Crafting a Remarkable Life

Forever Thankful

2011-08-26T01:21:00.000-07:00

May we never take even the simple, routine blessings for granted!

Christmas in August

2011-08-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

Labor Day must be coming up really soon. Costco is putting out their Christmas displays already!

Seriously, I've got to be on the lookout for Costco's craft kits they've had for the past couple of years. Great Christmas gift idea for my Darling Daughter, Darling Youngest Son, and maybe even Darling Bride?

Happy Holidays!

More From the "I'm Getting Old" File

2011-08-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

I still love baseball! Really!

Yikes, I am old.

This week our office got to take an afternoon off and go to Downtown Indianapolis to see a minor league baseball game, the Indianapolis Indians (AAA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates) and the Louisville Bats (AAA affiliate of Cincinnati Reds).

You'd think that I would be double giddy with excitement - baseball and afternoon off work. Hey, even triple giddy - free food before the game.

I am getting old.

I really liked being at the ballpark, but it felt strange. I felt quiet. There were hardly any kids. School is back in session (why in mid August is another gripe). I didn't feel like cheering. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that the Pittsburgh Pirates are nothing to cheer about, let alone their minor leaguers. Oh, I miss the day.

Anyhow, I remember when I'd go to ballgames before having to grow up. I'd cheer, boo, and lose myself in the moment. Now I've been to one game a year for each of the past two years, and we talk business.

Next year, somehow, someway, I'm going to get my kids to some game somewhere.

And I'll cheer.

Who is Diana of The Dunes? Why We Should Care?

2011-08-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

Jeff of The Dunes

Diana of The Dunes

I like to get away from it all at the Indiana Dunes, but once upon a time, someone took it to extremes...

A woman dressed in a long, flowing, white gown is often seen at night, drifting through the pine trees at the top of a sand ridge or floating just aboive the surface of Lake Michigan at water's edge...

A lone fisherman trolling along the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan spied a young, beautiful woman splashing naked through the waves. After swimming, she danced like a nymph on the beach to dry off...

(from Diana of the Dunes, The True Story of Alice Gray, Charleston, SC, The History Press, 2010)

Before the Streisand Effect, there was Diana of The Dunes. In the year 1915, Alice Gray, a brilliant, educated lady, even by today's standards but especially 100 years ago, walked away from her education and career and attempted to live an isolated life along the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan. This event was so unusual (scandalous?) that Chicago newspaper reporters, curiousity seekers, and local residents made this real person into an early 20th century pop icon (before the days of pop icons).

Why did she do it? Peeling away the legend to find the facts, the conclusion drawn by Janet Zenke Edwards in her book Diana of the Dunes The True Story of Alice Gray is twofold: (1) career opportunities available women, even brilliant women, in the early 1900s were limiting and she felt unable to reach her potential, (2) equally limiting in that era was the relationship with her beau, known only today as "L". In my paraphrase, she couldn't find fulfillment as part of the pre World War I establishment.

We could say that freedoms and opportunities available to women today, a century later, would have liberated her. Maybe not. Doesn't it appear as if both women and men still struggle with finding satisfaction from careers and relationships? Do we still want to "get away from it all?"

Alice / Diana and I share similarities in that we both find peace in the special place that is the Indiana Dunes. The unique dune structures, the magnificent strength of Lake Michigan, the biodiversity of plant and animal life rivalled in the U.S. only by a few National Parks. Indiana Dunes is my "happy place," a refuge from the stressful everyday world, and I'm sure you have yours.

We all need to remember that professions, people, and places ultimately do not satisfy on their own. When seen as gifts from God to help us enjoy God, only then can they fulfill, and then only as much as we let God fulfill us and satisfy us.

God allows us to do that by giving us His Son to trust in and follow. That truth is where peace in the midst of life is found.

¹⁷So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. ¹⁸I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, ¹⁹and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity . . . ²⁴There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, ²⁵for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? —Ecclesiastes 2:17-19, 24-25

P.S. This is not a "free book if you read and review it post." I received no compensation or free book, but with my own money, I bought the book over vacation, read it, and was impacted by this unusual story.

Birthdays, Vacations, Chicago, and Heat

2011-08-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

Too hot to handle

Six months ago, we decided as a family to celebrate Darling Daughter's 12th birthday by camping at Indiana Dunes State Park. On her day we, along with my mom, would take the train into Chicago, and Daughter would would spend her own money at the American Girl Store there.

To me, vacation time is special. Being a grown up, gone are the glory days of summer vacation, the vast frontier of June, July, and August off. Now it is 10 days a year. I take 5 and divvy them up here and there (usually extending weekends by a day) and the remaining 5 leave me with one week over the whole year off. I like my job and career, but I love my family time more...

Lake Michigan, Indiana Dunes

So we went camping and went to Chicago during the hottest week in Chicago / Northwest Indiana in 5 years. Observations and insights:

Excessive heat watches and warnings really do make outdoor activities harder.

It's worth it when a special day (birthday activity) has been planned 6 months in advance.

Camping trips with the weather a little too cool are easier than weather a little too hot.

Chicago River, Chicago

A family of 5 can live in a 144 square foot camper, but it it gets a little harder each day.

Taking the train to Chicago sure beats driving!

The Water Tower Place shopping mall downtown Chicago is designed for women. The only male friendly stores - Lego, Cubs souvenirs, and a high end game shop.

Hooray for ice cream!

Rare Shopping Spree

I happen to like the American Girl Store and American Girl concept (although if I really thought about it, the proposition that one could pursue their inner star without a relationship with the God who created the stars would bother me) with its ability to teach history from a girl's perspective and foster creativity and just being a girl. As a dad, letting a girl be a girl is a big deal.

Nice to be home, too!

Best Pizza in Chicago, I believe

Calvin and Edwards, Environmentalist Wackos?

2011-07-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

Glad I didn't pay for this book!

A weekend ago at our local public library, I searched "protestant reformation" hoping to find more on this era of Christian history. I came across the book Ravished by Beauty - The Surprising Legacy of Reformed Spirituality by Belden C. Lane (Oxford University Press, 2011). As it turns out, the material is a good case study on how to identify bad theology.

Lane's position, as articulated in his Prologue, "hopes to stir in the reader a desire for God"s glory, glimpsed so vividly in creation that one's work for ecological justice becomes a natural extension of praise. " The format of the book generally quotes John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and the Puritans writings about the glory of creation, then argues those writings as a foundation against the ecological catastrophe caused by free market economics and misplaced desire. In other words, Calvin, Edwards, the Puritans, et. al. happened upon an environmentalism (in addition to restoring the church to the gospel. I couldn't find the gospel articulated in the book).

When looking at it at the library, I thought it might be interesting (note to self - take reading glasses to library next time). He appears to accurately asses modern day perceptions of Calvin as "narrow minded pope of Geneva", Edwards as "a pathetic last of the medieval Americans," and the Puritans as "passionless." With that assessment, I heartily say, "Amen brother!" I believe Calvin his contemporaries, and the Puritans to be misunderstood in proportion to one's misunderstanding of the Bible, myself included, that's why I want to learn more.

Too bad Belden Lane appears to go to the other extreme. For example, the best analysis he has about the death of Jesus appears on pages 128-129. He does not even mention why Jesus died, but instead mention that the cross is often written about as a "tree," which is true. Lane's analysis of the death of Jesus appears to be an illustration of the power of trees.

I've had enough. Why? What drives me to read John Piper's Desiring God and embrace that as good pastoral teaching, but reject Belden Lane's "Ravished by Beauty as garbage?

Scripture defines itself as "God - breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Upon examination, even though Piper's teaching didn't occur to me on my own, I can see that he appears accurate. Lane does not.

The Bible's basic idea isn't that hard: God is. God created. God created us. We rebelled against God. God loved us and sent His Son Jesus. Jesus died, was buried, was risen from the dead. Faith in that truth saves. When saved, we walk with God. Stewardship over the rest of creation is part of that walk, but it is not the gospel. Sorry Mr. Lane, you've missed it.

So, I'm off to the Library to return this book.

Case Study in Trying to be a Little Smarter

2011-07-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

"...Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so..." Acts 17:11

This month I've come across two independent truth assertions. One I accept and assimilate into my understanding of God. One I reject . This post is a case study in how I come across, evaluate, and choose to believe a theological truth claim, or at least a self examination of how I appear to do it. The next post is how I reject a claim.

A couple of weeks ago, Darling Bride sent me a link to a blog post about the doctrine of election and predestination. So, first, an idea comes along. I read it and begin to go thinking...

Next, I compare and contrast what I know about the subject. I admit to myself that I'm a little fuzzy about election and predestination.  What I do know conflicts. It is in the Bible. Pastors tend to avoid the subject.   Does God choose? Or does God just happen to know what's going to happen in the future? Why would we choose to follow Jesus if the decision has already been made for us? Why evangelize? Who makes the decisive move, God or people?

Looks as if I'd better do some research.  Fortunately, the blog post cites Bible verses. And I study the Bible on my own quite a bit. I also know how to perform topical research, thanks to some graduate level study in hermeneutics. I do know a few places in the Bible were either election, or predestination, or both, are mentioned, so I look up Romans 9-10 and 2 Peter 1.

Does any other trustworthy Bible teacher have anything to say about this?  The Desiring God website seems a good place to start. I also like Modern Reformation.

BONUS INSIGHT: By the way, some people say to avoid books, commentaries, devotionals, and the like and say just use your Bible. If you just use your Bible, you are forced back to considering what Bible pastors and teachers have to say.  For example, Epeshians 4:11-12 - "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ,...... " This is also illustrated with Philip in Acts 8:26-40 when he helps the Ethiopian understand Isaiah. So the Bible gives us permission, and example, to find out what someone has to say as part of our Bible study process.

It appears as if a good student of the Bible may not be an expert in the issue at hand, but at least know enough to critique the sermon or commentary on the subject. So, it is still up to us to do two things: 1 - know Scripture enough to evaluate another's insight, and 2 - don't elevate teaching and tradition equal to Scripture END OF BONUS INSIGHT.

So, I'm studying Scripture, listening to sermons uploaded onto the internet, which leads me to more Scripture. So a good Bible teacher, commentary, book, or other resource will drive the student back to the Bible.

Scripture and good teachers of Scripture lead me to conclude that I have to disagree with the original blog post (the post is not linked here because of the potential fallability of both that post and this post). Instead, Scripture leads me to conclude:

We choose to rebel against God, therefore we cannot save ourselves.
God chooses to glorify Himself by revealing Himself to those He chooses to save.
By revealing Himself, we respond by repentance and faith.
The "I trust Jesus for my salvation, but I wonder if I'm elect" is a straw argument. Nobody can say "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit, according to 1 Corinthians 12:3.
The "Why evangelize when God chooses?" question can be answered in Romans. In fact, when understood, election drives us to evangelize with more zeal: God uses the preached word as part of His electing and predestining process. Election and predestination does not save anyone, it is simply God's effective will that He save those who are His. The way God saves is evangelizing, we who know the good news about Jesus telling others.
God gets the glory. Election and Predestination are glorious doctrines to be celebrated, not hidden away like some "black sheep of the family" doctrine, or explained away by human wisdom.

According to Romans 10, salvation works this way:

Someone is sent to preach,
Another hears the message,
The hearer calls on the name of the Lord,
"...everyone who calls on the anem of the Lord will be saved..." Romans 10:13.

My primary go forward from this exercise is to continue striving to be a more bold, effective, winsome, and competent witness.

Yet, not all my questions are answered fully. How does God glorify Himself by ordaining that some will predestined to Hell? What about professing believers who turn away? How do I reconcile my failure to proclaim the gospel to God's will? How do I internalize this truth better so as to explain it when asked?

Back to Scripture...

Looking For One Good Presidential Candidate

2011-07-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

Too early to tell, but would Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn, be the one who could beat Chairman Obama?

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2011/07/would-a-president-bachmann-.html
Maybe a true conservative who knows about tax law problems and why they slow the economy could overcome the liberal media and win the minds and hearts of voters.

Christmas in July

2011-07-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

Christmas in July: Playing Monopoly using the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer version. To bad the kids got bored.

Be a Moderationist!

2011-07-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is Star Trek, thanks to Netflix

Have you thought about becoming a minimalist? If so, there is no shortage of movements and websites about being a minimalist. You can go tohttp://www.becomingminimalist.com/ or http://barelyminimalist.com/.

Or you can be a hoarder. There are TV shows about people who have too much stuff. The site http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/ makes much about people and their stuff. I've seen people with too much stuff. I know of someone with a 3 car garage crammed full of...stuff.

Each extreme is, well, maybe too extreme. So I'm starting a movement called "be a moderationist." Have you heard the saying, "everything in moderation?" There you go. So,

Our house is neither too big nor too small
We have two vehicles, but they are both used.
We have an RV, but it is a popup camper.
We have a TV, but use a digital antenna and Netflix instead of cable, Dish, or DirecTV.
We have a small garden, but buy most of our food from the store

That seems to work. Not too much, not too little.

"...give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you, and say, "Who is the LORD?" or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God." - Proverbs 30:7-9

Independence Day Closing Thoughts

2011-07-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

This past Independence Day weekend I am very thankful for the freedom to:

celebrate living in a free country
come and go as I choose
worship as I choose
work in the career field I choose
raise a family as I choose

Mind you, these are informed choices, understanding the reality of who God is, who I am, and where my choices might lead me.

Considering that, it is important to consider that not everybody has that freedom, and that some who do may abuse that freedom.

In the meantime, it was a good celebration.

Psalm 83

2011-06-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

Graphic from College Park Church, Indianapolis

Doesn't it appear as if the enemy is winning?

The hoax of evolutionary worldview attempts to masquerade as truth. God's law is compromised, such as New York's new gay marriage. An opponent worthy to defeat Barack Obama is hard to find.

What does Psalm 83 say about this?

At church this summer, our sermon series is on selected Psalms. In Psalm 83, the psalmist Asaph writes because surrounding nations intend to Attack Israel. The psalm's outline:

Evil is growing
We are hurting
The future looks scary
We are overwhelmed
Rescue us again
Show them your power
Convert them
Judge them
Exalt Yourself

The biggest surprise in Psalm 83 is verse 16, "...that they may seek your name, O LORD."

As part of God's deliverance, Asaph prays that Israel's enemies would turn to God!

So I'm convicted because I don't pray for the conversion of God's present day enemies: those who persecute Christians, those who insist on public policy contrary to God's wisdom. Wouldn't it be amazing if God's enemies became converts?

Maybe not so amazing after all. Anybody who is a Christian was once God's enemy. I was once God's enemy. If you follow Jesus, you were once God's enemy. - "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son..." Romans 5:10

So what if we prayed for the conversion of God's present day enemies?

Cutting Class, At My Age?

2011-06-27T00:37:00.000-07:00

With my enlistment papers and fellow troops

As men, husbands, and fathers, how are we doing on juggling our priorities? Do we make adjustments when necessary?

This past Saturday, I was registered to attend an all day seminar at church about "soul care," or lay Biblical counselling. The weather forecast read partly cloudy and in the 70s.

So I e-mailed the coordinator at church and said I would not be attending.

The future's so bright....

This Spring and Summer to date, beautiful days have been few and far between, and I wasn't going to let one get away. So I chose to skip class and declare a Family Day.

Here's how the day went:

Sleep in until 7 or so (over our cat's objection)
Coffee and Quiet Time with Darling Bride
Breakfast with family
Trip to Conner Prairie Interactive History Museum
At said museum, enlisted in the Indiana Cavalry to defend Indiana against Morgan's Raiders during the Civil War
Dinner at home
Star Trek, thanks to Netflix

...I've got to wear shades (and she a bonnet)!

While I passed on a day of training, we had a fun Saturday together as a family. That was more important.

More Reflections on My Early 1980s

2011-06-24T01:59:00.000-07:00

The Summer of 1981 was a hit!

Tuesday was the First Day of Summer (using capital letters to give the Day the respect it deserves).

I shall forever associate summer with joy and happiness because of youthful carefree, fun times.

Baseball
Tennis
Bicycling
Swimming
Doing Nothing

No School!

In the Summer of 1981, my baseball team went 11-1 and won 1st place. I got 10 hits in 30 at bats.

Even as a working stiff in a comfortable desk job, when I think of Summer, I think joy.

Looking forward to a weekend of carefree and fun, if the Lord allows.

Besides, I have a love greater than baseball to spend the Summer of 2011 with:

How did I get so blessed?

Now I am measuring memories in decades, not years. But that's OK in light of eternity.

First Jobs

2011-06-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

The McDonald's I worked at when I was 20!

This month I am celebrating the 30th anniversary of my first job, paperboy for the Gary, Indiana Post-Tribune, and the 25th anniversary of my 2nd job at McDonald's (see photo for June 21, 1986 date).

On my paper route, I was rewarded for speed, efficiency, attention to detail, and client relations because by being an all-around swell guy, I could get new subscribers, keep existing ones, and earn bigger tips.

Later, during my 9 month tenure in fast food, I would be assigned various cleaning and maintenace tasks. Using what I learned as a paperboy, I would finish my tasks, then get sent home early. Lost time at $3.15 per hour really added up! So I discovered job expansion, making sure the jobs took the allotted time and no less.

Actually, today, as a CPA, I focus more on details than speed, but that's not because I'm worried about getting sent home early. Job security would be an issue if that happened more than once in a great while, especially during tax season. On the details thing, I've found that clients like their financial statements, accountants reports, and tax returns more accurate than not. If a client were to get an IRS notice because of inaccurate work done, I call it "a bad thing."

Just like my customers 25 years ago in the drive ~~through~~ thru lane, who liked their orders more accurate than not. Too bad my shift managers were too hung up on the drive ~~through~~ thru wait times. "Where are my fries?" they ask. "Sorry about that, sir."

The biggest lesson I learned in fast food is that in that industry, people work hard, inconvenient hours, for little pay. Therefore, I respect them, and I make sure I decline politiely when asked "will that be a large fry?" After all, they are required to suggestive sell.

I would do that today still if given a chance. Someday I'd like to ask a client "will that be the long form?" when asked to to their taxes.

Lessons Learned from Camping During Rain

2011-06-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

"Oh, I've seen fire...

Having completed a weekend camping trip with periods of rain, I learned these lessons:

Life has periods of blessings and difficulties. Don't let the difficulties mask the blessings.
My primary love language truly is quality time. I love time with family and extended family.
Being prepared does really go a long way.
Making time to spend time with extended family is worth the effort.
Even as a grown up, playing with my kids in the pool makes me a kid too.

...and I've seen rain...(James Taylor)

It's about perspective. Hard to complain about a less than perfect weekend of leisure when tornadoes etc. are destroying everything some families own.
Camping is exercise.
Weather forecasters are not prophets.

...I've seen sunny days I thought would never end...

Happiness is multigenerational!

How Our Family Camping and RVing Glorifies God

2011-06-17T01:01:00.000-07:00

Hurrah! Photo caught my good side!

RVing is...

An opportunity to marvel at creation from a different perspective (Psalm 19)

Leaving certain distractions behind, an opportunity to advance family time together, including Lord centered parenting (Ephesians 6:4)

Teamwork required to setup, maintain, and break camp teaches "serving one another in love" (Galatians 5:15)

We often visit extended family (Exodus 20:12)

Meet other Christians by worshipping at the campground's non-denomiational worship service provided by local church's outreach (Hebrews 10:25)

Someday, our children will grow up and this opportunity, this moment in time, will be lost. (Hebrews 3:13)

A chance to persevere through the trials of rain (James 1)

Fun! We receive with thanksgiving and proclaim the Lord's provision (1 Corinthians 10:31 - Whatever we do, we do to the glory of God!)

As If We Needed Another Reason to Homeschool

2011-06-15T01:57:00.000-07:00

The principal with the incoming 4th graders

This post, http://www.sequenceinc.com/fraudfiles/, from forensic accountant Tracy Coenen, details how schools in Milwaukee spent over $16,000 per child. Total US is $12,250. Milwaukee's schools are a mess.

Our family spent $12,967 per person for everything, including a new camper, for the year ended this past May 31. The camper is for field trips. Education Expenses for things such as curriculum, dance lessons, and karate tuition were $882.86 per student in our homeschool.

But my point isn't really about money. The point attempting to be made by "we need more spending" advocates is that the problem in the schools is that we need money. The data posted by Ms. Coenen show the opposite.

My point is that I believe there is no correlation between money spent and quality of education. We homeschoolers know that the "secret ingredient" is the commitment by the teacher to the education and training of the students. Homeschoolers, as parents, are, in poker vernacular, "all in." I revere the families that use little more than a library card!

Surely there are teachers in all areas of education (public, conventional private, in addition to home) who are committed to their students (and they are not necessarily named "Shirley".) However, I cannot imagine anyone more committed to my children's success than my Darling Bride and me.

As if we needed another reason to choose homeschooling.

Saving an Old Grill From The Dead

2011-06-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

This past week a friend gave us a gas grill that must be at least 10 years old. It was filthy, had difficulty working, and its destination was either us, Goodwill, or (more appropriately) the landfill.

We spend so much time on it Saturday that I woke up sore and achy on Sunday. But it appears ready to go! We had grandparents over for after church lunch on Sunday.

It took so much time, that's why I have 3 different shirts on among the photos.

Surely there is some metaphorical link between cleaning a grill and life's lesson's, but I'm too wiped out to think about them.

For several hours of sweat equity, we now have a fabulous gas grill!

How Time and Effort Pays Off

2011-06-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

How sacrificing time and effort can turn into a good thing:

Recently I spoke during the closing ceremony of our church's AWANA (Wednesday night Bible club focusing on Scripture memory, lessons, and game time) about how being part of the leadership team benefitted me:

The joy of obedience as I participate in the Great Commission given by Jesus at the conclusion of Matthew's gospel: "Go, therefore, to all nations, and make disciples..." If a group of young people are coming to church on a Wednesday night, what an opportunity!
An opportunity to influence young people. I wish someone would have done that for me when I was younger.
An opportunity to make friends with other leaders. Grown-ups need friends too.
An opportunity to be an example to my family. When my kids put on their AWANA shirts, I put on my AWANA shirts. In fact, just like them, I'm accumulating a collection from the various age groups we've been in from pre-kindergarten through junior high (and counting).

Time is a precious commodity. Start with 168 hours in a week. Take out work, commuting, sleeping, showering (every Saturday whether I need it or not), I have about 27% of the week to lead my family. Why send my kids to church when I can take them?

Something I need to keep in mind as I consider an expanded leadership role starting next year.

Craft a remarkable life by taking a leadership role in your kids' activities. You will be blessed.

Fear

2011-06-07T16:25:00.000-07:00

As part of our summer school work, my 9 year old son had to come up with a list of 3 things he was afraid of. Remarkably, it took some doing to produce 3 fears (having a cavity being the worst). Assuming he was honest, what a wonderful life it must be to not be overcome by fear. Not a bad life, really: both parents happily together, mom stays at home, dad home every day by 5:45, no unusual sibling issues. When I was 9, my fear list went something like this:

Parents fighting each other, sometimes violently
Parents fighting my brother and me
Bullies on the school bus
Public School, including a certain teacher who disciplined me for working ahead on my assignments (really!) and another who counted my answers wrong because I printed instead of used cursive (To Mrs. Doughty directly: Have you ever seen a job application requiring cursive?)
Baseballs pitched to me and/or hit to me

So, I come up with 5 items.

Now, at 45, the list is huge and contains items such as money coming in, money going out, excelling at work, excelling at home, is the AFLAC rep at work trying to take my money, how to get rid of the guy at my front door trying to sell me cleaner, do any of the kids need braces, do I need braces, what's the price of gas today...

The point of my son's lesson in fear is to apply Hebrews 13:5b - "For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'"

Good point

54 Hours

2010-06-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

54 hours – The Weekend. From 5pm Friday through 11pm Sunday, I transition from CPA to Husband and Father. YES! The most important hours of the week. Call me a weekend warrior if you want, but this is my delight, leading and loving my family. I can put away my laptop, prioritize my wife and kids over my clients, and get myself out of the office and us out of doors. My goals this weekend:

With Darling Bride – to joyfully pursue companionship with my best friend, such as quiet time Saturday morning, exploring a State Park with our family in the afternoon, worship on Sunday…

With 12y.o. Darling Son – as we continue his Masculine Journey, moving from Boyhood (wonder and exploration) into the Cowboy stage (action and adventure to prove he has “what it takes”) canoeing together for the first time.

With 10y.o. Darling Daughter – to delight in her girlhood and sense of adventure, such as the diving board and water slide at the State Park pool.

With 8y.o. Darling Son – fully embracing boyhood, encouraging that by hopefully enticing him to use the diving board and water slide more. He doesn’t like the pool rules about taking off his goggles.

With my Lord – currently going through FATHERED BY GOD and the study guide. An amazing resource, finally something that understands and expands upon something I knew to be true, but couldn’t put into words.

Ambitious goals, to be sure. But worth it. 54 hours go by quickly. Time to make the most of each one.

When Career Isn't All It's Cracked Up To Be

2010-06-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

This is when climbing the corporate ladder isn't all that:

Monday: Lightning creates a power surge, fries my computer at the office. Fortunately, data is stored on the network.

Tuesday: Lightning strikes a strip mall, destroying local businesses, including one of my clients. Firefighters can't fight the blaze because lightning could strike them (such as when on a ladder).

More than anything, I suppose, is respect the lightning.

Photo credits: lightning from NOAA.com, fire of stripmall in Carmel, Indiana from WISHTV.com

Struggling through Storm Warning by Billy Graham

2010-06-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

A sigh of relief, I finally finished Storm Warning by Billy Graham. Unfortunately, I feel disappointed, my high expectations were not met. Eagerly hoping to get a better grasp of End Times theology, the first four chapters found myself stuck in a redundant cycle of something along the lines of "bad news in the headlines, the book of Revelation said this would happen..." Over and over again. It is true that new headlines show us a world rejecting God more and more, and we're harvesting the consequences of false religion, faux spirituality, wars, famine, and sickness, but the beginning of the book just went on too long. I was ready to give up.

The middle chapters begin to show us what it could have been like for the apostle John to receive this visit and vision from our Lord Jesus. Interesting, but doesn't really help me much.

Finally, something I can use: By Chapter 8, Graham finally begins an explanation of the four horsemen and seven seals of Revelation. If you are already a follower of Jesus with a good grasp of the news of the day and the marketplace of ideas, skip the first 7 chapters and begin reading chapter 8. You may even want to begin in Chapter 10. It is here where Graham begins to match today's spiritual deceptions, self-centeredness, wars and rumors of wars, famine, and death, to what John wrote about in Revelation. Graham continues by discussing Revelation's promises of perseverance of the saints, Christ's return, the New Heaven and New Earth, and our co-reigning with Christ. Here, he does a good job.

Chapters 10 through 16 finally brought me to where I wanted to be, a firmer understanding of how what's happening today could be explained by the Book of Revelation and other end times Bible passages. Graham believes that Christ will return after what's happening now continues to grow worse and decay into the full blown tribulation. In other words, Graham believes Christ's return will be after a season of great tribulation. We may be well into that tribulation now. He explains his conclusions well.

In summary, it is worth the read, if you can get through the first parts. Newer believers and those still debating the claims of Christ will benefit most from the beginning and middle of the book, veteran Christians will struggle. We all benefit from Graham's decades of study. In the end, Graham does what he does best, calling lost sinners to repent and follow Jesus, and us Christians to follow Jesus at a deeper level.

Girl vs. Judo

2010-05-21T12:54:00.000-07:00

"...rejoice with those who rejoice..." - Romans 12:15

Today we celebrate a first in our family, a 1st place finish for athletic accomplishment!

Darling Daughter wins a Gold Medal in Judo from the Gospel Martial Arts Union, its Spring Tournament.

The win isn't really about pinning others to the mat Thursday night, it really is a victory in:

Deciding to pursue the discipline of martial arts (or shall we say "submitting to parents' authority when being taken to marital arts?")
Once at martial arts, "finding her own place" in the judo style
Desiring to learn the style
Desiring to compete at the end of year tournament
Listening to a coach
Practicing
Winning = overcoming

Our children are taller than their peers. Long arms and legs make for difficulty in most sports because of coordination issues. Finding places to excel, like martial arts, bicycling, hiking, etc. is a victory in finding an opportunity to glorify God by "using what you got!"

Making Do With What I Have

2010-05-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

We want to grill out on Saturday. We do not have a grill. So we make do with our Coleman camp stove and stove top griddle! Hooray! The tents are up in our back yard because we are applying seam sealant and patching holes in anticipation of camping season 2010. Once again, God provides amply for more than we need!

Kids Growing Like Weeds

2010-05-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

What a difference 8 years makes! Photo on top: Darling Son's first day of AWANA Cubbies, age 3 (August 2001), with his sister not wanting to be left out. Right: Same Darling Son on his last day of Truth & Training, age 12 (May 12, 2010), with sister not too far behind.

What's a Dad to make of this?

Book Review: THE RIGHT TO LEAD by John C. Maxwell

2010-05-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hard work is, well, hard. Either on the job or at home, fulfilling responsibilities, including influencing our circles of influence, such as co-workers, spouse, children, neighbors, excellence is a battle. One of the tools to fight the battle is John C. Maxwell's latest book, The Right to Lead. It is in gift book form, meaning that it has lots of pictures, attractive binding, and not a lot of detail.

It has short stories about military leaders such as Schwartzkopf and Washington, other heroes such as Nelson Mandella, Harriet Tubman and Eric Liddel, and other people who would be anonymous except that they led well in a particular area. Complementing the stories are quotes from Vince Lombardi, Bible Characters, poetry, and others. Maxwell quotes himself occasionally, which struck me as a bit odd and I could have done without that.

Otherwise, I like it because while fighting the good fight and working hard, I can glance through the book and get a quick pick me up through one of the stories or quotes. This isn't intended to be a detailed work on leadership, Maxwell and others do that well elsewhere, but sometimes a quick reminder, available in this book, is what I need to go onto the next challenge that God throws my way.

Then again, since it is a "gift book," I think I will give it to my son.

P.S. I received this book free from http://www.booksneeze.com/ in exchange for writing an honest (doesn't have to be a positive) review.

Man vs. Dawkins, Chapter 3 and Out

2010-05-11T17:55:00.000-07:00

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." - 1 Cor 2:14

"This chapter embarks on a step by step seduction of the mind to Darwin's giant discovery..." - Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth The Evidence for Evolution, chapter 3.

I'm not really interested in what Dawkins has to say. When I started the quest to read Dawkins's evidence for evolution, I was curious to find out if what we Creationists say about evolutionists is true. So far I'm in chapter 3 of 13 to see how I interact with the book. All I've gotten so far is an attempt to argue that if a particular species can adapt, or be bred, and therefore change its characteristics over the generations, therefore macro evolution must be true, that once species can change so much over time that a new species emerges.

I'd love to continue and finish the book, but I won't. It doesn't have anything to do with the book itself. In fact, I think I'm responsible to be very conversant in evolutionary thought so that I can effectively proclaim to my family and circle of influence Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" while on my way to sharing the gospel. But now is not the time. I don't have time to read this because I have more important things to do. After work, time with family, church, small group, and so on, there are so many books and so little time. I need to get back to Wild at Heart by John Eldredge because I'm on the verge of a breakthrough with my walk with Jesus and my relationships with others. I need it too, because it took me two days to get out of my Mother's Day doghouse! And I have a book about prayer journalling I want to go through. So, it is a matter of priorities.

So, to Mr. Dawkins, this conversation will be continued someday. In the meantime, you may call me a history denier, but I call you to trust in the God who created you and the savior who saved you.

Man vs. Weather

2010-05-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is a story about a an avid outdoorsman who happens to work in the office as a Certified Public Accountant. I dreamed of the day tax season would end, and my reward would be a trip to my ~~idol~~ favorite State Park, Indiana Dunes. Another beautiful weekend (not)! Seems as if the weather is great while I'm working in the office, and when the weekend hits, BAM! comes a cold front. Even the kids are noticing that the weekend has ushered in bad weather on a predictable basis. A little tough for an outdoor loving Certified Public Accountant like me.

For Mother's Day we planned to participate in a bird watching event at Indiana Dunes State Park and National Lakeshore. Did you know Saturday was International Migratory Bird Day?

See, fun for the whole family! The barricades are for a project to restore a creek that flows into Lake Michigan.

Temperature dropped 25 degrees from the day before. While I'm working, sunny and 75. For my Saturday off, cloudy, windy, 49 degrees. Wind speed is who knows how many knots.

Then again, we did to the most important things. I wished my mother a Happy Mother's Day. All 6 of us did watch a full length film about migration. We saw a live presentation about a bird I never heard of before, Chimney Sweeps. We had Pizza Hut! We gathered information to begin a bird watching project at home to earn a National Lakeshore patch. So a good day after all.

Here's to praying for better weather come camping season!

Man vs Richard Dawkins, Chapter 2

2010-05-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

Photo: Dad and me one day sharing more than just genetics, from 1969.

I am continuing my reading of The Greatest ~~Hoax~~ Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins, his attempt to prove evolution. This is not really a book review or report, but journalling my experience of going through a book and interacting with an author both of whom I strongly disagree.

Chapter 2 covers common ground between evolutionists and Creationists - natural selection, if I may use that term. What I mean is the gene pool. Last Saturday, just before leaving for a church sponsored service project, I put my baseball hat on, glanced at the mirror, and saw my dad instead of me. That kind of gene pool thing.

We creationists know that a species, or a "kind" from Genesis, adapts. Noah's sons went their separate ways after the flood, and here we are, given a boost by God after the Tower of Babel. Today's image bearer's namely humans, are somewhat different from our original created form, but we are still humans, bearing the image of God. Unfortunately, some of the changes include a choice to sin, leading in corruption, leading to decay, leading to death. Someday, in the future, we will change: Because God Himself invaded time in space in human form a as Jesus, lived the perfect life we could never live, took the death we deserved, someday we who trust in the person and work of Jesus will have resurrected bodies.

Dawkins uses the examples of dogs, cabbages, and cows. Anyone who breeds dogs performs "unnatural" selection (intentionally breeding for desired outcomes). But they are still dogs. So both evolutionists and creationists agree in natural selection, a "shuffling" of the "deck" of genetic "cards". But: I have a feeling Dawkins is trying to lull his readers into a quantum leap of faith:

But when there is a systematic increase or decrease in the frequency with which we see a particular gene in a gene pool, that is precisely and exactly what is meant by evolution. The question therefore becomes: why should there be a systematic increase or decrease in a gene's frequency? That of course is where things start to get interesting, and we shall come to it in due course. (Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth, page 33)

I'm on the lookout. Dawkins also briefly mentions "mutations" in this chapter. No doubt he's trying to use this observation to convince me that if I looked into enough mirrors, past my dad, past my grandfather, and past enough grandfathers, I'd see whatever common ancestor we and the primates have. Instead, I look into the mirror of Scripture and see my Father who is in heaven.

Man vs. Richard Dawkins, Chapter 1

2010-05-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon at the public library, Darling Bride tells me this book is on the New Arrivals shelf. I'm accepting the challenge. I will read this book, biased as a Creationist who believes the Earth was created in six literal days not too long ago (I am also a member of Mensa, so I'm no dummy). Can Richard Dawkins, in his 2009 release The Greatest Show on Earth - The Evidence for Evolution, truthfully state a compelling argument for evolution?

I will also post about it each chapter, and we'll see.

