yesterday we got up, cleaned around the house a bit, got ready to do some laundry, went to the funeral, gave jawn his medicine, discovered the electric was out at the laundrymat, made up a menu for meals over the next few days, returned to the laundrymat, did several loads, returned to the church to have lunch with the grieving family, returned home, started drying the laundry, returned to church, returned home, continued drying the laundry, watched an episode of Eureka, went to bed, got up, and dried several more loads of laundry.

may be losing even more internet access than before. means I will have to start scheduling time at the library, I guess.

Sunday - church was hard in the morning, as it was one of the few times in 19 years that I was there and he wasn't. But I just kept praying all morning long that his service would be so good that he wouldn't be lonely.

Afterwards, Joyce rushed me off to Blacklick to do a 2 mile hike in 93 degree weather. But it wasn't too bad. There was a bite of Donato's pepperoni pizza afterwards, then we headed home and I made a bit of lunch for us. I made rice and a bit of veggie and tomato sauce. Then I cleaned up and after a bit of a rest we headed off to quizzing practice. For the first few minutes I had one quizzer - Jawn. Then Jim and his 2 boys, William and Sam, arrived . The boys are also going to quiz. Near the end we had a guest former quizzer by the name of Amy who came in. During service, John White arrived and asked for his quiz materials. So, right now, I have 4 potential quizzers.

After quizzing, we went to the Ice Cream Social. But it was rained out, and so we went back to ReyNaz for service. Afterwards, we headed home.

Monday, after work, Joyce took Jawn to band pictures. This took longer than expected, so she came back and got me so we could go to the "Meet the Teacher" evening. We met his first period teacher, then headed to the band room, where we found Jawn. Then we walked around to the other classrooms - earth science, psychology, english, pre-calc, french 2. We discovered during the evening that the band was going this Friday nite to the away game, which is near Cincinnati. It wasn't on the calendar earlier . It will be SO late that night.

Started home and discovered we hadn't found out the school bus schedule, so back we went to find it. Then back home. I worked on laundry and dishes and went to bed by or before 10pm. I've been pretty tired lately.

Woke up this morning around 3am, then went back to bed and prayed/snoozed till around 5ish.

reynoldsburg put in a fancy artifical turf football field this summer. Turns out they only have 4 home games scheduled this year. Seems like a shame to go to all that expense. I am going to pass on discussing the game itself. The score was 28-0 against Dublin. The band did the first two parts of their competition program.  Smoothie King had a concession trailer there - the smoothie was good!

http://www.dannylipford.com/diy-home-improvement/design-and-decor/tips-for-moving-into-a-college-dorm-room
is some information from a CBS news piece on things to think about when moving into a small space like a dorm room. Some of you are doing just that this week. The big tip - use vertical space - closet organizers, etc.

So, yesterday was a hectic day. I got home, took Daniel and Amy to the park and took pictures, brought them home, took them to the library, took them home, then my wife took them off to the rest of the evening, and I talked with my daughter, then went to bed.

I woke up at 3:30am by my wife turning on the light in the hall as she prepared to shower for the day's event. See, Daniel's flight left CMH today at 7:20am. That meant we needed to be at the airport around 5:30am so he could run the gauntlet. So I got up, made eggs, potatoes, sausage for breakfast (by request of my boy). We all got up, scurried around, trying to ensure that Daniel had everything packed, and with him, and we left around 5am, stopped by to pick up Amy (Daniel's lady friend) , got some money from the bank (it's payday!) and then off we went to the airport. After we arrived, we got all those little name tag things filled out and stuffed everywhere. Then he went through the delta check in process, dropped off his checked in bags (didn't know he was going to have use use a credit/debit card for that) and then walked with him to the security check in. I watched him walk down the corridor on the other side of security, then I had to run to get to work. I got there a few minutes early (better than late!). Then around 8ish I received an outside call. Daniel was waiting for the reload of his plane at Cincinnati (he had one layover, there, for about 40 minutes or so). He thought it was funny that there were only a dozen or so people sitting there. He was trying to read a book on Christian management of personal finances, but having had little finances to date, wasn't certain how relevant it would all be. I sent my love and went back to work. Around lunch time I received another external call. He was calling from San Diego! He had already had his first California adventure (he'll likely write it about it at some point) and just called to let me know. We chatted a bit, then we had to go. He told me to call when I got home.

