Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Life is Normal
Isn't it amazing to think that life is just normal. There is good there is bad, there is hurt there is joy there is disapointment and satisfaction. Not so profound. But what would it look like to see our days from above and not be constrained by boundrys. God sees all and knows all. Is there any way that we can even get to a place where we can see the next move in relationship to acting in His will. How can we have enough mental control to truly keep God and His reflection of who he is at the fore front of our mind to dictate our next move. I think that it comes from and can be achieved to some degree and it comes from and act of God changing and transforming our hearts and that it is nothing that we can accomplish on our own even with optimal mind control. It has to be a spirtual transformation that comes from the Holy Spirt changing our spiritual make up and removing the veils or clutter from our spirit to reviel the purity. There, I also know with out a dought that God desires for us to be transformed, renued, clensed and more like him but mostly he wants us to Reflect Him!!
that reflections is pure love, acceptance, patience, wholeness. belonging and oneness.
that reflections is pure love, acceptance, patience, wholeness. belonging and oneness.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
In Response
As I read my sons most recent blog I howled about the absolute humor of his delightful disertation of his first nugget of knowledge that he has taken from his first day of school. This nugget is that which we have been explaining and showing and trying to help him see for the past month and expressly on our way to college. He was not interested in what we had to say. GOAL SETTING IF YOU DON'T DO IT YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED. That is all we had to say and fortunatly for us a higher power imparted that wisdom to him and he has taken hold of it and embrassed it. Ok son time to come home.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Squid and Woowing?
Wooing is counter productive to my agreement with my son. How can the esteemed establishment that I have given so generously (well not really thus far) go against my wishes and encourage this natural rite of passage so early on in his formal education. What are they thinking? Do they not know these are Hyena's that they so knowingly talked of in their encouraging skit for all the young lads and lass's? Dismay! What are they doing to my son, I am gone for 12 hours and this is what has happened my horrors of the future. I am on my knees!
Seriously, we do have an agreement, you may look but don't touch for six months then cut from the herd in two years. But it is fun to see my son experimenting with the ways of engaging a young woman and showing no fear. I am proud and impressed. Did I just double speak, I think so.
We are in Boston, checking out the history of this great town. I am not terribly excited to do so but it is an experience that all Americans should have, I feel that knowing the foundation of our country is essential to understanding our present and not repeating our past. If more people understood what our forefathers founded and fought for it would turn our nation and we would continue to be a force to be reckoned with in the world. But I know from the Word that we will not be that force, we are going to be absorbed or impotent, so in a sense why get worked up about politics and its stupidity at all, because our Great God has the path of the United States of America drawn and plotted already. Our greatest goal is to become men and women of God who will withstand the attack of the enemy and continue to lead the captives to freedom through Christ Jesus our Lord, when taken individual by individual the world is a much kinder and peaceful place. But to see from a birds eye view (the network TV) what is happening everywhere all at once we might as well go hide in a bomb shelter, (one of these can be found for $319,000. in Milwaukie Or. I can represent you in your next purchase) and hide our heads and hope for the best.
Stepping down from that soap box I say that the airplane is the greatest invention to man, second to the car. Flying here maybe took all day but how it shrinks our world and makes it something that we all can explore and understand. I wonder why God felt the need to allow us this awesome adventure and ability. I guess ultimately it is to continue with the great commission.
Well with a semi worried heart over the squiddyness of my young son and the Wooing being taught to him and with excitement for tomorrow I leave you. Life is good and God still sits on His throne. As I was leaving Andy to go check out of the hotel, my heart was heavy and I could not stop crying but I asked the Lord to let me leave those feelings and find the joy in what was happening and as a precious giving father would, he did! Just ask and He will give!
Blessings
Seriously, we do have an agreement, you may look but don't touch for six months then cut from the herd in two years. But it is fun to see my son experimenting with the ways of engaging a young woman and showing no fear. I am proud and impressed. Did I just double speak, I think so.
We are in Boston, checking out the history of this great town. I am not terribly excited to do so but it is an experience that all Americans should have, I feel that knowing the foundation of our country is essential to understanding our present and not repeating our past. If more people understood what our forefathers founded and fought for it would turn our nation and we would continue to be a force to be reckoned with in the world. But I know from the Word that we will not be that force, we are going to be absorbed or impotent, so in a sense why get worked up about politics and its stupidity at all, because our Great God has the path of the United States of America drawn and plotted already. Our greatest goal is to become men and women of God who will withstand the attack of the enemy and continue to lead the captives to freedom through Christ Jesus our Lord, when taken individual by individual the world is a much kinder and peaceful place. But to see from a birds eye view (the network TV) what is happening everywhere all at once we might as well go hide in a bomb shelter, (one of these can be found for $319,000. in Milwaukie Or. I can represent you in your next purchase) and hide our heads and hope for the best.