~~Chapter 1:~~ Actually, I don't get out of the preface before he makes a statement I know is untrue: that no reputable, serious scientists dispute the fact of evolution. That is untrue because I know there are many who well articulate the impossibility of evolution: Philip Johnson's Darwin on Trial, Jonathan Sarfati's Refuting Evolution and Refuting Evolution 2, Hank Hannegraaff's Fatal Flaws, Lee Strobel's Case for a Creator are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. So Dawkins is either denying the debate, or he is woefully uninformed about well reasoned and insightful critiques of evolution. Then again, he may define "reputable" as anyone who agrees with him, thereby anyone who disagrees in good conscience is "dis-reputable"?

Dawkins pulls no punches with his adjectives describing those who don't believe in evolution: "woefully uninformed", "history-deniers", and "uneducated churchgoers" are examples. On the other hand, liberal church clergy who believe in evolution are "thoughtful."

In Chapter 1, he begins his case by arguing that a "theory", according to the Oxford English Dictionary, can be either an unconfirmed or confirmed hypothesis. He gives examples of the confirmed variety:

The Earth orbits around the sun
The sun is larger than the earth
Pythagorean Theorum in mathematics

Then Richard Dawkins introduces literary sleight of hand by adding evolution to the list.

He concludes chapter 1 by promising to prove evolution to be a confirmed hypothesis, essentially a theory that is fact, just like the earth, sun, and the triangle.

As an uneducated, woefully misinformed history denier who happens to have an IQ higher than 2% of the general population, I can't wait.

Wild at Heart by John Eldredge

2010-04-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

I was wrong about this book. When Wild at Heart by John Eldredge arrived in the mail, I thought it to be another in a line of the overdone cliche of following Jesus as a rugged outdoorsman. Instead, the author must have been reading my prayer journal because he well understands my continuing struggle. As it turns out, he and countless others, perhaps you, certainly I, wonder if we have what it takes to be a man and if we can fight our battles and win the love of the beautiful woman.

We wonder because somewhere on the journey from boy to man, we are wounded, sabotaging the journey. My wound came when my parents divorced. Fortunately, my Christian walk already taught my about surrender, grief, the love and Fatherhood of God, and how I am to forgive. But I never figured out what to do next. Until now.

The second half of the book came alive for me as I found myself formulating a plan. My battle is not against "defeating the trials in my life," but against the flesh, the world, and the devil (we've heard that before, but it is real). My strategy is understanding that Bible reading and prayer are not duties that good, effeminate men to, but weapons in the hands of a fierce warrior. As I gain strength against the enemy, I earn the right to rescue the beauty, the Darling Bride of my life.

As I review the underlined and highlighted ares in this book, I truly believe that I am on my way to be free to pursue the unknown with God. Eldredge writes : "So there comes a time in a man's life when he's got to break away from all that and head off into the unknown with God. This is a vital part of our journey..."

God may have intervened in my life and given me this book as a weapon to live the adventure I want. I hesitate to say that because I received this book for free from the www.booksneeze.com program where they send participants books in exchange for publishing reviews on blogs and commercial book sites. I am under no obligation to write a favorable review. However, I do believe that God allowed this book in my life to "..live this adventure (with) an ongoing, intimate relationship with God."

I am Shrinking!

2010-04-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

The evidence is indisputable. If you don't believe it, you are probably some Bible-thumping fundamentalist that believes the Earth is flat. I am shrinking. Here is a photo of my daughter and me from 2006:

And here is the same daughter and I from last weekend (with a "baby" brother thrown in):

You will note that I have shrunk so that my shoulder reaches my daughter's head now, instead of my waist. Researchers are still trying to figure out what to make of this.

The Reward For Hard Work

2010-04-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

This is what we dads work for when we provide for our family. After 3 1/2 months of hard work, we get a break. We value having time together as a family. This is from Abe Martin Lodge, Brown County State Park, in between Bloomington and Nashville, Indiana. All work and no play leaves us a dull family. One of our core family values is "Loving God's Creation by Excellent Life Experiences" The other ones are:

Loving God by Authentic Worship
Loving Others by Loving Relationships
Loving Wisdom by Worthwhile Learning

To see why family time was important this weekend, see the previous post.

Man vs Taxes - Exhausted Man Finally Wins!

2010-04-16T05:29:00.000-07:00

Note the tired and haggard look.

My career calling is a Certified Public Accountant. Of course, January through April 15 is our busiest time of the year, ministering to others by helping them maneuver through the difficult maze of tax filing. It is a ministry. Last year, I was accused by one of "saving his life." This year, another was losing sleep.

Ministry is not without sacrifice. What little family time we had, I was resting for the next 13 hour day.

Today, life goes back to normal! A three day, family intensive weekend! Then next week, back to 40 hour (more or less) weeks. By the way, there is plenty for a CPA to do the rest of the year.

It is great to be back with my family, my blog, my friends, etc. Can't wait to blog about how we spent our weekend.

Creation Science is Cool!

2010-04-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

Our family, and I in particular, have really enjoyed a recent journey we've begun in exploring the credibility of Creation Science. By that, I mean that God really did create the world in 6 days only several thousand years ago, the old Testament Book of Genesis is reliable, and good scholarly science is going on right now that confirms what we really believe is really real, and college educated people like my wife and me, with letters after our names like CPA and RN, can place an intelligent trust in creation research.

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftmanship." - Psalm 19:1

I enjoy visiting the website http://creation.com/, The Creation Ministries website. It is a good start to find free articles on the credibility of creation and the unreliability of evolution.

I've recently read the book FATAL FLAWS by Hank Hanegraaf, getting ready to read REFUTING EVOLUTION by Johathan Sarfati, Ph.D., watched the video Mysterious Islands (from Vision Forum Ministries), and believe strongly that Darling Bride and I are leading our family well when we discover what evolutionists (well-meaning and not so well-meaning) don't want to know and admit.

If that weren't enough, there's CASE FOR A CREATOR by Lee Strobel, DARWIN ON TRIAL by Philip Johnson...

To my fellow readers who read, believe, and trust the Bible, I say be encouraged that our faith is "an intelligent trust in what can't be seen based on what can be seen."

To my fellow readers who read, believe, and trust Darwin and Dawkins, I'd love to engage in conversation with you.

This CPA is coming out of hiatus!

2010-04-10T05:08:00.000-07:00

As husband, father, and productive member of society, I am excited about April 15. I am a Certified Public Accountant. Since the middle of January, I have worked about 60 hours a week helping clients from coast to coast with their tax returns. Then I minister to my family and church. So, as the end of tax season approaches, it is back to one of my favorite hobbies, blogging!

Thoughts:

It is great to have a good job.

It is great to serve others by helping them with their taxes.

It is also great to get my life back.
I'm also glad that tax season is in the winter, not when the weather is nice.
Now is time to resume my twice a week blogging!

Grown Up Snow Days

2010-02-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

Today I get a snow day! Hooray! Grown ups like snow days too. But I had to work for it:

Last night when leaving work I packed up a bag with my laptop and some client work. Billable hours!

This morning I got up early, watched local news, listened to NOAA weather radio, gazed outside, thought, prayed, wondered, and decided to stay home. Even with my 4 wheel drive Jeep. That's OK because another co-worker did the same thing, and as we accountants say, "there's strength in numbers."

After working in the morning, then having lunch, it was time to dig out and clear the driveway. While I'm at it, do some character building with #1 son.

And # 2 son and only daughter.

We were thorough, including the trampoline (great winter sport?!?).

But time to play and make snowforts, too!

Darling Daughter and I later discussed if snow is fun or work. Verdict: undecided.

So, have hot chocolate instead!

But I like spring and summer the best. With all due respect, I would never, ever, consider a vacation that included going to a place with snow on the ground!

Man vs Valentines Day

2010-02-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

The way I see it, being a swell guy sure helps on Valentine's Day. Who among us as felt the pressure, the stress, the agony, of buying just the right gift, the right flowers, the right card, even though it is a Hallmark Holiday? Here we are, a stressful gift giving time to our significant others, and I'm scoring big by giving a Microwave Oven. How to do it:

Give a little love, appreciation, smile, and stay out of trouble.

And move into a nicer home that doesn't have a microwave.

And if all goes well, get rewarded with a new wireless router!

Be Discerning When Criticized...

2010-02-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

This blog is intended to be a light-hearted and sometimes funny look at raising a family in 21st Century suburban America.

Recently I wrote a letter, on behalf of one of my clients, to the IRS in protest of a tax, penalty, and interest assessment. This week the IRS replied that we were correct, they were wrong, and the client has a zero balance due.

Just goes to show that even if someone wants to rebuke, correct and discipline you, that person is not necessarily right.

When life grants you victory...

2010-02-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

This post is about when life goes well. Right now I'm on a personal winning streak. Career and finances back on track, home life good, church life good, predominately healthy, and so on (a few skirmishes here and there not withstanding). A situation I'm not used to, my family and I are coming out of heavy duty trials, majority of our own making. But now in a season of victory, how to keep on the right track. Reminds me of a situation where victory was at hand, only to slip away...

In 2003, the Chicago Cubs were five outs away from the World Series. They had not been so close for so long. As the anticipation grew, a seemingly small opportunity that slipped away opened the floodgates to disaster. A ball that might have been caught, even though near the seats, was not caught because Cubs fan Steve Bartman was in the way. A few minutes later, the Florida Marlins scored enough runs to win the game, advance to the World Series, and beat the New York Yankees. Cub fans to this day remember the missed opportunity as a turning point that turned victory in defeat.

In 2005, the Chicago White Sox were two outs away from the World Series Championship. At the other team's ballpark, a fly ball in the stands was caught by shortstop Juan Uribe by reaching into a group of Houston fans. A few minutes after that, the Sox were champions for the first time since before World War I.

What we learn from these two sports moments is to be diligently and alert, not taking anything for granted. For us, in anticipation of moving into a much improved home situation, we're careful to go to antique malls and look for bargains instead of credit card abuse for the lights and furniture we need.

Deuteronomy says this:

Playing with a lead, just like a life that is going very well, still requires vigilance and attention to detail. In the meantime, rejoice and celebrate God's abundant blessings.

Deuteronomy 6:10 - 12: And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you - with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineywards and olive trees that you did not plant - and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Once I thought I was hot stuff...

2010-01-26T17:21:00.000-08:00

Photo: 1992, when I was really cool, more or less.

Once upon a time, I thought I was hot stuff. This February marks my 20th anniversary of following Jesus. This past Sunday, our pastor emphasized some points about maturity from the New Testament Book of Matthew chapter 12, where Jesus eats grain on the Sabbath, heals on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees miss the whole point.

The most relevant application quote from the sermon is "It is not what you know, but knowing what's important." Here's how this quote plays out in my life.

1990: I came to believe that God existed and learned about trusting Jesus. I learned a lot, early, and it served me well. The particular faith tradition I wanted to join didn't quite match up with the Bible. It was necessary to research and understand the person and work of Jesus, His relationship to the Father and the Holy Spirit, our relationship to the Godhead, and how God speaks through the Bible and how we reply in prayer. Research, discussion, debating anyone from clergy to (soon to be former) friends, and I felt confident in my understanding. One critic called me "J. C., God's other son."

So I made sure everybody knew how smart I was.

Two decades later, it remains vital to have good doctrine, but more vital to apply it correctly. In 1992 I could leave a church over points of doctrine because I'm smarter than they and so there, but in 1995 I have a wife to lead. Wasn't easy, but we left one church for another and that was wise. Now I'm grown up with responsibility: Three 3 children, various leadership roles at work and church, and I still think I'm smarter than the system. Too bad what worked before didn't work again. We switched churches a couple of years ago because I lost confidence in the leadership and the move didn't go well. Less than a year later, back where we belong. Let's hear it for me.

More than ever before, a call to wise decision making, practical application of truth, and humble influence. Or, as our family mission statement says, "...to discover, nurture, and fulfill God's plan and will..."

