I Keep Good Company

It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our daily routines. Mandi gets up and goes to work about 6:30. Usually at that time of the morning everyone is still wiping the sleep out of our eyes (We don't accomplish much before about 10 o'clock.) But today was a little different. She didn't have to be there quite that early and she sat with Landon at the kitchen table and made this. We are lucky to have a mommy like her that will take time out to do little things like this first thing in the morning. We love you!!

Just BE

I just finished reading this book by Christine Caine. It was awesome!! Challenging, thought provoking, and encouraging. At the end she put together a list of things to "BE" as part of her 31 day Selah study.

Here they are:

BE: Whole

BE: Christlike

BE: A Pilgrim

BE: Generous

BE: Relational

BE: Intimate

BE: Grateful

BE: Content

BE: Prepared

BE: Obedient

BE: Loved

BE: Transformed

BE: Fruitful

BE: Authentic

BE: Brainwashed

BE: Intentional

BE: Determined

BE: Genuine

BE: The Church

BE: Salt

BE: Compassionate

BE: A Light

BE: Focused

BE: Different

BE: Advancing

BE: A Solution

BE: Memorable

BE: Responsible

BE: Vocal

BE: Interruptible

BE: A Christian

Childhood Memories

There are some traits of humans that we have to learn to do and there are some that just come natural and we don't have to think about. For example. We don't have to teach our kids to breathe, we do however have to teach them how to hit a baseball. We do NOT have to teach them when they are done drinking a Capri Sun to blow it up like a balloon. Landon had her juice this morning and it brought back a great childhood memory when she blew it up at the end. Just glad she didn't slam her hands on it like I used to do to get the straw to fly out.

Beatboxing

I could so do this:

If the other guy was good enough to do both parts.

Side note: I really like the dude on the rights shirt.

Ice Cream

Want a peak into our house after dinner time. Here is Landon finishing the very last drop of ice cream. She does it after every bowl.

Happy Dad's Day

To all the amazing dads that I know: Happy Fathers Day!

And to Landon and Lillian: thank you for being the most precious daughters that a dad could ever have the privilege of raising.

Girls,

I want to tell you that you are what make this day special. You are the reason I get to walk a little taller and with my chest out a little farther when you are with me. You girls make my day every morning and make me thank God every night for what He has given me.

I love you,

Daddy

Awkward

We recently attended a friend's wedding at an Asian art gallery and it was absolutely beautiful. So we got this picture of us. Mandi handed her camera (the good one) to a friend to capture this shot. It is the only picture of us together from the night and that is why I had to share it. Remember how I said it was at an art gallery, and remember the name of the post "awkward", now check out the statue in the background. I think that is a naked man with a bow and arrow. Not exactly how I have always pictured cupid and his arrow. But we are in love and he can be our cupid.

What We Learned This Week:

What a week!!!

This week we spent close to 35 hours at church for our Mini Camp. And every single one of them was worth it. We had so much fun and learned so many great things:

- Landon learned all about the walls of Jericho and the importance of obeying

- Lillian learned to take naps in a room with other kids. This is something I thought I would never see my little curious one do, she is into everything.

- Landon learned how to squirt a water gun and how fun it is to squirt her pastor with that water gun.

- I learned that a walkie talkie can survive a direct shot from a water gun.

- Landon learned how to lick the pudding off the foil lid.

- Lillian learned that she likes banana popsicles

And more than anything we learned that we work with an amazing group of people who have a tremendous love for our kids and for our church.

Space Camp. GO!!

This thing is gonna rock! Lets do it!

My Camper

This is her goofy smile if you couldn't tell. She is all ready to go to camp this morning. She has been telling me all morning everything that she did yesterday and all that she is going to do today at church. Don't tell her that the camp is only for the kindergartners and first graders :) because in her mind it is all about her! It is an hour before we have to leave and she is lunch in one hand and cup of water in the other. She has her Capri Sun and Lunchable packed and ready to go. I love that she is so enthusiastic about going to church and feel truly blessed that we are part of church that cares so much about our children.

Vuvuzela

If you have never heard the sound that these things make just turn on the World Cup. They are loud and ANNOYING. Tony Realli from Around The Horn (my favorite sports show) described them as the sound of a flatulent elephant. And that is pretty accurate. I can't help but wonder what would happen if I were to bring one into our house. We have a flute the girls play and it takes a lot of self control not to hide it every day. For sure this thing wouldn't make it till night fall.

BE: A Pilgram

Many people when they look for inspirational words will quote Shakespeare...

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts."