Stepping down from that soap box I say that the airplane is the greatest invention to man, second to the car. Flying here maybe took all day but how it shrinks our world and makes it something that we all can explore and understand. I wonder why God felt the need to allow us this awesome adventure and ability. I guess ultimately it is to continue with the great commission.
Well with a semi worried heart over the squiddyness of my young son and the Wooing being taught to him and with excitement for tomorrow I leave you. Life is good and God still sits on His throne. As I was leaving Andy to go check out of the hotel, my heart was heavy and I could not stop crying but I asked the Lord to let me leave those feelings and find the joy in what was happening and as a precious giving father would, he did! Just ask and He will give!
Blessings
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Tears fall like waterfalls
Busy busy busy! You know when you are so busy you can only think about the thing happening right in front of you. Sometimes it is a blessing to be so busy. I think if I had not been so busy for the past three weeks I would have died from dehydration.
Real Estate Sales has consumed my life and therefore it has been difficult to pull my attention to the next event in my life. My son, my baby, my last child at home, my coffee buddy, my shopping pal, my errand runner, computer support technician, my t.v. buddy, my clown, my friend is leaving me to start his life.
The selfish side of me wants him to stay home or to stay close to home, that would make me happy. But the good side of me knows that he is ready to fly and become the Man God has called him to be. It is so exciting to see who he is going to be. I can see who he is now and I know that soon he will sharpen who he is and extend who he is to who he will be. He is at ground zero and ready to launch. In a sense sending him off to college is like anticipating the third movie in a trilogy where everything comes to a close. Because the movie has just started, each year will be a block buster and the forth year the conclusion.
Today at the Freshman "dedication" we sang the hymn Be God My Vision, they start their freshman year with this and they end their four years with this. My prayer is that my son having been brought up in the way of the Lord will seek God for his vision because anything less would be from mans effort.
The actual day of heading to Spokane Washington home of Whitworth was a day from hell in my world of real estate. I had a closing on Thursday and thought everything was good. But my clients had a lot of things to move out of the farm. They did not get it done so Friday morning, they went back out to move the remainder of the property. They were only trying to honor their commitment they met no harm. I get an angry call from the buyer he is calling the police because the sellers are on his property. I tried to calm him but my phone kept cutting in and out and he was so angry he would not listen. He had heard that there had been a murder suicide in the house and the lovely neighbor had told them that the carpets had not been replaced, they also told them that the son was still "squatting" in the home. So with this juicy news the buyer was hot and not happy, later I find out they had tried to stop funding. I get a call from the police and they are wanting to know what is going on. I fill them in and beg for time to send someone out to warn the seller that they are about to be approach by the sheriff. I manage to get some people to get out there but not soon enough. There was a confrontation and then a resolution. But the six toed cat my be a total loss much to many of our dismay.
That stinking roller coaster turned out to be for three hour of our 9 hour tour, distracted me from being able to engage in what was truly happening. The heat from being in the non air conditioned Strayhound bus was stifling.
We tried to work on goal setting with our fledgling freshman but he was not into it. We feel like we failed him in that he does not know the meaning of goal setting and without that there is little chance for great direction. I think we feel that we let him down in not making him be more responsible. This has been confirmed by a very close source (AFK). With our inadequacies there the strength of the Lord will be.
We had a fun filled evening watching the food network, one of Andy's favorites. After we had had a delightful dinner with gramma, Rick, Uncle Charlie and Donna. We all over consumed because we could and it was forced upon us by the establishment. The hotel bed was nice to lay out and get some relief. We shared a room, Peter, Amy and Brian and I got the beds and our little floor layer got the floor. This is where he sleeps at home so whats the diff. in a hotel room?
Saturday Morning we met up with Gramma and Rick and pulled out all the stuff from the truck. We met very excited RA and other student government kids they were amazingly helpful. The carried in boxes and told us how to arrange the room and helped every way they could.
Little did we know that there were not only Chris and Andy but on the other side of the common area was a room just like Andy's and there was Ben and Wade. So it is really four guys sharing three rooms.
We went to Target and bought, a small table, a table lamp, a rug and so on and so on. We forgot about being tax exempt so we knew another trip to Target was in store. We got the room set up, Andy figured out the Internet and things were shaping up.
