Halloween Uncovered

We were spoiled by good Trick or Treating weather during the time we lived in Texas. Usually in Colorado the end of October signals the begining of snow storms.  The kids plan and plan their costumes, the mother runs all over town picking up the nessessary items, the excitement brews, and then when it is time to hit the streets you put on your winter coat and cover it all up!  Not so in Texas!  When we were there the kids planned their constumes based on how hot they would be going from house to house.  This year the weather here in Colorado is absolutely beautiful!  we have been in the low 70’s all week, and today is no exception.  It will actually be fun not to freeze to death as we make our neighborhood rounds.  One year there was so much snow you couldn’t make it up to all the neighbor’s doors!  One year there was an ice storm that made the sidewalks so slippery we slid around the neighborhood!  This year we have dodged the bullet and have a house full of kids looking forward to Trick or Treating without layers of clothing!

So now it is time for a quick reader poll; If on your Trick or Treating adventure you could only accumulate one type of candy, which would it be?

Thank God for the good weather!  Happy Halloween all you little monsters!

Contacts, Eyeglasses & The Cost Of Kids…

Yesterday the Twins went in for eye exams.  They have had glasses for some time, and we learned that if you go through a growth spurt, your vision will most likely change.  Taylor has worn glasses the longest, and she decided that it was time to give contacts a try.  Learning to put something in your eye and take it out is not an easy thing, and watching her determination to make progress makes me proud of her.  Alison chose a very funky pair of eyeglasses.  She is more of the “in the spotlight” type of personality, so she ordered some really cool frames and should have them next week, I love her confidence and how deeply she cares for people.  Yesterday we had Hope and Jack’s parent teacher conferences, and are thrilled with the positive reports about our kids!  They are all doing very well in school… not just good grades, but also very conscientious, friendly, and helpful in the classroom.  We are thrilled they are growing up to be such great people.

Jack started Lacrosse practice last night.  After nearly a year of not playing he did an awesome job!  His skills are definitely improving and I can’t wait to see how well he does this season.

All said, we have spent a bunch of money on all this stuff!  Kids are expensive!  Trish and I were looking at beds this week, our bed is old and bad and we would love to replace it, but contacts, eyeglasses, sports and the other things necessary for our kids mean that the bed may have to wait!  It is a worthwhile sacrifice; our kids mean the world to us!  And in spite of it all I can sleep well knowing they have what they need.  Kids are expensive, but the blessings of raising them outweigh all the sacrifices you will have to make.

Busy Week & Long Days

This week there is so much to do, and I am feeling a little overwhelmed!  Yesterday my day started at 5:00 AM with the dedication of the Special Ed department at a local school.  It was a great thing – this department is going to do so many good things for kids and families that are struggling, and the director has a great vision for the department.  But the day didn’t end there!  I got a lot of studying done and handled some important phone calls, then we had the twenty-somethings from our church over for dinner.  It was a lot of fun!  We played Wii, shared stories, and ate great food!  We will do this every other week to develop community and share life.  BUT they all didn’t leave until about 11:00 PM!  That made and incredibly long day, but it was very fun!

So today we have Parent-Teacher conferences first thing, then I need to keep working on the weekend message, work on refining the lease for the school, and begin preparations for a class for newcomers our church is having in early November.  All these require a great deal of focus and thought – not my strongest skills!  Tonight is the first practice of Jack’s winter indoor lacrosse season, and tomorrow afternoon we meet with the flooring specialist for the new building!  (Here is a picture of the building with the front siding installation, the front is finished now and they are starting on the back.  It will be stucco soon, but this is the under-layment for the process.)  It is a busy week!  Exciting, but busy, and I don’t see it letting up anytime soon!

