A (Computer) Chip Off the Old Block (Hard Drive)

We were at the lake this weekend and I had my first look at the next Bill Gates. Yes, Tyler finally noticed the laptop and got acquainted with the remote control (I mean the mouse...) and when I tried to take him away from it, he actually cried! I think I had a few tears in my eyes too.

Maybe someday he and I will hang out with matching notebooks, accessing the same wireless network, sharing files, sitting in recliners, drinking Mountain Dew and watching the Denver Broncos play football (all while the girls are at the mall of course...)

Somebody pinch me...

Tyler Has Arrived

What can I say, Tyler is just getting tired of his siters taking advantage of him. Here we see Tyler showing Rachel how he feels about having his blanket stolen from him. Look out girls, Tyler is finding his muscles...

Days of Summer

I cannot believe that summer is coming to an end. It always goes by way too fast for me, though I have to admit that this year it has seemed to really fly. I am normally one of those people who is ready for fall about this time of year. I am ready for sweatshirts, cooler weather, and believe it or not football, but not this year. I wish we had another month or so left of nice warm lake weather. One of the reasons I love the summer so much is because of the lake, it is just so relaxing to be there.

I got the chance this week to take the kids plus Abby to the lake for 2 days. My grandma and Aunt Linda are in town from Utah along with my cousin and her kids from Pennsylvania. We were all able this week to spend some time hanging out and catching up and watching the kids play together at the lake. This is the 3rd time this year that my kids have been able to play with my cousin's kids, Joe and Matt. We normally do not get to see them very often but it amazes me how well our kids get along.

The kids had a great time playing in the sand and even made some new friends from next door. After I tried to rinse sand off the girls, let me tell you there was sand in parts sand has no place being, we loaded into the car after two fun days and headed for home. About half way home I realized that I could actually hear myself think. Could it be that all 4 kids were sleeping? Yes, they were all out. Some peace and quiet and some country music for about half and hour, what else does a girl need?

Are You a Moth or a Cockroach?

I was listening to a message on my way to work this morning (103.1 FM) when the speaker said something that made me think:

"We're either drawn to, or repelled by, the light of truth."

He described how some of us want to hear the good news and our hearts are in a place to accept the things God has for us. But that others really have no desire to know the truth about God. They may call themselves "Christians" and may do outward things to suggest that they believe, but on the inside the connection is broken.

So what does the moth and the cockroach have to do with anything? It should be pretty obvious!

The moth has an affinity for the light. It spends large amounts of time flying toward the light, landing near the light and simply being in the light. Sure we get annoyed when we come home at night and there is a swarm of moths surrounding the entrance to our homes. Too often as we're swatting at them, one will inadvertently wind up in the house. But most of us don't "hate" moths. We co-exist and think nothing of it.

The cockroach on the other hand sends chills up and down our spines. They hide out in the dark, damp places of the house and you never really know what they're up to. At night when you flip on the light, they scatter - looking for the closest shadow or crack in the wall leading back into darkness. Most people "hate" roaches and will do whatever it takes to have them killed, exterminated or banished to the far corners of the earth.

I'll resist the temptation to take this illustration any further, because I've already made my point. Each of us falls into one of the two categories. We're either comfortable being in the light, or we're doing everything possible to stay in the shadows.

So what are you - a moth or a cockroach?

I Need a Vacation

Things at work have been a little on the hectic side lately...Probably because I have been doing two jobs for the past month or two.

Here's my dilemma: I spend 5 straight days looking forward to the weekend and then 2 days preparing myself mentally for the next week. Unfortunately, this means I have a hard time relaxing and the family only gets half of me during the weekend.

I need a vacation!!!

The picture above is from the resort Tammy and I stayed at during our honeymoon. It is the Couples Resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica (now with free wireless of course...) and it's the last truly awe-inspiring vacation I can remember. Tammy and I promised we would be back in five years but unfortunately (three kids later) we're on our way to year six without making it back.

I guess I just need to practice the art of living in the moment - taking things one day at a time and making the most of the time I have with family and friends.

Mexico Places

This is a picture of the Back2Back campus where we stayed. We ate, slept and showered here everyday.

This is Douglas, one of the orphanages where we worked at. This is one of the buildings where the younger kids stayed.

This is Manatial De Amor, one of the other orphanages we worked at. This is where the boys stayed and the girls stayed about 6 blocks away.

This is one of the roads we walked on coming back from Douglas. These streets were really flooded from Hurricane Emily and then from the tropical storm that came through while we were there. As you can see our team tried to walk around the water as much as possible so that we did not have soaking wet shoes.

