This weekend we had several soccer games with our three little ones.  They went well, we won 2 of 3 but no one was keeping score. Something that disturbs me about youth sports is the insane amount of stuff parents use to validate themselves or impress people.  What we end up with is a snack that is large enough to replace a meal.  Our 7 year old daughter and 5 year old son came home with more sugary snacks in gallon sized ziploc bags than they eat in 2 weeks.  The assortment included in one bag, yay; a banana, capri sun, cupcake, twinky, ring pop, fun dip, cheetos, fun straw you eat, and cracker jacks.   Did we miss the memo?  Is this what snacks are?  How do we keep up?  I didn’t know we had to go in debt to provide snacks for our kids recreational sports teams!?!?!

All this made Supermom and I recall a particular Everybody Loves Raymond episode, see video, where Raymond doesn’t pack an “Approved Snack” and the snack coordinator lets him know his disappointment.  We laughed as we headed to the car, but soon our laughter turned to this serious discussion of what is expected of us.  We don’t want our children eating all this crap all the time.  We don’t think a snack needs to have more than 2 items included, one of those being a drink like a juice box, capri sun, or gatorade.   The other being 1 piece of fruit OR bag of chips; banana, apple, orange, cheetos, or fritos.  That to me is a snack for a kid.

Plus, this got me thinking, if this is what kids parents pack for snacks to sporting events, what must they be packing for kids lunches on a daily basis?  Is this the reason many families grocery budget reaches the 4 digit category with 2 kids and 2 parents at home?  I say enough, of the craziness, ENOUGH.  Be a rebel, bring a snack that really is a snack.  See what the other parents say about your “SNACK!”  What has been your experience?

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(In Manny’s Play world)
We goin to da stor!
Hey lets go to wa-mat.
ok
i wike (like) 2 sodas for me and my kid…I’m tha poppy.
and ahhhhhhh
A BIG ONE FOR ME!
Yeah, A big one for me cause I’m tha poppy.

I know you won’t be able to quite get the picture without hearing the different inflections and intonations that he has, but just imagine your kids around 2 years old trying to speak…makes sense but sounds cute!  Maybe we’ll have some video or something in the future, *cross fingers.

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With the widespread loss of power and the bone chilling cold, many of our neighbors sought shelter in other neighbors or other friends or families homes that happened to have either a fireplace and wood or propane for cooking.   Some lost lives burning charcoal grills inside, others were overcome with carbon monoxide from the generator running in their garages.  Still we are left with the remnants of the deadening ice.

It has always been amazing to me to think of the gulf coast, in and around New Orleans, and how they could still be cleaning up.  But now I understand, sure it’s only been a month, most houses are repaired, and for the most part people are back to their routines, yet we are left with cluttered curbs, ditches, sidwalks, lawns and homes.  Branches, big and small, are piled up all along any road you drive in any direction from here.  So today, I had an epiphany.

Why do I just drive by it all, waiting, hoping, praying that the ‘city’ (government) will come to the rescue anytime soon?!  It’s been a month and it feels like they are happy that we have restored power, nevermind the little beaver dams that line our city streets, and drainage systems.  So, this afternoon after work, I took my kiddos to load up my truck with our neighbors branches and limbs to haul them to the city dump.  When my children asked why are we picking up the sticks from their yard; I replied, “Because we are helping our neighbor, that’s what neighbors do! It’s what Jesus would do!”  “OK, Papi!”

Then it hit me, the church needs to wake up and help their city, NO, it’s not an emergency, and yes there are people with big machines that will make lots of money chipping wood for months, but can’t we as the body of Christ restore our community? Do we need to really wait on the government to remove the debris?  Is this how lazy we really are?

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My parents divorced when I was 12 and I became disconnected from my father.   I wrote down something that to this day rocks me.  Something that I swore I would never do to my son,  should God bless me with one.  That statement was, “No matter how hard I tried, I could not lead myself into manhood.” I promised that my son would never have to experience that feeling.

During college; at the height of my physical prowess, I hiked up Mt. Washington, in New Hampshire, the highest summit this side of the rockies.  It was a sobering test of patience and stamina.  Three quarters of the way up, we encountered a sign that would humble the most seasoned hiker and avid adventure traveler.  The sign said, “DANGER! TURN BACK NOW IF THE WEATHER IS BAD.  Many have died here from exposure, even in the summer!”

Now I stand at the foot of that mountain, fathering 2 son(s) to manhood.  Will I fear the DANGER sign toward the end of the journey?  Will I be confident with the trail I have chosen?  Will the summit be as glorious as I imagine?  Will I be able to let them go down into the valley?  How will I protect, guide, and teach them about the ‘birds and the bees’ and all the beautiful sycamore trees on the way up?  Will we encounter any lost fathers on the way?  What will I do when any of us want to give up on the journey?

Despite my lack of a guide, I think I got there.  I think I reached manhood, a little hurt, bruised, calloused, and weaker than my more fortunate counterparts.  BUT, I have had 7 years of solid marriage and ministry experience to help patch up the bruises and strengthen the weary bones.  So, YES, I will take my boys up that mountain, I will be their guide to manhood.  Lord willing I will see them guide as well.

