Happy Halloween--Day 175/Day 1/Day 35/Day 11

I missed yesterday. I had layed down and fell asleep pretty early. The audit went well Thursday. I think the early sleep was due to the relief that it was over and the lack of sleep I had the night before.

Today the company bought pizza because of our lack of machine scrap last month. It was good as usual. I went to my brother's house for trick or treating. When we got out there around 6:00, there was hardly anyone else out there. Noah slowed us way down, which, I guess, is a good thing. We weren't in any hurry and got done in a little less than an hour anyway. He didn't want to ride in the wagon most of the time, and wanted to walk. He'd walk at his own pace, pick up a leaf once in a while and show it to us. They were pretty awesome leaves.:) He'd saunter down each driveway and politely say "Trick or treat.", then "Thank you.", then "Bye." with a small wave. Then "Bye." to the dog they may have yipping at us through the screen door. Then "Bye." to the large inflatable pumpkin they might have in their front yard. Colton and Gabrielle were well ahead of us most of the time and each had a good time. I'll be posting pics shortly.

When we got back to the house, Ray and I talked about work, politics, and the worthlessness of Deal or No Deal. We eventually left with three small bags of candy and whatever we had brought with us. We got home at a decent hour and went to bed after reading our next chapter of The Purpose Driven Life.

Notes of the Sleepy--Day 173/Day 4/Day 33/Day 10 (still)

We are having our bi-annual audit at work on Thursday. There used to be a few people in my department besides the quality manager. After a layoff and one member going to one of our nearby facilities, it's just me. The work is not particularly difficult, but there are a lot of t's I need to make sure are crossed and plenty of i's that need dotted. One possibly large t needed to be crossed, so I took some work home with me. It took quite a bit of time and I could only work on it after leaving Awana's, dropping off my neices, dropping off Jiselle, dropping off the kids at home, dropping off Garrett at home, and then finally home again. Even then, there are kids to kiss and prayers to say. Once I was mostly done with the paperwork, I went to my blog and wrote:

Awanas. Audit stuff partially done. My kids are awesome.

I was tired. I knew I wrote something, but I didn't know what. As I said in the previous post, I wrote a few things on my mind and then logged off.

In order of appearance:

1. Awana's was fun as usual. Many of the kids were dressed up for Awana Be night. Brandi was dressed as a movie star, E.J. as a member of STAND ministry, Carson as a policeman, Sloan as a nurse and Gabrielle was a veterinarian. We had many helpers for our verse time, but we ran over for some reason. That's fine. Counsel time is usually fairly short.

Pastor Don and his magic show was entertaining. The first thing he asked of the children was not to tell others how the trick was done. He repeated this several times. What happens after his second trick (he told his audience how to do the first)? Half the boys are up on there feet telling everyone how to do the trick. LOL. What are you going to do? They're second graders.

Game time was fun as well. First we had to untie ourselves out of the human knot we were put into. This was only after one of the girls exclaimed "You're the one who ate that bug!" The repercussions from that have been fairly minimal. It's only been brought up a couple times. Like I said, I did it for the kids:)

They went outside and received some more candy and we went back downstairs where we wound down for a bit before we left.

2. Not much more to say. I was happy to have the work mostly done.

3. My kids ARE awesome. I'm not sure why I mentioned that. It probably had to do with their prayers. As with many others, my biggest religious epiphany concerned the realization I was not the center of the universe and that I was actually at the end of the list. Not to say I was conceited; I was actually at the other end of that emotional spectrum which can have the same effects. My kids' prayers, while mostly filled with thanks, also ask for help for others; sometimes help for particular people. Sometimes they come up with something that you can really tell is from the heart. I don't think they're going to have the same problem I had. Noah didn't move the whole time. He was already in bed and we were probably keeping him up. I leaned over and gave him a couple kisses. Except for some eye movement and a couple of blinks, he still didn't move. Poor guy. He probably had a long day.

Thank you, Jesus.

Apples to Apples--Day 172/Day 3/Day 32/Day 10

I cheat. Sort of. Near the end of my day, when I'm tired and ready to go to bed, sometimes after I've already gone to bed, I'll remember the blog and I'll get to the computer and bring it up. I won't write a whole post. I'll just write a couple positive things or whatever happens to be on my mind and log off. I'll usually write the full blog the next day.

It's a good thing I make the rules.

That's an interesting comment on a fairly Christian blog. Many of us know who makes (made) the rules. I know what I'm getting at though.

So, here I am, a day later, thinking about yesterday. What comes to mind first is Kim and I working on our homework and Gabby asking if we want to play Apples to Apples. Kim mentioned to her we were doing our homework and to see if Colton wants to play. She walks away dejected saying Colton already said he didn't. Adam of "Adam's blog" keeps coming to mind, among other things. He was a pastor, realized he may be spending too much time in church and not enough with his wife and, for now, stepped down from his position. Yes, this homework is important. Yes, I enjoy the homework. Yes, God is the single most important thing in my life. But at that moment, how do you say "No."? I told her I'd play with her.

The happenings on Day 85 really stuck with her. Instead of actually playing the game, she wanted to pull out a bunch of cards and try to make funny sentences with them. I was able to do some homework, and make a few funny ones at the same time. They weren't that funny, but Gabrielle was in a laughing mood and laughed anyway. Noah wanted to play too. Instead of the 6 or 7 cards Gabrielle was giving me though, he wanted to give me 100. He kept grabbing a bunch of cards and saying "Here, Dad."

"Here, Dad."

"Here, Dad."

"Here, Dad."

This was frustrating the usually organized Gabrielle, but I just took them and placed them on the table in front of me. She was finally able to get them back in the box in neatly organized stacks after Noah got tired of being so generous.

Whether I cheat or not, it's nice to think about the day before and do some mental digging until I remember something positive. The memories makes me happy and writing them down in blog or journal form keeps them alive.

Curious in Clarkston--Day 171/Day 2/Day 31/Day 9

Hello, Curious from Clarkston. I've thought about you once in a while when I come to my blog. Not so much while I write, though. That's a good thing. I used to think about a few friends of mine as I rambled on, but no so much lately. One friend has not come by in a few weeks and it's been at least a week or so for the other. I've noticed a few hits from other places in Michigan in the last few days, and noticed you hadn't been by for a while. These facts interest me, but fortunately don't effect what I write. I do wonder a bit though...

Same age, younger or older than me?

Go to my church?

Do you read the Bible?

See me every Sunday (or Wednesday or Thursday)?

Go to church or believe in God at all?

Do you actually live in Clarkston?

Male?

Female?

Do you come here because what I write interests you or is this site just an infrequent stop on an occasional web brousing?

Have I ever written anything you disagree with or personally object to? Have I ever made you smile?

Have you ever prayed before, after or during a reading?

As you can see, these questions and their answers are inconsequential. I am asking for the answers to none of them. The way it is now is perfectly fine with me. I will, however, pray for you. I pray that you have a close personal relationship with our God that loves us. I pray that you see how He has blessed you throughout your day. I hope you find your own positive moments as your days and nights unfold, no matter how small. I pray the Holy Spirit resides in you and your heart is eternally joyous. I pray that you see that God will abide by His word when you are going through a tough time or feel burdened. He will help you through every trial and will carry the burden for you if you let Him.

