No Compartments

I came accross this while reading Kary Oberbrunners book Called.

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both. --Francois Auguste Rene Chateaubriand

I am BLESSED

I don't know if you ever have one of those moments where you realize how blessed you are, but I had one of them last night. One of those times when you don't want it to end, you just want to sit and soak as much up as you can. In fact if time stopped for a while you really would mind. My incredibly awesome wife had the idea of going on a hike last night. It wasn't planned. In fact it was about 6:00pm when she suggested it. We grabbed a backpack and ten minutes later we were hiking up a mountain. It was great, in fact near the top we were all (including Asher, actually he is the one who tipped us off to it because he had is head cranked all the way back and was just staring at the sky) silently looking at the beautiful pink and orange clouds. It was awesome but the thing that struck me the most was on our hike we were laughing and goofing around, and just enjoying each other. I remember looking at these two people with me and thinking of how blessed I am to have them. I could have taken this hike alone, but it was so much better with them with me. In fact everything is better when they are with me. I have truly been blessed both when I was young and now with this thing called family. What a picture it gives me of this family that God has invited me into.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds his peace in his home. -- Goethe

Check out what my wife is thankful for. Thankful Thursdays

Stuff

After reading my wifes blog I thought I would contribute to her Thankful Thursdays. I have to tell you I am truly thankful for this old dresser that sits in our bed room.

My wife has had this thing for I don't know how long, and it was her parents before that. It is showing it's age. It is missing handles, the drawers don't quite slide in right, and if your not careful when you move it you will end up with the top of the dresser in your hands and the rest still sitting on the ground. (I believe it was due to some sort of moving accident on the highway:0) Not to mention hazard of getting caught on a stray screw abandoned by its fellow nob. Don't get me wrong it still works wonderfully for what it was made to do, but it has seen better days.

And yet I love this thing. Some day it will most likely get replaced by a newer nicer dresser, or maybe not. But one of the things I love about this thing is that it reminds me of my needs. I am blessed with so much more than I could have ever imagined. I have an incredible family, beautiful wife, amazing son, live in a breathtaking place, have wonderful friends, work with an awesome church, and have a relationship with the creator of the universe. I think these are the things that matter. And for these things I am truly grateful. I can honestly say that I don't want to live my life for some wood held together by some screws, or some metal red paint and rubber tires, or tv that won't fit on my wall, or even the home to put it in. I'm not saying I don't like these things, I do, and I'm not saying they are wrong either, but I have to make sure they are not the focus of my life.

...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13

I want my life to be characterized not by the things I have or what I have done, but rather why I've done it, and what it's been used for.

“Jesus, please teach me to appreciate what I have before time forces me to appreciate what I had.” Susan L. Lenzkes

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonian 5:16-18

I Agree With Gandhi

"You Christians look after a document contain enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down, and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of good literature." -- Mohandas Gandhi

A Praying Parent

I haven't read a lot from Chip Ingram, but what I have read I love. I have been praying for Asher and any other children that God may bless us with, I recently came across a prayer that really captures my heart and passion.

"Lord, will you help me to cooperate with You so we can work together on this gift You've entrusted to me? Will you help me prepare this vessel to be filled with your Spirit, so that in ten, twenty, thirty years this child loves and trusts You, knows Your grace, and has values and convictions that reflect Your heart?" --Chip Ingram

Resource Books on Parenting

A few weeks back our church had a parenting workshop. It was great and I thought I would pass along a list of resources the Cockson's gave us. I have no read them all but I intend to check out as many as possible since being a father and husband is one of the most important tasks I have.