Andy's room mate is a great guy from Colorado, his mom was with him and they had their own crisis upon departing for their two day drive. Their dog got sick and by the time they made it to Washington, she had to be put to sleep. Very hard thing for a mom to relinquish her last child to college and to loose a beloved pet. We enjoyed out time visiting and exchanged emails so that we could stay in touch.
The event that the school put on for the evening was great! The best part was the history of the school. It has been in existence for a long time and has gone through lots of changes. The current president has a vision for excellence. That shows in everything at the school. It is clean, it is orderly, it is friendly and extremely positive place. His words fell into place for what our last bit of encouragement for Andy is. To set goals and to set a goal of excellence in all that you do, allows you to decide much more easily what things you will do. The school as set a goal of academic excellence and that is important. Every move they make will be governed by that goal.
They talked about the Hyena that may distract the Freshman from the path that they have set themselves on. Side note..the theme was Safari. The hyena's to Andy represented distractions of all sorts, I thought they just represented girls. So girls from here on out are called Hyena's!! He and I have discussed but with no formal written agreement that he can observe for six months and see which girls have the qualities and traits that he desires in a female companion. Then after two years he can cut one from the herd (in keeping with the Safari theme). But we see Andy being focused on studies and travel so we are hoping that he finds a girl that will like to go along on those trips and be a part of those things that are important to him rather than holding him back or distracting and keeping him from doing that. Everyone always tells me he will pick is own girl and they are absolutely correct. God is in control of that and he has chosen the women who will perfectly complement, support and love him. These are just more of the fun things we are awaiting in the next "movie" of his life.
We took Andy out for a farewell lunch with Peter and Amy and us. We went to Red Robin one of our favorites. But all morning my eyes were leaking and would not stop. But getting to be with Andy just as a family one last time and realizing finally that we would be back to see him in October, my eyes stopped and I could smile again. Also our table conversation is always humorous to us, others could find it offensive but we can turn them. Andy had his always consumed Whiskey River BBQ Burger. We took him back to the dorm Peter and Amy had a gift for him. It was left in the room. I will let you in on something. It was the huge green stuffed frog that has mysteriously ended up in each of our houses. Peter and Amy have actually found it in their refrigerator. I suppose this beast will end up in other boys or girls rooms at Whitworth college.
When at the lawn by Andy's dorm I insisted on photos, mom and Andy, mom, Andy and Peter, Andy and Peter, mom and Andy and Amy, Dad and Andy, and the whole thing again. We were laughing and making a spectacle of ourselves but who cares. They are my pictures. I gave Andy his card and I gave him two big hugs and he hugged back :) his dad hugged and his brother said good by. Then he walked away with his additional Target purchases, we piled into the car and watched him walk away.
We discussed his readiness and decided that he would grow and that being at this college was the best thing for him. I left with the feeling that Whitworth is the best place for him and he is in good hands and he will grow and thrive under their care, encouragement and activities. I am content and the tears have stopped. I am at peace. But I will miss my son, my coffee buddy and my friend! Life is good!
Real Estate Sales has consumed my life and therefore it has been difficult to pull my attention to the next event in my life. My son, my baby, my last child at home, my coffee buddy, my shopping pal, my errand runner, computer support technician, my t.v. buddy, my clown, my friend is leaving me to start his life.
The selfish side of me wants him to stay home or to stay close to home, that would make me happy. But the good side of me knows that he is ready to fly and become the Man God has called him to be. It is so exciting to see who he is going to be. I can see who he is now and I know that soon he will sharpen who he is and extend who he is to who he will be. He is at ground zero and ready to launch. In a sense sending him off to college is like anticipating the third movie in a trilogy where everything comes to a close. Because the movie has just started, each year will be a block buster and the forth year the conclusion.
Today at the Freshman "dedication" we sang the hymn Be God My Vision, they start their freshman year with this and they end their four years with this. My prayer is that my son having been brought up in the way of the Lord will seek God for his vision because anything less would be from mans effort.
The actual day of heading to Spokane Washington home of Whitworth was a day from hell in my world of real estate. I had a closing on Thursday and thought everything was good. But my clients had a lot of things to move out of the farm. They did not get it done so Friday morning, they went back out to move the remainder of the property. They were only trying to honor their commitment they met no harm. I get an angry call from the buyer he is calling the police because the sellers are on his property. I tried to calm him but my phone kept cutting in and out and he was so angry he would not listen. He had heard that there had been a murder suicide in the house and the lovely neighbor had told them that the carpets had not been replaced, they also told them that the son was still "squatting" in the home. So with this juicy news the buyer was hot and not happy, later I find out they had tried to stop funding. I get a call from the police and they are wanting to know what is going on. I fill them in and beg for time to send someone out to warn the seller that they are about to be approach by the sheriff. I manage to get some people to get out there but not soon enough. There was a confrontation and then a resolution. But the six toed cat my be a total loss much to many of our dismay.
