Christmas Traditions!!

I am sure you all can remember back when you were a child. Do you remember going to get your tree, decorating it, making cookies and fudge, and Christmas morning? Whether you were excited about Santa or old enough to just anticipate what you were going to open the next morning, Christmas Eve was always a great night.
I can remember going to my PaPaw's house every Christmas Eve. We would celebrated as a family and sing songs and open presents. Then right as it was time to go, we would turn on the TV to see the Santa report. We had to find out where he had been tracked on the radar and how long we had to get home and in the bed. I remember tossing and turning in the bed as a boy and telling my brother to be quiet so I could listen for Santa. The tradition at our house was (and still is) that Christmas morning was started with the "Hallelujah Chorus." This was played as loud as the stereo would go and was our sign that we could come out of our room and to the Christmas tree. When we heard it, the door flew open and we took off.
It is fun to think back and recall those special memories. I hope all of you spend time with your families this week. I pray that in all of the traditions and joy of giving and receiving that we all take time to remember the true reason for Christmas. "For unto us a child is born. Unto us, a Son is given."

Are You Making a List and Checking it Twice??

Okay this blog is not going to be about Christmas and Santa although I thought the title was appropriate. This is about a different kind of list. As we have been studying about parenting and disciplining our kids, I was struck by the fact that so many times we get frustated by the moment. It could be our pride, anger, or just total bewilderment but in the discipline moment we tend to forget the ultimate goal of directing them to the understanding that they have sinned against God and that they need to be reconciled to Him. In that moment, we tend to forget that the scriptures are "profitable for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." So here is my idea, why not start a sin list? This would be a simple list that has the sin (e.g. lying) with verses that you can refer to as you talk to them about the sin and what God says about it. While you have sent them to their room prior to the punishment and they are waiting and you are cooling down, you can refer to your sin list. How would your kids feel if Mommy or Daddy came to the discipline session with not just the paddle but the Bible?
Here are some passages that may help you start your own sin list:
· Ephesians 5:3-7
· James 3:13-18
· James 4:1
· James 4:4
· Ephesians 4:29

How about letting this season inspire us to make our own list, however, I bet we will have to check it more than twice.

Turkey On Fire!!

Well, it has been a while since I have had the chance to write. I took the week of Thanksgiving off thinking this would give me all kinds of time to relax and get caught up on things. It never quite works out that way.

This holiday was fun for me. We had my family over to our house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Shay had found a new recipe for the turkey and ask me to cook it on the grill. Despite my reluctance of putting the traditional meat and main dish on my shoulders, I bravely accepted. We thought about doing a trial run before the big day but decided to wing it. The turkey breasts (no one in my family likes the dark meat) were thawed and marinated the night before and now it was time. It began simple enough and since you have to grill it with the lid shut, I was periodically peeking and all was well. Then from the kitchen window Shay spotted flames and quickly notified me. I opened the grill to find flaming turkeys. As I removed them from the heat and beat them against the grill surface to put the flames out my mind was thinking, where can I get meat at 2 o'clock on Thanksgiving day. All was not lost however, I lowered the heat put them back on the grill and let them continue to cook not sure how they would turn out. When they were done, the charred skin peeled off like a coat and the juices had been locked inside giving the turkey a very juicy good flavor.

What a memory and it made for fun dinner conversation. What did I learn, besides the netting may survive an oven but not a grill? Well I was reminded that it is not about the quality of the food (even though it was great), but the blessings of the family and friends that God has placed in our lives. May we not just say thank-you once a year but demonstrate it every day to those we call our family and friends.

Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.-- Author Unknown

Do We Talk Too Much??

Okay, I have never been one that has been accused of talking too much. Usually my wife says I don't talk enough. I am pretty good at answering a question with a direct answer, but am working hard on expounding for my wife to get to the details. For instance, if I am asked "How was work today?" I am fine with the answer - "good." I am learning that the real heart of the question is, "Will you tell me about what happened to you at work today since I have been by myself all day and need adult conversation?"