Book Title Authors
Bible
The Power of a Praying Parent Stormie Omartian
The Power of a Praying Wife Stormie Omartian
Shepherding a Child's Heart Ted Tripp
The Five Love Languages of Children Gary Chapman and Rose Campbell
Unlocking Your Child's Learning Potential Cherri Fuller
Different Children Different Needs Charles F. Boyd
The Way They Learn Cynthia Ridge Tobias
For Instruction in Righteousness Pam Forester
Skills Evaluation For Home School Rebecca L. Avery
What Every Child Should Know Along The Way Gail Martin
Age Of Opportunity Paul David Tripp
Sacred Parenting Garry L. Thomas
Effective Parenting In A Defective World Chip Ingram
Growing Kid's God's Way Gary and Marie Ezzo
Dare To Discipline James Dobson
Leaving A Godly Legacy Charles Stanley
Love Must Be Tough James Dobson
The Heart of Anger Lou Privolo
Leaving The Light On Gary Smalley and John Trent
Parenting Isn't For Cowards James Dobson
The Wisdom Of Fenelon Fenelon (Mark Hamby reprint)
The Danger Of Raising Nice Kids Timothy Smith
Romancing Romancing Your Child's Heart Monte Swan
Bringing Up Boys James Dobson
Faith Training Joe White
The Gift Of The Blessing Gary Smalley and John Trent
Praying For The Next Generation Sally Michael
Raising A Modern Day Night Robert Lewis
Teaching To Change Lives Howard Hendricks
Proverbs For Parenting

Sacred Parenting

"When I prayed only for protection, I had to fight off fear. When I prayed merely for God to change them, I lost sight of their strengths. Thanking God for them and specifically meditating on those qualities in their lives for which I am grateful has given me a much greater appreciation for the privilege of living with these children." -- Gary L. Thomas

Give em a brake

It happened last night. I mean it happens to everyone at some point or another. Sometimes you know it is coming. Other times it comes out of nowhere. This was probably a little of both I guess. I just saw the signs too late. There I was, the next car to turn in what has become one of the busiest intersections in Boulder (with a little help from a mess of road construction, and the fact that it was about 6:00pm) when all of a sudden my dash lights start to blink and my car began to sputter. I was hoping the guy in front of me would hurry to turn so I could follow him and quickly get out of the intersection, but I guess he didn't feel the same urgency. After trying to keep my car from rolling with the emergency brake while keeping the car revved up and the clutch held in (which is all a little tough on a hill in a manual transmission, with one hand out of commission in a cast) you guessed it, it died. And it wasn't going to start again no matter how much I wanted it too.

I don't know if you have ever seen that commercial where the guy tries to pay for his food with cash rather than a credit card like everybody else and the whole place goes out of whack, but that came to mind for me at this point. Cars begin honking, tempers begin to raise, and I begin receiving the nicest looks ever, you know the kind that really make your day. Needless to say I called my wife who was in another town at the time to come and tow me out of this situation with our other car. A humiliating hour later we had pulled my car three blocks away to my home.

After reading some from the Bible this morning I was reminded of so many things I can learn from this wonderful experience. One, interruptions happen all the time, and it is not as much of what has happened as much as it is how am I going to react and what am I going to do with it. Another, was the fact that Jesus was always stopping to help people, people and situations that were not written into the day planner. In the hour that I was sitting helplessly in the intersection only one guy stopped to help. One out of hundreds that passed by. It really got me to thinking how many people I ignored because I, "didn't have time", or I "had to be somewhere", or "I just wanted to get home." Him offering help meant the world to me, and I want to share God's love and care with others in the same way. So thanks Julie for helping me out. Thanks you too, whoever you are, the one guy who stopped. And may this be a reminder to me to take advantage of interruptions that God allows in my journey, because I know I have many more to look forward to. I think I will close out this post with some words from Bleach.

Code of the Road

Just suppose this old car sputtered down the road...Just suppose
this old car--It refused to go...Wouldn't you hope that someone
would care enough to stop...And help you out...I'd like to think
that someone would take the time to stop...And help you out ~
It's the code, it's the code it's the Code of the Road...It's the
code, it's the Code of the Road...On the side of the road maybe
you'd like to know...A Hand is there, a Hand that cares...It's
the Code of the Road ~ Don't you know--everyone breaks down along
the road...Don't you know--everybody hurts along the road...
Wouldn't you hope that someone would care enough to stop...And
help you out...I'd like to think that someone would care enough
to stop...And help you out ~ In my weakness, Jesus cared enough
to stop...And help me out.

More reading on this topic.