"I have no desire to move mountains, construct monuments, or leave behind in my wake material evidence of my existence. But in the final recollection, if the essence of my being has caused a smile to have appeared upon your face or a touch of joy within your heart…then in living—I have made my mark." = Thomas Odem

The North Wind boasted of great strength. The Sun argued that there was great power in gentleness. "We shall have a contest," said the Sun. Far below, a man traveled a winding road. He was wearing a warm winter coat. "As a test of strength," said the Sun, "Let us see which of us can take the coat off of that man." "It will be quite simple for me to force him to remove his coat," bragged the Wind. The Wind blew so hard, the birds clung to the trees. The world was filled with dust and leaves. But the harder the wind blew down the road, the tighter the shivering man clung to his coat. Then, the Sun came out from behind a cloud. Sun warmed the air and the frosty ground. The man on the road unbuttoned his coat. The sun grew slowly brighter and brighter. Soon the man felt so hot, he took off his coat and sat down in a shady spot. "How did you do that?" said the Wind. "It was easy," said the Sun, "I lit the day. Through gentleness I got my way."

"Take the first step in faith. You don't
have to see the whole staircase.
Just take the first step."
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Make your life count!

Desire that your life count for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance. Want this! Don't coast through life without a passion. -John Piper

First Amendement

Separation of Church and State?

Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

As you can see, the First Amendment prevents a National Religion, such as there was in England, which is why the pilgrims left. This reminds me of the movie Casablanca. Rick never said "Play it again, Sam".

Micah and Daniel

Here they are!

We leave in two weeks to bring these little guys home. It's going to be a real zoo here for the next couple of years, so come visit us and bring some peanuts.

On Being a Winner

Here is an article i found that will be helpful to my son someday, so I'm posting it here.

It was 1989 Europe - a five year old was playing war in the courtyard of his building with the neighborhood kids - and time was rough under the Socialist regime. There were no hard rules, no guidelines, and only the oppressors had plastic weapons. One thing was clear though, everyone wanted to be a winner.

Fast forward - 2008 USA, now 23 years old, our kid has grown up to a young adult. Some things have not changed; everyone still wants to be a winner. The stakes are higher in the adult world: big kids play war with real weapons, lives are on the line, and everything is a matter of consequence.

With everything being so gosh darn important we set about to create lofty goals. We realize that in order to achieve we must be a certain type of person to perform the actions necessary to succeed. The person we must be is a winner.

"If you don't see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner." ~Zig Ziglar

Type A (Winner) Personalities
Winner, we will define as, a type A, get-it-done, care about other people, type of personality. This is the type of person that everyone wants to be around, the type of person that everyone wants to be. Here are 10 traits that I would define as necessary to being a winner.

1. Exhibit Integrity
2. Do Not Speak Badly of Others
3. Stay Optimistic
4. Help Others When You Can
5. High Ambitions
6. Kind and compassionate
7. Believe in and respect yourself
8. Persist until you succeed
9. Open mindedness
10. Take responsibility

Fast Track To Being A Winner
You know you have some huge goals and you've been wanting to be a winner since you were 5 years old; you're just like me. You realize that there are 10 important traits to being a winner and many other traits that you would like to adopt as your very own in order to live a happier, more successful, more productive, and more rewarding life. Here's what you can do...

Act as if' you are a public figure! What does this mean? It means that you must understand that people are watching you at all times. Act as if it matters that people are watching you, and that you have a reputation to uphold, and you must act in such a manner so that people do not discover that you are anything different than what you appear to be.

This creates a sense of obligation in yourself to uphold the characteristics that you set out to identify yourself with. This way, no matter where you are, you are always thinking about how you are being a winner, and what kind of example you are setting for the people around you. Whether you are at work, happy hour, with your family, or at any public place -- be a winner.

Life is nothing but a series of habits, good or bad, that we have set up for ourselves. By being very consistent with being a winner and performing the actions of a winner, we are making 'winner' a habitual quality for ourselves. With time it won't be 'acting as if' and it will be 'going about your ways'.

"Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner. Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory." ~Arthur Ashe

More on discipline

In vain do they talk of happiness who never subdued an impulse in
obedience to a principle. He who never sacrificed a present to a future
good, or a personal to a general one, can speak of happiness only as
the blind speak of color.

Horace Mann
1796-1859, American educator and abolitionist.

Jim Bunning was one of my childhood Phillie favs.

Judgement

"Therefore let us stop passing judgement on one another." - Romans 14:3

Fatherhood

"A father carries a picture where his money used to be" -Anonymous

Discipline

Liberty is the luxury of self-discipline. Historically, those people
that did not discipline themselves had discipline thrust upon them from
the outside.

Alistair Cooke

Relationships

"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men."
-Herman Melville

patience

"...comfort those who are frightened, take care of those who are weak, and be patient with everyone..." St. Paul (1 Thessolonians)

Jordan in One Voice

Jordan, you showed your talent extends beyond your sweet swing with a bat and your ability to drive your sister absolutely crazy in the Christian musical "One Voice" this Easter.

Your parents were proud of you, of course, but I was really happy that you stepped outside of your comfort zone and did this. It's something that not a lot of people do, and I know I have been guilty of that a lot. At first you were a little nervous about having a part in front of all those people instead of just singing in a group, as you expected. Mom, (who deserves a lot of credit for this), said, "well, if you want to quit, that's ok, but why don't you try it and see if you like it?". From that point on, you absolutely loved it. I realize that there were a few other kids your age to hang out with, but the few times that I picked you up, I could see that the grownups like you too. That's what impressed me the most, that at your age you were able to feel comfortable with the other people in your play, even adults!

We went to the cast party tonite and heard numerous kind words about how everyone enjoyed your presence during rehearsals and during the actual play. One woman was impressed at how you just stood there with all the adults and waited for directions.

It was a tremendous play and the acting and the music were so good, many people thought the church hired professionals. And the exciting thing is that you were a part of it!

My prayer is that you will never let fear keep you from trying things like this. I spoke to Nicodemus tonight and he admitted that even he was nervous, but you would never guess from watching him. It's so easy to not try new things, for fear of looking silly. My Prayer is that you will continue to smile and bring joy to a room like you do now, to face any fear you might have, and go ahead and do your best for God's glory.

Love, Dad

Anika's flag

Time for Bed

Kid's turning 10

This is to document articles, websites, and info regarding helping kid's turning 10.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,997083,00.html