Mommy's Home!!!

That's right - I got a phone call at around 2pm saying Tammy was at the airport in Chicago safe and sound. They're taking the GCC buses back to the church so we'll meet her there for church at 5:30. We can't wait to see her...

While the Cat's Away

I've developed a defense mechanism for boredom and loneliness while the Mrs. is away. From the picture above you've already guessed what it is - movies. There's just something about a 2hr flick that passes the time... And with my laptop at my side it's amazing how much work I can get done too! One of those "killing 2 birds with one stone" type of things I guess...

This week I sorta went nuts with the Hollywood Video card as the list below shows. You'll also notice a theme - they're all movies Tammy will be mad at me for renting because she was dying to see them (NOT!). Actually, they're all movies that have chase scenes, explosions, fighting and stuff like that... (my rating in parentheses out of 4 stars)

• Swordfish (** blah, blah, blah...)
• XXX [State of the Union] (* bad, bad, bad...)
• Ballistic [Ecks vs. Sever] (*** for the constant look of anger on Luci Liu's face...)
• 7 Seconds (** too predictable...)
• Out of Time (**** for Eva Mendes...)
• The Punisher (*** for Travolta playing the mob lord...)
• Red Planet (* yeah right - like you could breathe on Mars...)

I must say this list is not a very good representation of my taste in movies. I'm more the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Matrix kinda guy. But good flicks appear to be few and far between lately. So this is what I had to choose from in the "Guy Movie" category...

Back to Reality...

With Tammy being away in Mexico, the kids have had to adjust to a number of different situations this week. Here's the breakdown:

• I spent the first weekend with the kids.
• Aunt Lori, Cheyenne and Tanner stayed Sunday night and watched the kids on Monday.
• Monday night the kids went to the Callenders' house to spend two nights/three days with their best friends.
• Wednesday night (tonight) I got the kids back and will be with them for the rest of the week.

It was an interesting couple days being at home with no wife and no kids. Some guys might view this as the perfect scenario, but I was literally trying to find things to do to keep my mind off the fact that I was alone in the house...

It was such a good feeling to get the kids back, hold them, read bedtime stories and know that when I wake up in the morning it will be to the sound of either crying or girls asking, "Daddy can we get out of bed?"

There's Danger in Comfort

I was on my way to work this morning when I heard this guy on the radio say the following: "The greatest danger we face here on earth is feeling comfortable being here on earth."

This peaked my interest and got me thinking in two different directions. First, I understand the statement to suggest that we should not get overly comfortable with life on this planet. The whole "this world is not our home" statement comes to mind. After all, we were created to be in direct contact with God. I mean face-to-face contact as it was in the beginning. Our current condition is far from ideal and much less than was intended. For us to view earth in it's fallen condition as our highest ambition is to lose sight of the incredible possibilities that exist for humans choosing God over Satan.

But the second direction I headed was to figure out what it would look like to feel comfort on this fallen planet in the first place. I mean how does one become comfortable?

On the one hand it's probably values based - shifting your morals/values to match those of the world - thereby creating a more "harmonious" existence. But there's also a good chance that comfort includes societies definition of success which tends to be fame, status, wealth, nice cars, big houses, exotic vacations, expensive toys, etc.

And this is where I began to get very uncomfortable. Not because I feel I've become comfortable with my existence on earth, but because I am highly focused on being comfortable while here on earth. Not the same thing, but I'm convinced that it is equally dangerous to the Christian.

Far too often I find myself concerned about our financial success, the less-than-new condition of our cars or our home, the stress I feel at work and our inability to take long weekends or regular vacations. I struggle with selfish strivings to avoid pain, discomfort and unpleasantries. I'm too familiar with what others have and what I do not. I allow my emotional well being to sway depending on some or all of these variables. And I know my spiritual health has suffered because I've allowed my focus to be on "earth (temporal) comfort" instead of "heaven (eternal) comfort".

I assume this is part of the human condition - the struggle of every Christian when confronted with uncertainty, failure, discomfort, pain, poverty, disease or other difficulty. So starting today I will try to get serious about this and focus on the following:

May we hold fast to the One holding us - and take comfort in this first and foremost.