I'm not just praying for Curious in Clarkston. I'm praying for everyone who has read this far as well as myself. I want to personally know and understand all of the above. Once in a while we all need a reminder.

...

How was my day? Well, thanks for asking. It was good. We went out to dinner. Gabby and I read books to Noah. Fox in Socks was fun. As mentioned at the end of chapter 8 of a Purpose Driven Life, Kim, Colton, Gabrielle and I chose a commmon task that we could start doing as if we were doing it directly for Jesus. Our prayers at the end of the night went well as Noah climbed all over us. I am blessed. Thank you, Jesus.

So, how was yours?:)

God, please bless our babies--Day 170/Day 1 (again)/Day 30/Day 8

I didn't post yesterday, but I read the bible, read our book and continue to see the positives in life so those counters continue. It's Sunday, so it was a good day. Thank you, Jesus. Actually, it was an excellent day.

I got up intending to get all the kids up and Gabrielle was already up. She was dressed for church and playing on the laptop. We exchanged smooches and I proceeded to go get the boys up. Colton was awake, but not ready to get up. Noah was ready, so I got him up and dressed him. No one wanted breakfast but Noah, so he got some cereal. While finishing getting everyone ready, I managed to talk the kids into trying out Sunday school. I let Kim know what was going on and off we went.

I helped the kids find their classes and I went up to mine. Jim continued his excellent series of walking the walk we talk in Ephesians. This time I need to write down Ephesians 2:1-10 and read it over again. These first couple weeks have been about what out God has done for us. We should be walking a different walk knowing the Holy Spirit has taken residence in us. Not a boastful walk, but a noticeable different than our normal worldly walk. Next week we will delve deeper into exactly how to do this.

After class, I went to see how the kids were doing and Gabrielle's class was wrapping up. She grabbed her things and I asked her if she liked it. She said "Yes". We had to wait a bit for Colton, and when he came out, he wondered when they could go again. We obviously have a wealth of people who have been blessed at our church. There are so many good teachers and leaders and just good people. Jim Buongiorno made the class very enjoyable for Colton his classmates and Gabrielle enjoyed the class with Mrs. McDaniel.

After we had found our seats, Jim Stein found us, introduced himself, and invited me into the sound and video booth to help with the video. I learned a bit, and then went back down to join the rest of the clan before the baby dedication. That was enjoyable as Pastor Don prayed with and for all of us and our children. The congregation agreed to help us as we try to raise our kids in a Christian home with Christian values. I forgot Kim had asked Mary to take some pictures. She did a nice job and I need to remember to tell her so.























After the dedication, I took Noah to the nursery and headed back up into the booth. Sometimes controlling the camera made it hard to listen to the sermon, but once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy. There's not a whole lot to it, but I'll get better at it the more chances I get. The whole experience--listening to the praise and worship team sing, listening to the Sweetapple's sing, doing the camera work and the sermon--was very enjoyable. I especially liked the Tracy's rendition of "Above All". Of course everyone else was singing as well, but when she takes the lead, we all sound like backup singers. The Sweetapples did their version of "Love is Not a Fight". They were obviously singing from the heart which made it that much better.

Gabrielle went to watch High School Musical 3 while Colton had a friend over. We made pancakes for lunch and Noah had some when he woke up from his nap. Later on, Noah asked me to go downstairs with him and I took my homework with me. I got a little of it done, but not much. Noah and I had a good time playing "house." Kim came home and we worked on our homework together.

Soon after this, the kids worked on their pumpkins. Colton chose a "happy bat" template and Gabrielle chose a witch template. Noah helped getting out some of the goop. The pumpkins turned out very good. We stuck them outdoors and I took some pictures.

Not much to say today--Day 168/Day 17/Day 28/Day 6

I realize how potentially dangerous playing tag in the house is, but we let the kids and their friends do it anyway. Kim and I played with them for a while including some tag in the dark (double the danger!). Later, Kim and I finished the homework for the Studying the Bible class for the first day. I still have to read the 6th chapter, but I'll get to it eventually.

More Patience--Day 167/Day 16/Day 27/Day 5

Interesting yesterday's title was patience and my patience with others was really tried tonight. The Studying the Bible class was tonight, but I had a first aid and CPR class that would last till 7, which is when the class starts. Since the church is only about 7 or 8 minutes from my work, that was fine, until I realized that in our small class of 6, there was at least one person who had no where to go when the class was over. Time was not of the essence. I would explain further, but it would go against what I'm trying to do with this blog. It's not about breaking down the negative, dwelling on it or even writing it down.

I prayed for patience. I really did. Someone may have thought I was sleeping for a about 30 seconds or so. It helped for a bit until I quit focusing on Him and resumed focusing on him. I think sometimes with patience, it may take more than one prayer. It may take a prayer to get me refocused on Him and then a determination to remain focused.

Kim and I read chapter 5 tonight of A Purpose Driven Life. That was kind of a surprise. It was late and we were both very tired and I thought we may not read it, but Kim had it on the bed before we even put the kids to bed. In the first couple days, I asked if she was enjoying it and if she thought it would help. It was yes on both counts. She is making an effort to point out different things in it. She pointed out an italicized part of the book and said "That's you." Once I got to that part, I read it, but didn't understand what she meant. She mentioned something I had said a while ago about giving all the glory to God, and not taking any credit ourselves. I read the passage again. Ahhhhhh. I see now. God is Good.

As an aside it is interesting Adam mentioned the story of Jacob and Rachael from Genesis earlier today. We went over the story in about the same amount of detail in class tonight. Angela went over the story of Joseph, Jacob's son, and his coat of many colors, during counsel (story) time during Awana's last night. Jacob and Rachael were mentioned again in chapter 5 tonight.

I added a bunch of Leeland songs to the playlist. "Opposite Way" is not available for the playlist, but it is available on THEIR SITE. They have a couple videos on that page where they talk about getting involved in going the "opposite way" of society and evangelizing to others. Leeland, the lead singer, gets pretty impassioned at one point (actually, they always seem pretty impassioned), and when he's done talking, Jack, another band member starts talking. If you watch Leeland, he looks over to Jack, puts his head down, dabs a tear out of the corner of his eye, and then looks back at the camera. You can tell how intense he had been as he was talking. That great to see out of young people or people of any age when talking about Him.

Glory be to Him.

Patience, Patience...Day 166/Day 15/Day 26/Day 4

I had an interesting religious conversation with Gil on the way home Wednesday night and he perpetuated it this morning except he wanted to talk about a different conversation this morning. He said that while on a different conversation partially about another mutual friend of ours, it seemed to him that our talk on looking good for others struck a cord for me. He asked me if I thought it was important what other people thought of me.

I told him it was odd that he mentioned that because I was just thinking about that this morning. I'm not going to care what other people think. I just don't like the way that sounds. "I don't care...". I think I'm not going to worry about what other people think sounds better. That was probably because I had read a page or two of that Max Lucado book Kim had given me and one part was on worry and after breaking it down, wrote that only 8% of the things we worry about are things that we can actually change or actually matter. I told Gil that worrying about other people's thoughts used to be a big problem for me. I told him I'm trying to get rid of this. I'd like people to see a difference in me or I'd like them to see how a Christian acts in his daily life, and in the coming months and years I will learn better how to do so.

