Sometimes I am just overwhelmingly blessed at how really, really great my kids are.
Sometimes it takes hearing about some of the difficulties other parents are experiencing with their kids to make me stop for a moment and really appreciate just how very blessed my wife and I have been. That our children have tended to make good choices as they are growing and learning can only be a testament to God's incomparable grace.
Some might say that it is because we have been good parents, and while I certainly try to appreciate the compliment, in my mind and heart I know that I (we) have made so many mistakes along the way that it really has little to do with me (us).
What brought this to mind and made me consider this was having a dear friend, who was looking very troubled, share with me the difficulties his son is having in college (failing two classes this spring semester). Not that my friend's son is a bad young man in any way, it is just that he struggles applying himself to college and not taking seriously the consequences for his lack of self-discipline (and the dad is footing most of the bill for college). This young man has missed classes because of oversleeping, not sought out help from the profs or TAs, and has not tried to find others to study with, but he is blaming the professors and how hard the classes are, and everything but himself for his failure. It breaks my heart for this young man and for my friend. My friend is a very responsible man. I know my friend has not raised his son to be irresponsible like this. He has tried and tried to teach his son how to be responsible. Also, it isn't because the young man is not capable - he had all A's and B's the fall semester of this school year.
I'm really praying that this summer will be a time of maturing for my friend's son. This young man is going on a Summer Project with Campus Crusade which is a missionary project to a big city. I am praying and trusting for the the Lord use this time and place as an opportunity for this young man to grasp hold of the maturity that he is called to as a young man - putting away childish things.
- As I consider this one instance, I remember that my daughter, a college freshman, who has struggled (though not failed) in one class all year, and try as she might, she just hasn't been able to do well on the tests, and she will have to take the classes over to be able to get into nursing clinicals. The difference - she has continued to try even when she may have really wanted to give up; and she has A's and B's in every other class.
- I also consider my son who just finished his junior year of college and has been on the dean's list every semester. He's a bright young man, but he also applies himself diligently even when he doesn't like or agree with what he has been assigned. He absolutely detests what he considers busy work, but he does it anyway.
- Finally, I consider my youngest just finishing her sophomore year of high school. She pours herself into working hard to get good grades. She participates in extracurricular activities and has had a job for the last year.
These are but illustrations of each of them and their many positive qualities.
By the way... I am not paying for my kid's college. Not because I don't value college, rather I very much do. We have set our kids up that college is what they will do after they finish high school. It isn't really an option. It's just that I believe if they have to work for all of it, then they will appreciate their investment in themselves like I appreciate having to work my way through college.
Each of my children have wonderful, tender hearts that long to follow after the Lord and what could a God-loving, God-fearing parent desire more for their child.
Thank you Lord God that you have blessed my wife and I with great kids.
We can never express it enough.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Recapping 'Life of Late'
Post of the month? It's sort of early in the month yet, so we'll see.
My last post noted my busyness of late.
* Work has still been very, very busy.
* I made the time and went skiing with my daughters Monday and Tuesday of their spring break and my wife was not able to go with us. :(
* All total I ended up doing five pieces of music for our Church Easter celebration.
I have sneaked in a couple opportunities to ride my bike, but only a couple (bummed about that).
Springtime in the Rockies always means windy. This year, the March weather was one or two little snowstorms a week. April has started the same way. We'll have a high of 60 degrees one day and 35-40 the next. Sunny and warm - cold and wet. Ah, you have to love it!
My chuckles of late come from the conversations with my son, that are happening about every week-and-a-half... I just keep hearing these phrases, "she's just so amazing...", and "when you meet her I know you'll think she's amazing too!"
I teased him a bit the last time he said that, saying, "What if we don't?"
He assured me that we would. ;) Too funny.
Young romance is fun to watch. It is just weird to me that it is really my son. Not because of him, but because of me. I don't feel old enough for him to be old enough. Then I have to remind myself that when I was his age, I was engaged to a wonderful and beautiful young woman that I was most fortunate to be able to marry. I'm pretty sure I never went around saying she was amazing, like Chris does about his interest, but that doesn't mean I don't thing she is. :)
Anyway, this post has been all over the map. Maybe you'll be amused by reading it.
God Bless!
My last post noted my busyness of late.
* Work has still been very, very busy.
* I made the time and went skiing with my daughters Monday and Tuesday of their spring break and my wife was not able to go with us. :(
* All total I ended up doing five pieces of music for our Church Easter celebration.