Bedwetting & Dishwashers

They say every day is an experience and I won't argue after this morning. Dr. Phil phrases it this way: You create your own experience... And while I had little control over either happening, I had total control over my reaction to the situations (thereby defining the experience).

It started in the morning as the girls were getting out of bed. My youngest girl stated matter-of-factly, "Daddy, why is my bed wet?"

When I explained that she must have wet the bed, she looked at me quizzically and acknowledged it was possible... Since her pajamas and underwear were wet, I knew it was more like a certainty...

In a previous post I made some comment about no two kids being alike, and this was just one more confirmation of that. Allison used to scream for fear of reprisal when she wet the bed. Rachel is obviously a little less concerned...

The next thing to hit the fan today was the dishwasher depositing water on our kitchen floor. Not that big a deal since its water right? Wrong. When there is a cup of water just lying around on the floor, people tend to notice. Socks get wet, the floor gets slippery and after all it's just abnormal...

So I took it all apart just to find out that nothing appeared wrong with it. Reassembled it and fired it up. More water on the floor.

So my goal for today is to create my own experience. Smiles instead of sorrow, a grin instead of a groan and for crying out load finding the humor instead of looking for another flowery word to express your frustration...

From Michiana to Mexico

(Look for Monterrey, Mexico)

Well, Tammy left the house this morning at 7:00 AM sharp. The Ruths' were kind enough to stop by and pick her up on their way to GCC.

I went back to bed thinking I wouldn't hear from Tammy in a week, but unfortunately it was an hour or two later. Tammy called from I-80 just to let me know they had already faced their first snag: A blown tire on a bus that had just been checked thoroughly to ensure it was travel-worthy!

It appears Satan is not interested in the group getting to Mexico. Of course we know that Satan only attacks things he fears will turn others to God. So this should only strengthen the resolve of the team, and let them know they are doing God's will.

Pray for the team over the next week!

Home Sweet Home

It's hard finding stuff for the kids when you're on a trip. You can always do stuff like Princess coloring books or stuff that you could get in any Target store in the country, but what fun is that?

In Texas, the Armadillo is everywhere. For some reason they view it with higher esteem than it's real-life appearance would suggest. So I decided to get one for each of the girls (Tyler wouldn't really get it...). They loved them, and of course named them Cinderella and Sleaping Beauty respectively...

It's great to be home - away from the downright tedious and exhausting activities associated with traveling these days. From the photo to the left you can tell I was interested in documenting our difficulties - since we never had a flight that was on time...

Click on the picture to see UA Flight 544 being delayed to Chicago. Like I said, this was the normal routine for each of the four flights we took. Each were delayed and each took a little longer than expected if you know what I mean.

Just for kicks, here is a list of the positives and negatives from the trip:

Positive

Negative

Learning about the history of the corporation Being away from the chaos of the unit for a while Seeing another part of the country Spending time with other managers from work Being able to witness while on the trip Drove by Fellowship Church at least 4 times Being forced to realize just how much I miss my family when they are not around

All flights delayed Spending close to to two hours on the tarmac without moving Luggage misplaced - came on the next flight Problems with rental car - had to return the first one after being there one day Getting lost numerous times (I was driving...) Spending over eight hours per day sitting in a conference room (chairs were soft - but not soft enough) Much of the conference turned out to be for those in contract facilities instead of free standing hospitals (like ours) No wireless in the conference room 90 degrees and humid every day Fire alarm going off in hotel at 3 AM Trip to Dallas turned out to be very disappointing Being away from Tammy and the kids for so long

Caution! Contents are Extremely Hot...

Whenever you're away on vacation or business, you look for things that remind you of home. It just works that way. It grounds you and lets you know that even though this is a new experience fraught with uncertainty, life is still stable and will go on as usual.

Obviously Starbucks does that for me...

There's just something about seeing that circular logo with the familiar green words that sets my mind at ease. Anxieties cease and a sense of calm sets in.

Actually, that's pretty sad. But think about it. What it is it for you? What satisfies you during periods of stress, pain or uncertainty? Is it a beverage? Maybe a store or restaurant? Maybe it's a TV show or phone conversation with someone you love.

Better than all of the above (obviously) is the calm, stability, serenity and peace that can be found in time alone with the Creator. A verse out of the Bible, a quick prayer or a simply allowing you're mind to focus on the goodness of our God. Nothing compares to that.