Speaking of months and years, I don't want it to be months and years. I want that wisdom and knowledge and spiritual confidence now. To quote a favorite movie of mine "I want Him found. Not tomorrow. Not after breakfast. NOW!" The warden from Shawshank Redemption was talking about Andy Dufresne. I'm talking about God. I want everyone to find Him. Now. I want all the knowledge of Pastor Don and Pastor Bob and Dennis and Jim Kirkland. Now. I mean this in what I hope is a healthy way. I know this walk with Jesus is not a sprint to some kind of finish line. I know it is not a race with others. I know all of those men, and many others, have worked and studied hard for the knowledge they have. I just sort of feel like a kid again when it come to being a Christian. I want to soak all the new knowledge in like my kids do. They all seem like sponges to knowledge. They realize the importance of it and continue to do well. I feel the same way. Much of it will come in time. Much of knowledge of these men, or even the knowledge of friends like Mary, Wendy, Jerry, Scott and my best friend Kim may never reach me. I'm just glad, as Jim has mentioned a couple of times, I have an eternity to learn. When you look at it that way, you realize you may as well stop and smell the roses once in a while, so you can enjoy all the beauty that He has created.

This speaks to the patience I'm working on. That is something I'm working on that is right up there with remaining positive. My patience is tested in many different ways. One of those ways is at the Awana's program. I have to be patient with the children as they recite their verses, and I have to be patient with them when I ask them questions about those verses, especially when they have no answers. I have to be patient when they start to get rowdy and patient with them individually when they are not acting as they should. I have to be patient with my daughter as she learns every week and patient with the new kids we are bringing every week.

At Awanas last night, Breanna brought a friend. Her name was Amanda and she was very quiet. I went over the book we give the new Sparks and while she seemed to understand everything I was saying, I don't think she said a word. I hope whe enjoyed herself and keeps coming.

Man, it's fun working with little kids like that. We end up playing with the 1st graders and the kindergarteners as well and many of them seem like just the most innocent little children you could imagine. We're there to teach them what we can, let them have fun while doing it, learn from them if we can, and, most importantly, to glorify God in our lives. We pray that they see that and know that they are there to learn more about Him, to have fun and receive the occasional rewards.

By the time I got home from dropping the last of the children off, it was almost 10:00 and Noah was still up. I was able to put him in bed, and this time we said prayers in Gabrielle's room. Gabrielle always has quite a bit to say. Kim and I had a knowing chuckle after her prayer last night. Sometimes it doesn't seem like the prayer is going to end. It's awesome. Hopefully sometime soon we'll be able to say prayers with Noah and not worry about him crawling all over us while we pray. He makes praying with one's eyes closed and praying without outright laughter nearly impossible. Glory to God for things such as these. Thank you, Lord.

Kids are great--Day 165/Day 14/Day 25/Day 3

One of the first things I saw when I got home was Gabrielle sitting on the kitchen floor staring at her Awana book with a exasperated look on her face. I asked her what was wrong. She said she was trying to learn all the books of the new testament, but she can't. First, I asked her not to say that word. The word "can't" is almost never helpful. Secondly, I asked her to not look at the page that had all the books on it. I asked her to look at the pages from the week before. The first week she learned Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, I Corinthians, and II Corinthians were the first seven books. Last week she was able to go through the second list (Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I Thessalonians, II Thessalonians, I Timothy, II Timothy and Titus) and the last list (Philemon, Hebrews, James, I Peter, II Peter, I John, II John, III John, Jude, and Revelations). I asked her to take a glance at those pages again. She rattled off the first seven right away. She had a little trouble with the next 9, but not too much. I asked her about the last 10 and she said she hadn't looked at that list yet. I reminded her she did it just last week and started her off with "Philemon...". She thought about it for a second and started going through that list as well. She always gets stuck on Revelations for some reason. She gets to it this time and says "Don't tell me, don't tell me.............Rev...Reva...Rev...REVELATIONS!!" She gave me a pretty solid high-five and I asked her about them again later. She hardly got stuck at all. I asked her during dinner what the first book of the New Testament was and after a little bit of thought she came up with Matthew. I asked her if she knew what the last book was and she said Revelations after thinking about that one as well. I like that she is open to doing this with me because I am learning too. I wouldn't know the verses I know without going over them with her so often and I wouldn't know the books of the New Testament either. She's been a big help to me and I hope I'm helping her as well. Colton doesn't need as much help with his homework, but he occasionally asks for it and I'll help. I try to go over what he has written as well. Last night he was pretty proud he had finished his first book.

Noah didn't want to play blocks on the floor tonight. He wanted to play in my lap. That's one thing I enjoy about having children. Sometimes they like to be very close. They like to be cuddled right up next to you. Colton is still like that in some ways. When I was looking at another A on a paper last night, he comes up behind me, puts his arm around me, and tells me about the test. I put my arm around him as well and he tells me about the other A as well. I show Gabrielle the 100% he had gotten and tell her she is very smart as well, so I expect at least 102% on all her tests. "Daaaaaad...", she says. Colton has to chime in, "Yeah, you should be getting A THOUSAND percent on your papers!" Sincerly though, I hope they both continue to do well in school.

After blocks, Noah noticed the flash cards and said he was "All done" with the blocks. He grabs the flash cards, grabs one out with a three on it and says "Six, seven...". I show him one with 6 on it and count out the 6 fish pointing at each one of them with my finger. He takes it and points all over the card very quickly "six, seven, eight, TENNNN!" I'm surprised how quickly he's learned his numbers. Kim's gone over them with him more than I have which is why I was surprised when he said "seventeen, eighteen" when picking up a couple cards. That's another great thing about having children: being able to watch them learn and grow.

I created a card today with Ephesians 1:3-8 on it today and read it several times. I have not yet read all of Ephesians, but I intend to do so a couple times before the next class. I also read the third chapter of A Purpose Driven Life. It was also very good. He's doing a very good job at laying down the basics and trying to break down personal barriers or walls that people may put up for themselves. This will allow us to better receive the later chapters in the book.

I'm going to try to put up pictures more often on this blog. Here's a couple of them. They all have nice smiles in the first, and Noah unexpectedly looked at the camera in the second. I really like it.


Happy kids before bedtime...



Praying...

Good Food and Great Grades--Day 164/Day 13/Day 24/Day 2

Monday. Back to work. I worked on calibrations through much of the day. There are a few other things that I hope to have done by the end of the day tomorrow to be ready for our upcoming quality audit.

After work, Kim wanted to go out to eat so we did so. She wanted to try a Mexican place out in Davison. I think it had the same name of the place in Lapeer that I don't like much. We thought it might be the same and Kim suggested that we could go to Senor Lucky's in town. We eventually agreed to stay here and try this place out. It was a good decision. I went with the Mexican dinner. It came with beans, rice and some "stew meat" with torillas. I wasn't sure what that was, but it turned out to be what I thought it was. It was cubes of beef covered in a sauce. Everyone had some of this on their plate and we all really liked it. The rice seemed clumpy and I wasn't sure I'd like it. It was good as well. No one makes beans like my mom, so whenever I go to a Mexican restaurant, I have something to compare it to. I like the restaurant beans about 50% of the time. These were pretty good as well. We were all full as we left.

