Dare to Care

So the other day my family and I sat down to watch a movie. I had traveled to my local Redbox and picked up Courageous, which is brought to you by the same people as Fireproof and Facing the Giants. (By the way, if you haven't seen any off these and you want to see a movie with characters trying to be true authentic Christians, you now have a whole weekend of movies to watch. These movies are all written by the same guys (brothers, in life and Christ) and it is released through their church. I'm off track at this point so I will return from my bunny trail.) Seeing as I have seen all the movies, I knew I was in for a God glorifying, tears running, nose sniffling 2 hours of enjoyment. BUT it’s not the 2 hours that makes the difference; it's what happens after the credits roll...

So, why am I telling you this…I want to show you what can happen when you realize that you may have a bowl on your head (Matthew 5:14-16). When you realize that you are in his presence but not participating in it.  I have been able to go months and months with reading His word and praying but it was during the movie I realized that I have recently stopped and have been absent in the conversations with God...this left me with a couple of questions for myself to answer...

Am I being the father that the kids would like, should have, need? Am I letting them see through actions that they are Loved by me, and God? Am I being a good example to my kids everyone of how their Heavenly Father loves them?

I took inventory of my life since then, and here is what I have (re-)learned in the last couple of days.

1. When you pray, you are rewarded with answered prayers.  I have been praying the last couple of days before work.  We have all been under a lot of stress so I have been praying for peace, breaks, calm clients and a joyful environment.  I think it's been working, nothings gonna be perfect but it's better than it was.
2. After watching the movie I asked God to remind me to stay focused on my family.  Help them to be reminded of the answers to the questions above.  Asked that he remind me of what I am to do and how I can do it.  He answered, they way He does best, through giving me a song.  This is now on my ipod like so many other songs God has used to remind me of my role, His love, or simply to slow down.  I can take stock in His reminders by simply hitting "shuffle".
3. Lunch with a friend can be so amazing when there is no itinerary.  I got the change (once a month) to hang with a newer friend this week for lunch and it truly was amazing.  I again started my day with prayer and remembered the lunch and asked God to "help make our time together good.  Help our friendship to grow" were my words.  Thank you God for helping that happen.
4. You don't need to meet someone to be a role model.  I had clients that taught me that.  They were so calm and patient.  So loving and kind.  He called her his queen, and they finished each other's sentences on the phone. Well when I was talking to some support people, in an angry tone, about these client's file and how it's not fair that this loan cannot get done because of things out of the client's control, I was reminded of their patience and God asked me "is this how they would respond?  They are a light, are you acting how my light should act?"  I then paused, and apologized to the support people for raising my voice and that they were doing their job and thanked them for that.  I then thanked my clients for being the example they are.  I hope pray that I can be as bright of a light as they were for me this week.  Thanks to them I have a new verse to memorize (Col 3:17)

Be present in the conversation that God wants to have with you...Simply put, he's always willing to talk with you, Call your Father, He'd like to hear from you, and He will have the right answer.  I didn't say the easy one or the one you want, but banging your head against a wall hurts too...why not try His way this time.

So needless to say, I will continue trying to show my family the right way to live. Being an example of God's love, helping my daughter see the way that a husband should love her, and teaching my son the ways to honor his wife.  Which in turn, is honoring to my wife.  That way, I know that I have raised them up in the ways of the Lord instead of my worrying about my actions, the other day.

To the Cloud

So the other day my daughter and I went out to eat...I like being able to spend time with my kids and as a side note should be working on spending more 1 on 1 time with the boy, and I digress.

We went out to eat, Granite City, and then wanted to spend even more time together so we went to a local mall...and there...with all it's amazing awesomeness...was an istore, or an icloud store, or an "ineed an itowel to wipe away the idrool" store, whatever the fruit store is called, we walked in...

Seriously, AWESOME, but do I need an ipad to tell me what an itouch is? How do you think I would know how to work an ipad if I don't know how an itouch works??  There was so much technology there and a lot of it was duplicated...but that doesn't mean I didn't stop at every piece of gorilla glass covered electronics(regardless of the size) I could find.

So why am I telling you this? No reason. Turns out I have an iphone, which I am actually blogging from while shopping with my wife, and I thought I would see if I was maximizing my phone's ability.
Unfortunately, the store was packed and I was unable to get the attention I wanted from an iemployee, so we just drooled on their stuff and left.  Oh yes, idaughter drooled too.

Honestly though, technology has so many upsides I just hope that Apple got it right and that their logo - the apple with the bite out of it - represents our eyes being opened to possibilities like Adam and Eve, vs a "less than it could have been" life for generations to come...like Adam and Eve.

I'd prefer that one day we don't look at ourselves and say "I liked it back, the other day, when my life was more sunshine than iclouds"

Bragging is not against the law

So the other day I got to do one of my favorite things.  Simply put, brag about my family.  I try and do this whenever I can, I'm sure that it can be annoying to many; but it is something, that when done correctly, you can see the envy in their eyes but they appreciate the joy you have in sharing that moment with them.

So this day it was my wife that I was bragging about...I brought her home-baked goodies into work.  Homemade toffee,Chex mix, Butterscotch fingers and this upside-down apple cake that both magically melts in your mouth but lingers with awesomeness on the back of your tongue.  As my coworkers, some of whom had not had the chance to enjoy my wife's baking, ran to my desk they would begin to exclaim on how amazing everything tasted.  I then would get to talk about how my wife is pretty much better than sliced bread, and then everyone had no option but to agree that they wish they could be married to her...

I know that I shouldn't boast and brag about those things that God has given me, oh there's no doubt that she was given to me by God, but it's so hard not to when you have the best.  I have never lost a "My wife is better than your wife" competition and I can only hope that I can continue to help her win her "best husband" battles.

Till the next post I pray you continue to focus on all the real joys of Christmas...and that you remember that Jesus was born on this night, the other day

A first for me

So my daughter's "boyfriend" is coming over today. The other day I was going over to my first "girlfriend's" place (see how this works(20 years ago)). And now, its weird that our family is old enough to be looking at increasing and decreasing as teenage love blossoms and disintegrates.

Today is not the first time we will meet this boy and really she has been seeing him at school for maybe nine months? But this is the first time he will be seeing her off school grounds, well that we are aware of anyway.

He'll be joining us for dinner, my wife's basically famous Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo from scratch, then I don't know...maybe game, movie etc. I'm sure a night of awkwardness and stumbling and making sure there is a space big enough for Jesus between them.
No leaving the main floor, no going into your room, etc. We know what happens when you can, your born to 19 year old kids.

Just the other day