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Easter's Bad Rap

3/27/2017

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Christmas definitely hired a better PR agent! We like Christmas better than Easter. The Christmas story is happy and there's lots of anticipation and presents. Easter is bloody and gloomy. We like happy. We avoid bloody. Yet, our preference of Christmas over Easter is encouraged by misunderstandings of both holy days. What did we miss? 

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Forgive In Your Heart

9/17/2014

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Picture1 Corinthians 15:17
When our kids fight one another or when I lose my cool with them or my wife, it is more than a temporary upheaval and pain in the neck. It is an opportunity to demonstrate the process of forgiveness. This is related to my last post about the word "sorry." 

It has become popular to think we should just "forgive each other in our hearts." Forgiveness is highly misunderstood and debated among Christians. What is forgiveness?


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Stop Saying You're Sorry!

8/27/2014

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An angry brother hits his sister. Siblings call each other names. Mom snaps at Dad over dinner. We often teach our kids to solve these conflicts with little more than the magical, amazing word, "Sorry." Before long, the kids begin to believe it can even make the consequences for their choices disappear (since it often does), so they use it...a lot! 

We have taught our kids to stop using the word "Sorry." Well, sort of. 


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The Wonder in the Details

6/5/2014

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We all have our baggage. We carry our past around with us and some of it we wish we could get rid of and forget. Other parts of our past seem so wonderful, we long to go back to the "good ole days." 

Is that really how we should assess our lives? Are we missing something?

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Skating on Banana Peels

5/30/2014

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From Westminster Seminary article by Bill Mounce. Click on the picture for part 1 of this 4-part series, "What We Do with the Bible." Then click on "Bill Mounce" in the righthand column to find the other parts. Worth the read!

After waking up one morning, my daughter said, "I dreamed I was skating through their house on banana peels."
Hearing the word their, I asked, "Whose house?"
"Your house."
"Whose house?" I slowly asked again.
"Oh, our house," she corrected.

We hear this often. She refers to our family in the third person as if she is not a part of it. Tomorrow will mark two years since her and her brother's adoption was finalized. They have lived with us for more than two years now. What are we doing wrong? What are we missing that keeps her from feeling like she is part of the family?

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The Loveless Martyr

5/25/2014

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I feel slighted when the kids do not immediately say "Thank you" when I do the daily grind of providing for them in multiple ways. Be it meals, cleaning the house, yard work, making their lunches, teaching them life skills, etc. Why can't they just say thanks or show a little gratitude?

One of the hats I wear is that of a stay-at-home dad. Because of the thankless days, I can feel slighted because they don't seem to appreciate my sacrifices for them. I can feel anger and unappreciated. I can feel like it's a worthless use of my time and energy because they aren't responding to it. This can easily transition to me letting them know how much I "sacrifice" for them. Then I play the martyr, the martyr of manipulation, but...


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Jake's Watering Hole

5/15/2014

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PictureWikipedia
I had a real taste for beer during my college days. I went to school in Charleston, South Carolina and that town provided plenty of locations in which I could indulge. There are plenty of bars and watering holes to choose from in the downtown area.

But in all of those weekends out on the town, I never found a watering hole I was willing to call home. You know, like Norm in that old TV show Cheers. A place where "everybody knows your name." 

Ironically, I found out I was looking in the wrong places for such a watering hole! I discovered the perfect place! Here's why...


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Thank God I Have a "Honey-Do List"

4/21/2014

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I have THREE, 3, dripping faucets at once. Two of them are showers so I'll have to turn the water off to the whole house to replace the stems. The grass needs mowing...again. (Stupid grass). A van to fix. Trees that need to come down and be cut up. I have to get a TV out of the attic to sell in the church yard sale this weekend. (Stupid TV!) 

All of this and more is on my Honey-Do list. That's on top of all the other responsibilities on my plate.

Had to vent. What do you need to vent about?....


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The Cube

4/13/2014

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This final week before Easter is a great time to remember the true reason for this Holiday. I was introduced to this cube by a great friend and pastor. I have used it and it's hard for people to take their eyes off of it. It helps us remember the reason for this special day.

Below is a video of how it shares the Easter story. I hope it is helpful to you and gets you into the Easter spirit. There is so much to celebrate this week and so much for which we need to be thankful. God loves us more than we know, but not everyone experiences that love. The cube is an interesting way of explaining how we can begin to experience that love. For other ideas to get into the Easter spirit, check out this post from last year.

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Response to "American Girl: Princess to Promiscuous...Why Our Daughters Are Having Sex"

4/8/2014

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This is a response to a provocative blog post by Serena DeGarmo on her A Wordy Woman's blog. The post definitely hits on an exceedingly important issue for our daughters and our parenting in the current culture. She has also written about the boy version of this issue.

The approach Serena takes is controversial as seen in the comments. It is a quick, direct post. Single blog posts cannot adequately unpack the issue. With that stated, here are some possible places I would expand the discussion and get us as parents thinking intentionally about preparing our children for their sexual choices as teens and adults.


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  • Home
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