Monday, July 18, 2011
especially i do!
lately, when i'm putting the pooklet down and am exiting the room, he's been saying, "I love you, daddy." and then, with quick delivery, he adds on, "especially i do!"
Saturday, May 21, 2011
LA LA LA!
As the grown-ups prepared to sing last night, Numgat ran to a box of toys, trying desperately to get it from the shelf. I was confused at her urgency until she pleaded "La la la!!" and I realized that she wanted to participate with her toy microphone.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
a lesson in Christological Economics
As I got to my bus stop this morning, I saw John, a fellow I'd met a short while back. I'd been thinking lately about evangelizing those whose paths I intersect, but because John is mentally diabled, I'd avoided this with him for unsubstantial reasons.
But this morning, God governed my reason, and I asked myself, 'Does God love this man any less than the other prospects for evangelism I find more attractive?'
I remembered that I suffer a lack of boldness for which I've been praying.
Here's a chance, I finally thought, to train myself in evangelism with one who would certainly not respond in a way that might discourage me.
And even after arriving at the inescapable conviction that I was to reach out to John for Christ's sake, I yet resisted it a bit, commenting, in my first attempt at conversation, on the weather.
But then I asked him what he had planned for today at the program he attends.
He said bocce, and then I remembered that he likes bowling, so I asked him which is harder.
Then, after confirming the program is Monday through Friday, I asked him what he does on the weekends.
Watch TV. Sports.
Do you go to church?
No, I want to! he said with more enthusiasm than I'd heard from him up till now.
I invited him to our church, took down his number and address, and we boarded the bus.
As I returned to my audiobook 'Basic Economics' (a pitiful alternative to proclaiming the message of God's salvation), I felt satisfaction in my heart that I'd done the godly works for which I'd been set apart in Christ, rather than absorb myself in fleeting selfish pursuits of knowledge.
For in the economy of the church age, the purpose of the believer is to facilitate a personal culture of humble deference to God's power and purpose.
And so I returned to the words of Thomas Sowell, this time as if endowed with divine implications:
"... because scarce resources have not been allocated to their most valued uses."
But this morning, God governed my reason, and I asked myself, 'Does God love this man any less than the other prospects for evangelism I find more attractive?'
I remembered that I suffer a lack of boldness for which I've been praying.
Here's a chance, I finally thought, to train myself in evangelism with one who would certainly not respond in a way that might discourage me.
And even after arriving at the inescapable conviction that I was to reach out to John for Christ's sake, I yet resisted it a bit, commenting, in my first attempt at conversation, on the weather.
But then I asked him what he had planned for today at the program he attends.
He said bocce, and then I remembered that he likes bowling, so I asked him which is harder.
Then, after confirming the program is Monday through Friday, I asked him what he does on the weekends.
Watch TV. Sports.
Do you go to church?
No, I want to! he said with more enthusiasm than I'd heard from him up till now.
I invited him to our church, took down his number and address, and we boarded the bus.
As I returned to my audiobook 'Basic Economics' (a pitiful alternative to proclaiming the message of God's salvation), I felt satisfaction in my heart that I'd done the godly works for which I'd been set apart in Christ, rather than absorb myself in fleeting selfish pursuits of knowledge.
For in the economy of the church age, the purpose of the believer is to facilitate a personal culture of humble deference to God's power and purpose.
And so I returned to the words of Thomas Sowell, this time as if endowed with divine implications:
"... because scarce resources have not been allocated to their most valued uses."
the delightful pooklet
4.14.11
i love a sleeping pooklet. I also love the way he says, "sorry, daddy!" when he accidentally bumps me or something.
i love a sleeping pooklet. I also love the way he says, "sorry, daddy!" when he accidentally bumps me or something.
A Sit-In
4.15.11
The Numgat this morning wouldn't let me leave for work, protesting my departure with a sit-in, or, rather, a sit-on, leaning on my knelt knee with her back to me and her arms out ready to stop me from rising.
I could still hear her crying outside from the sidewalk in front of our house.
The Numgat this morning wouldn't let me leave for work, protesting my departure with a sit-in, or, rather, a sit-on, leaning on my knelt knee with her back to me and her arms out ready to stop me from rising.
I could still hear her crying outside from the sidewalk in front of our house.
pay attention
as i bathed the pooklet the other night, i thought about the olden eras when there were fewer distractions. did parents relish with more patience time with their kids doing mundane things like giving baths? the idea appealed to me.
i thought about my eagerness (above most everything else it often seems) lately to process my photos in lightroom, and realized that it fosters an underlying impatience i have with the little pook and the things with which i should bear in his development.
this comes on the heels of a discussion the wife initiated about neil postman and a thesis she wants to write about the short attention spans of today's youth, and the hindrances to committing to developing thoughts, and expressing them in written and verbal communication.
what a reminder that we need to slow down and examine what is consuming our time, and, at times, our very selves.
i thought about my eagerness (above most everything else it often seems) lately to process my photos in lightroom, and realized that it fosters an underlying impatience i have with the little pook and the things with which i should bear in his development.
this comes on the heels of a discussion the wife initiated about neil postman and a thesis she wants to write about the short attention spans of today's youth, and the hindrances to committing to developing thoughts, and expressing them in written and verbal communication.
what a reminder that we need to slow down and examine what is consuming our time, and, at times, our very selves.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
to ride on the heights of the land
"If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
- Isaiah 58:13-14
What is the application for those on this side of the new covenant? If we are wishy-washy on setting aside an actual day of the week, what other device do we need to re-member (ourselves to) God and the covenant He's established? God not only deserves the honor but promises delight to "the heights of the earth" for His people who act in accordance with their sanctification.
Crucial to the sabbath is the concept of holy rest and with it the profound absence of doing that's so hard for the busy to submit to.
Reflecting on the sabbath makes me realize how reluctant I am to give up my plans for a weekend day and "desist from (my) own ways... seeking (my) own pleasure." For even pragmatism can become a stumbling block if, despite the practicality of "catching up" from the week, it obscures the habit provided by God of honoring Him and partaking in the holy.
- Isaiah 58:13-14
What is the application for those on this side of the new covenant? If we are wishy-washy on setting aside an actual day of the week, what other device do we need to re-member (ourselves to) God and the covenant He's established? God not only deserves the honor but promises delight to "the heights of the earth" for His people who act in accordance with their sanctification.
Crucial to the sabbath is the concept of holy rest and with it the profound absence of doing that's so hard for the busy to submit to.
Reflecting on the sabbath makes me realize how reluctant I am to give up my plans for a weekend day and "desist from (my) own ways... seeking (my) own pleasure." For even pragmatism can become a stumbling block if, despite the practicality of "catching up" from the week, it obscures the habit provided by God of honoring Him and partaking in the holy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