However, when it comes to disciplining, I have found that I do way more talking than listening. I could relate to the illustration in this week's lesson of the son saying, "Dad, we really didn't have a good talk, because I didn't say anything." Sometimes we feel that we have accomplished something and all we have done is vent to our kids. As parents, many times we are guilty of the extremes when it comes to discipline. Either we react out of anger and discipline right away without communicating at all or we lecture about the issue and accomplish nothing except making ourselves feel better.

I look at parents of teenagers who talk freely and openly with their kids and there is a mutual love and respect. They do not have that relationship because of a lack of discipline but because discipline was always combined with two-way communication. That means asking the right questions and letting them tell me what is in their heart. How else as a parent will I know how to guide the heart?

So, do you talk too much? For all of you parents of children under 3, practice now with the multiple choice questions. Once they have that full vocabulary and can talk back and talk back and talk back, you will wish you had not been so reactive but proactive.

Football, Parenting & Life

Okay, I know what some may be thinking, "Football!! I hear enough about this from my husband and I don't care." Well, hear me out anyway. Last night was Monday night football, San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals. As a fan of neither, I was watching the game because, well, because it is football and that is what we men do (Arr, Arr, Arr). Anyway, I digress, the game was a back and forth game and came down to the last play. Arizona has the lead by 5 points and the 49ers have the ball on the 2 yard line. The whole game comes down to this play. If they stop them from scoring, Arizona wins the game. The play was called and the 49ers ran the football up the middle to try to score. The Cardinals' defense surged ahead to stop the ball just short of the goal line to win the game.
As I read the final outcome this morning (since I went to bed before it finished), I was reminded of some things I heard Sunday during our group discussion. This parenting thing is tough and as hard as we try sometimes it feels as if we are failing. Sure, we have little successes that give us encouragement, but a lot of times, all we see and hear are the issues. (Insert name) has been ... And sometimes it gets to the point where you feel like a failure.
Let me encourage you to stand on the line and defend the end zone for your kids. I know it seems at times as if you have been playing the game forever and you are tired and weak. Keep defending the line. Keep directing the hearts of your kids to the Lord. So much more than the outcome of a game depends on it. This may be the time when you begin to see real change, not in just behavior, but in the heart.
"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another." - Walter Elliott

To Link or Not To Link???

Many of you may see that I have removed all of the blog links from this blog that are not a part of Union Grove Baptist Church & School. I am doing this for a couple of reasons.
First of all, this blog is designed for UGBC Homebuilders to communicate with each other and an avenue for me to communicate with you. It represents our ABF and church.
Secondly, I am not able to, nor do I want to police the other blogs to determine if the content appropriately represents UGBC. This is not meant to be a chastisement toward anyone's blog. I would, however, encourage you all to think about what you are writing and remember Who we represent. Many times we say things in print that we would never speak out loud.
I would also encourage you to pray before you publish your posts. You never know who might be reading them and your words should never hurt the name of Christ. We are not to be of the world, but we are in the world and are called to be salt and light.
Thanks for your understanding and happy blogging.

Thought For The Week - Voting Values

"It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are." -- Roy Disney

Well today is election day and I hope all of you have exercised your God given privilege to vote. This has been the most passionate election that I can remember. There seems to be no neutral parties. It is not that the candidates have such charisma and personality, but there followers are entrenched and passionate. This has even been a topic in the 1st Grade classroom and Mackenzie has come with questions. What a great opportunity to discuss values and why we choose one person over another. Because of this, Shay and I decided to take her with us and vote together as a family this morning. Mackenzie was able to walk through the process and help her Daddy vote for the first time. While she may only remember getting to touch the screen, I hope she always remembers the values that caused her to push the buttons that she pushed. May it never be about Republican or Democrat but about values. I think that the quote above holds a lot of truth. When you have a solid value system, it makes tough decisions easier. We can cut through the gray that seems to surround so many decisions. This challenges you and I as to what is our value system and is it Biblically based. If you are not sure think about this, how did you decide who to vote for? Was it the economy, health care, taxes, or was it something else?