Early Prayer

I was invited by the head of the counseling department at a local school to come and pray for their program this morning.  It is scheduled for 6:15 AM, and the funny thing is this is the only day of the week when I actually have a conflict at that time.  Usually I would be making coffee for Trish and I, making sure Jack is up, and watching the news, but not on Tuesdays.  On Tuesday’s I get up to go meet with some of the guys from church.  We have a good time talking about our weeks, our marriages, and God.  It is early but well worth it.  We haven’t been doing it long, maybe a month so far, but it is a good thing for all of us.  So today, I asked one of the other guys to facilitate the discussion and I will join them as soon as the prayer time at the school is over.

So right now it is 5:52 AM, I am running a little ahead of schedule and I thought I would blog before I leave instead of waiting until later and posting late.  Which probably means I will mess around on the computer for too long and then be late to the prayer!  I better get going… See ya tomorrow.

Thankful List

We are often quick to complain, get frustrated, and be critical. One of the ways to counter-act these bad tendencies is to create a Thankful List. Have you ever made one? How many things would you have on your list? I bet the first 5 or so would be easy; family, friends, life, etc., then it would get harder. I also think that once you got the hang of it you would begin filling pages with things you are thankful for! Go ahead, start your list and see how many things you can think of! How many Thankful List Items did you get? Does creating this kind of list change your occasional complaining, frustrated, critical attitudes?

Walls Go Up

The construction process has moved to enclosing the building! It is a long time in coming because we had some problems with the steel company not understanding the architectural drawings so they engineered it with big cross sections that covered the windows and doors! The building they shipped us had NO OPENINGS!!! Oops, I don’t understand how that happens, but I am not a steel building manufacturer either! So they have all the girders moved (after having to re-engineer the design – wind and snow loads are high here for a two story building) and they can begin putting up siding. It is a good thing because more snow could come anytime and we don’t need drifts inside the building! We will be planting trees and shrubs this weekend. I will post more pictures next week, but here are some of the trees, the HVAC system (you could crawl through these tubes!), some overhead recessed lighting, and just a cool architectural shot of all the framing. (click on pictures to enlarge)

enjoy and have a great weekend!

Drawing Near

Recently someone close to me asked me a thought provoking and difficult question… How do I get “it” back?

It seems to be a pretty common thing, someone that was raised in church that at one time had a vibrant life with God, somehow walked or was chased away. The distractions of life pile up like waves on a sea shore, or worse someone in the church hurts you, and you find yourself years later wondering what happened to that close connection with God. The fact that there are so many church people walking around judging others or putting up a standard that they cannot even live up to has hurt many people’s hearts enough that they give up. I remember walking away from my faith twice. Once in high school because it just didn’t fit into my lifestyle, and once in college where I was surrounded with people saying one thing and doing another. In college I was so turned off to the hypocrisy of “Christianity” I never thought I would go back to it. I was caught up in viewing Christianity as a religion, something to be practiced, but without heart, soul or passion. I have learned a lot since then.

I am not claiming to be an expert about God, I figure He is so big no one will ever have Him all figured out, but I also want to share some things with you that have helped me discover how a relationship with Christ is personal, active and life changing, and VERY different than practicing an empty religion. As I thought about this question I have realized that I went through a process, somewhat time consuming – it didn’t happen overnight, but it changed my thoughts about God and ultimately my life. Passion flowed back in, and I changed… here are the things I think made the difference:

1. I began praying. At first it felt really weird! Is there really a God and does He really care about me? Isn’t He too busy to listen to me of all people? But I did it anyway, and I began to realize that talking with Him was the first step in building trust and belief.

2. I was encouraged by a friend to study the Bible. I started with Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God Workbook (the workbook is better than the book). It was incredibly challenging and opened my eyes to a God that actually wanted to be involved in my life! It got me into the Bible and opened my eyes to what it says about God’s love, grace and mercy.

3. I began to be involved in a men’s group. They met REALLY EARLY in the morning, and it was a huge sacrifice of sleep to get there, but it allowed me a safe place to work out some of the principles I was discovering. I still cherish that time as I think about those guys from years ago.

