A Boys Imagination

I think fathering boys was everything God built me for…I am not always the best daddy of boys, but I am a work in progress. Some of the things I love about my boys are the moments of adrenaline, the sense of urgency, the need for adventure, and the list goes on. I have tried to feed many of those needs in my little men. One of the ways I have been working with Brady is through story. I have concocted an 8 day story this last week and a half that has ended with major adventure for his little 5 year old mind. So much so…he couldn’t sleep the night before the big event. What did I do?

Simple. I made up an ongoing story that each night ended with…to be continued. I didn’t have to do too much creative digging…mostly I just talked about what I loved as a kid with him. The story involved little boys taking trips around their neighborhood, and became as elaborate as these same kids meeting up with spies for a treasure hunt. Interwoven into this long tale where truths from God’s word about what a boy must be to be a man.

We talked of courage, honor, faithfulness, risk, saying thank you, looking for things and not giving up, and so much more. I shared about how you won’t always be perfect but when you aren’t you gotta learn to say your sorry and get better (maybe a little of Tiger Wood’s drama affected me here). All in all it is a precious time and one that I try to protect and keep each night.

As we neared the end of the story and my imaginative capacity… I thought a treasure hunt would be a great end. So we did just that. I copied a simple map from the internet. I used my iPhone to enhance the spy part of the experience. I also used the phone to act as a treasure detector. I hid the treasure while he was looking in another place…so there was no need to go bury something prior to the trip. He was surprised, curiously engaged the whole time, and eager to use his new found treasure to go hang out with daddy. (Doing something with the person who helped you find the treasure was part of the treasures instructions!)

So, now Brady and I will go spend a day having some lunch (quality time to talk and hang out) and then catch a movie which has been one of our favorite things to do for a while now. (plus the movie may feed our imagination). And, as you can imagine I am thinking about and dreaming of our next adventure together and the story line for that series.

Stay tuned as I am bound to post an update about that one as well.

Highly Creative

Brady is our highly creative 4 year old who enjoys early mornings. In fact, he enjoys morning way more than mom and dad do so there are times he will wake up sneak around and we never even know it. The other day I actually heard him and thought he was playing quietly in his room…this is what I woke up to:

As you can imagine we laughed. HARD. Then we did what every self respecting parent does next…get evidence for blackmail later on in life…we took pictures for your pleasure. the real joy came later when we needed to clean him off and discovered it was NOT a sharpie that made this beautiful addition to his face. *Shew* In fact, it was  only a crayola marker (water based) but did not make the job much easier. Happily he is marker free but I thought you would get a big kick out of this adventure!

Friends Back Home

My friends hosted an 80′s night theme party last night and this was all I got out of it, but since they shared you get something too!

A Good Day

I set out today to register my car in Texas. Thought it would be about $75-80. Inspection was the first surprise…$164 later we were out the door. Next surprise was the $180 first time registration fees. Yikes. Through all of this though Brady was hanging out with Dad. He was awesome. HE was patient, nice, and well mannered. It was a really fun day. Seeing him react to his surroundings and interact with the people around us softened the expense of the day. Thank you God for my little boy…one day he will be a man and I pray that he is above all a man who walks through life with you in a way that draws others to you! He made me a better person today. Kept me sane in an isane series of events. Gotta love how that works.

Day Off

As we have hit the ground running and I am enjying a long commute every week it has been brought to my attention that I am not taking a day off. So, in order to stay healthy, practice what I preach, and love my family…I am taking Wednesdays off until we are able to move to Anna. That means no sermon work, no website updates , no follow-ups etc…you get the idea. I will Twitter update since much of that is personal as well, but I am looking forward to doing some things with Kim and the boys on that day. I miss it. This week I might take Brady to a movie and do lunch with the whole crew.

Relationship Buster

Let me ask this question and leave it up to some of you to help fill in the gaps. What has been your hardest staff relationship of your career. Without naming names and dragging people through “the mud” I want you to be proactive in talking about the things that helped bring resolution and unity back between you and said person. My hope is that you will be honest and objective in your writing and offer help to many of those in situations that would like guidance.

The root of all my problems with staff etc are in pride. Pride leads to anger. Pride leads to stubbornness. Pride leads to selfishness. Pride leads to DESTRUCTION! My pride has destroyed relationships and the only thing that has ever worked at repairing that damage has been humility and a willingness to admit wrong doing. I know that there is nothing fancy about that advice, but it is the only thing that has worked in my experience.

The end result for me is that I approach every new situation with the attitude of thankfulness. I am truly thankful for a new friend, new staff member, new church, new anything. The humility of being grateful has a profound leveling effect on the human heart and a great way of reminding me that the playing field is almost always even.

What have you learned? How have you grown? Are you in the middle of a relationship struggle as you read this post? Leave some comments and let’s get the ball rolling.

Connections Do Happen

I may be strange but I think connections do happen through social media. I have had two great face to face meetings with people I’ve met on Twitter. Granted I feel like it requires a concentrated effort, but anything worth pursuing often does. How can you start using social media to make connections with people around you?

BTW, this is my first mobile post.

Help with My Commute

Each week my home doesn’t sell in Arizona I get to drive 4 hours (from Abilene) to my new church in Anna, Texas. The drive actually passes quite quickly but I am looking for things to do while I am driving that do not include…Twitter, text, or anything that will require me to focus on something to the point of distraction from driving. Any thoughts or ideas? Comment below. Thanks for the tips.