George II

It is monarch butterfly season.  We go out and look for the caterpillars.  They are usually under the leaves.  We take them home and feed them milkweed and help them become butterflies.  It is all a very fun family event.

Tonight we find 2 of them.  One very small. The other was nearly the size of making a chrysalis (cocoon).  We named him George.  We get them both home and before George in the door, Brandon roughly pushes by Jessica and George falls to the floor.  And George doesn't fall where he is supposed to fall.  He falls right where Brandon's shoe is going to fall.  Yep, he becomes a grease spot on the garage steps!  Farewell George!

Understandably, Brandon is distraught.  He is very sorry for his unintentional mistake and doesn't know how to make things better.  He goes inside to sit by himself and wallow in his misery.  I am surprised that Jessica does not feel any sadness about George.  Possibly their relationship was so short in duration that the emotional attachment did not occur.  Sorry for the psychobabble!

I thought that we could have left things this way with one child OK and the other miserable.  Seriously, 50% isn't bad sometimes.  But would it not be better to try to make things right?  I thought so.  Brandon and I went out on a quest for another caterpillar and came home with George 2.  Not as big but still a monarch.  Guilt washed off his shoulders and his behavior is atoned for.  That is a good day!  Oh that all our mistakes were that easy to fix!  Grace, mercy, and peace!  This good!

Big Fish Plan

Sometimes things just go according to plan.

We were at the church campout and we thought fishing would be a good thing to do on a Sunday afternoon.  Not only do my kids drop anything to go fishing, I enjoy taking them.  We have trained them all to bait their own hooks and all but the youngest can take the fish off the hook.  The fish we catch the most is the sunfish/bluegill variety but we have been catching a few bass lately.  Which brings me to the present story.

We are out on the dock catching all sorts of sunfish and having a great time.  However, they can see this nice largemouth bass about 15 feet off the dock.  Try as they may this bass was not interested in their bait.  It was strange to see them drop a juicy worm directly on top of this fish and he would swim off a few feet with indifference.  Maybe like most of us this fish had a bad experience eating worms.    Well I will not be taunted by some large mouth bass!  I took this as my personal mission to catch this fish.  He would not make a fool of me!  I can do that all by myself!

So I developed a plan.  The little sunfish in the lake seem to like worms and the largemouth doesn't.  But, he might like little fish as bait.  Now if I catch a 1 1/2 inch sunfish, that might tempt him.  Hmmm, sounds like a plan that just might work.  Maybe.

I love it when a plan comes together!  And yes I did catch it on a pink princess pole!  And I feel no shame!

Ending: We were going home soon and didn't have time to filet this huge largemouth bass, AKA Leviathan.  So we gave him to a dad and son coming into dock from their outing.  They didn't have too many fish but welcomed a chance to feast on some bass.  It was a great weekend!

Redundant

Often I find that someone else writes the exact same words that I have in my head and heart.  I do not know how or why that is.  I have strange little creatures milling around the dungeons of my brain!

Sometimes a person even writes something downright beautiful and brilliantly captures what I wanted to have said but didn't think of it that way before.  I wish I was that creative!  I wish that I was able to put words to paper to so effectively capture an idea.  Either way, my world is made brighter by reading the article or book.

That situation happened today.  And it was while I was reading the Banner.  Gasp!  I know!  Maybe you feel the same as me about this.  There are times I find that my reading of the Banner is another 15 minutes of my life wasted that I can never get back.  But that is why this article grabbed my attention.  It was short, to the point, about a topic that is totally relevant to me and our culture. Maybe the biggest reason this spoke to me is that he was daring enough to use a book of the Bible that is often avoided: Song of Songs.

I don't think that I could improve on the author's thoughts about love. So, to keep from being redundant, I will direct you to read the article yourself. I think that it will be well worth your time.

http://www.thebanner.org/features/2012/05/love-lessons-from-the-song-of-songs

Mr. Mom

I  have never tried to take the job of my wife.  She does a great job with managing the home and I am grateful for it! I felt that I could do the job for a very short term but that the damage grow exponentially if the length of time was extended.  We have never tried to prove it until this week.

This week confirmed what I have thought all along.  I could do it as I proved this week but I am sure that this was not the best use of my talents. There are some that are snickering with the thought that I actually do have talents.  Yes, I do have some talents and they are quite varied.  However, to use a baseball analogy, this week was not my "sweet spot".

I know without a doubt that my kids will be soooo glad to see Carla come home tomorrow night.  They will run to her and tell her they missed her and love her.  They may even pick up her luggage and carry it to the car.  Then they will state quite plainly say, "Mom, it was fun to have dad do the work of home management but could you never ever ever go away again!"

More than once we had this exchange, "Mom doesn't do it that way." followed by "Oh, you must be confusing me with Mom?  That is the way we are going to do it when mom is gone!"  Or "Why can't we do it?  Mom let's us." followed by "Mom probably lets you play with sharp knives too.  We aren't doing that today!"

I know that it is a parent's job to permanently scar their children in every possible emotional way.  Most find ways to live with the damage that was unintentionally inflicted.  I think that I added to this trauma this week!

So, Carla, we are looking forward to your return.  See you soon!

Your admiring and loving husband!

Beat Up By God

How does God get our attention? We know that sometimes God speaks in a still soft voice in our heart. We love this way because it is a great conversation with God. However, sometimes we are a bit thick and the "ears of our hearts" are plugged. That is when the “God stick” comes out and things get really interesting!

For example, I know a guy who has been struggling to find a reason to stay at our church. He is a great godly man who honestly wants to do what God wants. It has been an ongoing conversation for a few months whether he will stay or find another place for God to use him.

Yesterday, this past Sunday, the newsletter comes out and the secretary wrote an article about commitment to the body of Christ. She said that followers of Jesus need to “set down roots and grow” with other Christians. THUMP! The man came up to the secretary before church and said, “If you wrote that article for me, it doesn’t change anything!” Then, part of my sermon had to do with having others in your life who have permission to speak into your life and help you stay close to God. He talked to the secretary after church and said, “Yeah, I heard it. It still doesn’t change anything!” THUMP! THUMP!


Just before he left for the day, this woman approaches him. She has been coming to church for a short time and is presently in the middle of a relational mess. She gives him a hug and says, “I am so thankful that you were here today. I needed to see a friendly and familiar face.” THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

This morning, the man drives over to the secretary’s home and says, “OK. I guess God is telling me to stay at church.”

I love it when God finally get’s our attention!

Avengers

My boy and I went to see the Avengers today.  First we needed to go to the store and get a $1 box of Mike & Ikes for me and some Airheads for Brandon.  We were 2 of 6 people in the room and 2 of them were staff.  With so many seating options, it was difficult to choose our seats!

It was a good movie and quite funny. The best part was when Loki says to the Hulk, who is looking quite angry, "Enough! You are, all of you are beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I shall not be bullied..."  Then the Hulk grabs him and totally thrashes the room with him.  It was impressive to say the least.  After he has embedded him into the floor, the Hulk says, "Puny god."

I am sure that there are a few sermon applications here but you can think up your own.  I am just glad that I had a great time with my son and that the world didn't have an unruly, ego-maniacal, otherworldly power thinking that I should bow down to him.  It was a good day!

Father's Day

It is tough to be a dad!  If you are a dad you know what I am talking about.  I don't mean that being a mom or being a student isn't tough.  It is just tough to be a dad.  Especially a godly dad who wants to do things right.  To do things the way God wants them done.

Today we thank God for all dads.  The ones who want to do things right and even the ones that are/were not very good "dad examples" for us.  What a blessing is a dad that shows us Jesus despite their flaws!  Maybe through their flaws!

I love you dad!

We played this great video this morning at church!  What a tribute to godly dads!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liZBFdKXKIE