While there, Colton said he had gotten a C on his progress report. He said he had gotten it in science and seemed to be really surprised he had gotten a C. It seemed like he was trying to explain it away in one way or another. I was dreading this day: the day when his grades drop. Not that I believed it would happen, and I hoped it never would. He's always done really well and got all A's in the last semester last year. I asked Kim what sort of punishment would be necessary. I already had something in mind, and knew we would need to help him out more, but I wanted her input. I don't think Colton heard us, but he said "I didn't get a C on my final grade. Just on a quiz." We both looked at each other and laughed. I think it was a laugh of relief. Kim asked him what he got in science. "An A, I think." "What about the rest?", she asked. "A's and B's." "More A's than B's?" "Yeah, I think so." We checked out the report when we got home. It was all A's. There wasn't a B on any of 6 final grades. We were very proud of him, and I asked Kim later what the reward should be since I think there should be a flip side to punishment. She asked what I thought motivated him. I told her I think part of it is knowing that were proud of him and he is proud of himself. Besides that, to be honest, would be video games. We haven't come to a conclusion yet, but we'll think of something.

The kids read their library books on the way home, which is always nice. Later, as they went to bed, Gabrielle asked if she could study her books of the Bible for Awana's while in bed. I wanted to make sure they get enough sleep because they get up so early, so I told her no. Now I feel this was the wrong decision. On one hand, I want them to know when bedtime comes, it's time to go to sleep. On the other hand, I had liked that she asked and would've liked her to study them if that's what she wanted. I'll talk to her tonight. Please bless all our children, God. I pray I am blessed with the knowledge to raise them correctly.

I put Noah in pajamas and put him in bed. We all said prayers at Colton's bed. Gabrielle started praying and Kim whispers, "Mark...". I look over and she points to Noah. He is laying in bed, with his head on his pillow and his hands clasped together. I wish I had a camera for moments like that, but thankfully God gave us memories.

The counters I use are an inspiration to me. 164 days of positivity seems like a long time. Thirteen days of continual posting is not bad at all. Twenty-four days of reading the Bible is most definitely a personal record. Kim and I read chapter 2 of A Purpose Driven Life. It really is a great book and after I read chapter three tomorrow night, I'll probably read the first two again. Thank you for inspiration, Lord.

Full Circle--Day 163/Day 12/Day 23/Day 1

I got up early enough to get the kids ready and head off to the Adult Sunday School. I dressed Noah warmly and then we had a bowl of Fruity Pebbles together. He had seconds. Colton and Gabrielle were ready to go as were there friends they were bringing (Ashleigh and R.J.). Kim was up by then, I gave her a kiss, and left.

We went over Ephesians 1:3-8 after first going over several questions on what it meant to be and act like a Christian. We broke down those verses rather than just read them and we could really see how much God loves us, chose us, predestined our lives, and "freely bestowed" his glory on us. He asked that we write this section down and read it several times a day and also read the whole book of Ephesians. I'm looking forward to doing so.

I'm glad my attitude has changed in that before I was waiting for this more religious part of my life to end for one reason or another. I am confident now that it won't. God has my heart and is not letting go.

Once Kim got there, I took Noah to the nursery. As I was leaving, they mentioned they were going to go ask Pastor Don to announce that they needed another helper. I volunteered Kim and she was glad to help. The sermon was about the qualities of a good wife and of a good husband. Colton and R.J. stayed with me and since they usually do not, and did not have a bible they grabbed one from under the chairs and read along with us. Before that, they both sang with us with Colton mentioning before the first song that it was one of his favorites. He said the same thing about one of the next ones as well. The week before, he had asked us to turn up the radio when Come, Now is the Time to Worship came on the radio. He said this was one of his favorite songs even before he knew what it meant to be a Christian. That was pretty cool.

I remember feeling incredibly uncomfortable when at other churches when we were asked to turn and greet our neighbors. I've never been the social type, so without knowing the Lord, I felt I was just shaking some strangers' hands. We were asked to do so early in the service and I shook the person's hand next to me (Lord, will I ever remember people's names after they introduce themselves?), Scott, Mary and Allison's hands, a man two rows in front of me (he seems like the type that likes to laugh often), the woman next to me a few people in the row behind me and I shook Jenni's hand who was reaching across the row behind me to shake my hand. I know her from the bible study class and really enjoy what she has to say during the class. I also see her during Awana's once in a while. It came across as a very sweet thing to do as she stretched across the row to greet me. She is really a very sweet woman.

After shaking all those hands, I realized I had come full circle. Rather than shaking a couple hands of the people next to me in my row, I had gone in a full circle to greet every one and even went outside my immediate circle. This felt like a metaphor for my religious life. Adam had used a circle as a example of our attention to God in our life. Some are turned 180 degrees from Him while others are about 120 degrees from him. That was probably me a few months ago. Now, I agree with his assessment. I am right there with him...for a while. I still waver about 30 degrees from Him before coming back to Him throughout the day. This may happen when I'm reading the bible, talking to the kids, doing something with the church or while I'm lost in thought. I would like it if I never wavered from Him. I'd like it if I was right at 0 degrees ALL THE TIME. This takes great fortitude and dedication after not knowing Him for so long. It seems like it should be really easy. Maybe it is.

I also felt like I was at the center of all this friendliness. Sort of like making a circle with a compass, there has to be a stationary point in the middle to make it perfectly round. This was a moment I had to look at through God's eyes. He would not see me at the center. He would see a whole church full of friendliness and greetings. Even if me being in the center was important at all, it would not be about me: it would be about the circle itself and the people reaching out to me. The main point should be God is at the center, not any of us. It was a pleasant internal message to remember.

Later on, Colton, R.J. and I played some football. R.J. is four years older than Colton, so he had an obvious height advantage. Colton got a few touchdowns against him, and would've had more if I threw a more accurate ball, but R.J. was obviously winning. I suggested Colton become all time Q.B. This worked out much better. I have a height advantage on R.J., but Colton was throwing some amazingly accurate passes. I think both R.J. and I both got touchdowns on every possession.

On one rather humorous play, R.J. had the ball behind our playset trying to figure out which way to run. Colton was on the other side of it ready to get him. I decided to flush him out by running at him from his right and making him go into the open field. It worked perfectly and Colton began chasing him. I did the same by jumping over the small, yellow slide coming off the playset, except my foot caught the top of it. Imagine tripping over something at full speed as you are jumping. You get pretty high in the air...and then you come straight down. It was like doing a belly flop on very solid ground. It hurt from my chest down to my knees. I must've been perfectly parallel to the ground. Fortunately, R.J. didn't get a touchdown. He and Colton were too busy rolling on the ground in laughter. I don't know if they saw it, or just heard the loud grunt as I hit the ground.

R.J. and I wouldn't let it go to a tie and were getting a t.d. every time, so we decided to make a rule that the next t.d. won, but we had to start from inside our end zones to make the field longer. On second down, I did not even turn towards the ball and just put my hands up. I got hit in the back with the ball as Colton tried to get it to R.J. I did the same the next play and I saw R.J.'s eyes look up towards the ball. I put my arms up and the ball sailed inches from the top of my head directly into R.J.'s hand on a full run. It was a very nice pass and a great way to end the game. I'm not sure what the score was, but we were exhausted, thirsty and one of us thought he had broken his sternum:).