Wee Wittle Worshippers

What a great reminder we had last Sunday about the influences that shape our kids. When we see our kids throwing food at the table or fighting with their brothers & sisters it is difficult to think of them as little worshippers. They were created by God for worship and they will worship, either God or idols. How many times are we as parents guilty of putting those idols in front of our kids? Oh, we don't think of them in that way, but how much time do we spend emphasizing sports, grades, music, or other things. While in and of themselves they are not bad, yet our emphasis places them as an item of worship for our kids. Some of our kids may be young, but even then they are watching us. When Mackenzie was little someone once told me to watch how she disciplines her dolls and stuffed animals as it will be a direct reflection of how we were disciplining her. What an eye opener to see it in action and hear her repeating to the doll the words and tone that had come out of my mouth. How convicting to think that these little worshippers are watching us and seeing what we worship by what we spend our time doing. May we as parents all realize the influences from the outside that are trying to mold our kids are more numerous and stronger than ever before. They seem to bombard us earlier than we expect. They can come from things as seemingly harmless as cartoons or the Disney channel. If we don't shape how are kids think and act they will. May we strive to daily point our little worshippers Godward to a relationship with Him.

Thought For The Week - Jesus and the Burglar

This week I was reminded in a humorous way of a point that we often overlook. We try to teach the principle to our kids, but how many of us go day in and day out and forget the fact that God is everywhere and sees all things. It may change how we live this week.
"A burglar broke into a house and shined his flashlight around looking for valuables. He picked up a CD player when a strange, disembodied voice echoed from the dark saying: 'Jesus is watching you.' He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked off his flashlightand froze. When he heard nothing more he continued. Just as he pulled the stereo out he heard: 'Jesus is watching you,' Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically. Finally, in the corner of the room his light beam came to rest on a parrot. 'Did you say that?' he hissed at the parrot. 'Yep,' the parrot confessed, then squawked, 'I'm just trying to warn you that he's watching you,' The burglar relaxed. 'Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?' 'Moses,' replied the bird. 'Moses?' the burglar laughed. 'What kind of people would name a bird Moses?' 'The kind that would name a rottweiler Jesus."

Food, Fun & Fellowship

First of all, thanks to all of you who went to eat with us last night at Luigi's after church. The food and service were very good but the fellowship was better. I learned several new things last night. For instance did you know that Andrea is leaning to shift her vote for the pro-cloning ticket (Brian and I strongly oppose), or that Claire can make Pastor sweat, or that Tim is a peanut farmer. Amazing stuff!! Thanks to Stephanie for coordinating it and to the Spach's who supervised the "kiddie" end of the table. You did such a great job, we are thinking of giving you the official title of "Kiddie Table Coordinators." Just kidding, next time we will try to share the joy with some of the couples who have yet to experience the fun of taking multiple kids out to eat after there normal bedtime. We will definitely try to schedule another after church fellowship for November. Some of you who are creative need to help us come up with a good name for this. The best I have been able to come up with so far is "FACE - fun after church excursions or GRASS - growing relationships after Sunday service." Anyway, let's see if we can come up with an orignal, fun way to identify this activity. For all those that couldn't make it, hope to see you next time.

Heart or Behavior??

I hope all of you have been thinking about the lesson from Sunday morning. I know I was encouraged and convicted. Encouraged because God has given us a roadmap and a plan in His Word to follow as we daily strive to be a Godly parent. Convicted at the many times I am consumed with the behavior rather than the heart. How many times have I stressed actions and demanded obedience without worrying about what was happening on the inside. As a parent, sometimes I am satisfied with everyone seeing the nice shiny apples on the tree, without caring about how they got there. May we all begin this study with open transparent hearts, willing to change ourselves.
I hope you are all working on your "Digging Deeper" section of Chapter 1 in your parenting handbook. Also, remember that Sunday evening we are going out after church, so let Stephanie know if you can make it. I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday morning.

We'll Figure It Out Together

Well, I have no idea what I am doing, but we have a blog. I wanted to set up a place on the web where we could share information as a class and communicate about upcoming events and what God is teaching us. I hope it will be a blessing and a way of increasing how we can communicate as a class. If you have ideas let me know. Here goes nothing!!!