That stinking roller coaster turned out to be for three hour of our 9 hour tour, distracted me from being able to engage in what was truly happening. The heat from being in the non air conditioned Strayhound bus was stifling.
We tried to work on goal setting with our fledgling freshman but he was not into it. We feel like we failed him in that he does not know the meaning of goal setting and without that there is little chance for great direction. I think we feel that we let him down in not making him be more responsible. This has been confirmed by a very close source (AFK). With our inadequacies there the strength of the Lord will be.
We had a fun filled evening watching the food network, one of Andy's favorites. After we had had a delightful dinner with gramma, Rick, Uncle Charlie and Donna. We all over consumed because we could and it was forced upon us by the establishment. The hotel bed was nice to lay out and get some relief. We shared a room, Peter, Amy and Brian and I got the beds and our little floor layer got the floor. This is where he sleeps at home so whats the diff. in a hotel room?
Saturday Morning we met up with Gramma and Rick and pulled out all the stuff from the truck. We met very excited RA and other student government kids they were amazingly helpful. The carried in boxes and told us how to arrange the room and helped every way they could.
Little did we know that there were not only Chris and Andy but on the other side of the common area was a room just like Andy's and there was Ben and Wade. So it is really four guys sharing three rooms.
We went to Target and bought, a small table, a table lamp, a rug and so on and so on. We forgot about being tax exempt so we knew another trip to Target was in store. We got the room set up, Andy figured out the Internet and things were shaping up.
Andy's room mate is a great guy from Colorado, his mom was with him and they had their own crisis upon departing for their two day drive. Their dog got sick and by the time they made it to Washington, she had to be put to sleep. Very hard thing for a mom to relinquish her last child to college and to loose a beloved pet. We enjoyed out time visiting and exchanged emails so that we could stay in touch.
The event that the school put on for the evening was great! The best part was the history of the school. It has been in existence for a long time and has gone through lots of changes. The current president has a vision for excellence. That shows in everything at the school. It is clean, it is orderly, it is friendly and extremely positive place. His words fell into place for what our last bit of encouragement for Andy is. To set goals and to set a goal of excellence in all that you do, allows you to decide much more easily what things you will do. The school as set a goal of academic excellence and that is important. Every move they make will be governed by that goal.
They talked about the Hyena that may distract the Freshman from the path that they have set themselves on. Side note..the theme was Safari. The hyena's to Andy represented distractions of all sorts, I thought they just represented girls. So girls from here on out are called Hyena's!! He and I have discussed but with no formal written agreement that he can observe for six months and see which girls have the qualities and traits that he desires in a female companion. Then after two years he can cut one from the herd (in keeping with the Safari theme). But we see Andy being focused on studies and travel so we are hoping that he finds a girl that will like to go along on those trips and be a part of those things that are important to him rather than holding him back or distracting and keeping him from doing that. Everyone always tells me he will pick is own girl and they are absolutely correct. God is in control of that and he has chosen the women who will perfectly complement, support and love him. These are just more of the fun things we are awaiting in the next "movie" of his life.
We took Andy out for a farewell lunch with Peter and Amy and us. We went to Red Robin one of our favorites. But all morning my eyes were leaking and would not stop. But getting to be with Andy just as a family one last time and realizing finally that we would be back to see him in October, my eyes stopped and I could smile again. Also our table conversation is always humorous to us, others could find it offensive but we can turn them. Andy had his always consumed Whiskey River BBQ Burger. We took him back to the dorm Peter and Amy had a gift for him. It was left in the room. I will let you in on something. It was the huge green stuffed frog that has mysteriously ended up in each of our houses. Peter and Amy have actually found it in their refrigerator. I suppose this beast will end up in other boys or girls rooms at Whitworth college.
When at the lawn by Andy's dorm I insisted on photos, mom and Andy, mom, Andy and Peter, Andy and Peter, mom and Andy and Amy, Dad and Andy, and the whole thing again. We were laughing and making a spectacle of ourselves but who cares. They are my pictures. I gave Andy his card and I gave him two big hugs and he hugged back :) his dad hugged and his brother said good by. Then he walked away with his additional Target purchases, we piled into the car and watched him walk away.
We discussed his readiness and decided that he would grow and that being at this college was the best thing for him. I left with the feeling that Whitworth is the best place for him and he is in good hands and he will grow and thrive under their care, encouragement and activities. I am content and the tears have stopped. I am at peace. But I will miss my son, my coffee buddy and my friend! Life is good!
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