So today I drove to Florence, KY (1 & 1/2 hours) to do another quiz demonstration. Bible quizzing, that is. I had a lot of fun. First, I ate lunch with the Luxon family. Their two oldest children, Kyria and William, are both eager to quiz and want to aim for Internationals. That's pretty cool, considering that this is the first year in a while that KY will have quizzing at all.
Then we went to their church and met several other families whose kids may want to be involved. One of the ladies had 11 kids (but had only brought 7)! Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun trying out the quizzing, especially one of the boys... he quizzed out several times. We had a ninth grader there, and I would love for him to quiz. We'll see. We're starting small, but it looks like we're starting. I'm so excited!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
5:03 am
Well, it's one of those nights. Not a bad night. But a night, nonetheless, when I find myself awake quite a bit earlier than I would have chosen to be awake.
Michael's awake. He woke up to eat at about 4 am, and then he wouldn't go back to sleep. Not that he's upset. He's been very easy for me to take care of. He's just... awake. And now he has the hiccups.
Emma woke up for a little while, too. She was letting out some shrieks (the spelling of shrieks doesn't look quite right at this time in the morning, by the way) every now and then, so I put Michael down in his swing and went in to check on her. She seemed very alert, and immediately asked for water. We had a nice little talk, with Emma saying "Daddy" about 10 times in a row, then talking about mommy and cereal for a little while before we hugged and she went back to sleep. It was the best hug ever.
Some days, I guess it's worth being up at 5:03 am.
Michael's awake. He woke up to eat at about 4 am, and then he wouldn't go back to sleep. Not that he's upset. He's been very easy for me to take care of. He's just... awake. And now he has the hiccups.
Emma woke up for a little while, too. She was letting out some shrieks (the spelling of shrieks doesn't look quite right at this time in the morning, by the way) every now and then, so I put Michael down in his swing and went in to check on her. She seemed very alert, and immediately asked for water. We had a nice little talk, with Emma saying "Daddy" about 10 times in a row, then talking about mommy and cereal for a little while before we hugged and she went back to sleep. It was the best hug ever.
Some days, I guess it's worth being up at 5:03 am.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Thinking too hard
Does anyone else ever find that too much time spent thinking can be depressing? I find that recently I have spent too much time thinking in a way that winds up negative.
For instance, when I'm thinking about my relationship with God, I keep thinking about how to "perfect" my prayers. I put a great deal of pressure on myself to grow. And yet Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." My prayer life will probably never be perfect, though I will grow. But the point is to come to Him - the point is not to approach Jesus in a certain way, other than by faith that He provides everything, yes, EVERYTHING, I need.
When I'm thinking about parenting, I get down on myself because I could be so much better a father. And I sit there and beat myself up for my failures, trying to discipline myself mentally to be a better dad.
The irony with both of these is that I get all stressed out about thinking about how to improve when I could be actually praying or playing with and parenting Emma. In these cases, as in most of life, doing what you have learned is good is the best policy. I create so much more struggle for myself thinking about how to pray and parent better. But when I get on my knees and just pray, or when I get down on the floor and just play with Emma, much of the stress disappears AND I improve in the areas I'm concerned about.
If you know me, of course, you know I'm not against thinking. Still, "be doers of the word, and not hearers only..."
For instance, when I'm thinking about my relationship with God, I keep thinking about how to "perfect" my prayers. I put a great deal of pressure on myself to grow. And yet Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." My prayer life will probably never be perfect, though I will grow. But the point is to come to Him - the point is not to approach Jesus in a certain way, other than by faith that He provides everything, yes, EVERYTHING, I need.
When I'm thinking about parenting, I get down on myself because I could be so much better a father. And I sit there and beat myself up for my failures, trying to discipline myself mentally to be a better dad.
The irony with both of these is that I get all stressed out about thinking about how to improve when I could be actually praying or playing with and parenting Emma. In these cases, as in most of life, doing what you have learned is good is the best policy. I create so much more struggle for myself thinking about how to pray and parent better. But when I get on my knees and just pray, or when I get down on the floor and just play with Emma, much of the stress disappears AND I improve in the areas I'm concerned about.
If you know me, of course, you know I'm not against thinking. Still, "be doers of the word, and not hearers only..."
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Emma
A couple of days ago, Emma kept running up to me and throwing her arms around me, giving me big bear hugs. Very sweet, very cute.
Right now she's looking at the computer with me, asking me to bring up pictures of her various grandparents. She loves to see them. She also enjoys some very basic computer games, but (thankfully) she's not asking about those right now.
We found a play tent for her at the thrift store, and one of Emma's greatest pleasures is diving into the tent, then peeking out for a game of peek-a-boo. She also enjoys a kind of game of tag, running in one side of the tent and out the other. And sometimes she just grabs a bunch of books and her mini etch-a-sketch, relaxing in the tent and playing by herself.
Anyway, the hugs from the other day sealed it for me: I had to let everyone know how much fun Emma is. For pictures, see http://emmarachel.blogspot.com.
Right now she's looking at the computer with me, asking me to bring up pictures of her various grandparents. She loves to see them. She also enjoys some very basic computer games, but (thankfully) she's not asking about those right now.
We found a play tent for her at the thrift store, and one of Emma's greatest pleasures is diving into the tent, then peeking out for a game of peek-a-boo. She also enjoys a kind of game of tag, running in one side of the tent and out the other. And sometimes she just grabs a bunch of books and her mini etch-a-sketch, relaxing in the tent and playing by herself.
Anyway, the hugs from the other day sealed it for me: I had to let everyone know how much fun Emma is. For pictures, see http://emmarachel.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
My favorite people
So here are my favorite people in the whole wide world, and I'm blessed to have them in a picture with me. My beautiful wife is Christy, my spunky daughter is Emma, and my beefy boy is Michael.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Someone said that xanga...
Well, I had started to publish a blog under the same name at Xanga, but someone just told me that xanga is really intended more for singles who are trying to hook up. Since I'm not single, and since I'm not trying to hook up with anyone, I thought I should post my thoughts on another site - just to avoid any confusion.
Someone may read this and say, "Wait a minute. That's not what xanga's for!" You may be right. But that is one issue I am too lazy to research further. Besides, I like the look of my site better here. So unless blogger.com is intended for psychotic serial killers to use, I'll stay here.
Someone may read this and say, "Wait a minute. That's not what xanga's for!" You may be right. But that is one issue I am too lazy to research further. Besides, I like the look of my site better here. So unless blogger.com is intended for psychotic serial killers to use, I'll stay here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
