Blindsided!

I was recording my kids sledding one day in March and out of the blue I feel this thump on my backside.  I turn and see that my daughter has just blindsided me with a snowball!  She was laughing so hard and enjoying herself that she kept throwing them at me until I screamed like a little girl!  It was a great day!

Spring Beach Days

It was a beautiful Saturday in mid March  (St. Patrick's day) and I am at the beach!  I didn't really factor the cool beaches into our decision to move to MI but it has been a great thing for us.  We were running up and down the dunes and my kids were playing in the water!  It was a nice 70 degree day at the beach.  How much change can happen in 3 weeks when we were sledding?

The best part was sitting on the beach with Carla as the waves were lapping on the shore.  When the kids were otherwise occupied, it was like being on a date .   Just one more thing to thank God for!

Our Duty to Have Fun!

My kids love life!  I think it is the duty of all kids to have fun and take each day as it is the only day that matters.  It is so difficult to think of tomorrow and waiting until later to get what they really want.  The focus is on now and living today.  Look at my kids in the video and how eagerly go after fun.  I will put another one up next week!

It was one of the only days this year that we went sledding.  This event was at a park in Grand Haven which has benches to sit on that look like hot dogs.  Seriously!  We had so much fun and we even left before they stopped having fun.  (The key to every event with kids!)

Just to let you know, I don't believe that any of us should get rid of our playful, fun-loving side of life.  But that is just me.  I am usually the one at the funeral home visitation that is seen laughing in the hallway with people.  Remembering the great times of the person who has died (gone on ahead of us) should bring up smiles and sometimes great belly roars of laughter.


I hope that my kids and I never lose that perspective of life.  I hope that we all see each day is vitally important and filled with potential for enjoyment.  I hope that we see that fun is so interwoven into every part of our lives that it should be impossible to remove it from even the most ordinary events.

Basics of Life

I love creative people!  People like Ian.  He is a student that I met in Canada a few years ago.  He has been radically changed by the love of Jesus.  It is so fun to hear of how he is presently serving God and how he plans to continue to do that in the future.

Ian recently sent me a list of different ways to state the basics of life.  Do not confuse these with the facts of life.  That was an awkward conversation with my mom when I was younger.  I'm glad that is over.  These were the basics of life, an important framework through which life makes sense and has meaning.  Without the basics of life, everything starts revolving around us and will ultimately fail horribly.  The best part of it all is that it is simple, easy to understand, and memorable.

The first way I learned the basics of life was as Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude from catechism class.  The basics stated that it is undeniable that we are full of Guilt because of our sin.  This Guilt offends our holy and perfect God.  Thank God for Jesus through which we may receive Grace, total forgiveness of all of our sins.  Because of this grace that is freely given and undeserved, we live with Gratitude to God for what Jesus has done for us.  That is a framework makes sense and gives meaning to life.

Until now, I did not know any better words to portray the basics of life to a growing post-Christian culture that we now live in.  My hope is that the following list may communicate the basics more effectively and will help open the door of a person's heart for Jesus to work.  

So, thank you Ian for this list.  I will see if I can use it in the future.

awful - abolition - adoration 

bad - born again - benevolence
corruption - correction - calling

death, deliverance, Discipleship
evil - eternal life - exertion
failure - freedom - fruitful
hindrance - heaven - help
lie - liberation - love
reprobate - redemption - righteousness
Sin, Salvation, Service 

ugly - upkeep - utility
wreck - wash - worship