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…We discipline our kids.

…We cry with our kids.

…We sacrifice for our kids.

…We have it all figured out.

…We have nothing figured out.

…We pull our hair out so we don’t pull theirs out.

…We breakdown and cry.

…We get stressed.

…We wish we had a ‘happy place.’

…We rock in the rocking chair.

…We build, play or wrestle together.

…We tickle each other.

What are some other …sometimes… for you?

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The first video is of our kids races and how they did during the event.  The bottom video is some of the best finishes and closest races from the day.  Be sure to check out the last photo finish.  Let us know who you think won.  You can pause it right at the end to stare at how close it was.  Overall, we had a great experience at our first Awana Grand Prix.

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Just last night we were falling asleep watching our regular episode of Seinfeld.  This is the episode where George, Jerry, Elaine, and Kramer are searching for their car in the parking garage and can’t find it for hours.  Well George is quite irate with the present situation and begins to yell at a mother who is dragging her son to their car kicking and screaming.  Well, George interrupts and says to the mother, “You shouldn’t hit little kids.  They’re so innocent and if no one else will stand up for them, I will.”  He proclaims to the mother assured of his stance.  Then the 8 year old boy turns to him and calls him “Ugly and four eyes and fat.” causing anger to arise in George so he spouts back, “Yeah, well you’re ugly and you can’t see.”  Kid replies “yeah I can see and I see that your ugly.”  With that the kid hops in the car and you see George boil with anger and coming within inches of strangling the kid.  I can relate George, I can relate!

So innocence is all a matter of relativity with our children.  But I, being the father, must learn to show grace to our children because I know that “all have sinned” and that “all are sinners” (Rom. 3:23, and 6:23).  Having children in our homes and lives only reminds us, what God does for us with each breathe and heartbeat.  I wouldn’t change a thing and am very grateful to grow in my understanding of God through fatherhood.

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    Then with a bit of laughter from SuperMom, I began to pluck Mowgli, Monkey and Manny from the top of my head.  Yes, I do believe those three grey hairs didn’t exist a year ago.  SuperMom says I am kidding myself and that there are more hairs that have been hibernating or masquerading as brown for the last 30 years.  I just won’t admit it.  Sorry to my shiny headed friends, my hair is not turning grey. I repeat, it is not turning grey!  Well anyway, at least I still have hair. That’s still true.  

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    A couple of years ago Supermom and I decided to "Sponsor a Child" through Compassion International.   We have been sponsoring, and will continue to sponsor a young boy who will be turning 8 next year.  Now that we have 3 of our own little munch-kins, we get to share with them the joys of loving one of God’s children in another part of the world.  So on Monday, we get our letter from our little boy, a brief sentence that was left unexplained and left us wondering and hurting.  "His mother died."  And I felt like time stood still and another short sentence came to mind. AND "Jesus Wept!" 

    Then later that evening in the drive through, free frosty night, SuperMom and Monkey were having a conversation about Jesus when Monkey said "Jesus walk in the clouds?"
S.M.-Yes he walks around up there.
Monkey-We can’t see him?
S.M.-But he’s up there waiting for us.
Monkey-For what?
S.M-For when we come.
Monkey-He going to take us to heaven mami?
S.M- Yes
Monkey- When?
S.M-When Jesus comes back or we die!
Monkey-Remember that boy whose mother died, Jesus take her to heaven?

    Oh, they will get it.  They can understand so much.  It just amazes us.  We would ask for your prayers for our Compassion boy and his family as they deal with not having their mother anymore. There are still a lot of questions about why? and how? but still not as important as What can we do to continue to love this boy who is now motherless?

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Let me begin by saying, WOW.  Over thanksgiving, we watched "The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe" with our children and granny and grandad for our second time but our children’s first time.  The suspense and excitement in the movie was clearly caught by our little "Monkey."  In the scene where Aslan is killed by the white witch, you could taste the salt in the room, from the teary bleak eyes of our children.  It was as if they had said goodbye to a friend, when we assured them that Aslan was not sleeping, that he was dead, you could see their little hearts breaking. But then the unthinkable happened.  The joy returned and Aslan rose, triumphantly, victorious over death.  I got a glimpse at heaven and into the hearts and minds of Mary and the disciples as they were met by Christ after his ressurection.  Through Monkey’s eyes, recently filled with tears, she said "What happened?  Where he go?" And when they saw him come over the edge and look at the girls, she said "He alive!" "He okay Papi"  to which I concurred "Yes he is."

After reading A family runs through it, a blog in my feedreader, the father there mentioned the new movie trailer for the second movie in the Narnia series; Prince Caspian.  So I headed over to the movie’s trailer website and was blown away by the anticipation and sheer awe, that I felt after watching that trailer.  I can’t wait to take my kids to the movies to see it this spring.  It will be our once a year trip to the theatre, I am so excited to see one of my all time favorite non-fiction writer’s, best work of fiction storytelling, displayed once again on the big screen.   Tell your friends, invite your enemies, help restore wonder and awe everywhere.

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