lazy ... funny

so i have been pretty lazy this week, in respect to blogging.  i had several ideas throughout the week, but the thought of picking up the computer and hashing it out went by the way side.  i know what excuses are like, but i did have a busy week...so cut me a little slack.

something that was funny, last night, we were out on the deck most of the evening.  had the tiki torches burning, had the big green egg bbq'ing a little papa murphy's pizza. (you would think there were sponsors for this post...lol)  kim's brother and his family were over, the kids were playing outside...we just had a great evening!  

well, after chance and his family left, it was get ready for bed and unwind time for us.  so,  i think i fed the cat and the kids were "be-laxing" in their room.  kim went out on the deck to snuff out the tiki torches, and all of a sudden i hear her yelling.  "daniel!!  come here, hurry!!!"  i ran in to the living room to hear this, " i think there is a skunk out there.  it is eating the cat's food, i almost stepped on it!"  sure enough, there it was. (we will call the skunk pepe from here on out.) as if it were not bothered by anything, just chowing away on poor little sadie's food.

so, i had to devise a plan, quickly.  i went to get my gun, which one to grab?  well, i was just telling my brother-in-law, i need to buy a good shot gun.  so, no shot gun.  in that same conversation, i said, "i wish i had my .22 rifle back."  so, no .22 rifle.  the most logical choice was the .22 pistol.  (i didnt think i need the stopping power of the 40 or a deer rifle...lol) so .22 pistol it was.  kim was right behind me, saying, "you cant shoot that thing on the deck!" well,  i was concentrating on how to get out there, WITHOUT GETTING SPRAYED, all while maximizing my opportunity to get rid of this thing.  the best i could come up with was, wait until it gets done eating and gets off the deck and try to sneek out there and ... well...you know, eradicate this varmint. 

pepe got done eating, waddled all around the deck and finally made it's way down the steps.  i, quietly as i could, sneaked out onto the deck.  and the skunk takes off!  those little suckers can move pretty fast...and it was dark.  (those are my excuses!) i ran after it and squeezed off 5 or 6 shots...pepe was bobbing and weaving as she ran and dodged the lead i was slinging at her...she got away....lucky little critter!

so, kim walks outside, laughing at me, and this is how the conversation went...

kim  " honey, what happened!  you didnt hit it!?" 

me "no honey, i didnt hit it!  did you see that thing's moves?"  

kim "well, the good news is you didnt get sprayed!"

me "well, the bad news is there are probably  some holes in the dora play house!"

we both had a good laugh.  the great white hunter lives to strike another day.  little pepe knows i mean business now also!!  

great weekend...busy week

so, me and eric had a great weekend!! we went camping at my in-laws cabin down at bull shoals lake. just the guys!!! that is b/c the girls were having a girls only weekend and kicked us out of the house!!! but that is another post...lol

there really is nothing like spending time with your son when there are NO distractions. i value that so much and it means so much to me when i see him enjoying himself and having a great time. it was one of the weekends that i will carry with me for a long, long time.

i wonder if it is like that with our heavenly Father? i wonder if He thinks, "that time I got to spend with you this morning...man, that was awesome. I will never forget that as long as I live!!" (hello...that is a long time) i wonder if he cherishes moments with his kids as much as I do. a smile comes across my face as i think about that. the moments when i have completely let go and forgotten about all the stuff going on and just had great time with Lord. i carry them with me...i have a feeling they are special to him as well. just like this weekend was special to eric...

alas,  now it is on with the busy week ahead. meetings, long days, trial runs, leading, etc... but throughout this busy week. this weekend will hold a special place in my heart, as it will in the place of the Father's. i believe He was with us every step of the way this weekend. you see, sometimes time with Him is not always "quiet time". sometimes it is a special weekend with your son, that somehow becomes...holy. it was as if it were sacred. and i kept telling eric this weekend, "there is no other place i would rather be on the face of this earth, than right here with you!" somehow, it felt as if the Lord were saying that to me as well...

covenants, learning, goodness

i told  my wife that i probably need to go to church tonight.  later today i told a buddy of mine i was going to james river's wed. night prayer service.  we commented on the fact that we both thought that it is the best service they have there.  

i made a covenant with God back in august while we were in san antonio.  as i look back on it and re-read it, my focus was on making much out of God with my life.  but somehow, in the day to day life of things....so much of my focus hasnt been on glorifying God or really even on loving God.   more of my focus has been on trying not to sin.  honestly, just trying not to sin with the 'BIG" ones.  i have been frustrated, un-focused, not being bad...just not actively, seeking ways or even acting on opportunities to glorify God.

let me stop here for a second, i might sound like a broken record...or at least in my mind i do....but can i be honest.  i have a hard time living two lives.  you know, my work life and my spiritual life.  my career and my calling.  its as if Jesus died for my spiritual life and i have to do it myself in my work life.  and since it is me doing it in my work life...i have to rely on me to T.C.B. (take care of business!).  so, if i write with this theme often...it is just me having issues killing the work life and the spiritual life and forging ahead for one WHOLLY life! 

john lindell started out tonight by saying something so profound and yet so simple.  Be strong in the Lord.  As believers it is our job to be strong in the Lord.  and i dont know if he said this exactly or i just wrote it down this way but i will give him credit for it....  "to be strong IN the Lord, you must be strengthened BY the Lord."  man that hit me.  probably because of my lack of consistency in the Word lately...but a commandment is a commandment when it comes from the word of God. and for us to be strong in the Lord is a commandment.