Sounds romantic, but boy did he miss the ball on that one. Life isn't all about acting it is about doing. It is about being on a pilgrimage. Like throw on your top hat, grab your cornucopia, and get going. It is about being a wanderer and just "being."

We are told our call to action about being Pilgrims on a journey in 1 Peter 2:11-12.

Today I am reflecting on my reading and the Bible verse that I read. But I learned something else today. While reading Landon asked me if she could read. So I read aloud to her from my devotional. I know she didn't get it (anything more that Dr. Seuss is over her head) but it was nice to hear the words out loud. It made them seem more real and more alive. It was nice.

BE: Christlike

Today I am reflecting on what the motives were for all that Christ did while he was on Earth. He did many amazing things; healed, delivered, fed, clothed, led, and all where rooted in one emotion: Compassion. Jesus didn't do anything outwardly until He was led inwardly to make a move.
So today's selah raised a great question

When you think about imitating Jesus, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you think about reproducing His actions, or do you consider His inner motives and attitude?

When I think about answering that question it hits close to home. I have been thinking about "things" that I would like to do. When I dig deep into those thoughts I realize they are about the action without the motivation. They are about the results without the personal transformation. But when I flip the thoughts around, and think about what I am compassionate about, I realize that there are many "things" that I am already doing that are motivated by compassion for others.

Sneak Peek

Today was one of those days that I was reminded of how much I rely on my wife to get home from work and save me from my crazy days. She had to work late so I was all on my own until after bed time. (Oh so sweet bed time!) She is normally home for dinner, baths, story time, teeth brushing, and bed time. Tonight it was a one man show, and I survived to blog about it. This is a picture of just one corner of the living room in all its glory just before bed:

I would show you more but when Mandi did make it home from work she would for sure kill me. Now off to clean a little before she gets here......

Selah

Well this is back to the basics. While reading a book by Christine Caine I realized my blog is about to go full circle and back to the basics.
When I started this blog it was to journal while I was doing my daily devotional. And in the past few months I have gotten away from that. I am not going to stop blogging about my personal experiences and doings of the family. But I will be getting back to my daily devotional and journaling about my spiritual growth.
She suggested taking an example from the book of Psalms and enjoying a time to reflect. The psalmist often uses the term "selah" which is thought to mean to stop and take a time to reflect and think. So that is what I will be doing.

The book I am reading is "Stop Acting Like A Christian, And Just Be One."
The 31 day devotional is all about how and what to BE.

Day 1.
BE: Whole

Today was all about being whole. Not just being a Christian on the outside, but being full of layers. The innermost layer of our soul should be completely Christ like. We can become consumed with putting on layers that make us look Christ like but until we are transformed at our core those layer can be stripped away and we are left looking empty.

Today I am reflecting on taking off empty layers and building into the layers of substance.

Kids Workshop

Today was Kid's Workshop day at Home Depot. We missed last month so we were extra excited about today. Only problem was mommy had to work this morning so it was me and the girls. Girls - plural. Outnumbered. And I knew the big one was going to armed with a hammer, glue, and an I can do it myself attitude. But we did it anyway and I am glad we did. It is so much fun to see how excited Landon gets when she gets done with her project. Mommy wasn't there so this is the only action pic I could take quickly on my camera while juggling the madness:

Here are the girls once we got home. Landon is teaching her sister how to play foosball.

And here is why Lillian likes to go.....FREE POPCORN!

It was a great time, we can't wait for next month......

Arboretum

My girls!!

I wonder how they all stayed out of the waterfall. Our luck is that one or all of them would have ended up in there. But they all stayed dry, and they are all beautiful.

6 Years!!

We had a wonderful night Sunday for our anniversary. And by the pictures you can tell that we are wild and crazy kids.

This is us about to go into dinner. There is no pictures from inside the restaurant (I don't know how Mandi could let that happen.) We went to Kobe Steak and it was wonderful. There were no other people at our table so the chef cooked for just us. Food was yummy and the companionship was great.
From there we went and rented "The Blind Side" from Red Box. It is rare that we get to watch a movie that isn't a cartoon so this was nice. We where going to go to the theater but 10 o'clock was WAY to late.

Then we hit up a family favorite. Orange Leaf Yogurt. We grabbed this to take home and eat while we watched our movie. It was kinda weird to not have 2 extra spoons attacking our food while we tried to eat it.

I even through some sprinkles in mine to remember my girls.

It was a great night with a wonderful wife. I am in love with this woman and I can't wait to see what the rest of our years have in store for us.

Can't Take Her Anywhere

Try and take this girl out for dinner and a movie and apparently this is what she is doing in the passenger seat while you take a quick phone call: