Circa 1983 - Fireproof

I was pretty happy to be tagged on Facebook with this photo. This was my 8th grade soccer team. Can you tell which one is me? Hint: I'm not the blonde haired kid or the tall one in the back row.

One of the kids in this photo went on to start a fire in the field by my house. Yep, playing with matches. He burned his tennis shoes and singed his eyebrows. The fire department was called. He told his mom he ruined his shoes by putting out a fire with his feet and got a nice new pair of shoes...

Stories of God's Grace

This post was written for my other little blog at http://newcovenantpca.blogspot.com/. Just in case your interested.

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Has God been gracious to your family? Are you prepared to tell your children the story of God's grace?

The classic passage on instructing children, at least in the Old Testament, is Deuteronomy 6:1-9. There we are told to continually talk with our children about God's law (His word, His rules, His ways). What might be a little less familiar is the end of the chapter, where we are told to tell our children stories. And not just cute stories but serious, glorious, stories of God's works.

“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there... (Deuteronoomy 6:20-23a.)

In other words, our children are bound to ask us at some point, "Why do we believe all this stuff?" Certainly they'll be asking when they are a teenager if not sooner!

What is striking to me is this. We are not told to engage in a heavy philosophical debate, such as, "Well, son, the Christian worldview is the one belief system that makes sense of the world as it really is..." This would be my natural approach. And there's a place for this kind of reasoning, to be sure.

What we're told to first tell our children is much more dynamic. We are told to tell them a story of God's grace--"We were in desperate straits. Apart from God we'd still be in a terrible mess. But He delivered us. So we're going to follow Him!"

The most profound story that we all share is the story of redemption in Jesus Christ. But I believe we should also tie that grand story to our personal story of God's redemption. For example, I can tell my son when he grows up, "I had no meaningful relationship with my dad. My mom was an example of faith, but I rebelled against God anyway and became an arrogant, foolish young man. But God rescued me; He saved me and changed my heart radically. And He put role models in my life to teach me His ways, and He blessed me with your mother who is a very wise woman. Apart from these graces of God, who knows what mess our family would be in. So we're going to keep following Him!"

What's your story? Have your kids heard it yet?

Boys Meet Birthdays

I am not what you would call "good at birthdays". I now have two birthdays, five days apart, to keep up with. First we witness Ken's:

Ken had what is known as an "Un-themed Birthday". (We won't mention how old he is.) We actually had a fun day. We did the beach in the morning, then went to Abeulo's (new Mexican place) for lunch. These unfortunate photos were taken in the parking lot there... Jeff and Aubrey seem to be able to take good pix of themselves like this, why not us?? We did cake at our bible study that night. Local bakery reviews were perused for the purchase of this year's cake...I was quite proud of myself!

Cullen on the other hand, had a "Dinosaur Birthday". We held a party for him a few days before the actual big day, with guests in his honor. People have asked, "What do you do for a two year old's birthday?" My answer: "More than you'd think." I was especially proud of his dinosaur cupcakes.

Alternatively, Cullen wanted no part of a delicious dinosaur cupcake.

We'll close with two of Cullen's favorite gifts: Baby Einstein's "Animal Friends" CD, and Dusty the Talking Vacuum. Ken's gifts weren't nearly as exciting!!

Boy Meets Sprinkler

New experiences around every corner...


Gotta face it like a man. Or at least, like a boy.


Play it cool.


I think we can all learn a little lesson here!

Panera on the Cheap

Panera is my favorite "second place." Plenty of tables and windows, and quite flexible. You can spend $2 for coffee and then milk that for a couple hours. Or, you can spend more for a "You Pick Two" (Frontega Chicken and Broccoli Cheddar Soup, with french bread) and a small drink. Oh, and a cookie. But that gets expensive.

I guess that is the problem. It's actually two extremes... Mere coffee or a filling, fattening feast.

The other day I needed, desperately, a place to study.
* Obvious answer: Panera.
* Problem: it was lunchtime, and I didn't want to spend too much.

This is the story of how I gamed the system.

Should I go to Panera? It's right there. But I need lunch... I really can't keep spending money on eating out.

I know what I'll do: I will only order soup. You get soup and bread, pretty filling, and it's cheap. Like, just over $3. It's the loophole that Panera has not yet tied. Only I know this.

Moments later:

Hmm, they raised the price of the soup. But not by too much... Mmm, corn chowder sounds good.

"May I help you?"

"Corn chowder soup, please."

"With french baguette?"

"Yes." (Yes! Yes! It's working!)

"Anything to drink?"

"Just a cup for water, thanks." (I don't fall for that one. They have lemons. I'll be fine.)

"Would you like a cookie with that?"

"No thank you." Pause. "Unless you're on commission or something." (Obviously they don't sell cookies on commission.)

"No, but we're kind of having a contest about who can sell the most of them."

NO!!! You can't combine soft cookies and heated competition - that's a combination that cannot be resisted. Auuugghhh.

"Okay, I'll take one."

"That will be $6.05."

No! I don't have change! That means I'm basically spending $7 since change doesn't count as actual money. Well, now I have to use a credit card so I can round it down.

At the table:

This can be fixed. I will give the cookie to Cheryl. Or half of it. What the heck, she doesn't want this wretched thing. Okay, I hope I get some good study time in.

Four hours later, I left Panera. That's about $1.50 per hour.

Or, if you divide by $7, about $1.75 per hour...