Lots of Things...

Well, much has happened since my last post. Silas has passed the 5 month mark, Halloween came and went with incredible creativity on the part of my wonderful wife and kids, and I also have a new job!

Funny how long it takes a man to settle down and find a career sometimes. I've always worked, but pretty much just because I like to eat and so does my family. Anyway God has blessed me with a career in an industry that I find exciting, challenging, and... well, just what I did not know I was looking for. I am now a "Roofing Professional" as the maintenance, service and, repair manager at my new company. I'm very grateful and absolutely love it.

Brianna brought home two excellent report cards, Cody and Meyson are doing very well Homeschooling, Carson is smarter than all of us, and Memphis has us all learning ASL. Silas is growing and learning everyday. She sits up, she laughs, she watches everything, and goes wild in her jumparoo. I could spend hours and thousands of words detailing how proud I am of each one of our kids. I will spare you that, however, and direct you to the infinitely more entertaining Blog of my Wife.

ASL: American Sign Language. We are learning. Not fast enough, but learning. It is fun, being able to speak to one another across crowded rooms, in noisy or quiet places, even sharing jokes at times. We take a class, as a family, once weekly at the local deaf services center. Some are more excited to learn than others but all in all, I believe we are doing well. Some of you no doubt are wondering; why? Well...

Memphis has been diagnosed with Verbal Apraxia. Basically something gets lost in translation between what he wants to say and the cute noises he actually makes. Suppose you wanted to make a fist and ended up with the "Hook 'em Horns" sign instead(heaven forbid). This is the frusration Memphis deals with when trying to communicate verbally with anyone. Enter the ASL experiment. It works! His frustration, and ours, has been greatly decreased. We look at it as a blessing and opportunity. A new language opens up all kinds of new things. I do not think the kids understand what a gift this will be to them later in life.

One last note. Our beloved Texas Tech Red Raiders are ranked #2 in the nation for the first time ever! It has been alot of fun for Megan and myself to cheer them on.

GO TECH!

Clouds in his eyes

"Mom!...Mo-om!"

"What Carson?"

"I can see the blue sky!!!"

".....That's great hon'!"

"I'm looking at the clouds!"

"Really?....They're pretty aren't they."

"Yeah.....They are in Memphis' eyes!"

This is an example of the conversations Carson initiates as we drive, walk, eat, or do any thing. Meyson says she is "random". I think he may be right.

Then again.....maybe there are clouds in his eyes. And stars and dreams and.....mischief.

The Boy Becoming a Man

I'm not ready!
Tonight was just a regular Saturday night. We finished up a very successful garage sale, had dinner, watched a movie together as a family, and.....I taught my 14 year old son how to shave. Meyson wasn't ready either. I'm not sure who was more nervous.

He's a good looking kid, *OK, a handsome young man* but he had started to look like he always had dirt on his upper lip and just below his ears. So.....tonight we took the plunge and it turned out pretty well. No need for band aids or torn up pieces of toilet paper! Our nervousness was enhanced greatly by the rapt audience of 2 very curious little sisters. Both Brianna and Carson just had to watch this drama unfold.

Things started out pretty funny as I thought the best avenue would be to shave in unison with Meyson mimicking my actions. We started of course, with the shaving cream, which Meyson claimed was suffocating him "Dad, I can't breathe; what if it goes up my nose? Will it poison me?" as he smeared it from eyes to chin. Once we got that under control things proceeded much smoother. *no pun intended* The mechanics of the thing aren't as easy to explain, however when you've been doing it by rote for such a long time though.

Meyson was worried about cutting himself; even if he never said it, I could tell, as he scraped the razor every way except across his skin. He took to it like a man and the biggest shock of all was after he cleaned up and...I...saw my son.....a grown man-child. My baby, my firstborn son is definitely on this journey now, heading pell-mell into manhood. Pray for me please.

I want to slow the ride to a crawl and give him a piggy-back ride, but I know the best I can do is point the way. I'm just some sort of wilderness guide now. In a strange way I'm looking forward to it as I write this. The possibilities in a young life, some good/some bad.....

Pray for us

Accolades

I am so proud of my family! Each and every one. I'll start with my wife. Megan is a wonderful photographer as you'll see on her blog where she has posted our latest family pictures. She took all of them herself and...well, I'm just proud. Last week she made the best Eggs Benedict I've ever tasted, even making the hollandaise sauce from scratch. I am indeed a lucky man! Megan does all of this and puts up with me while being 29 weeks pregnant.
Thank you Lord for my wife!

Meyson, the 14 year old, is the oldest. He has a great heart and is probably the best big brother anyone could wish for. Watching his patience and actual joy, in playing with the smaller ones is...well; a great joy. Meyson is becoming a fantastic artist, has a quick (sometimes too quick) wit, and is a classic rock connoisseur. To my great pleasure, he also enjoys reggae.

Brianna is the singer. She left this week to perform with the National OAKE Children's Choir. Brianna was very excited, as she has never before flown in an airplane or stayed in a 5 star hotel. She has worked very hard for this and even earned a substantial scholarship to do it. Brianna, also is an A student.

Cody is the ballerina. She performed in our city's performance of The Nutcracker last Christmas and already has a part next year. She is very attentive to her younger siblings and wants to serve anyone who is sick (especially Mom) breakfast in bed, or at least bring them a snack. Cody may just have the most infectious laugh on the planet.

