Happy New Year!

Thank everyone for stopping by my blog in 2008. I hope to make 2009 an even better blog-year.

Finally... A Story Retold

This is a video I made for our church's Christmas Eve services.

World-wide Premiere

If you pay close enough attention you can hear Evan quite easily. Ashlyn and Aaron also make brief audio cameos.

40 Motivational Speeches

I'm not a morning person and it's nice to receive something to pick me up and get me pumped up for the day. ladies and gentlemen, i give to you...

wha????

Did anyone else watch "heroes" tonight?

How on earth did the african guy suddenly come back to life and appear in suresh's apartment?


He's dead and they totally played the scene like he was really there, not some kind of vision or apparition. And it wasn't a "he got shot in the stomach, but didn't really die" situation... because he died of getting his head torn off of his body. It's pretty hard to come back from that one.

Can anyone explain this to me?

Daddy Daughter Day

Ashlyn and I connected today. I picked her up from her nap this afternoon and we sat together on the couch for about 10 minutes with no crying! Then we played on the floor for another 10 minutes and she smiled at me alot. It was sooo great.

Some of you may be asking "what's the big deal, isn't she like 5 months old"? That's true, but Ashlyn is very much a Mommy's girl and doesn't let me hold her for more than a few moments without crying. I think the breakthrough began last night.

Last night was not a good night for sleeping. We had some friends spend the night with us (which was great). Since they are a family of 5 we gave them our room upstairs to make space for everyone without banishing anyone to the freezing cold basement. Becky, Ashlyn, and I slept in the playroom together. Becky and I slept on an air mattress and Ashlyn in a pack 'n play. Ashlyn rarely sleeps in a pack 'n play and did not take to it well. Becky tried everything to get her to fall asleep for a couple of hours to no avail. I took over around 2am and held her until almost 3. She was fine with me holding her, but she refused to fall asleep.

Sharing a common challenge brings people together. Maybe our shared sleepless night brought us closer. In that case... it was worth it.

Great Song

my second calling

We had our annual Church Christmas Party tonight, but it was very different than past years. Previous church "parties" were basically an hour and a half of testimonies and reports punctuated with snacks. They were nice, but very dull. Don't get me wrong; testimonies of what God is doing in our lives are a great thing, but that can't be the only thing that we do together as a fellowship of believers.

Tonight's party was a great time of singing, laughter, creativity, fellowship and snacks. It wasn't a perfect night, but I think it was a real step in the right direction. And I had a blast co-emceeing the evening. I've often thought that I could have a second career as a game show host. I enjoying making a fool of myself on stage (to a certain extent), and making people laugh and have a good time. I liked hosting events at SAU and this was the first opportunity for me to do that here at Dearborn [outside of youth events; i have plenty of opportunities to make a fool of myself there].

If you could have any career other than your current one... regardless of skill, experience, or education... what would you do?

First Snowfall

When do you consider the first snowfall has taken place?

The first flake you see...
The first snow that stay on the ground...
The first blizzard...

For me, it hasn't really snowed until you shovel. And I shoveled for the first time today. The snow wasn't too deep, but just enough that it wasn't going to go away on it's own. It was also a precaution to help in case there is a deep snowfall overnight. I had to dig myself out on Sunday mornings a couple of times last year and it's not fun when you are crunched for time and have a ridiculously long driveway. Even moving a little bit of snow can make it much easier.

We've had snowflakes fall on us earlier this year, but this is the first snowfall of the year.

a boy and his hat

A Hat is a very special thing for a man. Sure, every guy has a collection of hats, but he only has one Hat. Once a man finds a Hat, it seldom changes. It grows better with age like a fine wine. Every rip and tear, each stain and spot is a mark of pride. A badge of honor.

I have a dozen hats [Baseball Caps and Old Fedoras from my Grandpa], but my Hat is the one I wear most frequently, the one I identify with. You may have a picture of me wearing it. It's black, it's fitted, it's got my name on it.

Aaron has found his Hat. It's plastic, it's orange, and it's always worn backwards. He wears it all the time. Everyday when I come home from lunch he greets me at the door wearing it. I'm sure he would wear it out of the house if we'd let him. It's irresistibly cute.

Most Realistic Paintjob Ever!

Intersections

Our Church has been focusing on intersections for a couple of months now. By "intersections" I mean those times where your life connects with someone elses. Intentionally or by chance, intersections happen constantly with your family, friends, coworkers, and everyone you interact with on any given day. It's been a good reminder that living your life for Christ isn't just about serving in a ministry within the church walls and that God wants to use our lives to show Himself.

Tonight I had an intersection with my neighbour Dane. Dane is about 22 yrs old and lives in the house next to us with his extended family that includes anywhere from 8 to 12 people [we aren't sure how many of them live there because it seems like it's not possible to fit that many people in a tiny cookie- cutter Dearborn house.]

