I am listening to a seminar by C.J. Mahaney entitled "Gospel Centered Parenting." Download it here. Today I also read a very interesting article on parenting from a 1978 issue of Christianity Today entitled Parents and Prodigles. My favorite quote from this article was "It is only God to whom true parenthood belongs. The rest of us are imposters, shocked and dazed by the whole experience." That is exactly how I feel from time to time and that is why Gospel centered parenting is so important. I have to recognize how sinful I am and how in need of God's grace I am in order for me to teach my children and lead them into relationship with God. If you're interested in some of these thoughts or if you've had them yourself, check out the resources linked above.
My hope and prayer for my kids is that God gives them the grace and faith to overcome my shortcomings and my sinfulness in parenting them. As He has for me though, He will also need to overcome their own shortcomings and sinfulness as He draws them unto Himself.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Lunch time!
Almost every day I go home for lunch. Most days this is a wonderful reminder of why I go to work and a divine respite. Today was just such a day. As I came into the garage I heard the boys playing in the back yard. Coming out of the door, this is what I saw.
Caleb was sliding down the slide into the very cold pool. Matt was doing "dolphin dives." Molly was running around without any pants on too. Amanda is a great mom and has lots of fun with the kids. It is so nice to come home and see our house happy, running well and the kids being cared for. Lunch of cheese sandwiches (with the tomato from the previous post) was served on the lawn. What a lot for which to be thankful to God!
How does your garden grow?
Monday, July 28, 2008
Earl the boilmaster
Friday, July 25, 2008
A beautiful Door County vacation
This week we joined Amanda's mom's family in beautiful Door County, Wisconsin. Twenty-five people in all got together for this biennial tradition. We have spent a lot of time outdoors, walking, swimming and seeing the sites. This evening we took part in a Door County fish boil at the Old Post Office restaurant in Ephraim. This is Shirley's favorite meal of all time and we all enjoyed it too. One of our favorite parts of the fish boil is Earl the "boil master". He is a real character and tells some great jokes. I'll post the video tomorrow.
We've enjoyed the last of our summer vacations, especially seeing people that we haven't seen in a long time. You can see all of the pictures here.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Pretty Amazing Grace
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I must admit that whenever I think of Neil Diamond and even when I saw him on American Idol I couldn't help but think of the Saturday Night Live sketch. I don't think he's really like that though.
They grow up so fast
The bulls and the blood, the stears and the mud
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Ben
Ben is our firstborn son. He is inquisitive, always thinking. Yesterday Amanda told me this story. She and the kids were talking after breakfast. Ben loves to pick at his scabs. I know it's a little gross. When the boys were with my mom, she got them in the habit of using hand sanitizer. The hand sanitizer was laying on the counter next to some chap stick. Ben said, "When I'm an adult, every night before I go to bed, I am going to use hand sanitizer, put on chap stick and then check my scabs." He likes a routine.
A healthy breakfast?
When I was little we would go to my grandparents in Grand Rapids. I knew that when I woke up on Saturday morning we would either have fruit loops or my favorite (and my dad's) pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. I have done this a few times before, but this morning was our best yet. Amanda and Joni went and picked berries on Monday and they were great. They made jam and I used the left-overs for pancakes this morning. I also whipped up some fresh whipped cream. It was a great breakfast. Healthy? Probably not.
Molly's berry happy birthday
Monday, July 7, 2008
Embed music on your blog
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I have written about Kathleen Edwards before here. Here's a song off of her latest album Asking for Flowers. Enjoy!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Happy Birthday America!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Caleb's future?
A Hometown 4th of July
What has your 4th of July been like? Well our Independence Day began early this morning when Molly woke up at 4:30 AM. Amanda, Tricia and my mom went into town and walked part of a 5k. They didn't quite finish it which was a pretty funny story.
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Around 11:00 we all went into town for our traditional Alpena 4th of July parade. This parade is a great example of small town America. One of my favorite parts every year is when Hal Neiman leads the Neiman's Family Market (formerly Alpena IGA) employees in their shopping cart routines. Alpena IGA was my first job when I was 16. I never got to be in the parade. The video below is a short example. It doesn't capture them in their shopping cart glory though. Another highlight of this year's parade that I hadn't noticed before was the many beauty queens in the back of pickup trucks. A highlight for the boys was the Wildcat Jugglers. The best one was the above pictured unicycle fire juggler. He was awesome. See all of today's photos here.
Tomorrow's post will include highlights from tonight's fireworks. I hope you all are enjoying your Independence Day.
Around 11:00 we all went into town for our traditional Alpena 4th of July parade. This parade is a great example of small town America. One of my favorite parts every year is when Hal Neiman leads the Neiman's Family Market (formerly Alpena IGA) employees in their shopping cart routines. Alpena IGA was my first job when I was 16. I never got to be in the parade. The video below is a short example. It doesn't capture them in their shopping cart glory though. Another highlight of this year's parade that I hadn't noticed before was the many beauty queens in the back of pickup trucks. A highlight for the boys was the Wildcat Jugglers. The best one was the above pictured unicycle fire juggler. He was awesome. See all of today's photos here.
Tomorrow's post will include highlights from tonight's fireworks. I hope you all are enjoying your Independence Day.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The Al Man Cometh
We (especially Tricia) have been anticipating Alex's arrival all week. He had to work this week and so was not able to come up when everyone else did. One thing I am especially looking forward to about his arrival is that he is bringing the fireworks. When I thought about getting some fireworks for our time in Alpena, I knew that Alex was the man for the job. Alex is the kind of guy that always goes top shelf. If there is a $2 __________ and a $20 ___________, then Alex is going with the $20 __________. This is a fun person to be around. It always makes you feel like you're important. "Why would we spare the $18 when we can celebrate with you." That is how I feel Alex is thinking when he makes these decisions. There's no pretension or showing off. He really thinks that the $20 ________ will be more fun. More often than not, I think he's right!
So, Alex called a few days ago after going to get the fireworks. I won't throw out any dollar figures, but I will say that I think we are going to have quite a bit of fun tomorrow night. Being that we are half way to the North Pole, it doesn't get dark until 10:00 PM. The boys are going to stay up late and we'll put on quite a show. I'll post some pictures of our good times tomorrow.
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