Music Deferred

My apologies to my fans of my "Music Monday" offerings, but i have failed to get a song ready in time for today. My weekends are pretty much a blur right now, and i was focusing on a short story contest entry. Right now we have a Bible Study meeting every Friday night, DS1 has two soccer games over the weekend, church, Awana, and any other 'social' activities that try and get squeezed in. My beloved and i are working on trimming some things, but that takes time. At least the end of the school year is coming. \o/ Yea! I have never entered a writing contest on my own. When i was in grade school i remember a teacher submitting something i had written to some kind of local thing, but it didn't win anything and i remember being discouraged. But, recently i was searching the internet for a hobby of mine and stumbled across a writing contest this website was sponsoring. Now, it's not a huge writing site, and it is pretty much for niche type of group - and i was a full month and a half behind from when it was announced, but i thought, why not! So two weeks ago i dove in and came up with a really rough 1st draft. I tinkered with it, but in the end i really needed an outside pair of eyes. A good WWW/blogging friend was very, very kind enough to proof it and point some things out... ok, a lot of things, but i dove back in... reworked it, corrected some things... and sent it back. This is a first for me... i rarely edit things more than once (which is a bad practice for someone who likes to write by the way), in the end i had a total of four edits. The contest ends at midnight on Thursday so i am feeling pretty good that i have it turned in a little "early". Now, there are no prizes and i have no idea how many total entries there have been... but i am eager to know how i do. My little commuter car just flipped 144k miles on it this morning. I picked it up the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend 2000. It had only 1 mile on the odometer and it was literally fresh off the boat. I love this little car. Back when i was commuting over 100 miles a day i was averaging over 40MPG! Now that my commute is under 20 miles a day i am still averaging over 35MPG. I have never had any problems with this little car and all i've ever had to replace on it has been the wiper blades, tires, oil (includes transmission and such), brakes, and the clutch plate. God willing i will be driving this car for another 9 years. I know that it is not always wise to buy new cars because they are not investments and the depreciate rapidly once they are driven off the dealer's lot, but i knew i would be a long term owner, and averaging the cost of buying the car over the time i've had it so far has been less per year than i expected. If i am able to drag this on for another decade or so it will be even better. Well, the NFL draft was this past weekend. It is like an oasis in between seasons for me. Now, i am not a fanatic where i digest each and every player that has entered the draft. I rarely even read about other teams (other than the Panthers), but for some reason i like to follow and watch the NFL draft in April. To be honest, it's almost like watching paint dry or grass growing. It is a long drawn out affair with endless analysis of each team and player. But there is something that stirs hope in me. Something that makes me look forward to the next football season! Over all i am happy with Carolina's draft this year. I am never a big fan of trading away your lower level round slots in the draft, but it worked out OK (so far) when Carolina picked up Jeff Otah and Jonathon Stewart last year. Even with out a first round pick i like the first three choices from this years draft: Everette Brown (DE), Sherrod Martin (CB/s), and Corvey Irvin (DT). It is way too early to say how good these young men will do in the NFL, but i like the hype. Well, like I've said in the past... all i really want is a 9-7 season... anything more than that will be gravy... and i like gravy (in this context).

Long weekend

I have no idea how it could be Monday already. I mean, it was just a moment ago I was heading home for the weekend. Friday night - I can't even remember what we did... but I do remember getting to bed a little late. Saturday we had a few errands to run before an afternoon Fall party that my beloved was throwing (she is an awesome hostess IMO). Friends stayed WAY late (into Sunday AM). Sunday was a real blur. DD3 has a music thing at 8:30, and then we get the whole gang for 9:45 service. We (my beloved and I) were not slated to serve in the children's ministry, but since my beloved heads that ministry up we ended up serving (well she did) at the 11:00 o'clock service. After that we got DS1's hair cut.. ran to Sam's... then to DS1's last soccer game of the season, and then we split up. I took DD3 to Awana's and she took both sons to the season end soccer thing at Pizza Hut. When we got home around 7:45 last night there was still one more errand to run... as a result none of us got into bed at the time I would have preferred. And now it's Monday, and I am wondering where my weekend went. If anyone finds it, please let me know. :) In other news there were three things that God spoke to me about over the weekend. And they were kind of "whispers". The first one was during the sermon yesterday morning. It had to deal with "do unto others". Not just our friends, or those who are kind to us, those we get along with. But we are to be kind to our enemies too. What would we do for ourselves? Would we be really willing to do that for an enemy? And what about rejoicing when a foe suffers in some way? Do we rejoice? I really wanted to think about this one some more... what does it mean to love myself... and how does that reflect in my dealings with others. I'm mortal so I am going to look at my own house first (my beloved and children). The second thing was do I really expect the best when I pray. Do I expect the God's best in my life? Now, I have to admit that this point was given me through Joel Osteen. I was listening to his broadcast again yesterday as I was getting ready for church. When we come to God are we acting like "Eeyore"? We can come to God with joy and expecting our prayers to be "yes, and Amen" - even if the answer is "No" or "not yet". The greatest gift (Christ dying on the cross) is exactly what enables me as a Christian to have such a joy and expectation. I know Pastor Osteen has been criticozed for not taking a stand about the path of Christianity being the only way to heaven, and for not presenting the gospel in his sermons. He did conclude his broadcast yesterday with (albeit brief) invitation and sinners prayer for those who do not yet believe in Christ. While I do feel he should do more, Pastor Orsteen did present the message in light of the Gospel yesterday. It may not have been as thorough as I personally would have preferred - it was there. The last item, and most likely by far not the least, has to do with the sabbath. God made it a point to include it in His "top ten". It is not a little thing. Thinking through this entire post, and my real life scheduling of things. Do I take a sabbath day? Be it Sunday, Saturday, or any other day? There is a reason God made the sabbath for man. And that was because we are indeed limited. We require sleep, we require rest, we require sustanence. If we do not take that time to rest (let alone time to worship and reflect on the Creator) we will eventually just collapse (wither metally or physically). All of these things God spoke to me... and I really need to take some time - make some time - to reflect on them. Verse for today: 1 Kings 19: 9b-13, ESV And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. [1] And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Monday, already?