As I was taking the garbage out in the rain Dane walks out to his car and calls me over. He asks "what Church do you go to?" So i told him and he proceeds to tell me about how he went to church until his mid-teens and hasn't been back since. Dane became a dad several weeks ago with his live-in fiancee and has been interested in returning to church. He knew we went to church (I don't know if he remembered I'm a pastor) as we talked he said that he would come to church on Sunday. I have no idea if he'll actually come and even if he does it doesn't mean that he's found Christ, but it was a moment that I didn't shy away from and I hope that it will provide opportunities for the future.

Let's pray for more intersections with Dane.

Good Times and Noodle Salad

We're back from our thanksgiving holiday. We all had a great time with Becky's family in Huntington, IN. Evan, Aaron, and Ashlyn each got lots of love from grandma, grandpa, and Aunt Melissa; Becky and I got to play alot of cards and had plenty of help with the kids; and we all had some great food (Becky made her best pumpkin pie ever. it was sooo good.)

Other highlights include:
- "five hundred" score for the weekend: 15 hands for Dad and I vs. 9 for Becky and Melissa
- a new personal best for wii golf: 9 under par
- Becky and Melissa leaving at 11pm on Thursday to shop until 6am on Friday!
- and the Lions got demolished

Outta sight, outta town

I'll be out of touch with the blogosphere for the next few days. We are going to visit Becky's folks for thanksgiving. We always have a great time eating food, playing cards, and wii golfing; but it's like traveling back to the stone ages because they don't have the internet (how can you live like that?).

I wish you all a happy thanksgiving. And I'll hopefully come back with a few good stories to tell.

Thanks for caring.

Duel of the Fates II: Electric Boogaloo

While I was working this morning Becky got some great pictures and video of the boys sword fighting. No children were harmed in the the following media (at least, not hurt badly:)































Yes, Aaron is using a lightsaber

Happy Meal

Guess what I'm eating right now (for the first time in about 6 years). A Hot Pocket. Jealous?

taking it up a step

I think I achieved a new level of parenting tonight.

Earlier today we decided to give Ashlyn her first taste of solid* food. Evan and Aaron are really excited about being involved in her life and they wanted to help feed her. So we gathered everyone together in the kitchen and prepared her first real meal.

As a modern parent I prepared all the electronic devices required to capture the event. Becky, Evan, and Aaron started to spoon Ashlyn her food and my responsibility was to archive this historic moment. I recorded the action with our video camera in my right hand while simultaneously taking pictures with the same device and in my left hand I used our digital camera to take additional still pictures. Yes, you read that right... taking pictures with both hands and recording video all at the same time.

I have leveled up to obsessive "capture the moment" techno-geek dad.



*solid = mostly liquid with a trace of rice cereal

I'm Baaaack. For Gooood.

Sorry friends, it's been a while since my last entry. Been pretty busy lately.

One good thing going on right now is that I didn't have Jury Duty again. As you may recall, in May I was summoned for Jury Duty and went in, sat around for a while, and then was dismissed after a few hours. Then I received a "get out of Jury Duty free" card which is valid for one year for responsibly serving our state's justice system. However, the fine print says that I can still be called for FEDERAL jury duty. Guess who received that summons a couple weeks ago.

The worst part of Jury Duty is that for all the plans you have to change in order to move your life around this single date they might not actually need you on that date. So you have to call in the night before and they connect you with an automated system which informs you if you are actually needed. If they don't need you on the original date, you must call in each day for the next TWO WEEKS to see if they need you. Then you only have about 12 hours notice to drop/cancel/move everything in your life in order to report downtown.

So I called, every weeknight for the past 2 weeks. Today, Becky made the final call, and we both had a sinking feeling that I would be called in tomorrow. Thankfully I made it through and I can relax. It really was stressful to go through the past 10 business days knowing that I may suddenly have to change all my plans around with very little advance warning.

a quick word of advice

Evan and Aaron have discovered the joy of sword fighting. Fortunately at this point they prefer to fight me instead of beating the sense out of each other. I really like playing Star Wars or Pirates with them (then again, I'd probably play with just about anyone). As a result of our "fights" I feel that I am in a position to offer some advice to the future sword fighting fathers out there.

Every strike will hit your hand. As if your fist were an electro- magnet for swinging plastic edges. They are seriously unavoidable. You try to parry and block the blows, but the angles and speed are completely random preventing you from being able to predict the path of the oncoming sword. They couldn't be more precise if they were trying.

So, for those who are about to compete in the gladiatorial games of fatherhood, buy some hockey gloves. Or toughen up your hand by punching a tree Kill Bill style.

Save the Date!

January 21st 2009.

LOST
season 5 season premiere

3 hour event
8pm-9pm: clip show (essential viewing to recap the last 4 seasons)
9pm-11pm: 2 hour season premiere

(source)