daddy4ms

The title of this post is true for 2 reasons. First of all, I am the older brother to Abbie. Growing up as an older brother, I tried to protect, watch out for, and take care of my little sister. But, I often failed in this such as the time I raced her down the big hill which ended with her getting stitches. But I'm also the older brother in the parable of the two sons (or better know to many of us as the prodigal son in Luke 15). Recently, we had a sermon where the speaker admitted that he would have been a Pharisee if he was alive during Jesus' time. Even though, we would like to disagree with that, many of us would have to agree with him. So, as I was reading Tim Keller's book, The Prodigal God, this morning I was reminded how I am the older brother again. Keller challenges our understanding of what the point or message of this parable really is. Is it about a forgiving God? Yes, but Keller says it's more. The audience is the Pharisees so they would easily h...

Tonight, I am taking the 3 oldest kids to see the Globetrotters at Intrust Bank Arena. They are very excited and I am too. I have never been to see them, but Mitchell has been wanting to go for over a year. Thanks to Grammy & Grandaddy for buying the tickets! I look forward to some fun with the kiddos tonight. Now, I just need to get everything done in my office so we can leave at 5. Yesterday, was a good day. Hesston had a snow day (more like an ice day) and so I was able to stay home with all 4 kids. We had some fun around the house and then ran some errands followed by a stop at Lincoln Perk. On a side note, we are about to save the princess on Mario Brothers for the Wii . I am looking forward to this Sunday as it is Youth Sunday at Hesston MB. It always great to see how God uses the gifts of our young people. For those that know me, I dislike the quote, "Youth are the church of tomorrow." I disagree--Youth are the church of today. We need to be allowing ...

I enjoyed this blog post by Jen Wilkin who attends The Village Church. I say amen to much of what she shares! Psalm 34:3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. I love this verse. When we were married, Jeff and I had it inscribed on the inside of our wedding bands. It summarized so well what we wanted our married life to be about: Glorifying God. Together. As our family grew, so did our desire for this verse to be true of our entire household: glorify the Lord with me - in our home, in our community, in our church. The with me of church has required some intentionality, to say the least. We go to church in a weird place - so many people want to attend worship each week that just getting a seat is a major accomplishment. People are routinely turned away in large numbers from our services. Great problem. To make things weirder we’re heavily populated with twenty-something’s. Neither of these weirds are the bad kind of weird, but they definitely make t...

I have been looking forward to Date Night with my wife all week. We were glad our babysitter from the summer, Amber Prieb, is still home from college so she could watch the kids. We are headed to Wichita for supper and returning items that did not fit from Christmas, and of course ending the night with ice cream. I love my wife & there is nothing like getting to spend uninterrupted conversation with her. Only 35 more minutes! Guys, when was your last date night? There are lots of ways to go out in inexpensive ways. Consider a child care swap with another couple-you watch their kids while they go out and then you get a date night for free while they watch your kids. The place & activity are not that as important if you just have time to talk and reconnect especially for those who are parents. This is one of the best things you can do as a parent and a husband. OK-back to work so I can get home on time. Date Night-it does a marriage good!

I just received a phone call from Mitchell letting me know that he won the Middle School Geography Bee. He was very excited! Middle School in Hesston includes 5 th -8 th grade. The Geography Bee had 12 students competing for the title. Now, Mitchell takes a 100 question quiz and if he gets enough right, he will go to state in Salina . Way to go Buddy! As I was asking about the questions, he let me know that the questions that put him over the top were related to the States' quarters. You had to say what was on the back of several of the states' quarters. Pops (Bethany's grandpa who just passed away) was a coin collector and gave all of the kids a sleeve that contains state quarters. Mitchell has enjoyed adding to this collection and learning more about them. Pops, as a coin collector, would be so proud of Mitchell too for following in his footsteps of a love of coins.

It was eleven o’clock on a Sunday night, and I was pulling out of the grocery store parking lot exhausted and overwhelmed. After we had put our four children to bed, later than we had planned, Luella discovered that we had nothing in the house to pack for lunches the next day. With an attitude that couldn ’t be described as joy, I got in the car and did the late-night food run. As I waited for the light to change so I could leave the parking lot and drive home, it all hit me. It seemed like I had been given an impossible job to do; I had been chosen to be the dad of four children. It is humbling and a bit embarrassing to admit, but I sat in my car and dreamed of what it would be like to be single. No, I didn ’t want to actually leave Luella and my children, but parenting seemed overwhelming at that point. I felt like I had nothing left to face the next day of a thousand sibling battles, a thousand authority encounters, a thousand reminders, a thousand warnings, a thousa...

Here is a list of the books I am reading: The Dad in the Mirror by Morley & Delk (Great book for Dads that we are reading as part of D6 Dads) Collaborate by Chanley (Book on 35 different ways to connect family & church) The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller (This one is going to challenge my thinking. Only read 2 Chapters and I am already looking at Luke 15 differently) Radical by David Platt (My toes already hurt! I think this book has a similar theme as The Naked Anabaptist. After only reading the first chapter, I am challenged to not just know what Jesus said but also live it out. His premise: the American Dream has created a comfortable Jesus. More to come as I get farther into the book) Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll (The subtitle says it all, "Reaching out without selling out." A great book about the gospel, evangelism, church & culture.) I think 2011 is going to be a challenging year of reading. Check back later for more quotes and thoug...