Away on Business

This week I was "sent" to Texas to attend the leadership training at our National Support Center. Our trip has been the definition of Murphy's Law with late flights, pilots admitting to being tardy for work, luggage sent on different flights, lost in rental car, two hour wait on the tarmac, and the list just gets longer...

And for those of you who know me well, you'll feel the sarcasm when I say, "I'm enjoying the nice equatorial climate (90s and humid)."

We hope to drive into Dallas tomorrow to check out the place. But what I really wish is that I could be home in my own bed!

Pray for safe traveling and that Hurricane Emily stays off shore until we get off the ground!

PS - (added 7/20 @ 6:55 AM) A couple hours after I got to sleep last night the fire alarm went off in the hotel for over twenty minutes (sprinkler issues). Needless to say, at 3:00 AM it takes a while to realize it isn't your alarm. Of course after banging on the alarm to turn it off I must have changed the time, because the next morning when I got up and went down to eat breakfast - there was no breakfast. It was only 6:20 (while my room told me it was 7:20)...

Only 3 Days Left

I cannot believe it. I just counted how many days till I leave for Mexico and it is ONLY 3. It seems like forever ago that I found out that I was on the team that would be traveling to Mexico and here it is 3 days away. Last night we had our packing party at the church, where we packed all of the donations that we will be taking with us. It was so great to see a room full of students and parents getting ready for this trip.

Before we started packing the donations we had a cookout. I was sitting at a table with some adult leaders and some students and their parents eating away. As I was sitting there I overheard part of a conversation between a student and their parent and the way the parent talked to the student just rubbed me the wrong way. I found myself sitting there thinking how hard it must be for that student and then wondering will I ever talk to my children that way? My plan is to always treat my children with dignity and respect, but then you wonder maybe this parent had the same plan 10 years ago. What happened, what went wrong, how is life for them, what are their struggles? These are just a few of the questions I running through my head about this parent.

I may never know everything that these students are struggling with, but I do know that I cannot wait to have a full week to pour into the lives of these high school students. I also cannot wait to pour into the lives of the children that we will be working with in Mexico. I am SO excited, I cannot wait!

I do have to admit that I have a lot to do before I go. I am trying to get everything pretty much done before Friday so that we can have a family day before mom leaves for a week. The next few days may be crazy but I know it will all be worth it in the end.

Birthday Memories

I love Birthdays. Growing up Birthdays in my house were a big deal. My parents did special things for our birthdays, one year they took me to Jim McMahon's restaurant in Chicago because I was obsessed with him. For my 18th birthday a limo came and picked me up at my house and drove me and my friends to and from school and for my 21st birthday I got a car. I have so many memories of great birthdays growing up. There was always a special birthday dinner and an Allen's cake. This happened for everyone else in the house also. Birthdays were just a big deal and with this in mind I have some birthday memories I would like to share with you.

Today would have been my mom's 52nd Birthday. For those of you who don't know, I lost my mom last May to cancer. She had been battling some form of cancer for over 20 years. As hard as it is on a day like today for me I can't help but to think about all the birthdays I did get to celebrate with her. Probably my favorite memory of her Birthday was her 50th. My dad and I planned a surprise party for her. All of my relatives from out of town flew in and just about every friend she had showed up. We did a pretty good job at keeping it a secret for awhile, but my mom knew something was going on. It was always so hard keeping secrets from her. She found out for sure about 2 days before the actual party when my aunt Linda flew in from Utah and surprised her. As soon as she saw her she knew there was a party in store. Of course we tried to keep her out of the details and told her she could have nothing to do with setting it up, but for those of you who knew my mom that did not quite happen. But it would not have been my mom had she stayed out of it.

I think the reason this birthday was so special to me was because this was the last birthday I got to celebrate with her. She was in the midst of battling her cancer during this time and it was so good to see so many of her friends show up and to watch her laugh and hang out with the people she loved the most. I wish we could have had many more birthday parties like that for her but I am so glad that we celebrated big for her last birthday here on Earth.

