All posts by Tim

David, Project 365

Some Days I’m Witty

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I’m beginning to remember what it was like to do Project 365, back in 2007.

Every day, without fail, you have to come up with something witty or meaningful to say. If you don’t, you’re like a person who breaks a chain letter, or like the tooth fairy who fails to come when a small child places their tooth under their pillow.

Actually, the tooth fairy is notoriously late in our household; sometimes she takes weeks to arrive. She breezes into town, mumbling something about a hockey tournament in Denver. You just can’t rely on her anymore.

The problem is, some days, I’m just not that meaningful or witty. And even with our current arrangement of blogging every other day, the days that I’m ‘on’ seem to crop up pretty often.

“Keep the bar low,” I told Kathy, yesterday. She ignored me, and posted seven pictures of my two older boys, clowning around. Several of the pictures had clever captions. But did she think about what it would be like, to be me, today?

No. She didn’t care. It was ‘every woman for herself’ day, yesterday.

Well, as every parent knows, when you don’t have anything to say, just show off your cute kids. Although my kids are getting older, and few of them can be referred to (at least to their faces) as ‘cute’, still, I am always proud to show them off.

Here is David, setting out on a cycling adventure.

Here is David, setting out on a cycling adventure.

David will be fourteen soon, which is mind-boggling. He has always been my ‘youngest son’, and I’m not really ready for him to be biking around town by himself. Next thing you know, he’ll be hinting about Drivers’ Ed.

Oh, boy. I can hardly wait. Project 365, Day 9.

Tim

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Project 365, Sarah

A Blessing of My Own

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Three weeks ago, we had a special skit for the Sparks and Truth & Training kids at AWANA. Each year as Christmas approaches, I try to have a skit that specifically highlights the gospel in a way that the kids can understand. I’m not very good at it, but I always have some kind of ‘altar call’ in which the kids have an opportunity to choose to accept God’s gift of Salvation in a public way.

This year we re-used a skit we had performed before, called The Gift. Our mighty and elite Drama & Serve Team performed it; they did a great job, as usual (especially considering that I made them do it without scripts). Afterward, I explained the skit, and asked the audience of some 80 Sparks and T&T kids if any of them wanted to accept the Gift of God, and if so, to come forward.

Who wouldn't want a gift like this one?

Who wouldn’t want a gift like this one? Especially if they knew who was inside?

Fifteen kids came forward. I explained to them how to accept God’s gift (Admit, Repent, Believe, Tell), and walked them through a simple prayer. It was chaotic, and I was un-prepared for such a large group of kids. I had planned (as is my usual practice) to give them each a Bible, but Kathy suggested we do something different, especially since so many of them were Sparks (Kindergarten through 2nd Grade). She had been told by several of their parents that they were getting Bibles for Christmas, so I promised the kids I would have something else for them, when next we met.

Today was the first AWANA meeting since Christmas. I bought some dog tags from Christian Book Distributors so the kids who had become Christians could wear them and be reminded that they are now children of the King. And Kathy found a cool blessing on Etsy, wherein the text of Numbers 6:24-26 was modified to include the name of each child. We spent a few hours constructing our own version in Publisher, and framed them for the kids. My hope is that they will display the blessings in their room, and remember that they belong to a God who loves them, whenever they see it.

This is the 'girl' version of the blessing we made.

This is the ‘girl’ version of the blessing we made, modeled by Sarah.

Serving in our AWANA program is a huge privilege. Even though I know that some kids don’t really understand the choice they are making, and others have already made the choice, but wanted an opportunity to make it more publicly — still, I rejoice to know that some fifteen hearts have said ‘Yes’ to God’s gift of Salvation.

A somewhat clearer version of the blessing for Sarah.

A somewhat clearer version of the blessing for Sarah.

As Jesus said:

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Project 365, Day 7
Tim

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David, Joshua, Project 365

Return of the Josh

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We have a tradition in our home. Well, we have lots of traditions, truth be told.

Sometimes books are made into movies. Usually, no one really cares, except maybe the author. But every now and then, Hollywood decides to make a good book into a movie, and they incur the wrath of many who loved that book.