Carson. Carson is the smartest, sweetest, most exasperating, beautiful 3 year old in the world. She speaks with adult words and phrases and may understand their context better than I do. Her smile and fluttering eyelashes have totally wrapped daddy around her finger. Carson is another musical connoisseur, recognizing many songs within the first 3 notes. She also rapidly notices different versions of the same song, and of course...has preferences.

Memphis, my little boy. He is amazing. Precocious and wild. His eyes and playfulness light up the darkest of my days, inspire many smiles and much incredulous head shaking. He is obsessed with Buzz Lightyear and his "blankie". Memphis loves being outside and wrestling and jumping off of things. He loves to climb things and be thrown in the air. He is Memphis...'nuff said!

We have one more on the way. I'm proud of this one too, even if we have opted not to know if it is a boy or girl until birth. The baby is growing strong, kicking (sorry Megan), and causing great excitement in our home.

I could go on and on and each one of these, deserve their own blog and much much more but for now, I'll just say; I am blessed. And grateful.

Openly Thankful

Recently my daughter, Brianna, had a small two week science project to do for school. Though she is a straight-A student we did not learn of it until the night before it was due. Being in such dire need, she didn't hesitate to ask me for help. Megan provided construction paper, poster board, and artistic direction. Meyson and myself contibuted furiously drawn illustrations of seahorses while Brianna completed and compiled research data. As we put it all together, Meyson added hand drawn bubbles (Megan's excellent idea) to the background.

The project came out pretty well with everyone's efforts and Brianna got a passing grade. I asked Bri' if she thought the end result would have been better with more time and effort. She agreed that it would have.

When she gave her presentation, Brianna openly told her class about the work we did. She showed open and frank appreciation for our efforts on her behalf. She wasn't ashamed to say... "my Daddy did that for me!" or "my brother helped me with this!". As a father, I thought this pretty cool. Perhaps our efforts as parents, to teach the kids to be gracious is paying off.

A day or two later I was visiting with my friend, Johnny. We were discussing our individual Bible studies and he brought up Philippians 4:6

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God"

It seemed kind of familiar and the more I thought about it, the louder God's message spoke. How many times do we exaust ourselves with our own efforts before we seek His help, direction, or favor? I do it ALL the time. How often are we anxious or worried? I am more often than not. The Word says to ask with thanksgiving and have faith "do not be anxious..." Faith is pretty simply put in the bible and the best way I can see it, is in Brianna's actions here. Sure, she put off the project untill the last minute but never did she doubt that Dad would help her. Really, for the two weeks prior I would have been available for much more if she'd only said "Hey Dad, I need some help".

Brianna had no way of knowing how much help she would recieve that night from how many different sources. My relationship with God is sometimes like that. We just get so busy trying to do stuff or putting things off that we forget to ask our heavenly Father to step in. How much better would it be if we openly relied on Him and were thankful, even before the need. Just as I am my childrens' Dad; God promises to be ours...
"I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:18)

When Bri' needed help (even after bad planning and procrastination) her Dad and her brother and family stepped in. That happens to me. God has placed christian brothers and sisters all around in my life. Sometimes they come through with a timely word, a hug, or even a truck. Sometimes they pray with and for us and other times just knowing they are there is enough. I don't say often enough or openly enough that God helped me and is always there for me.

I have an amazing family; my Father helped with that. I love my new job; my Father helped with that too! Maybe one day I'll put that story here. My wife is a direct gift to my family and me from our Father in heaven. Yeah, I did meet her in sunday school. The first time I'd been in over 15 years in fact. I've got incredible friends ( I occasionally call them "Bro") They have enriched my life and been great sources of wisdom, support, and encouragement; my Father did that for me! My family has been there when when I was a single dad and couldn't see from one day to the next how we'd make it; my Father helped with that!

Why have I been so anxious? Even when my faith has waned, God has been there.

Packing bags

I've got to pack my kids' bags! No, they're not really going anywhere in particular yet...but soon, eventually they will face this journey of life on thier own. In a limited time (18 yrs or so) my wife and I are supposed to prepare them for the trip.
As I have traveled, I've learned how devestating any journey can be if you don't bring the right stuff...or the airline loses your luggage. With Meyson being fourteen I wonder if there is time enough to fit it all in. I didn't come up with this metaphor(or is it analogy?) on my own. I heard the parenting process put this way in a sermon somewhere and it stuck. Boy, did it ever stick! I guess it is because I've spent so much time traveling over the last two or so years.
As with any trip, I guess I should start with a list of appropriate items to take... right? So here goes:

The list(so far)

Responsibility

A Warm Coat

Good Decision Making Skills

Comfortable Shoes

Faith

Honesty

Clean Underwear

Love of Life

Dreams

Mouthwash?

Strong Self Worth

Love

Organizational Skills

Clothes

A Hat

The Knowledge that no Matter What; I love them.

"Meyson, Brianna, Cody, Carson, Memphis,..Baby on the way; Know this:

I LOVE YOU!"

The Ability to Find JOY Everyday...

I don't know maybe I'm making too much of this...but, it is our job right? As parents, to help them prepare for their own journey, their own life? Don't get me wrong here. I know that they will stumble, fall, and sometimes, flat out fail. But I think the better their bags are packed, the less they'll have to search for who they are and what they want and what they need...