I had worked on my homework throughout the day, and finally finished it before midnight. I had told Wendy I was mostly done with it earlier in the day, not realizing all that we had to do. I had finished the letter from God, but felt I had to make some more changes to make it a bit more personal. The scripture kung fu took quite a while, but I enjoyed it.

That is one word I'm writing very often: enjoy. I noticed the same about a different word a couple months ago: beautiful. Yes, I would say my life and attitude has changed and in a very good way. I enjoy all that is beautiful. God bless everyone. Praise Him.

A Purpose Driven Life--Day 162/Day 11/Day 22

Yesterday, Adam mentioned the famous book by Rick Warren called "A Purpose Driven Life." I came across it today in our small collection of books. It asks that you only read one chapter a day to soak it in. It also suggests that you read it with a partner so you can discuss things. Even though Kim had already read part of it some time ago, I asked her if she'd mind starting over so we could read it together. She agreed to and we signed the covenant at the beginning of the book. I'm looking forward to the next 40 days of reading it with her. I will add this counter too.

I wanted to get something for Kim for sweetest day and Gabrielle and Noah went with me. I got a haircut and Gabrielle got her bangs trimmed. She looks really cute. We went to Meijers where I chose to get her a book by Beth Moore much like the book she had gotten me by Max Lucado. We ended up spending three hours around town. Kim called to make sure we o.k. :)

Colton decided not to go to his football game so he could go to a Red Wing game with a friend. He had never been before, and he really enjoyed himself. While he was gone, we played poker with some friends. The cards were cold for me most of the night, but I enjoyed having friends over. We enjoyed ourselves as well.

It was a good day and I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm going to the adult Sunday school for the first time. Hopefully that goes as well as everything else has for me at church. Kim is staying home with the kids, but hopefully she'll be able to go in the future even if that means I stay home and she goes.

I found out what the name Ten Shekel Shirt came from. They have an interview with a band member on their site tenshekelshirt.com that said:


Q. What does the name of the band mean?
A. We get this question a lot. And we’ve heard some good guesses. I think my favorite was about a guy skinny dipping in Israel who had all of his belongings stolen except for a cheap, ten shekel shirt (10 shekels = $3 USD .) Although this is not what the band was originally named after it does make for a funny mental picture if you can imagine a guy trying to cover himself up with only a small shirt as he runs frantically throughout the Holy Land.

The real deal goes like this. It’s kind of long and heady so bear with me. We named the band in part after a sermon I heard in the 90’s called “Ten Shekels and a Shirt” and in part because the combined words were quirky and original. For those of you wanting to know what the sermon was about I’ll summarize it and give you my updated perspective. The famous sermon was preached in the 50’s and passionately suggested that missionaries would get off track if they allowed anything other than God to take the central place in their work. He used the biblical example of a Levite in Judges 17 and 18 who sold-out for ten shekels and a shirt. I still agree with the general concept here. It doesn’t take a rocket theologian to see that the church has oft been corrupted by the love of money and selfish ambition. But then the preacher makes the tragic mistake, along with much of the 20th century evangelical church, as he attempts to separate two things that are inextricably linked – love for God and love for oppressed neighbors. Jesus never divorced those two concepts. In fact he said things like, “whatever you’ve done for the least of these (poor, homeless, hungry...) you’ve done for me.” And the bible as a whole could not link those actions more intimately. In the original Hebrew and Greek languages the words used for righteousness (which is about a right relationship with God) are the exact same words used for justice (right relationship with oppressed people.)

In the sermon the pastor talks about misguided humanists trying to “improve on the justice of God” by helping suffering people. That’s an extremely dangerous and silly notion. I’m not sure how I missed that during my first listen. I don’t think God rebukes anyone for loving others. He works through many different kinds of people...surprisingly even me on rare occasions. Any time there is a true act of love, compassion, mercy or justice, God is present. He is right there, actively working through the mess of flesh and bones and emotions that we are, no matter our dogma or creed. I get a kick out of Jesus' story of the “Good Samaritan.” The good guy in the story isn’t one of the “chosen people.” In fact he is some foreigner with a different religion.

Good Sam didn’t proclaim that he was only doing this for “God’s glory” as the sermon suggests we do, he simply saw someone in need and helped him. Thankfully the church and humanitarians are beginning to respect each other again and make some significant progress together. I could go on and on but I’m sure some of you are waiting for the exciting punch line, like the sharks in “Finding Nemo” waited for Marlin the clown fish to complete his joke.

So there you have it, that’s where the name originally comes from. Now I expect all of you to remember my theological dissertation when thinking about our band name, or if you prefer you can choose to think about the poor chap still running around Israel wearing only a ten shekel shirt.

Going Without Knowing--Day 161/Day10/Day 21

Another thing I enjoyed from the class yesterday was Jim's use of the phrase "going without knowing". I feel like I've been walking sort of blind for the past few months hoping God's will was and is being done by me and others. I like the phrase "going without knowing" more.

Today was a good day.

As I mentioned, the assignment of the week was to write Proverbs 2 as if it was a letter from God to us. One of the things Jim mentioned early on was to share our work so I've been e-mailing all my assignments to everyone in our group. I've received Wendy, Jenni and Kim's assignments in return. I was unsure if I should originally, but again, this was a going without knowing sort of thing. I did it and am pleased I did because I learned some good things from and about others by doing so. This time, I'm putting my assignment on my blog. Why? I don't know. I don't think this is the final draft though. This still seems like how I would interpret God's words rather than how He would write it if He was human again. I'll continue to work on it, but this is a start:

My son, if you receive my words (and I know you will), treasure my commandments within you, make yourself attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding, cry out hungrily for discernment, call out for understanding, and seek me with all your heart, soul and mind, then you truly find out what it means to fear me. If you remain humble and honest, you will receive my wisdom. I will be a shield to those that live according to my word. I will guard your path and preserve the way of my children who believe. Wisdom will enter your heart, knowledge will be pleasant to your soul, discretion will help guide your way and the understanding you receive from me will watch over you.

If you do what I ask, and receive these blessings, you will be delivered from evil paths, from men who speak what should be left unspoken and from those who leave the path of righteousness to walk in the way of darkness. There are people who love to do evil and rejoice in the perversity of it. Their paths are crooked and they are devious. I can deliver you from these men as well. I can deliver you from those who do not value wisdom and will try to lead you from me by their words. They have left everyone they are close with and have forgotten about me. Anyone who is persuaded by this evil will be lead to death. I love you and do not wish this to happen, so do as I ask and you will walk in the way of good men and stay in the path of the righteous. Those who do will come to me in heaven and I will be there for you. Those who choose to remain wicked and treacherous will be cast out. Choose wisely, Mark.

Post #100!!--Day 160/Day 9/Day 20.

There's something to be said for purposely understating things. One could say "I give glory to God for the ocean and its' beauty." You could also say "There's something about the ocean that makes me rise up and praise." I like those first few words from the chorus of Ten Shekel Shirt's song "Ocean". That's interesting to call God's work and it's beauty and our total awe of it just...something. I get the idea. Very well put and I'm going to have to find out what a Ten Shekel Shirt is.