As I celebrate 20 years of fellowship with God, my biggest change is from a hunter and gatherer of God Facts to (hopefully) a wiser application of God's love, mercy, and yes, truth. For those of you who know me and read this saying, "yeah, right..." let it be our prayer that "It is not what you know, but knowing what's important."

My Trouble with Joel Osteen

2010-01-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

My problem with Joel Osteen and his health, wealth, and prosperity message, and those of is mold.

This week I wasted perfectly good commuting time by listening to Joel Osteen audio messages.

Why did I do it? Over Christmas break, I found a Joel Osteen devotional on the coffeetable of a beloved extended family member. Considering the context, and what she'd been through recently, among other things, I held my tongue and let my curiosity by piqued.

John Piper explains well why the prosperity gospel is so disgusting.
Can a true believer be fooled into believing the prosperity gospel? :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

Other bloggers do a great job explaining theology. My purpose in blogging is to explain how this battle, like so many others, wages war within my own soul and how I live it out. I love the reality of the person and work of Jesus Christ. In an effort to be fair, I chose to listen for myself to find out for myself. Some of what he says might be more or less true some of the time, but he is truly preaching a different gospel that risks God's condemnation. I wished it were true that we could get what we want just by believing it enough. But God is wiser than that! We will someday be co-heirs with Christ. In the meantime, God gives each of us a unique combination of both trials and blessing in order to conform us to His image. For example, our family has received multiple blessings recently as we negotiated our new home. On the other hand, the CPA firm and I are devastated by the unexpected leave of absence of a staff member because of breast cancer, just as buy season is thrust upon us. What is God doing? Where's the correllation between faith plus obedience and getting the goods from God? We don't obey God to be blessed with what we want, We follow God because He is worth it!

Fathering 101: Multiple Conversations at Once

2010-01-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

How to have multiple conversations at once. An essential skill for fathering.

Setting: Costco Wholesale, Saturday afternoon.

Darling Bride: Did you get the eggs?

Darling Son: What's your favorite Wii game?

Me: Oops! Just passed them. Over this way.

Darling Bride: The coffeemate is up ahead, too.

Me: I like golf and bowling on Wii Sports Resort. I can get the coffeemate by reaching past the cereal...

Darling Bride: That's enough hamburger for two lasagnas. We're taking dinner to our friends Monday Night.

Darling Son: My favorite is Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Me: Lasagna would be really good. Leftovers!

Darling Son: Do you want to be my Indiana Jones partner when we get back?

Darling Bride: Should we get the clippers?

Me: Look! Pepsi throwback with real sugar!

2009 Wins, Losses, Ties; Looking ahead to 2010

2010-01-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

Pictured: A great victory in 2009, discovering the joy of camping!

Scorecard for 2009 and looking ahead to 2010.

The best way to make New Years Resolutions is to evaluate the passing year to look areas that went well, not so well, and somewhere in between. Here's where I see my life and my family's life:

2009 personal and family victories, defeats, and ties.

Victories:

Successful transition into new career with a vibrant and growing CPA firm.

Clearer family vision regarding the simpler, suburban homesteading transitioning, home and lifestyle we are pursuing.

The joy of camping and the great outdoors.

Progressive sanctification.

On target to be 100% debt free by Independence Day 2010.

Losses:

A friendship turned business relationship that failed to meet expectations. Still struggling to accept the hard lessons God is trying to teach us through it. Surely something about planks in our own eyes?

Teachable and leadable family moments I did not fully capitalize on.

Other friendships and family relationships that get pushed farther away because there's not enough time to spend with everyone we ought.

Grief as extended family and friends struggle because they rely on themselves instead of God through His Son Jesus.

Ties (holding steady, neither a win nor loss yet):

Family business still holding on, not yet thriving, not shut down.

Changes in homeschool curriculum not quite what we want, but we are still learning and growing.

Looking ahead to 2010:

Job 1 is to transition out of a house that does not fit us into something closer to our dream.

Grow in my new job, balancing the privilege of work and the privilege of family.

Cultivate immediate family and extended family relationships.

New Press - No longer depressed :-(

2010-01-01T08:11:00.000-08:00

Why are we celebraing the arrival of a new French Press from Starbucks? Scroll down to find out?

Defeated by a Percolator

2009-12-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

Part of surviving in the suburbs is making sure we get enough coffee to drink, otherwise we're goners. I used to get by on water and other useless liquids until Darling Bride got me addicted to whatever chemical is in Starbucks coffee. Now we try to keep alive without the expensive Starbucks tab. Costco Sumatra.

One day, Darling Bride sent me to get coffee with the instructions "coarse ground for French Press." I might as well have been reciting random gibberish. Fast forward to today, and our beloved coffee press is so overused that our morning drink also comes crunchy. So today we are beta testing the grandparents' PERCOLATER!

Darling Bride found instructions on the internet. We have her grandparents' old percolater pot. This might sound like something of the 1950s, but we are on our way to a richer, fuller, authentic coffee experience. We do have a modern coffeemaker with the timer, drip, and so on, but it's not the same. And to think I wasn't even a coffeedrinker when 2009 was beginning. It wasn't even a New Year's Resolution!

Here goes. Add the water, add the coffeegrounds to the little container, and...oops! Coffeegrounds got into the water. Well, let's see what happens. Plug it in, and watch the water turn into coffee in the little dome on top. It turns off automatically.

A little too cruncy!

Dump it out and try it again. A little less water, measure the coffee carefully...

Much too weak! At this point we are too frustrated to take another picture.

Off to Starbucks tonight to get another French Press to replace our broken one.

Final Score: Suburbs 2, Man 0. Better luck next time.

Family vs. Interstate Snow

2009-12-28T12:59:00.000-08:00

My family and I have been placed 150 miles northwest of where we live. Our mission is to navigate the interstate highway system through snow, wind, traffic, and darkenss to arrive at civilization, or at least our warm beds and our lonely siamese cat. For sustenance we survive on McDonald's drive through. It occurs to me that the beauty of the falling snow I witnessed hours earlier along the shore of Lake Michigan has turned into treacherous snow and slush. We forge ahead. McDonald's dollar menu is our resting point. We see the unfortunate ones who won't make it until a tow truck comes. Our minivan manages to stay on pavement. Finally we exit onto city streets covered with snow. Our cat greets us and our beds are not far behind. Again, we have survived the elements.

Chocolate Pie

2009-12-25T17:06:00.000-08:00

Making chocolate pie, from scratch, for Christmas!

Hooray for Christmas!

2009-12-23T11:26:00.000-08:00

I don't get grown up men, especially husbands and fathers, who need to receive stuff for Christmas, birthday, Father's Day.

Then again, maybe the profile of the grown up male who demands to recieve, rather than give, is a caricature invented by advertisers and marketers (then some who take the bait become the caricature).

Or maybe the one and only true God, manifiested in His Son Jesus is truly working in me to feel "more blessed to give than to receive."

Or, to be blogfully truthful, is that I'm excited about playing with what's going under the tree soon: Wii Resort, Wii Fit Plus, a new HO scale train, and so on. Sorry, Darling Daughter, I'm still working up to being excited about American Girl dolls.

Don't misunderstand, I do like getting stuff. I'd love to open Wii Grand Slam Tennis or Wii Golf (even if Tiger Woods is on the cover, the slime ball), but with parenthood comes self denial.

Really, if I could have anything I wanted, it would be one more Christmas Eve at my Grandparents' house on Connecticut Street, circa 1970s. Then again, what I would gain from that is the understanding that what is even better is Christmas Season with my own Darling Bride and Children, circa 2000s - 2010s.

Antiquing Jackpot and Y2K Compliant!

2009-12-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

This is the find from our first "official" antiquing trip.

True, it is not really an antique. It is either "period" or "vintage", depending on the perspective.

It is homeschooling treasure.

Knowing about manual typing helps us appreciate word processing on the computer.

The kids really wanted this. They promised to write reports on it, but we assured them they did not have to do it.

It is a neat toy, old school! But somehow we stumbled upon having kids that don't need computerized stuff for Christmas! By the way, this is Y2K compliant.

We like old stuff: We have a phonograph (that I'm trying to find a replacement needle for).

My Dream of Simplicity is Taking Clearer Focus...

2009-11-25T18:53:00.000-08:00

My dream is so clear, I can almost reach out and touch it -

We will find an older house far enough from the city to be considered rural (we can do this and still shorten my commute time to work).

The hard wood floor was standard back then, not an upgrade like today.

Raised bed gardens are in process with cherry tomatoes, other vegetables, and other goodies on their way to our dinner table.

What we don't grow ourselves, we support our farming friends and neighbors when we can.

Nobody in Indiana grows oranges, though, so prudent shopping at the grocery.

But enough of food. The land provides the fun and excitement, not the TV.

Hiking and camping at a favorite state park. Learning the plant life.

But we're not killing our TV because of Antiques Roadshow, History Detectives, movies made before High Definition, and Netflix.

Smoky Mountain genre plays from the CD player. The only musical instrument I play is the CD player, so I appreciate the talents of others.

A porch swing for Darling Bride's Mother's Day gift.

I will learn my neighbor's names. Today I do not know the names of my neighbors to my immediate left and right.

We fulfill some ideas quoted in a book MADE FROM SCRATCH by Jenna Woginrich:

"You can make better decisions every day; you can learn the skills that make for a more independent way of living."

And these quotes from THE SIMPLE HOME by Sarah Nettleton:

"The simple home is not an end in itself, but the means by which we can enjoy our own simple pleasures whether they be the starry skies..."

"...unadorned, resolved of complexity, essential in its response to needs, balanced, the result of clear choices..."

"A simple home puts us in touch with the simple pleasures of life: the warmth of winter sunlight, the scent of flowers through an open window, a family meal at a communal table. By learning to appreciate the 'luxury of enough,' we can delight in the simple abundance of our homes' most basic pleasures."

Our family is getting a head start on our 2010 (and beyond) Resolutions. This weekend, or sometime soon, we will go looking for property.

Simply Powerful Family Time

2009-11-24T16:45:00.000-08:00

Call it Dune Therapy, but the Indiana Dunes State Park and National Lakeshore are where we go to relax and simplify. Even when it is not suntan weather, it is a great place to go to see the perfect balance of nature and commerce!

Why I'm not a Bad Dad because my kids don't play soccer, basketball, etc...

2009-11-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

Why I'm not a Bad Dad because my kids don't play soccer, basketball, etc...

This weekend we're road-tripping it for 2 1/2 hours to Lake Michigan (who doesn't dream of the beach in November?)

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is a superlative place any time of the year. As a family we will exercise our bodies by hiking the beach, forest, and trails. It is a setting to behold any day of the year. We will exercise our minds by observing the change of seasons and how God created nature to winterize itself.

We will also exercise family time as the five of us, and add a grandmother into the mix and we have extended family time.

We will also enjoy the commericialism of Bass Pro Shops and maybe even an antique mall and restaurant. These trips are huge for our family. We'd go camping if the weather were about 20 to 30 degrees warmer, and the campground was open. But day trips are adventures that motivate us to get up early on Saturday!

Problem is, soccer families are stuck at home. For example, my co-worker across the hall told me earlier this year that her family can't go on the camping and exploring trips we do because of soccer, band, and whatever else. My advice to quit those things didn't seem administratively feasable.

So, once again we choose as a family to march to our own drum instead of what middle class suburbia would have us do. And we're much better off for it.

And by the way, we do get our competitive sports in via martial arts. Big tournament tonight! One of the kids might advance to the next round.

The Homesteading Journey Begins Today

2009-11-17T17:54:00.000-08:00

Darling Bride and I are now pursuing a dream. We are simplifying our lives.

Truly, we have already been simplifying, although involuntarily: business woes have taken away luxuries such as vacations, designer clothes, our comfy home in the suburbs, but it has been a blessing in disguise.

We have discovered what the book THE SIMPLE HOME by Sarah Nettleton calls "the luxury of enough: a simple home puts us in touch with the simple pleasures of life: the warmth of winter sunlight, the scent of flowers through an open window, a family meal at a communal table..."

