Soccer Skillz

I recently downgraded to a 'dumb' phone and besides having to take an hour to write anything, its working out well:) So here is my first post from my non-smart phone - a pic of my son participating in a soccer skills challenge today. My daughter and he played great and had a lot of fun!

Surprise Puppy

Well, he's here!

Yes, the family could hardly wait any longer. Rocky, our new puppy, is now part of our family.

We were planning to pick him up Saturday, but Liz an I connived a plan to get him a day early to surprise the kids. So when Dad arrived home from work tonight, he came bearing a great gift!

Hopefully we get bonus points with the kids for that maneuver ;)

Family Fun

We had a blast with the Sugar family over the past few days. Here's one fun pic of some of the kids posing together from our trip to Cumberland Falls.

*sigh*

Yes... very blessed.

Caught

I think that's what I am - an Angler. Or at least a wannabe.

If only buying the poles and having the guide made you a fisherman. But at least I'm headed in the right direction. I'm still not totally sure what "angler" means.

With some remaining birthday money, I picked up some fishing poles today. I really didn't know what I was doing, but I did my best to prepare myself and the kids for some fun outings going fishing.

I'm hoping that the fishing poles help me catch more than just bluegill and smallmouth bass... I hope they help me catch priceless moments with my kids. I hope they help me catch teachable moments with them that otherwise, may not have been caught.

So, these poles I bought today are more than fishing poles, they're moment catchers.

And that has this wannabe angler pretty excited.

Happy Ending

Late nights when visiting family are common. Here's how this one ended up...

Puke

Yeah. Not kidding.

3 kids. 5 days.

Good thing is that is seems to be one and done. Over in 24 hours. We do covet your prayers as we desire for all our kids to recover quickly.

We are teaching them to share, but sharing their cold is taking it a little far.

It was Carson tonight, and hopefully he's the last.

Thanks all.

On the Road

We had a great trip up to NY to see family. The kids rode fantastic to say the least, for what is a long drive for them.

As you can see, we hit some snow as we got north of Columbus, OH. Unfortunately, shots like these are hard to come by in Kentucky.

Though not all snow storms are fun to drive in, most bring out the adventurer side of me :)

Kid Smart

Kids are smarter than us adults in many ways. Where adults are content to live in hypocrisy and empty religious practices, our kids see right through such facades. I have realized over the years that it is difficult to pass on to my children a passion for Jesus if I myself am not walking in and living with such passion. How do I expect them to live for God more zealous than I, when as the leader of the home I live out a lukewarm, compromising lifestyle?

I can tell when I am not hungry for God. When my heart isn't burning for Him. When I try to teach or encourage my kids in the things of God in those times, it's like my words have no life in them, they are empty, because Daddy isn't living what he is preaching.

How do I encourage them to make Jesus everything, when He isn't everything to me? How do I exhort them to have one love, one passion, when my heart is is in love with the allurements of the world or caught up in the distractions of life?

Kids will see right through such illusions. Give it time - a lifestyle of hypocritical living, I believe, will be exposed to our children. And thank God for that. It should concern me that if my life doesn't match up with my words, my kids will see through it, and their walk with God could be and most likely will be negatively affected as a result of my hypocrisy. And at the same time, it should challenge me to the core of my being to live a life of integrity and passion before the Lord, as I well should.

A pastor friend of mine said that integrity is when our thoughts, words and actions all line up as one. And ultimately, they should line up with the Word of God. And so it is with us... Are we living lives of integrity and godly character before our children? Are we modeling for them lives of passion and love for Jesus? Or are our words falling on closed ears because they cant hear us over the noise our hypocritical actions?

And so we must repent, resolving to keep the fire for God burning in our hearts, forsaking the world and it's allurements, for the sake of our children, and His great Name.

State of the Union

I read an article in Charisma News this morning regarding sexual indoctrination in the public schools of California. Though I am aware in many ways of the morally declining state of US, this still surprised me.

This is where we are at as a nation (though there is a deeper root problem - learn more). What is sin to God is being promoted as good to the next generation, no to mention with no supposed concern to whether or not a parent would want their child being taught such things. I am reminded of Paul's letter to the Romans where he mentioned that though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

I have many thoughts swirling through my mind regarding this topic, our necessary response as Christians, etc. I would encourage you to take the time to read the article (link below). I have heard of similar things happening in a public school of upstate New York where I grew up, and I am sure they are not the only school experiencing the pressure to "educate" the next generation on these sinful lifestyles.

I will not be silent, I will speak.

To read the article, click here.

Arrows in the Quiver

If you have been following my blog at all, I have been doing regular posts on my wife and my relationship, spanning the last decade and more. Next month, we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary, and it's definitely been fun looking back on our marriage and how things have changed over the years.

The Bible says in Psalm 127:3-5,

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
   the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
   are the children of one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
   who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
   when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.


In 2003, we were blessed with our first baby, Lauren. Since then, God has also blessed us with Josiah, Carson, Judah and Caleb. Five arrows in our quiver!


For fun, I thought I'd upload a baby pic of each of our kids and see if you could guess which picture belongs to who...


Give it a shot, and let me know who's who!