Today is my 100th post. Since this is my 160th day, I could look at this negatively and realize that means I missed 2 months worth of blogging. That's not what this blog is about though. It's about looking for the positive things in my day and giving glory to God for them. I know there were quite a few posts that spoke of more than one day. I think all in all, I've missed talking about happiness on a very few days. I looked over the blog and I enjoy reading most of them. There are a few where I think I was thinking along the wrong lines, but that's to be expected. I'm not perfect. I feel it necessary to mention Day 13 in particular. We still love and miss you, Debbie.

I enjoyed the bible study tonight for many reasons even though it was shorter than most. At one point, my attention was grabbed so quickly I almost hurt myself. I was going over the scripture Jim was reading and he says "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" I snapped my neck very quickly towards the screen he was reading off of. I can't believe I never researched that, I thought. By "that" I mean my middle name before I was adopted. It was Eloy which is how "Eloi" is pronounced. I didn't like it at all and was glad my parents changed it to Ray. I just find it incredibly interesting that in the nearly 30 years since I was adopted I never found out what it means. I figured it was just a name. I wonder if they knew what it meant. I think it was my birthfather's first or middle name. I looked it up and found that in Spain it means "renowned warrior". In French, it means "the Chosen One." Either one of those meanings describe God in one perspective or another. It looks like that is where the name "Eli" comes as well meaning "God" in Greek.

The homework is to take Proverbs 2 and rewrite it so that God is talking to us in particular. That's a pretty cool assignment. I'm looking forward to doing it. It will help that I have it memorized. Not that I mind having the bible open while doing my homework, but I also enjoy the ability to just use my heart and mind to describe His words to me.

Kim and I would like to start attending Jim's adult Sunday School class. I pray that we're able to. I like how I ended Day 18 and am surprised I never did it again. What better time than now? What better place than here?

Dear Lord, You are the wise, loving, merciful, knowledgeable, strong, and powerful God. You have changed my life. I thank you for dying for my sins and I thank you for coming into my life. I am a sinner and am blessed that you are so merciful and loving. Thank you for Kim and Colton and Gabrielle and Noah. I could not ask for a better family. Thank you for everyone in Kim's family and everyone in my family. We are all blessed. Thank you for my church family. It's wonderful to have so many of your children come together to praise you every week. Thank you for my friends. I pray that you bless them all. I pray that you touch each of them in the way only you can. I pray for those who are sick and those with troubles that are heavy on their heart. I pray for the person who must've been severly injured in that car accident today. I pray for his family and the family of the man who hit him. I understand that tragedies like this happen, and eventually good will come out of all of this. I pray for the leaders of the world, the leaders of my country, the leaders of my state and the leaders of churches. Bless Pastor Don each Sunday as he teaches us Your Word. Bless our new president and have him do Your will. Continue to touch the lives of Dennis and Jennifer and Adam and Jim and Wendy and Jenni and Jim Kirkland and Kim and I and the kids as you have done so powerfully in the past few weeks, months and years. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.

The Finer Points of Thumb Wrestling--Day 159/Day 8/Day 19

We enjoyed our time at Awana's this week. After the children recited the verses, they had some to kill before counsel time. I had introduced to Sloan (sic?), shook her hand and then wouldn't let go. I acted like she was doing it and she got a giggle out of it. She thrust her hand forward as if she wanted me to do it again and I obliged for a second. Other kids thought we were thumb wrestling, so I began to get challenged. I probably played with about half the room at least once and am proud to say I only lost twice.

Game time was fun as usual. The kids get a little loud, but that's to be expected. I have some 1st graders and kindergartners as well as second graders in my "green" group. They're some very sweet kids with wide eyes and joyous hearts.

I have Proverbs 2 completely memorized. It started out as a challenge to myself and to see if I would learn more from it the more I recited it. Halfway through, I was looking forward to finishing it so I could meditate on it. I did so, but not as much as I wanted to. I will continue to try to do so.

I'm looking forward to the bible study class tomorrow.

This Is My Desire--Day 158/Day 7/Day 18

I was talking to Kim last night about God working through us and how much joy we are supposed to personally take for that. If we are giving all the glory to God for it, I don't think there is supposed to be any glory left for us. I am thinking now of the Lord working through other people and how beautiful I find that. I am moved to tears sometimes. That's sort of the reason this all started. I felt I was moved to tears too often, and while I felt I could control other parts of my emotional immaturity, that was a tough one. I sought a professional, and after one session, I was asking Adam about giving my heart to the Lord because the professional wasn't the way I was going to get over that hump. Fast forward to the present and that hump is still there. I, with God's help, have moved past so many other things and am working on many others, but I am still moved to tears by many things, but most of the time it is because of beauty: the beauty I see in others including friends from work, friends from church or my wife or children. On day 39 I wrote:

(Edgar Allen) Poe considered sadness to be the highest manifestation of beauty...

"Beauty of whatever kind in its supreme development invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones" (Poe, 1850).

That was really something to think about. I find beauty in:


Noah, as he learns new words

Gabrielle, as she sings loudly in the back seat of the car.

Colton, as he shows me another A he is proud of and wants us to be proud of him.

Kim, as she reaches across the car to grab my hand.

Adam, and the immense patience he speaks with when I ask him questions.

Pastor Don, and the wondrous way he preaches his sermons.

Pastor Bob, and his humor.

Dennis, and the passion in which he speaks.

Jeremy Camp

The last one is a new one. I've heard him sing before, but this morning I'm in my office doing some work, and going over the conversation Kim and I had in my head. Over my speakers, a guitar plays slowly and grabs my attention.

"You want to be real.", he sings.

"Well, yes, I do, God", I think.

"You want to be empty inside."

"Yes, I do."

"You want to be someone laying down your pride."

"More than anything."

"You want to be someone someday laying it all down before the King."

"Yes, Lord"

"You want to be whole."

"I hope I can."

"You want to have purpose inside."

"I do feel I have a purpose now."


"This is my desire. This my return.
This is my desire: to be used by you."

Man, that song hit me hard. I still find myself worrying about the particulars, when this is all I want. I want to do His will and be used by Him. I want to be used to help my family and others. There's a lot of great songs out there, but if you're a Christian, this song should really hit home for you.

If you're not a Christian, I hope one day you realize God sent His son to die for you because He loves you so much. The Perfect One who created everything cares for you. That's more than amazing. When you take Him into you're heart, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Leftovers from Sunday. Monday was good too. Day 157/Day 6/Day 17

Roger's skit. Warm day. Seeing Ben and Carson. Proverbs 2. Walk to the chocolate milk store. Gabrielle quizzing me. Perfect weather. Me quizzing Gabrielle. Apple pie and ice cream. Sleep.

Day 156/Day5/Day 16

I never would have imagined I would look forward to going to church every Sunday. It'd be nice if the whole family could enjoy it together, and someday that would be a reality. What I enjoy most is the praise and worship time. It's wonderful to see how people choose to praise Him. I was struck the most this week by Mary. She is so fun-loving and joyous during Awanas. She is obviously much more relaxed at church. That was especially noticeable when I looked over at her singing alone in the front row. We were singing "Give You My Heart". As many of us do, she probably knows the words by heart and was singing with her eyes closed. Relaxed wouldn't be the word. She looked peaceful. She seemed to be singing with her heart more than anything. It was beautiful.