Problem is, how do I get from Certified Public Accountant to GREEN ACRES?

I'm also reading MADE FROM SCRATCH by Jenna Woginrich because she tells about how she became more self sufficient, a little bit at a time. So real people don't have to go from McDonalds to Old Mac Donald (had a farm, E I E I O) all at once.

So now, the journey begins. And the blog resumes.

Quality and Quantity Time

2009-04-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

It was April 18th, and we could hardly wait to get to Lake Michigan.

No, we weren't beach bums in the Spring, we were a family on an adventure together.

We needed some family time together, and we like to go places and do things as a family.

Did you know that the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore ranks 7th in plant diversity among all National Parks?

So here's the point: Thanks to God for allowing me to hang out with my wife and kids for a day exploring the dunes. And my own mom was with us too.

Easter, 2009 - Some Thoughts

2009-04-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Have you ever watched a favorite movie, or TV show, or read a favorite book, time and time again, and gotten completely immersed in the suspense and drama? Even though we know how the story will turn out, we still get caught up in the plot complication: will the good guy win over the bad guy? How will the hero escape this situation?

To me, Easter is like that. We know how the story ends - Jesus is risen! Yet, as we navigate through Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday, and wait for Sunday, we feel the passion, the agony, and the sadness that is the crucifixion. Part of it out of the story itself, part of it coming to grips with our own sinfulness, both personally and corporately, that moved Jesus to choose the cross for us. We wonder - will the good guy win over the bad guy? How will the hero escape this situation?

The good guy wins! The hero arose from the situation! Death is conquered, sin is forgiven! We celebrate - He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Maybe God created a sense of drama, suspense, and anticipation within us so that we would always re-live the sorrow of Good Friday and the joy of Easter.

I know I did this year. And will again.

And I wait until Jesus comes again, even though I've read ahead and know how the story will turn out.

Why a responsible guy would ditch a responsibility

2009-04-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Today I am "playing hooky" from work for a few hours. Yes, I am taking a night off of work as tax season winds down.

Why would I do that?

I miss doing fun stuff with my wife and kids. The balance between earning a living and actually living is a delicate balance, and I'm looking forward to the pendulum swinging soon. I want to have dinner with my family (not another drive through, please!) Don't know what we'll do after dinner, but that doesn't matter!

We choose to be a one wage earner family so that we can decide the training and education our family will have, instead of our government school. To do that, I work a full time job and prepare tax returns on the side during the season. This fall, I will be starting the road to earn my M B A. Have to work, have to make time to play. Also, I am very careful about not taking too much time away from family for other stuff, like hanging out with guys.

The countdown is on! Only 9 more shifts to go until the end of tax season (or Tax Season, depending upon your perspective). Excitement is brewing as our family transitions into Road Trip Season (always capitalized to show importance)!

A trip to Lake Michigan is in the works!

But what if the weather is bad?

No problem! We will do the following:

A lighthouse tour in Michigan City

A new Visitors Center at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

A shopping list at Pro Bass Shops

Most importantly, I miss doing fun stuff with my wife and kids terribly. I know I just said that, but it is worth repeating.

God's Protection Over Me

2009-03-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

This week I've chosen to see God's hand of protection over me instead of being unhappy that He hasn't blessed me more.

Compare the photo of me uploaded with this post to the photo with my profile. Same person, same time of the year, different cameras with different lenses. One photo is a blessing, one is a curse. Just goes to show that how we see life depends upon the lens and perspective we have.

One way among many that God is protecting me that was always there, but I've been reminded of:

Word came this week that another marriage in my extended family is failing in a big way. The lens and perspective I have at the moment allows me to see God's protection over me, my own marriage, and my own family life.

God's grace, God's word and my application of it to my life, allowing His influence, and Scripture influenced decision making have made the difference. My own marriage and family are vibrant and growing because of the saving and keeping work of Jesus Christ. I have a relationships with my kids. I'm connected in my local church, including a small group that provided interdependence. Even as I struggle with synergizing the need to earn a living and the need to be home with my family, we are working together to keep it in line. And we're waiting for the end of tax season, then a big family celebration.

The "world" would predict that failure is my destiny. Jesus Christ says that being like Him is my destiny. When Jesus comes and transforms, He doesn't usually do it with flash and dance, shock and awe. Instead, it is a quiet, behind the scenes work built around who He is, what He as done, and what He is doing, and using truth to influence decision making.

Usually, I struggle because I don't feel as blessed as I ought to be. True, He throws financial trials my way to make sure He has my attention. That manifiests itself in my having to be intentional about counting my blessings. This week counting my blessings got a whole lot easier when I noticed that I've been protected from problems that others I care about have.

Now the call is to find out how to come alongside my struggling comrades...

Top Ten List - Twitters We'd Rather Not Read

2009-03-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

I've been enjoying Twitter, an online micro blog. This past weekend I thought of David Letterman's Top Ten Lists, and came up with my own - Top 10 Tweets We'd Rather Not Read.

From the Home Office, here we go:

10. My cell-mate Bernie M. says, "Hi!"

9. I can't stand the itching, but I don't mind the swelling.

8. Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!

7. They pelted us with rocks and garbage this morning.

6. I can't seem to get this computer virus off my tweet posts.

5. Anybody seen my dentures?

4. Lost my driver's license.

3. How I combined two ingredients and blew up my garage - http://www.twitter.oops/!

2. Obama siezed my hunting gear.

1. Constiptated, again. :-(

Reinventing myself again.

2009-03-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

At age 43, I am still re-inventing myself (the photo is someone re-inventing the wheel on a napkin. Get it? :-). I'm finding myself having to be more of a risk taker than I'm used to.

One recent example is in my moonlighting job, a Tax Professional at H & R Block. One would think of a tax preparer who reads questions from a computer, waits for a customer's response, then keystrokes the data. Not so. Today's successful Tax Professional is a dynamic, thoughtful combination of tax knowledge and interpersonal communicator. Additionally, we have the responsibility to build value for everybody by winning and retaining clients, finding added value services, and marketing ourselves and our brand. I'm not one to ask others to do something (ask my Darling Bride who asked who to get married). But after the agony of plucking up courage of asking clients to take advantage of opportunities we present, some say yes. It is exciting to be influential in a good way. So I have to take the risk of asking others to do things, even when those things would benefit them.

Continuing, thinking through my leadership role at my local church. What if I start pursuing an M.B.A. and have to make priority choices? I think I might need and M.B.A. to be qualified for my next job, and a job allows me to proivde for my family, etc...Taking risks of what to say "yes" to and what to say "no" to.

At home. I've been struggling with finding quantitiy time for family, as tax season is in full swing. I will be re-inventing myself again starting April 16th. Finally, I will be with my family again. I miss them. That's another consideration. The family photo I keep on my desk is not just decoration, it is my motivation to keep going, and to keep re-inventing myself. The risk of balancing the need of having to go earn grocery money and the need of being home with my family.

Isn't "re-inventing oneself" another name for being conformed to the image of Christ if you are a follower of Him? Whatever it is, call it a work in progress.

If it is a holiday, and you have to work, is it a holiday?

2009-03-16T09:50:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER: This is a light hearted look at work and holidays. Don't be offended.

Recently one of my Sunday School classmembers mentioned the holiday of St. Patrick's Day.

Now I know that I may offend someone if I say that St. Patrick's Day is not a holiday.

But it's not. Here's how I know: I still have to go to work. If I go to work, holiday - no. If I get a day off, holiday - yes. Simple.

Of course, what may be a holiday for my may not be for you. And what may be a holiday for you may not be for me.

President's Day? Guess it depends on if you are a banker or not. Valentine's Day? I still went to work and the trash collectors still picked up my trash. Arbor Day? When is Arbor Day, anyway?

Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day? Yes, I know some people still have to work, but I don't get much time off work, so I'll take 'em. They make summer a little extra special.

How about the big majors, like Christmas, and Thanksgiving? I know that public servants, like Police, Fire, soldiers, Marines, and such, have to work those days, because safety never takes a holiday. So I don't know what to say about that yet. I do know, though, that I am thankful for those who put themselves on the line for us every day. But those are real holidays - put away the cares of the world for a day, play, eat, be with family, think of God, and have 24 hours of peace.

If you like to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, go right ahead! It may be a holiday for you, and that's OK! Good for you! Drink something green for me. I will be wearing something green at work.

Ministry is Messier than Tax Advice

2009-03-12T05:34:00.000-07:00

I have an opportunity to take an intensive Biblical Counseling course this summer.

To give counsel, not necessarily to receive counsel. But I'm noticing something.

I was thinking / hoping that being a Bible counselor would be like being a Master Tax Advisor: Someone asks me a question, I look up the applicable tax code, give an answer, the person says thank you, and on to the next question. For example: My uncle asked me how to report the sale of some collectable coins on his tax form. I told him where to put the purchase date, sale date, sale price, purchase price, etc. So I was hoping that someone would ask me a life question, I would look up the applicable Bible verse, dispense an answer, the person says thank you, and on to the next crisis.

Not so. Ministry is messy. Our family has been called to come alongside another family and do life with them. A lot more than life Q and A. We share our struggles, setbacks, clutter, and get outside of our comfort zone. That's what Bible counseling is all about really. Knowing that the Bible, and the God who authored it, has the answers to life's toughest struggles, is only the start. The Bible as a handy "reference guide" is only part of the reality of walking with Jesus. It means walking with those whom He sends to us, not just looking up an answer to a question.

So life is counseling me. I am learning what it is really like to counsel someone. It is not just learning the answers, it is about living the answers. Outside of my comfort zone in a big way, but that's what God is intending, I am sure.

Responding to a Different Kind of Help Wanted

2009-03-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

This week we find ourselves in a position to minister to some others who are in challenging circumstances and ensnared by sin.

Not a comfortable position to be in.

Helping someone and counseling them in truth and love sounds good, until a live person shows up in life.

Getting up from the La-Z-Boy of life to walk with someone through the valley doesn't sound like a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Isn't Sunday afternoon supposed to be family time, anyway? A day of rest?

Yet, when it is time to sit down and think about it, the decision is clear. The way I see it, anybody can fall into a hole without anybody's help, but few people climb out on their own. So, we are called to come along side.

Later, I'll be glad I did.

Life Lessons from School Dances

2009-02-27T06:35:00.000-08:00

Did you ever go to one of those school dances in Junior High or High School? Another reason to wonder about Public School, but I digress. School dances were awkward. We go, but we don't really want to, we don't really feel comfortable. The cool kids are hanging out having a good time, the extroverts are somehow talking to everyone else, making friends and having a good time, and wall flowers like us wonder about what we could have been thinking by going to this thing. I'd like to hide in the bathroom the rest of the night.

I have news: That feeling never goes away. I had those same awkward feelings just this week, and there are opportunities for grown ups to do the same things as at school dances.

This week I has hand picked (let's send Jeff, he'll do anything!) to represent H & R Block at the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce's "Business After Hours" Networking Social. It works like a school dance. There is a big room, with a DJ playing music. There is food. The theme is sports, so they have hot dogs, chips, fries, that sort of thing. Bartenders are serving drinks, both hard and soft. I hang around for a minute or two so I can find out if the food and drink are free or if I have to pay. I have $1.00 in my wallet. It's all free. A dollar saved is a dollar earned. I have a hot dog, fries, and diet coke.

The cool people of the business world are gathered in small groups, talking business I suppose. I don't know for sure because I am not part of any group. Other movers and shakers are introducing themselves to others, swapping business cards, and who knows what else because I'm an aloof observer.

Fortunately, wallflower Jeff has an opportunity to do something without looking too out of place. Because the theme is sports, there are some sport type games setup. I choose the basketball game, the kind where you have mini basketballs that you try to shoot into mini basketball hoops. It is electronic so bells and whistles and lights go off each time I make a shot.

An older man who already knows that he can drink as much beer as he likes for free comes over and says something. Despite my difficulty in understanding his slurred speech, I was happy because I was now networking.