We had to evict a cat so Joshua could have the comfy reading chair.

We had to evict a cat so Joshua could have the comfy reading chair.

My oldest son has come to really love the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and he insists that no one should be allowed to watch any of Peter Jackson’s movies until they have actually read the book(s) covered by the movie. Of course, recently, that hasn’t been very difficult, since it took Jackson 3 movies to cover a single novel that was originally written for children. Maybe if he wasn’t so busy adding extra characters, he could have done it in two movies, but (based on box office returns) perhaps he is happy with his decision to go for three.

This year it is David’s turn. At 13, he is really wanting to watch the final Lord of the Rings movie, based on The Return of the King, which he has not yet read. So Joshua decided to read it aloud to him, sprinkling chapters throughout our recently-ended Christmas break. As we begin the new year, we are down to our last four chapters in Tolkien’s conclusion to the saga.

David plays games on his Kindle Fire while listening. I think there should be a quiz, to make sure he is listening.

David plays games on his Kindle Fire while listening. I think there should be a quiz, to make sure he is listening.

Soon we will be able to watch the final Lord of the Rings movie with wild abandon, except that Sarah will have to be sent away. (Not that she minds — she doesn’t like Orcs or Nazgul very much.)

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Daniel, Project 365

Choosing a Path

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Over the past few days, I’ve been working on a PowerPoint presentation for my middle son, Daniel. Some people actually talk to their children, but I prefer PowerPoint.

OK, not really. But sometimes, it is better to put things down in writing, and some concepts are easier to explain with cartoon clip-art characters.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Daniel’s future. As he finishes his Senior year in High School, the opportunities multiply, and may seem overwhelming. On the flip side, some young adults can get locked into a single vision for the future, and I worry that Daniel may feel he has no other options.

When I was a young man, I wanted to get out on my own so badly, I grabbed at the first opportunity as my ticket to freedom, not really thinking about what would be required of me. As it turns out, when you accept a 4-year ROTC scholarship and use it to attend college, they want you to actually go to class from time to time.

Later, when I lost the scholarship and found my life in ruins, I regretted having put so little effort into choosing my path more carefully. It took several years and a considerable amount of pain to get my life back on the rails.

So I put together a 20-slide deck to cast a vision to Dan of his future. We went out to dinner at Red Robin and talked about it.

We forgot to take a picture at Red Robin, so we staged this picture back at home.

We forgot to take a picture at Red Robin, so we staged this picture back at home.

In many ways, a young man who graduates from high school is in a very enviable position. He usually has no bills, no commitments, no dependents, no obligations. He is probably more free to choose than he will ever be again.

It is exciting to think of what path Daniel will choose, and of what God will do in his life.

Project 365 – Day 3
Tim

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Project 365

A Fresh Start

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It has been delightful to have Joshua and Rachel home for Christmas, but there has been one sour note. Joshua, who is pretty careful not to say anything negative, remarked on our blogging practice.

“Yes, I remember when I was younger, you used to blog all the time,” he reminisced. “Now that I’m away at school, I often check the blog to see what is going on, but all I see is the same post from two months ago.”

It is true that our blogging seems to come in fits and starts. In 2013, we had a total of 6 posts; we did better in 2014, with 47. In our heyday, we posted 405 times in a single year (2007).

Admitting that more is not necessarily better, we’re resuming our blog with Project 365. Basically, we’ll try to post every day, alternating between me and Kathy, posting at least one picture taken that day or the day before.

Here’s a picture from last night’s New Year’s party.

Some people seemed to feel that to properly celebrate the new year, you need to kick off your shoes.

Some people seemed to feel that to properly celebrate the new year, you need to kick off your shoes.

Each year, we host a New Year’s party, inviting many of our closest friends. This year, one of our gracious friends offered to host it on our behalf.

“Let’s have your party, but do it at our house,” they offered.

It is true that our house would have been overwhelmed — this year 95 people attended, whereas usually we keep it to 50 or so. We played many games, ate delicious food, and celebrated the new year with abundant joy.

We are so thankful to have so many friends, to share life with, and to encourage and help us live in a way that is pleasing to God.

Project 365 – Day 1
Tim

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