I have sneaked in a couple opportunities to ride my bike, but only a couple (bummed about that).
Springtime in the Rockies always means windy. This year, the March weather was one or two little snowstorms a week. April has started the same way. We'll have a high of 60 degrees one day and 35-40 the next. Sunny and warm - cold and wet. Ah, you have to love it!
My chuckles of late come from the conversations with my son, that are happening about every week-and-a-half... I just keep hearing these phrases, "she's just so amazing...", and "when you meet her I know you'll think she's amazing too!"
I teased him a bit the last time he said that, saying, "What if we don't?"
He assured me that we would. ;) Too funny.
Young romance is fun to watch. It is just weird to me that it is really my son. Not because of him, but because of me. I don't feel old enough for him to be old enough. Then I have to remind myself that when I was his age, I was engaged to a wonderful and beautiful young woman that I was most fortunate to be able to marry. I'm pretty sure I never went around saying she was amazing, like Chris does about his interest, but that doesn't mean I don't thing she is. :)
Anyway, this post has been all over the map. Maybe you'll be amused by reading it.
God Bless!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Life of Late
I just have not been much into blogging lately.
I've been busy with work. I had a deadline the end of the previous week and then demos and meetings this last week.
I have had WAY toooo much time spent in front of the computer. I've posted a couple times on the the stories page for the bike shop where my daughter works, but not much else.
I've also been trying to work on music for our church Resurrection Celebration (aka Easter program), which will actually be in two weeks, even though Easter was today. I am providing guitar accompaniment for our Friends group (7-12 year-old youth group) doing a song; accompanying my oldest daughter singing a song; perhaps doing one or two myself; and I think one with my wife.
Phew... it doesn't sound like much, but it is surely enough to keep a guy busy.
My daughters are on spring break, so for next couple days I'm taking them skiing. Unfortunately my wife has the deadline at work this week and cannot go with us (I'm very sad about this, but will attempt to make the best of it.)
So for you, my friends, that visit my blog from time-to-time, I'm still here, but only sharing occasional snippets.
I've been busy with work. I had a deadline the end of the previous week and then demos and meetings this last week.
I have had WAY toooo much time spent in front of the computer. I've posted a couple times on the the stories page for the bike shop where my daughter works, but not much else.
I've also been trying to work on music for our church Resurrection Celebration (aka Easter program), which will actually be in two weeks, even though Easter was today. I am providing guitar accompaniment for our Friends group (7-12 year-old youth group) doing a song; accompanying my oldest daughter singing a song; perhaps doing one or two myself; and I think one with my wife.
Phew... it doesn't sound like much, but it is surely enough to keep a guy busy.
My daughters are on spring break, so for next couple days I'm taking them skiing. Unfortunately my wife has the deadline at work this week and cannot go with us (I'm very sad about this, but will attempt to make the best of it.)
So for you, my friends, that visit my blog from time-to-time, I'm still here, but only sharing occasional snippets.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Still Cleaning This Gun
I've been hearing this song by Rodney Atkins on the radio fairly frequently lately. I've decided that I really like it.
I posted previously about being a protective father to two very beautiful girls, so If you read that post, you'd understand that a song about a guy dating a daughter with a chorus like this could seem pretty appealing:
I won't put the entire song here since you can click on this link to listen to it and see the lyrics along with it. If you have teenage daughters you might find you like this song too.
Meanwhile, I'll probably be up all night, just cleaning this gun. :D
I posted previously about being a protective father to two very beautiful girls, so If you read that post, you'd understand that a song about a guy dating a daughter with a chorus like this could seem pretty appealing:
... But there is one speech from high school I'll never forget
Come on in boy,
Sit on down and tell me about yourself.
So you like my daughter, do you now?
Yeah, we think she's something else.
She's her daddy's girl, her momma's world.
She deserves respect, that's what she'll get.
Ain't it son?
Now ya'll run along and have some fun.
I'll see you when you get back,
bet I'll be up all night,
still cleaning this gun.
Come on in boy,
Sit on down and tell me about yourself.
So you like my daughter, do you now?
Yeah, we think she's something else.
She's her daddy's girl, her momma's world.
She deserves respect, that's what she'll get.
Ain't it son?
Now ya'll run along and have some fun.
I'll see you when you get back,
bet I'll be up all night,
still cleaning this gun.