So, a little bit after I got home (of course I wanted to talk to the family still there first) I called and talked to him a minute. He was having some cell reception issues, he thought. He said he would call back. A bit longer and he did, and we talked over 30 minutes as he wandered around campus, finding where things were. He already had completed his job interview and filled out all but one of the forms. Then he went looking for his linens and mail. When we last were talking, he was struggling to find his way back to his dorm... apparently the campus is quite "hilly" and he kept encountering fences, and cliffs, and other obstacles.

Anyways, at home, we're tired, and of course we miss him, but we also know that this is a great opportunity. As long as he can work hard, he'll get a great education at a beautiful campus. So I am happy (and a bit envious) of his opportunity. Sure wish I could move out there. But he wouldn't approve of that .

Anyways, got to go home and get ready for church. Have a great day!

Let's see. I worked on dishes. I made a crockpot of homemade potato soup. I played some video game, I read devotions. I watched some TiVo. I talked  to my darling daughter. My wife washed some clothes and I dryed some. Daniel and I watched a show about Japan and another show which i'm not  remembering right this second. Then, later, he and his young lady friend came by and we watched a couple of episodes of Jon and Kate. Then Jawn,  my wife and I watched a couple of Monk episodes and a Burn Notice episode. The soup was gone by the time they all ate.

Today is the anniversary of another of the most wonderful days in my life. 19 years ago today, I held my second son in my arms for the first time. Oh  how proud I was. Before each of the kids' birth, I was a mess. I worried about how I could possible be a good enough parent - how I would be able to  afford it. There was so many things that worried me.

And I guess, in some ways, that hasn't changed. I worry about when my kids have problems financially. I worry when they make life style choices that  I fear will cause them more harm that it will bring them joy. I worry as some are searching for their spiritual center. It isn't that I don't think  God is capable of taking care of all of this.

What part of it is has to do with the pain of my life. I don't want my kids to make decisions that cause them the pain that the choices I have made at  times has caused me ... and them. I have made poor choices financially, as well as other ways that I'm not comfortable talking about here. And when I  see them struggle, I worry that my poor choices and example has led them astray from God's best for their lives.

And of course, as I've written before, I miss them all so. Two have been away from home now at least two years. One is about to embark on the next  phase of his life. And the last child... he too is a great son that I'm so blessed to get to know. Each of my kids are very intelligent in different ways.

If I could give them one thing, it would be a life in the center of God's will. It is so critical. I have tried most of my life to live in God's center. But I've  not always been the best of judges of where that center point is. I've let, at times, my own desires and attempts to please others detract. And now, as I  watch my kids make lives for themselves, I am beginning to understand better why my parents and in-laws tried to tell us things that we just didn't  want to hear. Life might have been much easier for us all if we could have listened to them, and to the various authors we read. But instead we  procrastinated. We spent when we should have saved. And time that probably should have been spent talking to a counsellor, prayer and other things  was spent on things of lesser value.

But the past's most important function in today is as a learning tool, so we don't make the same, or worse, choices now.

So kids (whether you are mine by blood, or just those who care enough that you still read what I write) listen up. Here's some things to learn from  someone on the other side of the life you are entering.

1. Debt (and weight) is something easily gained, and much more difficultly lost. So stay away from the credit cards and payment of things over time.  Instead, live simply, don't buy lots of things, and save for the future. Believe it or not, the future holds for you several things - times when you will  need more money than you are earning now... whether for a house, an education for yourself or a loved one, or medical needs, etc. Save intentionally.  Find some good financial advice - there are lots of good articles over at http://www.crown.org/ that cover various considerations for saving. And they  have free online or in person counsellors that will help you sent up a monthly spending plan, etc.