I feel like I've been run over this morning. The truck missed me, but that zippy little hybrid caught me right in the back of the head. :) Not really sure what it is, but it descended upon me Friday night and I've not been right since. Intestinal things, a constant headache, and both Saturday and Sunday I hit a wall where I just had to close the eyes for 10-20 minutes (and I mean as soon as they were closed there was no stopping the slumber). But I still find myself at work today. No fever or anything, just the yuckies - that and it's a government holiday, but not for my employer. That means I get a full day of work, but a whole lot less stress. :) I don't mind Mondays normally. Sure it's going back to work and all, but I like routine. I like schedules. :) So Monday is almost theraputic after the chaos that is home life with kids in school. :) I didn't start "The Cross of Christ" like I wanted to this weekend, but it was still a pretty decent weekend. We went to a friends house Friday night and played "Golf" for several hours (and stayed up way too late - LOL). Saturday was awesome... we had nothing planed. We had a nice family day pittering around the house (my beloved made cookies - which she loves to do, I played chess with DS1, we got the tire on the van fixed while we ate lunch at the mall, and DS2 had the opportunity to spend the night at a friends house. This last one was a real blessing because he does not get a chance to spend time with friends one-on-one all that much - not too many such invitations come his way. Sunday was somewhat relaxing, church in the morning (where my beloved and I served in the pre-school area), some football watching in the afternoon (along with one of those naps I was telling you about) which is always a goodthing, and then DS1's soccer game in the evening. My son's team lost (again), but he is really coming along as a "sweeper" and I am seeing him gain confidence in himself. He did have a couple of bad fouls in 'the box' (tripping, I think) - but I told him that I was glad to see him getting more 'confident' and that he was making a move on the ball. That his play (and the aim of his foot) will continue to get better as he practices and gains confidence in himself. And to top it off the Panthers won yesterday... granted it was an ugly win, by all rights they should have lost that game, but it is a win none-the-less. Next Sunday is going to be tough fight for them. I hope David Carr is alright this morning, after the sack he took in the 1st quarter, but I think Coach Fox will push Jake back to the #1 spot. *** How about that John Kasay, eh!?! His 9th game winning kick as a Panther, and I love reading his quotes in the post game interviews, "It was dancing a little bit, but by God’s grace it went in between the posts". Verse for today: Psalm 40:4-5, ESV Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