I won't put the entire song here since you can click on this link to listen to it and see the lyrics along with it. If you have teenage daughters you might find you like this song too.
Meanwhile, I'll probably be up all night, just cleaning this gun. :D
Monday, March 3, 2008
A Bike Ride With My Daughter
Saturday morning I had a wonderful opportunity to go for a bike ride with my daughter (youngest). It was a wonderful learning experience for her and I'm extremely proud of how she did.
You see, she has been working at a bicycle shop for nearly a year now, and late last summer she bought herself a very nice mountain bike. The interesting part of it was that she has never really been much into riding bicycles and really wasn't much past just barely knowing how to ride.
-- I tried to do the good dad thing and taught her how to ride when she was around 6 years old, but she just never got into it. --
So last year, we took several nice easy rides so she could get used to riding a bike. Nice smooth trails (like glorified like dirt roads without the cars), nothing even remotely close to difficult. Then on last Labor day we went with the guys that run the bike shop and their families up to some relatively easy trails up in the mountains. The girl tried really, really hard, but to me it just did not seem like it would ever come to her.
Well, over the course of the winter, when she wasn't busy with some other thing, she would go to spin classes to help strengthen her legs and conditioning, but she didn't go often enough to realistically expect much gain from it. But as the saying goes, "every little bit helps." And it did.
On Saturday morning when we went out, we went to a park here in town with trails around and through it. I mulled over what trails would be good for her planned out the best route for her to ride and enjoy success. The planning paid dividends along with the time she spent conditioning.
I'm not saying I expect that she'll go out and win any races this year, but the quantum leap of how Saturday was compared to last labor day... inconceivable (and yes the word means what I think it means). The girl did remarkably well and her papa is extremely proud of her.
She fell a couple times and endured some scrapes and some bruises, but at the end of the ride she was saying that she wanted to come back to the park and do it again so she could work on doing better. That is an overcoming spirit and it is a wonderful thing to see in your children.
I'm not sure when the next time will be that we can get out to ride together again, but I am very much looking forward to whenever it is. Hopefully it will be soon.
You see, she has been working at a bicycle shop for nearly a year now, and late last summer she bought herself a very nice mountain bike. The interesting part of it was that she has never really been much into riding bicycles and really wasn't much past just barely knowing how to ride.
-- I tried to do the good dad thing and taught her how to ride when she was around 6 years old, but she just never got into it. --
So last year, we took several nice easy rides so she could get used to riding a bike. Nice smooth trails (like glorified like dirt roads without the cars), nothing even remotely close to difficult. Then on last Labor day we went with the guys that run the bike shop and their families up to some relatively easy trails up in the mountains. The girl tried really, really hard, but to me it just did not seem like it would ever come to her.
Well, over the course of the winter, when she wasn't busy with some other thing, she would go to spin classes to help strengthen her legs and conditioning, but she didn't go often enough to realistically expect much gain from it. But as the saying goes, "every little bit helps." And it did.
On Saturday morning when we went out, we went to a park here in town with trails around and through it. I mulled over what trails would be good for her planned out the best route for her to ride and enjoy success. The planning paid dividends along with the time she spent conditioning.
I'm not saying I expect that she'll go out and win any races this year, but the quantum leap of how Saturday was compared to last labor day... inconceivable (and yes the word means what I think it means). The girl did remarkably well and her papa is extremely proud of her.
She fell a couple times and endured some scrapes and some bruises, but at the end of the ride she was saying that she wanted to come back to the park and do it again so she could work on doing better. That is an overcoming spirit and it is a wonderful thing to see in your children.
I'm not sure when the next time will be that we can get out to ride together again, but I am very much looking forward to whenever it is. Hopefully it will be soon.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
A Daughter's Heart
Last night I had the awesome privilege to take my beautiful daughters out for a special evening.
The event we attended is called A Daughter's Heart and it is a daddy-daughter dance.
A local couple, Ed and Renee Behr have organized and sponsored this event for the past 11 or so years. Their mission: A non-profit ministry created to help foster the relationship between Fathers and Daughters.
We had a wonderful time. We danced a lot. I got a little teary eyed a couple times during the evening... Especially at the beginning when they ran a slide show to the song Cinderella from Steven Curtis Chapman; again at end when the band closed with the Bob Carlisle song Butterfly Kisses and I held both of my girls close and we just had a kind of group hug for the whole song. (Disclaimer Warning: Listening to these songs can melt your heart.)