There was a man behind me with his arms raised high. I never saw who it was, but it doesn't matter. He was enjoying his time with the Lord.

There was a woman to my right raising her hand as well. I think it's wonderful people are moved to do different things.

I could hear the people behind me singing loudly. I hope everyone there is singing to Him rather than just singing.

Scott was in a praying mood today. We prayed after just about every song. We have a great praise and worship team and Scott is a good leader and speaks very well.

I watched some football and then spent much of my time with Noah outside in the little house we have in the backyard. He also had me slide down the kids slide and push him on the swings. He wanted me to swing next to him and push him as well. After that he swung on the triangles hanging from the trapeze and then swung on the trapeze itself. We came in soon after because we were thirsty. I seem to have a perpetual thirst. Praise God.

T.G.I.S. --Day 155/Day 4/Day15

Another 11:59 post. :)

I woke up in a bad mood today.

Thank you, Jesus.

The particulars are unnecessary to talk about, but it didn't last long. We went to the park for some trick or treating. The walk was refreshing, the weather was nice, and the company was good. We really need to remember to bring the camera with us more often.

Later on we went to Past Tense to get cider and pumpkins. From there, we used a gift from my parents and went out to eat. Dinner for 5 only cost $10.

It turned out to be a good day and every day can be, no matter how it starts.

T.G.I.F.--Day 154/Day 3/Day 14

I woke up in a good mood.

Thank you, Jesus.

I had a feeling it'd be a good day. I had a feeling the stock market wouldn't have another big fall today. They feeling changed after an early meeting that tired everyone out and after I was told the Dow opened down 800 points. At the end of the day, though, it was only down a little over 100.

I had an enjoyable day at work. I got some things finished and Adam and I shared a few good laughs over some old movies we watched.

I was going to go out to lunch today, but I had already gone out once this week, so I decided not to. I was rather hungry while playing cards. God provided lunch. Within minutes of sitting down, a corporate meeting ended and they brought down their leftovers. There were plenty of Jimmy John subs, chips, pop and large cookies. They were delicious. While I was grabbing mine, I could hear Carl, the joker, and my current euchre partner, say "I love Jimmy Johns. Sure beats this soup." He looks at Jerry. "Sure beats that frozen pizza you got there." He looks at Tom. Sure beats that sub that been in the machine for a month." He looks at me. "Sure beats watching other people eat." I guess you had to be there, the guy is a riot. Seriously.

I made a trade in my fantasy football league that I liked. My team isn't doing that great, but I'm turning it around. Hopefully I get a win this week.

Jim gave me some bible tabs and some bible ribbons for Kim and I. It was quite a kind gesture.

Colton called and asked me on the way home if he could stay the night at his friend, Zach's. The night before, I had let him stay at a friend's house while we went to the bible study, but told him to study the 11 state capitals he needed to know for the test on Friday. I picked him up a few hours later, and asked him if he had studied. To his credit, he was honest and told me no. I went over them with him on the way home and he only knew a few very well. I told him he had to get all 11 right on the test or he'd be grounded. I studied with him the rest of the night repeating "Arkansas" every other state because he seemed to have the most trouble with it. By the time we were done, I was pretty confident he'd do well. Back to the present, after he asked me about staying the night, I told him,"It depends. What's the capital of Arkansas?" "Little Rock", he said, without missing a beat. I went through the rest of them and while he made a couple mistakes, they were both very quick mistakes. As soon as he said the wrong capital, he knew it was wrong and corrected himself. I was proud of him and convinced he had done well. I told him yes.

Gabby then called and asked if she could have a friend over. I told her yes as well. Kim made dinner while I did the running around, then she started playing a game of poker. It's been a long tournament so far (four and half hours right now) and she has done well.

I did the homework for the bible study class while she played. It was a little confusing, but I'll keep going over it throughout the week. I sent the rough draft out to the other women in my study group. I also wrote down the first letter of every word in Proverbs 2 that we're studying. I think I can memorize it. We'll see.

Days like this are good. Days where you wake up feeling the presence of God with you immediately. Days where your heart feels so full of the Lord, it could burst.

GOD IS SO GOOD.

Day 153/Day2/Day 13

Another video I found.


A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

The How to Study the Bible class was tonight as usual. I enjoyed it as usual. Late in the class, Jim meditated on a subject close to Him. I thought it was a moving experience. Not that I was moved to tears, but I thought it was another awesome way to get a point across. He almost never sounds like he's simply teaching in that he doesn't usually sound like he just reading off a piece of paper (which he is, though). He really, really sounds like he really believes what he's saying. He sounds like a man that is immensely enjoying what he's doing.

I never had a problem being the only man at a table of Kim and 4 other women. Jim has made a couple jokes about them working against me. They are not, of course. I really enjoy their company. In the first class, Jim mentioned how important it is to make this a group experience, so every time I finish my homework, I send it to them. We've gotten e-mails back from Wendy almost every time and we've received a couple from Jenni. When I read their answers, I look for something to discuss; something that makes me wonder what they mean or why they wrote what they wrote. I haven't found anything yet. Everything I've seen from everyone, including Kim, makes perfect sense. It makes me go back and re-evaluate my homework. It was a leap of faith to send out my homework, especially the second one, but I'm very glad I've done it. I've got some insight into some Christian women's thoughts and it's been wonderful. If God had a hand in placing me at that table, I've been truly blessed.

Thank you, Lord.

Day 152/Day 1/Day 12

After 10 consecutive days of posting, I forgot to post yesterday. I got a surprising late e-mail from a friend, began a reply and ended up forgetting all about it.

Colton's team won what could have been his team remaining football game. Instead, they go to the playoffs next Tuesday. He's looking forward to it as am I.

Tonight was Awana night. I'm so proud of the kids. They're proud of themselves as well. I don't think Gabrielle knew what she was capable of learning so many verses and books of the New Testament. As far as I can tell, they're both well behaved kids while they're there. I've enjoyed working with all of them. A couple are a handful, but it's partly a test in patience.

Noah, the Cute--Day 150/10/10

I'm enjoying the How to Study the Bible class and I feel fortunate to have found this class when I did.

I hadn't mentioned on here how I wrote down Psalm 119 (partly because of day 143) in it's entirety last week. I enjoyed what it said so I started again, this time doing the NASB version rather than the NIV. I should finish that up tomorrow. Maybe I'll try the King James version. I'd like to study it after a few more weeks of the class and see what I get out of it.

I like when Noah grabs me when he need something. It's almost as if he doesn't think I'll get up or walk his way if he just tries to ask me to. Gabrielle and Colton were doing their own thing, so I asked Noah what he wanted to do. Cars? Blocks? Trains? The latter caught his attention so, even though I was standing right next to him, he grabs my finger and says "C'mere, Daddy. C'mere." He leads me to the stairs and starts crawling up. I crawl up right behind him which makes him giggle all the way up the stairs.

