my wife and I were in a discussion with 2 other couples about the same fights we all get into over the same things. So, I thought I'd help any other husbands out there who want to avoid the same pitfalls that have befallen many a man before them.

The Kitchen Rules:
A) Whatever you cook tastes better if the kitchen is clean
B) "Doing the dishes" means wiping the counters and sweeping the floor in
addition to any actual dishes that need to be washed
C) There is always room for one more dish in the dishwasher, probably room for
8 if my wife is the one that loaded it

The Laundry Room Rules:
A) Never dry her sweaters
B) Never dry anything that is stained
C) Unless everything is folded and PUT AWAY, you have NOT done a load of laundry
D) If you find yourself in the heat of a laundry argument NEVER under ANY circumstances try to infer that you do as much laundry as she does.

The Bedroom Rules: (Its not what you're thinking Chester!)
A) Do NOT sleep on the "show" pillows
B) "I'm cold" , means "You get out of bed and adjust the thermostat while I steal all the covers"
C) While she is emoting, never EVER doze off.


If you can follow these 10 simple rules, you are guaranteed years and years of marital bliss

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

You broke the bonds and you loosed the chains
Carried the cross of my shame Of my shame
You know I believed it
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

To many the words of U2 were a proclamation that they had given up on Christianity, but as a devout Christian I find myself still searching, still seeking on a regular basis. So to me, these words speak of an honest faith that doesn't put up a false front or pie in the sky promises. Some days I live in Amazing Grace, but, more often than not, I live in "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

Accepting Christ doesn't come with a CD Rom with all of the answers you'll need for this life, nor do you, like Minerva sprouting fully grown from the head of Zeus, magically become a fully mature Christian, needing no further growth or discipleship the minute you speak the sinners prayer.

I am currently in a season in which my work schedule has prevented me from attending church on Sunday mornings since June, and not again until January. Our current church has no Sunday Evening service as we meet in a high school auditorium. I have made infrequent attempts to meet with other worshipers to get my worship fix. But, I still haven't found what I'm looking for. My wife and I attend a growth group on Wednesdays to get a small window of fellowship and adult discussions about faith. But, I still haven't found what I'm looking for. I help moderate a discussion forum on christiansongwriting.org, to help each other hone our song writing skills, but, I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

I believe in the kingdom come Then all the colors will bleed into one bleed into one Yes I'm still running

Christ spoke "Thy kingdom come, on Earth as it is in heaven"..
The Kingdom of God will be here on Earth and I am looking forward to that day! I look at my world now and see division in the church, I see genocide, famine and disease. At this very moment, the children in my home are yelling at each other. I want to see some of the Kingdom of God ... But, I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

OK, I was taunted last night that I have still not made a blog entry on my own. Of course, the moment I get to this page at 6:40am, my daughter calls for me she is scared, the coat hanging on the peg is "spooky". So I take it down and pray for her to not be scared. Before I can sit back down, she is calling for me again and we go through the options of me laying with her, or her coming to our bed. She says, "NO" to every option. She is tired, and she is scared of spooky coats, so I just pick her up and hold her. I take her to our room, my wife is already gone
to work out so we sit on the bed and watch the weather report for the day.

"Daddy, can you bring me waffles on a tray and turn it to the Elmo channel?"
Now it is MY turn to say NO.

I woke up several times last night thinking of what clever or insightful things I would say on my first real post, but it turns out I don't have time for that as our 10 yr old son has climbed into the bed too, I hear the chickens cackling out the window reminding me of the animal chores before me. The bedroom door needs fixing, children need fed and homeschooled and, according to my daughter, my teeth urgently need to be brushed.

Maybe next time.....