The last year has been the hardest year of my life. I miss her more than words can explain. She was not only a mom she was also a best friend. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about her and wish that I could just pick up the phone and hear her voice. The only thing that keeps me going is knowing that someday I will spend eternity with her and we can continue celebrating with Jesus by our side. I can't wait for the day when I can wrap my arms around her and hear her voice again, but for now...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

Rachel Throws Caution to the Wind

It's interesting to watch your children grow and mature. Though it doesn't always happen as you'd expect. For example, Allison is the oldest and "should" learn to do things before the other kids right?

Wrong!

In fact it took two or three summers just to get Allison comfortable with the water at the lake. Now she loves to swim and can even put her head under the water. But Rachel decided to go from zero to sixty in less than a month. This past week she learned to get in the water, and stand up on her own. Yesterday, she got tired of asking Tammy to put her in the water, so she just decided she would jump off the pier herself!

Allison still hasn't done it.

So there you have it. No two kids are alike. So don't expect it...

A Conversation Between Boys

Tyler: Look at those adults, always taking picture of us.

Carter: You know it, dosen't your mom and dad have a camera just like ours?

Tyler: Yeah they just got it and all they do now is take pictures.

Carter: So do you do smile when they make those stupid faces while trying to take the picture?

Tyler: Of course, don't you have to? Besides I love my mommy so why wouldn't I smile?

Carter: Yeah I love my mommy too but my face hurts from smiling so much.

Tyler: I hear ya, someday when we get bigger maybe they won't take so many pictures.

Carter: Maybe, hey lets go break some stuff.

Tyler: Cool, let's go!

This is a picture of Tyler and Carter Ruth at the lake. They are about 3 months apart and hopefully they will grow up to be buddies and not get into too much trouble together. At least this is our hope!

It Is a Magical Thing

There's just something magical about a child full-out laughing. No cares. No worries. Just pure unadulterated joy...If only we could all experience that once and a while (here on earth) as adults.

Mission Mexico

In less than 2 weeks I will have the privilege of traveling to Monterrey, Mexico with a team of about 50 high school students and adult leaders from GCC. This will be my first mission trip and I am really excited about it. We will be working with kids who are in an orphanage(though they don't call it that) there and doing work projects that need to be done in the area. As many of you know I have a real passion for children and I cannot wait to get there and just spend time with them. I will admit that I am a little nervous about the language barrier since the kids only speak Spanish, but I know with God's help it will all be fine. We will be leaving on the 23rd and returning on the 30th. I think I am about all set to go, I went out yesterday with Jami and got almost everything I need for the trip. I still have a few last minute things to finish up but I feel a lot better now that the major stuff is done.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have either supported me financially or said that you will pray for me and my family. For those of you who will be watching my children words cannot even express how thankful I am to you. This trip would not be possible without everyone of you! If you could continue to pray for Daryl and the kids while I am gone I would greatly appreciate it. Work has been very stressful for Daryl lately and I know he is not looking forward to me being gone and the stress that goes along with taking care of kids on your own. If you have any desire to know how things are going on the trip check out Corey Mann's blog during that time. I will be sure to update you all about the trip once I return. Well that is all for now...

Saturday at the Riverwalk

This past Saturday the entire family set out to experience the new Mishawaka Riverwalk. We walked, talked, ate lunch and all that fun stuff. It looks beautiful, and has amazing potential to become a very quaint, community-building site complete with benches, walks, bridges, drinking fountains, waterfalls and open lots which would allow for the construction of say a nice walk-up Starbucks for example :)

The only problem we ran into was the temperature. We forgot that it was going to be in the 90s all weekend. So our walk was a little less enjoyable than it could have been. The kids looked like strawberries and wouldn't even play on the park equipment because the plastic burned them :(

But for future reference - this is a great place to hang out - just do it in the cool of the evening or something like that...

Check out our web gallery for two or three more pix from this trip...

Flash Video (.flv) Is a Wonderful Thing

Just messing around with Flash Video - trying to see if it was even possible to embed it in the blog. Looks like it works! But don't worry, I won't put full length feature films of the kids on here - just a few seconds worth from time to time...

Here we see the girls trying to teach Tyler to clap (although he already has a pretty good idea how it's done...)