I pull out the train tracks when we get up there, but he seems fairly disinterested in it. I grab the cars and we play with those for a bit. Then he gets up to see what he can find in the toy box. He finds a number book with a pig on the front. "Pig.", he says, wrinkles his nose up and makes the pig noise. I'm laying on my side on the floor, so he walks right to me, does a 180 and slides down my midsection to the floor. "Book, Daddy." I get through half of it and he's turning pages to the end (I swear, he's got the attention span of a two year old. Fortunately, he is two. :P)

He puts the book away and grabs the gear toy. It has several colorful plastic gears that can be placed on it. There's a main gear already permanately fixed to the toy, so when other gears are placed just right, they all spin. I grab a couple gears and he puts them on.

"More, Daddy, more." I grab a few more.

"More, Daddy, More." as I look for the remaining gears. I find a few more.

"More, Daddy, More." as I look for the remaining three. I find two. He puts them on there and sees the missing space.

"More, Daddy, More."

"No more, Noah."

"Oh."

He pushes the big red button and his eyes light up as the toy lights up and plays music. Then the gears start turning. His eyes are all over the toy at once. It stops and he pushes the button again. I put my fingers in it to show him that he can if he wants to. It stops, and he pushes the button again. He puts his finger on the big green gear making it all go and I think he notices how it slows everything down. He does it again, but this time harder. It slows wayyyyy down. He must've thought that was pretty cool, because this went on for a while. We'd take the gears off and try to put them back on. If you put some on in between others, you have to put them on just right. He didn't get that concept, so he'd say "Stuck." and hand it to me. they can be put on normally, or upside-down. When they're upside-down, you can see the hollowed out part of the gear. I thought it was pretty cool when he says "No, Daddy." as I placed them on. He grabs one and flips it around. He grabbed a couple other upside-down ones and placed them as he thought they should be. Eventually, he even got bored of this, so I tell him "We'll head downstairs now, Noah." You can say almost anything to him and he'll say "Why?" When it's something he doesn't want, he'll say it all drawn out: "Whyyyyyyyyy???" When he thinks it's a game, he'll say it real quick. If you keep answering the question, he'll keep answering/asking "Why?" Answering "'Cause I love you." ends the conversation about 75% of the time. Either that or I get a quick "Why?"

A typical nightly conversation:

"Time for bed, Noah..."

"Whyyyyyy???

"You have to get some sleep."

"I don't want it."

"Give Mommy (Daddy) kisses."

(*Smooch*)"Night-night, Noah."

"Why?"

"'Cause I love you."

Day 149/Day 9/Day 9

It's Sunday, so as usual, it's a good day. We cleaned the house, I took a walk with Noah, and won a 180 man poker tourney. The kids enjoyed the company of Caleb, Jaselle, Jalina, and Jianna.

Pastor Don's sermon was on marriage. It will continue to be on marriage throughout the month. He told some funny stories and there were plenty of laughs. Probably because many people related to what he was saying.

Since I put the counter on a little while ago, I've noticed repeated visits from Lake Orion and Oxford. I'm intrigued to know who those people are and if they know me. I'm not saying really want to know; it just makes for some good mind chatter.

Back on Day 27 (wow. that's a long time ago.) I asked for some peace at church, and I received it. It was an unexpectedly nice feeling. Today I felt that again. Maybe I do everytime I go to church now, but today it was noticeable. I even feel it many times outside of church. I think having joy in my heart more often gives me more peace. I still dwell on things and worry and get angry and lose my patience, but they've all been dialed way down. Life is a little scary nowadays because of the economy and upcoming election, but at the end of the day, Life is good. God is good. If you're still reading this, please praise Him. He deserves it.

Saturday:) --Day 148/Day 8/Day 8

Today started earlier than my Saturday's usually start. I woke up and it was very dark. I wondered immediately what time it was and why my alarm hadn't gone off. I thought I should get up and check so I wouldn't be late for work. Oh yeah, I thought. Today's Saturday. That was a good feeling. I went back to sleep.

I started on this blog later than I usually start. Kim and I were watching a movie I'd watched before, Lucky # Slevin, and I looked at the clock. 11:59, it said.

Oh no, I thought. I haven't blogged yet.

Very casually, I walked to the computer and maximized the minimized blog (I often turn it on to listen to my playlist.) I signed in and began blogging. Then I'll go to sleep.

In between went well. I awoke to a kiss, then Noah came in the bedroom. Then he walked out. Later on, the kids had some birthday parties to go to, and I started on my homework. I'm stuck on exactly what Jim wants us to get out of the definitions. I could just define the words, but it seems he may want more. Maybe something at church tomorrow will help out. Maybe something will just click. Maybe he just wants definitions.

After the kids came home, we went and had family pictures done. Even with all the small children, it went well. We went to Mary's for fish and pizza afterward. It's always good getting the family together. I wondered how I would not manage to dwell on Dennis's, Jennifer's, and Tracy's view of the bible study. I don't want to get to that point. As with everything, it's in God's hands. Where he leads, I will follow.

Terrible Twoness...Day 147/Day 7/Day 7

I sent a thank you e-mail to a friend this morning and received one back later on in the morning. I was surprised to get a reply so early in the morning, and it was a wonderful e-mail to read.

After the kids came in from playing outside later that evening we went to Don Pablos and then to pick out some clothes. We ran over to Blockbuster to get some movies and spend the rest of the night watching them. Except for the parts where Noah displayed his terrible twoness, it was a relaxing night.

Day 146/Day 6/Day 6

I ate a worm yesterday. I am so blessed to be able to work with 2nd graders most of the night on Wednesday, but during game time, I work with 1st graders and kindergartners as well. They wanted me to eat a worm, so I ate it. I hope they enjoyed it, 'cause it's never happening again. I know of at least two little boys who went and told their Dad what happened and it must've sounded like the highlight of their night, but it wasn't. By coming to Awana's and listening to the stories from the bible and reading the scripture and memorizing verses and praying they are developing a relationship with God. That is a relationship I never had at that age, but I do not envy them. I'm very happy for them. I hope me eating that worm makes them want to come back or their friends they brought that night come back if even for one more night. Maybe the next time something even cooler will happen. Maybe the next time they are able to memorize a verse for the first time. Maybe the next time they'll make a new friend. Maybe the next time they have their first real talk with God. Although very little, they realize who Jesus is and accept him as their Lord and Savior. I'm not trying to glorify myself for eating a worm. It's all in His hands. I'm just trying to explain to myself what I mean when I say "I did it for the kids."

I worked with E.J., Anna, Carson, and Trent when it came time to recite verses. In one way or another, I made them all laugh. For one reason or another, they made me laugh. Trent brought a friend named Adam. I made him laugh, too. Each of them had a story to tell. I feel like I could've talked to them for at least a half an hour each, and I wanted to, but we only have so much time. They're all so sweet.

Thank you Lord, for putting the fire into my heart to do this. Thank you for all their parents that want their child to know and love God and know that he loves them. Thank you for all the children that come there every week. Thank you for Brenda and her kind heart. Thank you for Mary and her obvious love for kids and our Lord. Thank you for Pastor Don and Lisa and Angela and Michelle and Amy. Thank you for all the Maddock's and McDaniels. Thank you for all the Bierbusses and the Boyles. Thank you for Kim and Colton and Gabrielle and Noah. Thank you for being You. Thank you for being.

Thank you.

Day 145/Day 5/Day 5

Interesting video with only text and voice. Please watch if you haven't already.

Lost Generation