he went on to talk about the promises of God is where we can draw our strength from.  He taught out of Genesis 15 where God makes a covenant with Abram.  it was awesome and for me to try and recount it here would be a terrible dis-service.  but tonight definitely strengthened me in the Lord.  

i wanna try... (anything i say from here on is what i got from JRA tonight, unless otherwise noted)

• Gen 15:9-11 this is one of those passages that intrigue me.  they actually make me scratch my head and say what the heck?  in those days if people were making an agreement the lesser party or lesser king would make an agreement to submit to the more powerful party or kings way of doing things.  the lesser party would say, i am going to make a covenant (to cut) with you.  i am going to cut these animals and separate them and walk in between the halfs...getting all the blood and all the nasty all over me.  if i, as the lesser party, break this covenant...i am agreeing that you(the greater party) can do to me what is done to these animals.  does that make sense?
• Gen 15:17-18 this is where God answers Abram from v.8 . God took the part of the lesser party.  saying if this covenant is broken, i agree that you can do to me what is done to these animals.  you have got to be kidding me?  think about that! of course the covenant was broken...by the isrealites.  so what now?
• Read this.
• through Jesus, God fulfills his end of the covenant he made with Abram.  our freedom isnt free at all.  it came at the highest of prices.  

we took communion after this, and i cried as i thought of the symbolic covenant i held in my hands. (and i am not a cry-er) the price of the covenant that i do not remember so often, i held on tight to it tonight...and it strengthen me in the Lord.  When I try to not sin, even on just the BIG ones, i fail miserably.  I must choose to die to let Christ live...my focus then brings everything into perspective.  why is it that the most basic principles are the ones i constantly need to be reminded of?

THAT is why the wed night prayer service at JRA is my favorite service i think i have ever been to around here!  so, if you dont have a church home, or your church doesnt have a wed. night service....you ought to check it out. 

profile pic...who is it?

   

which one is which?  one is me, the other is eric.  

the similarities are pretty scary!!

boys and girls...are they different?

sounds like a stupid question, huh?  it is a stupid question.  of course they are different!  they are more different than any one man could ever imagine!

so, let me narrow my question.  as a father, do you parent them differently?  do you treat them differently with punishment?  do they have the same rules?  

honestly, i dont notice treating them any differently...most of the time.  my kids are 4 years apart so they are at different stages.  and they dont understand what one does the other one may not be able to.  i dont know how to accurately explain to them that they are in different stages and while it might not seem fair, it really is fair.  anyway, the following story will shed some light on my situation.  

well...tonight, i got my answer as to if i am treating them differently.  long story short, at dinner we told them both in order to get dessert they needed to try something new.  they didnt have to eat it all, they just had to try it.  eric did pretty good.  well, he stepped up and said he would try cooked carrots.  it took him 10 minutes to chew up the tiniest piece, but he did try something new.

kinley on the other hand wasnt having any of it.  this child does not eat but a hand full of things.  seriously, at day care they circle what she ate...most days NONE is circled on all most all things except bread and milk.  anyway, she would not try anything.  she cried and cried.  i put her dessert right in front of her face to try and bargain with her...still no dice. ONE BITE, i pleaded.  tears is all i got.

i admire my kids stubbornness.  i know where they got it, their mom! ha  so, i gave in and if she went outside to play with her mom and brother after dinner, then she couldnt have a dunkin donut like her brother, but she could have a piece of freshly made banana bread.

well, eric caught wind of this travesty and he had some words for his mom.  he asked kim, "how come sister doesnt have to always do what she is supposed to.  but she still gets her way when she cries.  IT IS LIKE SHE HYPNOTIZES YOU GUYS WHEN SHE CRIES!"   all we could do is laugh and say guilty.

let me know if you have any stories...or advice!

united...

reading in 1 corinthians 1 this morning.  i love paul's heart for the unity of the church.  although he begs everyone to agree, he doesn't beg everyone to conform.  he begs everyone to be together in mind and thought.  he begs everyone to agree on who to follow.  and it isn't some kind of whiny, pansy..."come one guys, lets just all get along".  it is manly!  it is implying that there is something at stake! 

he asks a few questions, and they are great questions.  they are rhetorical, but they are great!  v.13 he says, "Is Christ divided?  Was Paul crucified for you?  Were you baptized into the name of Paul? "  i love sarcasm in the bible!  

just one interesting thought here for me.  to Paul, unity is less about getting along with others and more about who we are following.

dont try and get along with someone today.  try to follow Jesus.  

or

my wife loves dunkin' donuts.  even though they dont know how to spell...she has found that she loves them!  this new found love was discovered when we were on vacation in florida this summer.  always before it was krispy kreme...i guess they cant spell either, lol...BUT KK's have the best "HOT NOW" doughnuts, that is with out a doubt TRUE, no room for debate.

i do however agree with kim that DD are all around better donuts.  

what does this have to do with anything?  fella's listen up!  when your wife is just not feeling it...when nothing is wrong, she just needs a little extra lovin...kk doughnuts wont do it!  get up early and drive to branson (no DD in springfield or ozark) and get her some of her favorite donuts.  she will thank you and you will be glad you did! :-)

btw...check out my friend eric's new blog.  it is very encouraging! you can find it in the blog roll on your right. grace is everything and everything is grace...