Girls Day Out

Yesterday I had the privilege of spending the day with some of my best girl friends. We took the day and headed to my parents lake house. It was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect, the water was warm, the kids were content and the time hanging with the girls was what it was all about. It is really nice sometimes to just be with the girls and talk about girlie things, okay not really though we do talk about boys sometimes (mainly our husbands and children). There are just things you talk more freely about with your girlfriends then you do when the boys are around, even though we have a pretty tight group and we talk pretty freely about things even with the boys around. We decided that it was such a good time that we need to do it again this summer. I am telling you as I was sitting on the dock just relaxing and hanging out I thought why don't I spend all summer doing this. Then I remembered I had a job. If I ever win the lottery or come into a lot of money I would for sure have a house on the lake and spend all summer there. I can dream right!

This is Becky and Debbie hanging out on the dock watching the kids swim. Lexi (Debbie's little girl) is in the car seat next to her.

This is Jami playing in the water with the kids, they tended to have more fun when there was an adult in the water with them.

The 4 amigo's-Abby, Allison and Jacob in the back. Rachel in the front. These guys swam all day and fortunately for us fell asleep in the car on the way home. Made for some nice peace and quiet.

Thanks girls for such a good time, I love hanging out with all of you. Let's do it again sometime soon!

Here we go

First jet ski ride

He is just way too cute!!!!!!!

Allison and Joe G. relaxing

Allison and her cousin Joe G. don't get to see each other much but when they do they are together all the time. Here they are vegging out!

Rachel full of sand

Allison enjoying the lake

Fourth of July Fun

What a great weekend we had. Fourth of July weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the year, because we always spend it at the lake. My parents have had a house on Lake Syracuse for over 20 years and in those years I have spent many July 4th's there. This year was no different. We headed that direction on Saturday after church and the kids could not wait to get there. Sunday we had all the family over, I think we had about 20 people. My cousin and her family who live in Pennsylvania are always in town for the weekend and the kids had a great time playing in the water and watching movies together. It is always a lot of work to have all those people there but it is worth it. Monday was by far my favorite day. We had some of our best friends there and just spent the day hanging out, relaxing, eating, making sure kids did not drown and doing some water activities ourselves. Allison and Rachel had their first ride on the tube behind the boat. Allison and her best friend Abby were in one tube and Rachel and Jacob were in the other. They had a great time and kept yelling at us to go faster. I have to admit my heart was beating like crazy while the kids were back there. All I kept thinking is someone is going to fall off and I am going to end up in the water trying to get to the kid in time. All was well though. Tyler had his first boat ride and looked way too cute in his life jacket. After the kids were done I had the urge. Like I said I have spent many years at the lake and one of my favorite things to do is tube, as a kid I used to do it for hours at a time. So I convinced my best friend Becky to hop on a tube with me. We had a great time and made it around the lake one time before we could not take it anymore. Yes, someone did fall off a couple of times, I will let you guess who it was. Even though I am sore today I still have to say that tubing is one of my favorite things to do and I cannot wait to get back out there. So Beck you up for it again?

Early Mornings

Daryl here - my first official post on the family blog. It's early in the morning and the family is still sleeping - a wonderful time for peace and reflection... I guess I've held off adding to this blog for a while due to my busy schedule and the fact that I don't have time to think much less pontificate about life and it's intricacies. But from time to time I'll add an entry just to feel like I'm part of things...

This morning my thoughts turn to Maslow, Abraham Maslow that is, and his Hierarchy of Needs. The image to the left shows Maslow's theory that suggests everyone must have certain needs met in order to move up to a higher level of "being." He suggested that a person cannot be any higher on the pyramid than his or her met needs will allow. For example, someone whose safety needs are not met will be unable to develop his or her esteem needs.

Before I bore you to death, I'll get to the point... It occurred to me this morning as I pulled my thoughts together, that blogging is most often an activity that people participate in when developing belonging, esteem or self-actualization. Assuming most bloggers are not overly focused on their physiological and/or safety needs, we can assume most bloggers are probably looking for one of three things: community (belonging), acceptance (esteem) or a better understanding or him or herself (self-actualization).

Since the majority of my friends have taken up blogging, I think I'll try to analyze which of the three needs they are attempting to meet (just joking). As for me, I'm not really sure why I do it. Tell you what, I'll think about it and get back with you...