2. God isn't an option. So often, God is treated as an extracurricular in people's lives. Some days they might think about Him, and some days not. And, more importantly, like other extracurricular activities, involvement is often as much about how people are treating you as it is about the activity itself.  So if someone at a church treats you poorly, then you just won't go at all. My mom was like this. She was treated very poorly by someone who should  have known better. But God isn't an extracurricular. He isn't some imaginary guy that people get together to talk about like a Star Wars club or  something.  He is, in fact, quite real, and wants so much to be a living part of your life. 

3. Life is more than just getting the most things before you die. The more things you get and hang onto, the more those things control you. And, in the end, when you die, those things either go to someone you know, or, get sold/given away/ thrown away and people move on. If the people around you don't know you, then your life's impact will be smaller. Love the people around you. Fin d a way to make time every day for something about which you can be passionate. Maybe you won't feel it makes a difference in the world. But I bel ieve that at least if Christ is in the center of what you are doing, the differences you make in the lives around you will be appreciated.

4. Love others. Don't let your life be negative. There are negative and postive things in your life every day. I don't mean to pretend the negatives are not there - but don't let them dominate your thoughts and conversation. Fi nd ways every day to make a positive impact on those around you. There used to be a phrase used "perform random acts of kindness". If you read the  Gospels - lots of people recommend the Gospel of John, but right now, I'm reading the Gospel of Luke - you will see that is how Jesus lived. He mig ht be sitting at dinner, and turn to someone and say "your sins are forgiven" or he might be walking along, see a funeral, and say "Rise up" and the son arise. And then we see him playing with the children, concerned   about the hungry crowds, and on and on. Every day, he was touching those around him - whether at the water "fountain", or in the fields, or along  the roads, or from the cross.

5. Don't isolate yourself. This is a bit different than that last one in that I'm thinking about community. Sometimes, particularly if we've been hurt by  someone or something that legitamately has hurt us, my response, at least, has been to draw within myself.... to nurse my wounds. However, the result  is less healing than I really need.  In my own experience (and I believe scriptually as well) it seems to me that more healing comes when in a setting  where I trust a small group of people who are special to me I share my burden and they, in response, reach out and pray, encourage, and sometimes  provide assistance that is unexpected. Also important in this relationship is doing the same for others when they are in need. I've seen people who say "I don't know why no one cares about me around here" but they are holding so much inside that no one sees the needs they have. I've seen people  suffer in silence. And I've seen people in the midst of divorce, cancer, death, and so much more get love, acceptance, forgiveness, and more from a loving community. Not all groups have this type of support structure. But you are likely to find, if you seek, this type of support in some churches. Some churches won't. But then we are all human, and make mistakes, and let our brokeness sometimes interfere with what God is wanting to do with us. There's this phrase in the New Testament "we have this treasure in broken pottery" ... meaning that God's gift is in our lives. We all have brokeness in our lives. But that doesn't excuse us from the responsibility to care for the treasure. And, if we've laid that treasure aside temporarily, it is still there to be picked up again.

There are probably dozens more of these types of things. Do I live them all to the fullest? Not yet. I still learn new things and am reminded of old truths, every day. Some days I am better than others at living these things out. God loves each one of us. The issue isn't "get right with God or He'll punish you" . The issue is that God has created a wonderful universe, with a variety of laws, from the law of gravity, to the law of reaping what you sow. There are two basic ways that you can choose to live your life. If you line yourself up with God and the laws He has created in the universe, then you are living in the flow of the universe. Otherwise, you are running "against the flow" so to speak. This results, ultimately, with pain. So learning more about these laws by reading the Bible, and then living your life aligned with His laws as best that you know, is a life choice to reduce the problems that you intentionally cause. There are plenty of consequences that ripple into your life from other people - no need to cause more problems because of your own choices.


Lastly, I just want to say Happy Birthday to Daniel Joseph Virden http://xanga.com/beefbrain89/ - one of my four amazing children.