4. I had to give things away. When I was so focused on my stuff or my time, I became too self-centered. I learned that giving things, money or the hardest – my time, helped me not only prioritize my life and the things in my life, but proved my commitment to a new way of living. It reminded me how blessed I was, how needy others are, and how I needed to realize it is all God’s anyway. My life is sustained only because He gives me breath, life, and meets my physical needs. That was a hard one for someone as self-sufficient as I am, and still is…

5. I read good books. Recently I have found some INCREDIBLE books that inspire and open my eyes to the chasms of my heart that need bridges to cross over… the two I recommend right now are Vince Antonucci’s “I Became A Christian And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt” and Brennen Manning’s “Ragamuffin Gospel.” Both deal with pertinent issues of trusting God and finding your bearings in today’s world in a way that is easy to read, identify with and gain traction for living.

I don’t know where you are in your faith journey, but I do know that God desires your heart, fully and completely, not distracted by anything or holding anything back. Pain and hurt, joy or suffering, selfishness and all, He can take it and work through it with you. Putting some of these disciplines in your life, even if it doesn’t “feel” good, even if it feels mechanical at first, will eventually lead to breakthrough with God. He meets you in it, He doesn’t leave you hanging… give it a try and see what happens…

Wait For It…

This time of the year here in Colorado, everyone is building with anticipation. The first snowfall is one of celebration, a reminder to everyone that the seasons are in fact changing… It starts in the mountains where the overnight lows have been low enough for snow for about two weeks, and eventually on or before Halloween we have snow. This time of year anything goes… you never know if you need short sleeves or long, or just a heavy winter coat! It is a teaser to all those that love winter sports, skiing, snowboarding, sledding, and even those most opposed to winter love the freshness of the first snow of the season. Personally, I look forward to the first one that is big enough to shovel, make my car slip around, and mute the shapes of everything it piles up on – then after that I have had enough! They say it is going to be a tough winter, I hope not – we have a building to finish, although it should be closed in soon. We are projecting a January open date providing no major snow delays!

So here it is… the first picture of snow on our porch of the season… a pretty weak amount, about the same we had in Dallas once and it shut down the whole city! About the only thing this one was good for was getting Jack out of bed! “Jack it snowed! Come see!” And he popped up out of bed – a feat usually only reserved for Saturdays and early summer mornings of fishing with Grandpa, but I’ll use all the help I can get. Then I’ll blog about it!

My Girls At The Palin Rally

Yesterday my Twin’s 9th grade class went to the Palin rally in Colorado Springs. It was a great time for them. They wound up at first in the field, way in the back, until a Secret Service person approached them and asked them if they would like to be closer to the stage behind Sarah Palin. They or course agreed, and he escorted them up to be RIGHT BEHIND the stage! They had the opportunity to see the Palin family up close, and even talk some with Piper. We watched from home and saw both of them and some of their classmates on TV. It was very exciting! Here are the pictures from the rally, and one from the TV network. My daughter Taylor is the one wearing red, right below Sarah’s right hand, and in front of the white Palin sign. Alison was talking with Piper, so you can see her turning around to talk. Alison got a great shot of “Sarah’s really cute high heels” but I will spare you that picture… the shoes didn’t do much for me.

It was a great experience for them… they are quite blessed!

Wii Fit

Yesterday, as part of pastor appreciation month, the church gave me a Wii Fit. We had wanted one, so this was quite a blessing. Right after lunch we set it up, and everyone took turns playing! It was a lot of fun! The favorite so far is hula-hoop. But we have also walked tight ropes, done yoga, run a race, slalom skied, ski jumped! I am sure there is more but I cannot remember them all! It makes being active a lot of fun… it does however poke fun at you. It has told us to cut down on afternoon snacks!

The best part was that we were all together cheering each other on and laughing at the game. We haven’t had a video game do that ever! We probably played for two and a half hours. Then the kids had to do homework and get ready for Monday morning. The twins class is going to see Sarah Palin speak this morning. That should be a lot of fun for them!

We wanted to say to our church, Thank you so much for the Wii Fit, hopefully it will continue to bring us together and improve our health all at the same time! We really appreciate it!