Only Luke - "I am an animal"

Luke and I spend a lot of time together. Yesterday we went to get him shoes that he can race in for his BMX bike. On these trips, Luke and I will talk about life, play word games, 5 questions or "I am an animal." If you don't know this game, one person thinks of an animal and the other has to guess it, asking the person simple "yes" or "no" questions. Some questions are:

Does you animal live in the ocean?
Do people have it as a pet?
Is it a carnivore?

You get the idea. This goes on until you guess the animal or you can ask for a hint. This is where Luke trips me up. We stopped this game a couple of years ago because his hints were a little cryptic. I'll tell you why.

We started with Luke having to think of an animal. 10-15 minutes later, I got it; he was a mouse. I called Darcy because I was so excited, I hadn't guessed his animal in years. Now it was my turn. I picked a moose. Luke asked tons of questions but couldn't guess it. He knew it stood on four legs, people sometimes hunted it, it had a big nose like a horse and had fur. He couldn't guess it. So he asked for a hint. I said, It has a type of antler/horn on it's head." Still no luck. Finally I said that it started with the letter "M." He got it. Moose.

Later that night, as Luke and I are in the habit of doing, we talk for a time before he goes to bed. He said that he did a great job guessing. I disagreed and said that my hints were too easy. Giving him that hint that it started with an "m" made it simple. Luke agreed. He said he would have given a better hint. I asked what his hint would be for "moose":

"It's a type of gel"

Only Luke.....

Karina's Mother's Day

I'll admit I was worried as we approached Mother's Day and the one year anniversary of Karina's mother's death. But Karina has such a joyful heart, nothing deters her. She asked Darcy to be at the Mother's Day lunch in her class. Darcy took off the afternoon so she could be there. Karina happily tells everyone that her mother is in heaven and is an angel.

Karina and Mark are leaving for the summer and will be gone for over two months. Karina will probably stay long periods of time with relatives she has never met. I'm not worried, they speak English and if there is anyone who I have ever met who can joyfully adapt to new situations, it is Karina.

Next time you open your eyes, we will see each other again

My friend David Anderson died last night. He was the man who performed the wedding ceremony when Darcy and I got married. He was my friend Mark's father, but he was much more than that to me. We were friends. He always wanted to remind me that he considered me his fourth son. That was and is a great honor. We celebrated his 50th birthday party at my house. We had his son Mark's wedding reception at my house also. He was such a strong man of faith, humor, compassion and intelect that even my brother said he would attend church if David was preaching. I saw him in Phoenix on my way to a bike race last November. We spent a few hours together and they were so very special. His body was failing him, but his mind and his spirit were not.

David and I shared such great memories and laughter that they are too numerous to mention.

The strength of my faith and the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ assures me that David and I will meet again. Nobody is exactly sure what heaven will look like or what we will experience but the Lord will reunite us with those Christians that have fallen before us. I would like to believe that David will be in great health, sitting in a comfortable chair and then we'll share the stories that made us laugh so hard we'll cry. There are no tears of sorrow in heaven but I have to believe that tears of laughter are all around. Even more so since David is there.

The Joy of a Child (Hannah) Seeking their Father

I was struggling this morning in my "quiet time." I was reading from God Calling and also from The Contrarian's Guide to Spirituality. It just seems that lately, my mind wanders to financial matters, business issues or just this old life. I had switched my morning reading time to downstairs to do something different. I was reading for an hour or so before I heard the sound of Hannah upstairs running. Usually she wakes up, runs into my office and jumps in my chair and we snuggle for 5 minutes or so. Today she ran in and I wasn't there. She ran to my bedroom and I wasn't there. Then she saw the light on downstairs and ran to lie next to me on the couch where I was reading. She asked me to put my book down and just hold her.

That was it.

I felt a small percentage of what God must feel like when we seek Him, when we find Him and when we revel in His presence. It seems so simple and easy. I was just reading in God Calling, which is a book about two women who prayed fervently for a year and believe that the heard the voice of Jesus in their prayers. As I was reading today, I read where Jesus was talking to us saying, "Seek Me, love Me, joy in Me. I am your Guide. Can you hold on in My strength? I need you more than you need Me (emphasis added)." God needs me! He wants to hear from me and to hold me.

How God must revel that I even seek Him. The joy He must feel, like my joy when I heard Hannah running upstairs looking for me. The Joy He must feel when we adore our time with Him, when we rest in Him. But then Hannah saw the time and had to get ready for school. She asked for 5 more minutes of being held before she had to go. This is a great time for BOTH of us. Then she went to get ready. Off she went and I went to my office to start the day of work.

After a working for a while, I heard Karina wake up and my heart felt that joy once again.

The Coin Returns (see post of 1-26-08)

Today I opened the mail and there I saw a letter from my friend at the Defense Department. A short note accompanied his coin and I sent of a brief note of thanks to him. It really was silly how much I wanted this coin back. I looked at it for a while then put it in a plastic holder. I was heading out to a local bike shop for some parts and I thought about taking it with me. Not a great idea. I put it in my safe and locked it. I did take one of my coins with me. You never know when the opportunity to share your faith may arise.

It is dangerous to take Bible verses out of context or take different genres from the Bible and apply them incorrectly, but as this episode unfolded I was reminded of the words of Jesus, recounted by Luke 15:8-10:

"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Maybe this story will help someone, anyone, repent of their sins and give their life over to Jesus.

Amen.

Why I know God loves me personally

As parents, we are amazed when we have our first child. We look at them, touch them, kiss them, feed them and clean up after them. Most of all we love them. We have created a human being and though it is a daunting task, that love grows as they grow. If we are blessed with another child, our love for the first child is not lessened or split between the two. It is equally applied to the new child. Our love graciously grows. When I see the school pictures of Hannah and Luke, I am amazed at how much I love them and adore them. I told Luke this morning that I cannot imagine a father loving his children, and expressing it, more than I love them.

But I'm wrong. Based on the simple premise that there must be an "Intelligent Designer" that created the earth and therefore us, He must be much more powerful than me. It would therefore go that He would make a creature similar to Himself, but not infinite, sovereign or omniscient as Himself. And based on these two creations I've had a hand in creating, I cannot believe that He would not be concerned with everything they, and I, do. My faith has grown and changed in my life, but there is one thing I am sure about, that I can trust above all other things. That is that I have a perfect Father in heaven who cares about me, listens to my prayers and responds as He sees fit, not just because I want something. I believe I am a very good father to my children. I am intentional, I try to get better and I love them dearly, even when I have to discipline them. But I am so imperfect.

Luckily they have a perfect Father in heaven.

And He knows us and loves us. Imperfect as we are.

Hannah hates her P. E. Teacher (today)

Just because your mom is the P. E. teacher at the school doesn't mean you have to like it. Hannah run/walks everyday at school. Last year she completed over 100 miles during the school's running program. But according to school regulations, a few times a year they are timed on how fast they complete a mile. Hannah doesn't like it and expressed her displeasure on the whiteboard I set up on her closet doors. Just in case you can't see the fine print, it says:

Dear Mile Meanee, (otherwise known as Meanee Mom)

We are not running a mile.

I hate P. E.!

It is a looser program!

You have to love her passion, if not her spelling.