It's really hard to relate just how special this is for me, and I know that it has been really special for my beautiful girls both years we've gone.
I thank God for the opportunity to share such a blessed time with my girls!
Thank you my girls for the time you spent with me and blessed your papa!
The event we attended is called A Daughter's Heart and it is a daddy-daughter dance.
A local couple, Ed and Renee Behr have organized and sponsored this event for the past 11 or so years. Their mission: A non-profit ministry created to help foster the relationship between Fathers and Daughters.
We had a wonderful time. We danced a lot. I got a little teary eyed a couple times during the evening... Especially at the beginning when they ran a slide show to the song Cinderella from Steven Curtis Chapman; again at end when the band closed with the Bob Carlisle song Butterfly Kisses and I held both of my girls close and we just had a kind of group hug for the whole song. (Disclaimer Warning: Listening to these songs can melt your heart.)
It's really hard to relate just how special this is for me, and I know that it has been really special for my beautiful girls both years we've gone.
I thank God for the opportunity to share such a blessed time with my girls!
Thank you my girls for the time you spent with me and blessed your papa!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Finally Getting It Right
After all these years, I think I might have finally gotten it right for the first time.
I remembered Valentine's Day.
I had a card for her on the side table Thursday morning when she went downstairs to read her bible.
I had flowers delivered to my wife at work.
I had a date arranged for us to meet for lunch.
I had arrangements for dinner on Friday evening along with tickets for a concert for an outstanding musician named David Templeton who played piano and guitar.
Don't worry, I won't let it go to my head.
Mostly because it has taken me way too long to at last get close to being on top of the game the way I should have been all along.
You see, I'm pretty sure I had it figured out when I was wooing her to try to win her heart in the beginning. I would take her to dinner and movies. I would write her love letters, call her on the phone and we'd talk for hours (and it was expensive to call long distance in-state in those days - before cell phones and unlimited night time minutes). We would go for hikes and long drives just to be together. We went to see Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith in concert. This unheard of guy named Rich Mullins opened the show. What a fun time we had!
After we got married and started having children, life happened. I had to change careers just so we could eat and attempt to keep a roof over our heads. I started college and spent ten years doing that and working full time. In all that, I forgot to remember how to spend time winning my wife's heart. Our dates became everyday tasks like going to the grocery store. Going to see a play meant spending the evening at the middle school or high school when our kids were in them. Musical events were the same thing. Seeing a movie, meant renting a video and watching it on our TV. The pizazz and romance had definitely disappeared.
Now, with almost 23 years together and two of the three kids out of the house, I'm remembering again how to invest in the most important person in my life.
Sorry honey that it has taken so long! There will be more good things to come!
So hopefully, I'm finally starting to get it right again.
I remembered Valentine's Day.
I had a card for her on the side table Thursday morning when she went downstairs to read her bible.
I had flowers delivered to my wife at work.
I had a date arranged for us to meet for lunch.
I had arrangements for dinner on Friday evening along with tickets for a concert for an outstanding musician named David Templeton who played piano and guitar.
Don't worry, I won't let it go to my head.
Mostly because it has taken me way too long to at last get close to being on top of the game the way I should have been all along.
You see, I'm pretty sure I had it figured out when I was wooing her to try to win her heart in the beginning. I would take her to dinner and movies. I would write her love letters, call her on the phone and we'd talk for hours (and it was expensive to call long distance in-state in those days - before cell phones and unlimited night time minutes). We would go for hikes and long drives just to be together. We went to see Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith in concert. This unheard of guy named Rich Mullins opened the show. What a fun time we had!
After we got married and started having children, life happened. I had to change careers just so we could eat and attempt to keep a roof over our heads. I started college and spent ten years doing that and working full time. In all that, I forgot to remember how to spend time winning my wife's heart. Our dates became everyday tasks like going to the grocery store. Going to see a play meant spending the evening at the middle school or high school when our kids were in them. Musical events were the same thing. Seeing a movie, meant renting a video and watching it on our TV. The pizazz and romance had definitely disappeared.
Now, with almost 23 years together and two of the three kids out of the house, I'm remembering again how to invest in the most important person in my life.
Sorry honey that it has taken so long! There will be more good things to come!
So hopefully, I'm finally starting to get it right again.
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