My Son's Favorite Birthday Present

When I was a kid, I always felt sorry for the kids who had a summer birthday. No one was ever around for a party. They could not bring snacks to school.

My son has a summer birthday, right around Independence Day, no less. He has never really had a great birthday party. (Sure, one year, we were in Washington, DC for his birthday.) This past Sunday was his birthday. He got two great presents. First, his sister (our daughter) was put on a plane and sent to grandma's house for three weeks. Second, he got to go to Chuck E. Cheese's, where he burned through 100 tokens. It must be great to be eight.

Father's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day. Normally, I am not a huge fan of these Hallmark holidays. Father's Day takes on a new meaning every year, as I try, imperfectly, to raise my children. I am also reminded about my dad's influence on me and my kids.

My dad has been declining in recent years, but I have a wealth of memories and lessons that he taught me, imperfectly. My dad is a man of integrity. He is a man of upstanding character. He is a man of silent strength. My dad is a man of even temperament.

Fathers, even mine, are imperfect. They fail us from time to time. As a father, I have failed my kids. The important thing is love. In all we do, we must love our children.

Proud of my Daughter

I am so proud of my daughter (in a holy way).

I have contended for some time that the Gospel is less about hearing than it is about doing. James says "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." (James 1:22, NIV).

My daughter has spent the last several months knitting stocking hats for an orphanage in Ukraine. The effects cold weather they experience is lessened by the hats they wear. My mother-in-law taught her how to knit (I certainly didn't have a clue how to do it). She has enthusiastically kept up a good pace and finished about a dozen. I was sure she would do one or two then give up, but she stuck to it.

The hats are knitted out of your run of the mill yarn. It takes her an hour or so to knit a hat, which she often does while watching TV.

She is a doer of the Word rather than a mere hearer of the Word. It is one thing to hear about babies in Ukraine with cold heads, and it's quite another to actually take the time and effort to do something.

Let's not only hear the Word. Let's do it.

Reflections on having a 10 year old

I am not old enough to have a ten year old, but nonetheless my oldest child is now one decade old. It seems like yesterday I woke up in haze to my wife saying, "I think my water broke!" What a shock that was.

I think back over the changes of the last 10 years, and then I look ahead. My oldest will 20 in another 10 years. It seems like the last 10 years have been a blur. I can only imagine what the next 10 will be.

Enjoy the kids while you have them. Savor each stage of life. Don't rush things. Like Ferris Buehler said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."

Feeding the hungry

Our last official act as the pastor of our church was to serve lunch at the community shelter. Our new church is eager to pick up the torch here, which is great.

Jesus spoke about feeding the hungry when we talked about the sheep and goats. His brother, James wrote about faith in action using the example of feeding the hungry. In effect, James says that we are useless to God when we tell a hungry person, "Good luck with your food search." How useless is that? It doesn't do one single thing to fill their stomach.

My goal is to be someone who is used by God. What good am I if I stay locked up in the church never to touch the people that are hurting and hungry.

I want to share this with my kids. We took them. It was great. They were great. They loved it. They really liked helping others. My daughter commented how much she appreciated what she had.

I have never met anyone who wasn't moved or affected by helping those in need. I've never heard anyone that didn't want to help again.