It does get better! I find out about a "speed networking" session. There is a round table with up to 10 seats. A facilitator gives each person sitting around the table 1 minute to talk about who we are, about our business, and what we'd like others to know about us. Then another minute to answer questions. I sign up, and get to meet 7 others in a controlled, structured environment. This actually isn't too bad. A print shop owner is looking for clients. A retired Chief Financial Officer is looking to provide accounting services to start up business ventures. An officer of a local credit union is talking about how they have money to lend. Then again, someone is looking for clients to help us balance our physical and spiritual inner something or others. But the point is that I have success! I have a collection of other people's business cards, and I can prove to the H & R Block people that I did something.

After the networking session, I go back to the dance, I mean After Hours event, and lots of people are there talking to each other. I know nobody, except the people I just met, and so I get another hot dog and diet coke. Fortunately, this is a multi purpose facility with swimming pool, exercise rooms, etc., and they are giving tours. I go on the tour so that I don't have to mingle. Nice place. I bet I could afford to be a member if I grew my client base more. I could grow my client base more if I did some networking. Maybe I'll go again next time.

I got one right this weekend!

2009-02-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

I got one right this weekend: I sat down to play a board game with my daughter on Sunday night.

She'd been asking all weekend. I'd been holding off, hoping to compromise by getting her to agree to some Wii Sports.

My oldest son did agree to some Wii Sports. I beat him in tennis and baseball. I feel badly about that, but probably more badly than he felt (or didn't feel) when he destroyed me in tennis and baseball in earlier times. But I digress.

The point is that I HAD to get a game in with Darling Daughter before the weekend disappeared forever. We played "Life," the old, old version before credit cards and other bizarre stuff ruined it forever. Great game. She showed her true calling when she came to a fork in the road and passed up a chance to collect $240,000 and instead added a daughter. What a girl! I HAD to get this game played because otherwise, a chance to lead in my household would have come and gone. Maybe later she would choose the cash over the family. Maybe later, in real life, she would. But for today, at age 9, she did not.

As a CPA, time with family comes few and far between until April 15 passes. I could have refused a chance to bond with my daughter and the rest of the family, but I did not. But I almost did. That scares me a little bit.

Hopefully you will choose the same. Or hopefully I will choose wisely again the next time.

Thankful for two jobs!

2009-02-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

This is busy season for me as work is concerned. I have a full time job as an accounting and information administrator for our bakery, http://www.crawfordsbakery.com/; then during tax season a tax professional at http://www.hrblock.com/. This week I put in 64 hours, last week 68.

I am not a workaholic. I'd rather stay home and play. And teach homeschool lessons. But we as a family agree to do this because we've committed to being a one wage earner family, and this provides a chance for Darling Bride to be home and do what she's called to do, be "busy at home" (her blog title, too - www.homeschoolblogger.com/jenn4him.)

By the way, what does Darling Bride say about being home and not out in the world striking it rich?

"This career thing is so overrated."

So we have our roles. Sometimes they are easy, sometimes they are hard. Come April 16, I'm back to a regular life. We'll go camping, play in the back yard, and play some more.

Sometimes it takes a little extra to make life work out. And, I'm thankful for two jobs when some dads I know have zero.

Helping each other "move along" in this world

2009-02-17T05:40:00.000-08:00

Helped a person close to me get some stuff done this weekend. We're both in our 40s and still trying to figure things out.

Growing up, I figured most grown ups knew what they were doing. Turns out, I was wrong.

I helped a lot of different people this weekend. I helped my mom with a tax question, taught Sunday School, led a family meeting about baptism, had real conversation with Darling Bride, helped a tax client sort through a casualty loss, and maybe something else or two.

The point is not about patting myself on the back, it's about taking a moment to realize that it is nice to make a contribution to society. I'm certainly not perfect. I also have in mind someone that I'd like to do a favor for by punching his lights out.

Is this what they say about random acts of kindness? (excluding the fisticuffs)

If so, then I'm in favor of it.

God as my Personal Trainer?

2009-02-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

Since Memorial Day 2008, I've lost 30 pounds and counting. Here's how I did it:

Getting up early
Hard work
Self discipline
Exercise
Eating healthy

Sorry gang, getting fit and healthy takes hard work and sacrifice. The internet ads tell us "...one simple rule, that's all..."

Maybe not.

Getting fit and healthy takes self-induced pain. Muscle fatigue, being hungry on purpose, eating carrots instead of candy bars, bicycling against the wind and still 5 miles to home.

God gets us spiritually fit the same way. God works our spiritual muscles sometimes to the point of muscle fatigue. Here's what I mean:

At our church, College Park Church in Indianapolis, we've been in a sermon series on the book of Job (pronounced with a long o as in "ear lobe). Synopsis: Job is righteous (not perfect, but someone who loves and worships the one and only true God) and God makes it so that Job loses his health, wealth, and children. Job doesn't understand why because Job isn't a big time sinner. Job's friends conclude that Job must be a terrible sinner because he's in terrible trial from God.

Our way of thinking is like this:
Obey God, get blessed
Sin against God, get punished.

However, there are other dynamics in place:
People who know, love, and serve God get trials
People who reject God get blessings

Why?

Because even those of us who love and worship God are not yet perfect. We all fall short of God's perfection. By way of analogy, I've made the commitment to eat right and exercise, but I'm not yet at my ideal weight, and I'm hoping that Darling Bride brings home ice cream from her grocery store trip today. So I push myself, lift weights to the point of muscle fatigue, etc.

God gives each of us whom He loves a unique blend of blessings and trials in order to move us along on a track to love Him more and be more like Him.

Once I get beyond just knowing this in my mind and to knowing this in my heart, then I can stop worrying and start living. I can see that everything that happens is really a customized spiritual workout from God so that I am spiritually buff.

When business is slow, I can trust God instead of trusing in my bank balance

When I'm behind in preparing my Sunday School lesson, I can re-prioritize my time.

When I'm exhausted from working two jobs to keep us fed, clothed, and sheltered, I can be thankful that I have two more jobs than some I know today.

When I drag myself out of bed an hour early in the morning, I'm glad that I'm healthy enough to do 45 minutes of cardio.

When the sun is shining and the temperature goes up, I can give credit to Whom credit is due.

When I wake up to another day with my wife and family, I can give thanks to the giver of all good things.

I worry too much. The way to stop is to trust God who gives blessings and trials, and is in total control. Whatever happens today, is happening for a reason.

And, all that's happening is not all trial. Today is also a blessing! Hooray!

I am like Alex Rodriguez, baseball superstar!

2009-02-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

Above: Alex Rodriguez, 2008.

Below: Me, 1981

Alex Rodriguez is one of baseball's brightest superstars (I am not). He plays for the New York Yankees (I do not). But I found something in common with him.

A new book, THE YANKEE YEARS, just came out by Joe Torre, successful baseball manager (and player before that), writing about his time spent as manager of the Yankees. Also co-written by Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci. As excerpted from the Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-book2-2009feb02,0,4811704.story, Torre and Verducci write about Rodriguez:

"Far more interesting is the manager's assessment that Rodriguez could not succeed as a team player because he is unwilling to fail."There's a certain free fall you have to go through," Torre says, "when you commit yourself without a guarantee that it's always going to be good. There's a sort of trust, a trust and commitment thing that has to allow yourself to fail. Allow yourself to be embarrassed. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. And sometimes players aren't willing to do that."That's the key to Jeter, who has always done anything to help the team. As for Rodriguez, Torre notes, "When it comes to a key situation, . . . he can't get himself to concern himself with getting the job done, instead of how it looks."That's a pretty damning statement, but there's nothing personal about it; it's observable, quantifiable, as any Yankee fan knows."Rodriguez," the authors write, "was conspicuous by the awesome disparity between his skills and his ability to use them in the clutch. Rodriguez hit .245 in the postseason as a Yankee, or 61 points worse than his career average. From the fifth inning of Game 4 of the 2004 [American League Championship Series] -- the onset of the dynasty's demise -- through 2008, Rodriguez hit .136 in 59 postseason at-bats."Compare this with what Torre and Verducci cite as "the quintessential championship Yankees at-bat": O'Neill's 10-pitch walk in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 2000 World Series against the Mets. The Yankees were down to their last two outs, but O'Neill refused to give in, working the count, fouling off pitches, driven by a "desperation to win."It's still the greatest single at-bat I've ever seen, one that, as Torre remembers, "set the tone for the series. . . . It was just a dare: 'You can't get me out.' It was the loudest walk you've ever experienced."

Go back and re-read the 2nd paragraph of the quote. The point is that success comes from taking a risk and being willing to do what needs to be done to win. And if winning isn't possible, then allowing defeat. Taking a chance but failing is leadership, failing because of not taking the chance to begin with is not leadership.

Unfortunately, I see the similarity between Alex Rodriguez and me: This month our family has a winning housing deal that is huge for us, and huge for the departing (relocating) family (also valued friends of ours). But, the risk is huge. What if my job fails because the business doesn't continue? What if I can't keep my financial promises? What will my friends think? What will my family think?

Darling bride tells me that there are no guarantees. That is correct. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, no matter which house we live in. I have been given the responsibility to lead my family. This is the time for me to trust and commit, drive myself to win, and allow myself to fail, be embarrassed, and vulnerable if that be God's will.

Less than 4 weeks until the big move!

Snow Imitates Life

2009-02-02T07:30:00.000-08:00

This past week we got 10 inches of snowfall, officially the biggest snow in 13 years.

The snow was an illustration of what happens when life throws itself at you.

Some choose to embrace the snow with enthusiasm and gusto. Many of them were children with a day off school, but not all. Some grown-ups also got a chance to stop and play.

Ohters, like me, are struggling through the trial that comes with winter weather. Maybe I have Seasonal Affective Disorder (depression because of winter weather). Probably, I just dislike snow very much: Lost business, long commutes, power outages, vehicle slide offs, shoveling snow, sky-high heating bills, feeling cold and wet, hard work coping.

Same snow, different reactions.

Life is like that. Many of us are chugging along. A friend just finished his basement. More in my family than not believe that Obama in the White House is a good thing. My kids enjoy their birthdays.

Or, are there problems? Business is very tough. A friend just lost his job with no severance pay. Another friend had his hours cut, another took a pay cut. I believe our new President's policies will do more harm than good. Socialism never works. My children are growing quickly. My weight loss and fitness has hit a plateau...

So, do I choose to believe one of my new favorite Bible verses, Psalm 16:5-6: "The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance."

To understand how this Bible verse would make sense today, my Study Bible notes describe it best: "The psalm...describes the psalmist's satisfaction with the Lord and His provision. The terms PORTION, LOT, LINES, and INHERITANCE evoke the allocatioin of the land into family plots; the song promotes contentment with the arrangements of one's life, seeing them as providentially ordered." (Source: ESV Study Bible notes on Psalm 16).

The point here is that all of life is providentially ordered, both blessings and trials. I believe that God arranges the perfect blend of blessings and trials in order to draw us nearer to Him. Are we accepting the invitation?

Less than 4 years until High School!

2009-01-26T19:08:00.000-08:00

Less than 4 years until High School, Darling Bride mentioned to me recently.

Our firstborn, a son, will be 11 this March. He is no longer a little boy and I have to adjust my parenting so that he will be empowered through his next stage of life.

What does this mean?

No, I will not panic, I will reboot my parenting model.

In the past, we had a daddy and little boy relationship. Thomas the Tank Engine, Blue's Clues, ABCs and 123s.

Now, we are on the verge of a father and young man relationship. Lionel trains, basketball camp, Lego Bionicles, Indiana Jones, Bible reading, big conversations, leadership, responsibility.

Coming up - cars and driving, algebra, logic, reasoning, decision making with lifelong consequences, ownership of a worldview.

Therefore, I am making these changes:

I will be intentional about not treating him like a little boy. Our conversations have to be moving toward "man to man". For example, when he was little, I would tuck him into bed and kiss him on the cheek. Now I have to make sure we pray together, listen to what he has to say, and make sure he knows that there is a man nearby that he can trust.

In teaching and instruction, I will make sure I don't talk down to him. Set age appropriate expectations.

In general, he ought to have more of my attention. His younger brother and sister are like two peas in a pod, but our oldest is the odd man out. I need to connect with him so that he doesn't feel alone and left out.

One way to focus my time would be to reconsider how I volunteer my time. Right now I teach 1st Grade Sunday School. Would it be good for him and his age group to have me with them instead? A question to ponder.

Excellent Life Experiences! (Family Mission, Part 5 of 5)

2009-01-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

I love roadtrips! Always have. Near, far, in between, doesn't matter!

Cool places we've been to as a family:

Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum, Mansfield, MO

Darling Bride's Grandparents', Northwest Arkansas

Indianapolis Children's Museum

Conner Prairie, our local living history museum

State Parks!

And when we're at home, we do all sorts of things - like gardening!

Not to mention Indiana Dunes State Park (in October!), Spring Mill State Park, Indianapolis Zoo, Holiday World and Splashin' Safari, Santa Claus, Indiana, and more!
Who doesn't like to play? Going on adventures as a family across town or across the country is the reward for all the hard stuff we have to do.

I've written 4 previous posts about our family and how we put our Mission and Core Values into writing. Now that I've had a chance to re-read it, it sure can be thought of as a little on the intellectual and philosophical side. Too much egg-head stuff. But important stuff so that we don't end up watching too much bad TV and playing too many video games. And because I'm the husband and dad, it's my job to wrestle with these issues to lead us and get us going in the right direction. Every family needs direction, especially when trying to drive through St. Louis!

But play time is the fun balance of life! And it is OK. Anybody who is trying to chart a course for their lives ought to put fun into the mix!

That's why one of our family's core values is that "We love God's creation by Excellent Life Experiences." We have fun and give God the Glory - "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork" - Psalm 19:1

Take time for fun! Eat ice cream! Go camping! Go on a day trip! Play in the back yard! Call up some friends you've been meaning to talk to and schedule a play date!

We've already booked two camping reservations - One for Holiday World in June and another for Indiana Dunes in July. We'll book more. We will get by in a tent. I hope to afford a pop-up camper/trailer someday. We play in our backyard. We play Wii. We have fun. And it is right and good.

Do some serious planning. Then relax. Chill out. Have fun! Play!

Together, we discover, nurture, and fulfill God's will and plan for us.

We love God by authentic worship.
We love others by intentional relationships.
We love wisdom by worthwhile learning.
And, we love God's creation by Excellent Life Experiences!

Mission, Part 4 - Worthwhile Learning

2009-01-19T12:04:00.000-08:00

What kind of wisdom do we want our familys to have?

Proverbs verse about wisdom: "...whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster" - 1:33

I have a 9 year old Darling Daughter. I would do well to defend against about the scum who want my daughter's heart, soul, mind, and strength. There are enemies on the prowl who want to steal her innocence and give her a world view that I don't want her to have. It's not just me being paranoid, either. Consider this cut and paste from http://www.purefreedom.org/ :

Thursday, January 13, 2009“Is There An Alternative To Bratz Dolls?”

Her dreamy eyes and pouty lips are complemented by her fish-net stockings and belly-baring shirt. Psychologists say that even girls who play with more innocent looking, but excessively “beautified” princess dolls tend to initiate a play world that includes seduction to get the prince. Imagine the life-skills this teaches a girl! Is it just play? The experts don’t think so. “It puts girls on a conveyer belt to sexual activity,” says Diane Levine, PhD of Wheelock College in Boston and author of “So Sexy So Soon.”

The point is that there are those that really do want to impart a wisdom to us, not just our daughters, that is not right and good. Watch the commercials during a football game. Watch the commercials during prime time TV. Browse the video game section at Wal Mart. Is that true wisdom?

http://www.dictionary.com/ defines wisdom this way:
1. the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.
2. scholarly knowledge or learning: the wisdom of the schools.
3. wise sayings or teachings; precepts.
4. a wise act or saying.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. Cite This Source

As a homeschooling family, of course we believe that what we have to offer our family is better than what the world has to offer. Choosing to impart (dare I say impose?) our values to our children, plus superior academic qualities, plus real life socialization opportunities, equals an opportunity for our children second to none.

That's why, when our family chose to put our Mission into writing, the reason we are a family, We listed one of our four core values this way: "Loving Wisdom by Worthwhile Learning."

Where does wisdom come from? Proverbs 1:7 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Public schools are not allowed to have the fear of the Lord.
If public schools don't have the fear of the Lord, they don't have wisdom.
If they don't have wisdom, then they can't fully impart knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action.

Enough logic for one post. Here's the point - we choose to pursue God and His ways, and apply them so that we make right decisions. We don't do them all the time, there aren't enough blogs in the world to list all the stupid I've done. But we are striving toward the goal.

Worthwhile learning empowers us to do the work that God has created us to do (Ephesians 2:10.) It might mean being a Mommy or a Daddy. It might mean any one of a zillion career choices. Whatever it means, no job can't be done without the right tools. We strive to provide access to the right tools.

One essential tool is good judgment in filtering our culture to our family. Another tool is choosing good academics. All families are blessed with an abundance of teaching materials in the marketplace. We do it through Sonlight Curriculum, Math U See, Handwriting Without Tears, some A Beka books to fill in some gaps, and a healty dose of museums (Children's Museum, Zoo, Living History Museum to name a few), church activities (Sunday School, Gospel Martial Arts Union, Awana), play dates, friends, and lots of family time. But more on family time later this week in my final Family Mission Statement post, "Loving Creation through Excellent Life Experiences"

Mission:
Together, we discover, nurture, and fulfill God's will and plan for us.

Core Values and Strategy:
Loving God by Authentic Worship
Loving others by Intentional Relationships
Loving wisdom by Worthwhile Learning
Loving creation by Excellent Life Experiences

Family Mission, Part 3 - Loving Others

2009-01-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

"Oh, to dwell above with saints above, that would be glory. But to dwell below with saints we know, that's a different story."

Have you heard that saying before?

Have you lived that saying before?

This past weekend we finally had Christmas with my Dad and family. It was nice, extending Christmas into the 2nd weekend of January!

It's a challenge because our extended family is, well, extended.

Extended in part because of geography. My Mom lives a little more than 2 1/2 hours away, so we have to be intentional about visits. My Dad lives a little more than 2 hours away, also an intentional visit. We are blessed because my Mother in Law and one of my Fathers in Law live about 20 minutes away. It's nice to be close, we also work for the same business. My other Father in Law and his wife live in Connecticut. Haven't made that intentional trip yet.

If you've followed the above, you'll notice that our family tree sprouts outward as much as upward. The kids have 4 sets of grandparents. No wonder the kids bedrooms are bursting with toys! As for Darling Bride and me, who wouldn't want two sets of in-laws? (In theory becuae our in-laws are great, especially Darling Bride's in-laws - grin).

Divorce and remarriage takes its toll on us children, even when we're grown up and have children on our own. On Christmas night, Darling Bride asked me if I was going to call my Dad and wish him a Merry Christmas. My reply was that I'll be seeing him soon, I can wish him a Merry Christmas then. By contrast, excitement was in the air as we anticipated the visit of my Mom, brother, uncle, aunt, and cousins in a couple of days. When I think family, I think first of my Mom's side of the family, second of Darling Bride and her extended family, and then my Dad and his side of the family. Family ties follow when growing up, and now, as a grown up, it is time to be intentional about pursuing all family and friends.

That's why our Family Mission Statment includes Core Value and Strategy #2, "We love others by intentional relationships." After Jesus said first to love God, He quickly continued by saying that we should love others. That is hard to do even in the most favorable of circumstances.

Our full Family Mission Statment is:

Together, we discover, nurture, and fulfill God's will and plan for us.

Core Values and Strategy:

Loving God by Authentic Worship
Loving Others by Intentional Relationships
Loving Wisdom by Worthwhile Learning
Loving Creation by Excellent Life Experiences

In a few I'm having breakfast with a good college friend. Haven't seen him in 2 years. There's no excuse for that! Other than we both love and serve our families, our churches, support our families, love the same Lord, but that's what happens when we are not intentional.

It's additude, too. This morning as Darling Bride and I prayed over our breakfast, she reminded me to remember a particular family in prayer. I took a few seconds too long to remember why I was remembering them. There's no excuse for that, either!

That's why we do it together as a family. It's not good for me to be alone. It's not good for Darling Bride to be alone. It's not good for the kids to be alone (notwithstanding the fact that they aren't old enough, anyway).

Christmas time was great, with all of our extended family, too bad it is over. But thankfully we chose to make the time to be together. It is worth it.

Putting in writing that we choose to "...love others by intentional relationships..." is hopefully not a fun exercise just because. My hope is that we would really do this.

Our Family's Mission, Part 2 - Loving God

2009-01-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

Last post introduced our Family Mission Statement, "Together we discover, nurture, and fulfill God's will and plan for us," as a response to our Small Group's challenge to have a family goal, and to give ideas and inspiration to whoever might be reading this.

This post is about the 1st of 4 Core Values and Strategies we have for fulfilling our goal:

Loving God by Authentic Worship

Loving others by Intentional Relationships

Loving Wisdom by Worthwhile Learning

Loving Creation by Excellent Life Experiences.

Many of us know that God's 1st and Greatest Commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. What does that mean?

The nifty catch phrase we've come up with is "Authentic Worship." For me personally, the first step in loving God is to believe He exists and rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). In college as a young adult, I was sure God was a modern myth (like Greek mythology). But God found me and saved me. So faith is not to be taken for granted. Especially when I know plenty of family and friends who are all over the place with their thoughts of God.

It is a big responsibility to know God truly. A lot of people believe in a god, but few people really take the time to understand the person and work of Jesus Christ, the pinnacle of God's revelation of Himself. Everything before leads up to Jesus, everything since points back.

Once the real Jesus is understood, we try to live it out everyday by Bible reading, prayer, church, Sunday School, Wednesday night Bible Club (AWANA in our church), and all the expressions of faith.

It is one thing to write about it and another thing to do it, but we are striving. Don't think for a moment that we are doing it perfectly. While we are always trying to walk with God a little better, I am thankful for the progress made so far.

Later in the week: Loving others by Intentional Relationships. Oh boy!

Our Family's Mission, Part 1: Making a Statement

2009-01-13T09:57:00.000-08:00

For 2009, our church small group leader challenged the famillies in our group to have a family goal and family Bible verse for the year. We have a Family Mission Statement that was put away in a file and never acted upon. Now we are talking about it as a family and as part of our small group. In this blog I am going to write about it and talk about how we live it out in our family.

Our Family Mission Statment is:

"Together, we discover, nurture, and fulfill God's will and plan for us."

Here's what we mean by that:

"Together, we..." means that we are not lone rangers. As a family, we live as part of the family unit.

"...discover, nurture, and fulfill..." can be thought of as the 3 steps of walking with The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Discover - We go to church, Sunday School, AWANA, we read our Bibles at home, we pray, we think about who God is, what He is like, and how we should Act toward Him. We've introduced our children to the person and work of Jesus and strive to evangelize and disciple. This also applies to us parents. We're in the Word, we pray, we love God and love others. We are diligent to know God truly and avoid error.

Nurture - We choose a homeschooling lifestyle. We discern TV, radio, internet, video games, friends, vacations, day trips, careers...

Fulfill - We look ahead. Someday the children will grow up and choose their own mission. We parents will maybe grow up (thinking of yours truly, really). We will see Jesus face to face and give an account of our lives.

"...God's will and plan for us." - God is the one whom we serve, the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He has provided salvation, work to do here, and rewards in Heaven, the best reward being with Him.

Future posts will talk about and give examples of our 4 Core Values and strategy for making this happen:

Loving God by authentic worship

Loving others by intentional relationships

Loving wisdom by worthwhile learning

Loving creation by excellent life experiences

Our family's Bible verse for the year is based on loving God and loving others: Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29-31.

See you later this week,
Jeff