These two pictures are from the Rio. This was an area we went to and handed out donations. The people in this area live in utter poverty. Their homes are shacks and they basically have nothing. It was such an eye opening experience to see how some people live. It made me think w about how selfish I can be sometimes, complaining about the things I don't have.

These pictures are from Horsetail Falls. We went there the last day we were in Monterey. It was pretty cool, you walked up this trail and then this came into sight. It was beautiful!

The Things Kids are Scared Of

All of our kids have gone through stages where they are scared of something and it is interesting to me what those things are and how they are different for every kid. Last night we (or should I say I, Daryl was not all that excited about it) decided to go on a walk. It was a beautiful evening and I thought it would be fun to get the kids out of the house for awhile. We got the wagon and stroller out of the garage and headed out. Rachel started out in the wagon and we were not even out of the driveway yet and she started freaking out about all the little things that were in the wagon. Now the wagon was in the garage so there were little pieces of dirt and grass and yes some occasional bugs. The bugs were so tiny that you could barely see them, but she managed to find almost all of them. Once I had most of them out I just started telling her that everything else she managed to find was grass. That seemed to appease her.

We were about halfway through our walk, Allison has now joined Rachel in the wagon, when Allison starts getting concerned that the sun is going down and we better get home. Now it is only about 7:00pm at this time and still very light outside. I just tried to ignore her comments for awhile but she continued on, "Mom we better go home it is getting dark outside" is all I heard for about 5 minutes. Even after I assured her that it was fine and we had plenty of time before it got dark she still thought we should head for home. It finally took me telling her that we were headed for home before she rested her case. Daryl and I talked about whether she will be the same way about her curfew as a teenager. Will she say "I better get home it is almost dark" at the age of 16? Probably not, but with her there is always hope.

After arriving home way before dark may I add, it was bathtime. I piled all the kids into the tub and everyone got clean. Since it was almost 8:00pm by the time they got out and close to bedtime I decided to blow dry Allison and Rachel's hair. As I sat on the couch doing this Tyler just watched me. He basically did not take his eyes off the blow dryer. While the blow dryer was turned off he crawled over to the couch where I was sitting. I then turned it back on to dry Rachel's hair and started playing with him and turning the dryer on his hair for a few seconds. I got these looks of I am not sure if I like that. He tolerated me doing that for about 10 seconds and then it was full blown crying. He just sat on the floor and watched the dryer and cried. This is the same thing he does with the vacuum. The minute he sees the vacuum come into the room he just sits and stares at it and if it gets anywhere close to him he starts crying like crazy. Now if Allison did that I might have some sympathy since she did have a run in with the vacuum at about his age and still has a scar from it, but I figure Tyler will just have to get used to it. Okay so I am not that mean. I do put him in the chair while I run the vacuum with one of his sisters, that seems to appease him for now.

I am sure the day will come when they pretend like they are not scared of anything and will think they are invincible, so I should probably cherish these scared moments when the only thing that makes them feel better is being in mommy or daddy's arms.

Here's What I Think of That!

So Tyler was teaching me the finer points of negotiation today. He was in the middle of it when he stopped and said, "And if you don't agree with the person, just do this..."

Carter Is In the Building

Carter came over to play today! He was a little freaked out at first since his house is much quieter than ours, but he quickly calmed and decided to play with some of Tyler's toys. However, this didn't go over very well with Tyler, so we put Tyler to bed for naps. We'll just call it an "attitude adjustment."

Leadership Summit 2005

Well, as some of you know, I've been attending the Leadership Summit for the past three days at Granger Community Church in Granger, IN. The Summit is put on by Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL. Presenters included Bill Hybels, Rick Warren and John Maxwell. The Messages were well thought out and the overall theme was followed throughout.

My initial assumption was that we would hear information primarily focused on the development of "leadership" qualities. And while that was touched on, there were much more powerful themes being presented. You couldn't help but hear the following:

• The gospel
• The problems in the world today (AIDS, hunger, poverty, etc.)
• Our calling to meet the above needs
• What the church and others are doing to meet the above needs
• How leaders are succeeding because they have followed Christian principles in their churches/businesses
• How to manage our time/stress/energy in the completion of our callings

I really enjoyed two of the presentations on Day 2. Each sounded similar to clinical conferences I have attended. One guy even presented on the 4 parts of the self (emotional, cognitive, behavioral and spiritual) which is enough to make any counselor feel at home. I guess it's just good to know that even leaders of large churches and companies fall under the same psychological principles that I teach to people without jobs.

My overall impression of the conference was positive. I was refreshed, inspired and challenged to be more than I've already aspired to be. To focus less on success and more on servanthood. And to find my Holy Discontent (Bill Hybels described this concept as that thing that I feel in my spirit is wrong and needs corrected) and to do everything in my power to bring change in this area.