Finding time for things that matter most

Last night, as we were settling in for bed, my beloved comments "I don't like being so busy all the time". *sigh* I have mentioned several times that I feel we are too busy, but then I am 'shown' all the 'neccessary' activities we participate in and I just stop commenting on it. There are times when experience is the best lesson. My main problem is that I don't have a reasonable explination, or idea, of what to do different (other than to stop everything). Right now this is an idea of our schedule: Monday: Gymnastics for DD Tuesday: Soccer practice for DS1 Wednesday: The schedule is free, but usually gets filled in with something Thursday: Soccer for DS1, therapy riding for DS2 Friday: Home group Saturday: Soccer game for DS1 Sunday: Church (which usually includes serving for at least one service in Children's ministry), Soccer game for DS1, Awana's This outline does not include music (additional therapy) lessons for DS2 which I can't remember which night that is on - or church council meetings for my beloved (Children's Ministry), or date nights (which are all too infrequent), running to the store for whatever, etc. I mean our evenings are so crowded with stuff, and we are so tired from running around all we want to do when the kids are in bed is crash ourselves - that is if we aren't folding laundry. I mean in order for my beloved and I to have any alone time I had to run home in the middle of the day to "bring her lunch". I have seen a lot of sermons, and other Christians, talk about how we make our lives too busy. How we crowd out so many other things. But I think it's more a sign of changes within our society. Have you ever seen the list of how anyone over the age of 35 is "lucky to be alive" - I need to find it and post it... it's pretty funny, but it's also a sad commentary of where things are (IMO). I can't really compare my childhood to what was the 'norm' for a middle class family growing up, because I didn't grow up middle class. But in many respects - things like being out playing till dinner (or dark in my case), and then going back out again till bedtime - wandering all over the neighborhood or even town. Those days are gone for the most part. People do not feel comfortable allowing their children to roam. I don't know how many times I've told my kids that they could not play down the block simply because I was not able to keep an eye on them. Is this because we are actually less safe as a society? Or are we more aware of the dangers? The truth probably lies somewhere with both of these statements. So we as parents feel guilty for keeping the kids couped up all day. We want them to get out, to run and play, to socialize with their peers. So, to ease our minds we get them "involved". And in the meantime we run ourselves ragged trying to keep up. In my case some of those things are necessary. My beloved and I really want DS2 to grow up strong and independant. But in order to give him that chance we need to make sure he gets certain 'training' (or therapy) that we are not able to provide. Meanwhile Ds1 and DD see DS2 out doing things... and do we just say 'no' to them all the time? Loving each one, and showing each one, how special and important they are... well, it's hard. I just don't want to get to the other side of parenthood (having kids at home) and regret not showing the kids how much I really love and appreciate each of them. Verse for today: Psalm 139:1-6, ESV O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

Is it Thursday already?

I woke up very groggy this morning. I had a hard time remembering what day it was until I was in the shower. I could have sworn it was only Wednesday. Today is another practice day for DS1, and usually this would be a "light" day for me to work out. But tonight my beloved is teaching some social skills at out local Autism support group and she is nervous. So, I will be dropping DS1 off at the practice field (leaving my cell phone number with the coach) and then heading back north to be near her and DS2. Maybe I can get out for a jog when we are all done. Tomorrow we are taking the family on a church retreat. It should be a pretty nice and relaxing weekend. Nothing much to do, even Awana's will not be happening Sunday night. The only thing we will have is a soccer game at 5:30 Sunday. Although I keep most of my thoughts regarding the Panthers on my new Panther's blog I thought I'd comment here today as well. The team really is playing fairly well. Last week against the Texans was pretty bad, and there was plenty of blame to go around, I am still pretty hopeful for an above .500 season. A lot of people might be looking past the Falcons right now, but I am praying that the Panthers aren't. On any given Sunday any team in the NFL can beat any other team. The next three weeks are against division rivals (@ Atlanta, Tampa Bay, @ New Orleans). Each of these teams look to be ornery. Besides, there is still plenty of football left to play. Verse for today: Proverb 20:9-11, ESV Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”? Unequal [2] weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the Lord. Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright. [3]

Jersey Girl and the Mountaineers

Last night was a typical night around the old 'dojo'. DS2 has Horse Riding therapy to help him learn how to work through situations (animals are really supposed to help Autistic children open up, and for the most part I really think it helps DS2), DS1 had soccer practice. By the time we were all home together again it's close to 8:00 and there is still homework to get done and showers to be taken. Somehow all of the kids were under the sheets by 9:15. While making sure DD3 was getting her bath I happened to find "Jersey Girl" on one of the cable channels. With little time to actually sit down and watch it I changed to the channel, then the pause button on the DVR (Man I love that technology). Somewhere along the line my beloved got wrapped up in reviewing the daily 'log' sent home from DS2 aide at school - we've been working through yet another instance of my son getting in a scuffle with som other boys in the school yard. We made the mistake of only verbally telling my son's teacher and aide that he is not to participate in any competetive activities without some sort of direct suppervision. As a result my son actually tried to take on "5 or 6" other boys. The log entry from his aide yesterday included the words "I can't protect you" (referencing the discussion the aide had with my son). All we could say is "WHAT!". You can't protect my son! *sigh* My beloved has already requested another meeting to update the IEP - and I am going to place a call to the school myself later today. Anyway, this 'delay' while my beloved reviewed, thought it through, replied to the aide in the log book, and made sure their packs were ready for school this morning, didn't bring her upstairs until around 10:30. Meanwhile I am watching this movie (and able to skip all the commercials \o/ hurray!) and I get sucked in. I just needed a "hardluck" movie where the guy gets the girl, and the family is all hunky dorry in the end. So in that regard this was a fun movie to watch. Then this morning I stopped by Sheetz to get my ham/egg/cheese bagle and I saw the headlines that the Mountaineers whooped up on the Terps! Wahoo! Verse for today: Proverbs 14:1-3, ESV The wisest of women builds her house,but folly with her own hands tears it down. Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord,but he who is devious in his ways despises him. By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back, [1]but the lips of the wise will preserve them.