and i will open up my heart and let the hero let me sing

OK – I did a quick blog about Eli schooling me in coco-nutty bowling…now it’s time for a blog about Eden’s coolness.

Eden was singing “I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever” today. We are always laughing at how our kids will learn songs really quick, but they don’t always hear the words correctly. But they usually make up something that’s pretty close – and funny too.

Here are the correct lyrics for the chorus:
Over the mountains and the sea, Your River runs with love for me
And I will open up my heart and let the healer set me free

Here is Eden’s interpretation:
And I will open up my heart and let the hero let me sing.

I like Eden’s version. Kids are smart. Smarter than we think.

eli beat me in a video game

eli beat me in a video game. i had imagined this would happen at some point in our video game adventures years from now, but never expected it this early. eli is 5. and he beat me. and i was trying really hard. no joke.

we were playing “Ooh & Aah’s Coco-Nutty Bowling” at playhouse disney.

eli schooled me. he scored 4,915. i think i scored 4,300. he was trash talking me the whole way.

great job eli!

See if you can beat a 5 year old in coco nutty bowling…try it.

blogging the double edged sword – a year of blogging

i’ve been blogging for a year now.

blogging is a double edged sword. it’s great because it’s a place for me to gather my thoughts and pin down my ideas and connect with some great people. but the other sharp side of the sword is that blogging is very self focused. it can become self revolving. i see it in myself and others.

but i take the good with the bad, and i’m hanging on the good today – that God continues to take me along on my journey and make my paths straight. and this blog is a fun place for me to track what God is doing in my life.

this entry below was my first blog entry. at the time, i barely knew what a blog was (i’m a little slow with the techno). even now i’m surprised to find that this first blog entry still seems to fit my skin…

It’s winter…we’re leaning forward into the white snow…waiting – at least my kids are. The past few months have been really great, leaving little in the way of yearning. Except something is still missing. Can’t put my finger on it yet. I’m trying to understand what it really means (for me at least) to say that I follow Christ with everything. There are still too many compartments and separations in my life. Worship seems to be connecting them, and making certain parts of my life no longer fit…which is a good thing. I’m trying to lean forward into this winter storm that’s coming, anticipating what’s going to happen – how things are going to stop, and how quiet it’s going to become. I know things will be clear soon…

shake it, don’t break it

i taught them everything they know…

friday thought – GoGurt

After finishing lunch today, here’s my Friday thought

yogurt is really really good in a tube

GoGurt Portable Yogurt, affectionately referred to as “tubes” by my kids – are a staple in our house. And when Dad packs his lunch – they are fair game…

james part 2 – to trust? or play the skeptic?

Ben and I set out on our homeless lunch thing again today. We had an appointment to pick up James, our lunch was on all our calendars. Ben and I had a little wager going on whether James would show or stand us up (like Donald did). Ben was right, James did follow through on his word. James was waiting on the corner for us – hands crossed, bright yellow gloves + military green trench coat.

We had a great lunch with James. We learned more about his complex story. Her are some random bullets…

• Today was the first day in 2 years that James has had a cheese steak.
• He was able to get his medication from the VA.
• He’s about to get his “daddy’s” house in Laurel. He’s waiting on all the legal stuff to go through.
• His dad died last year, right before Christmas.
• He’s going down to Georgetown today, to get his birth certificate.
• He likes jazz and gospel.
• He gets help from the friendship house.
• He wants to buy my kids some Christmas presents. (I’m all for that!)
• He is a lieutenant, and was a sniper in the marines.
• He sweeps the parking lot of the Hertz rental place near the Wilmington train station. And they let him sleep in the garage there.
• He has seizures.
• He has cancer.
• He has no family in the area.
• He holds honor in a high place in his life.
• He likes to salute….

In all of these details, James is a really likable guy. Our biggest challenge with James is trust. He’s given little reason not to trust him. So far, he’s been a man of his word. Still, his story has holes. And it’s outrageous on many levels. It’s easy to play the skeptic and point to the inconsistencies.

Ben and I both agreed that we are rooting for James, and we’ll do what we can to help him. We have another appointment on Wednesday, to take James to the DMV so he can get his ID. The plot may thicken yet!…

Teach us to love like you love, Jesus – unbiased perfect love, selfless perfect love

Trying to see past circumstance…

sharing a meal with “charlie” – a simple act of worship

Ben and I set out for our bi-weekly homeless lunch again today, walking Market Street and Rodney Square in Wilmington. You can read Ben’s account here.

I was up first, I went up to a guy and asked if he wanted to join us for lunch. He said he had some important business to take care of. As we were walking away, Ben had the wisdom to go back and make sure he knew who we were in case we ran into him again. Once we talked to him a little more, he basically said – “Hey I changed my mind, I will come to lunch with you today.”

We shared a meal with Aubrey Willis, a.k.a. “Charlie”. Charlie moved to Delaware when he was 5 or 6 (in the 1950′s) and has been in Delaware ever since, although I get the idea he doesn’t like it that much. He couldn’t understand why Ben moved here from Texas, Charlie is a Dallas Cowboy’s fan and he especially likes the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.

What struck me about Charlie is how average and ordinary he seemed. He seemed to have a clear mind, and he had an even temperament. He didn’t seem eccentric. He is a regular guy.

Charlie was different than Eric. Eric had grandiose (though somewhat delusional) thoughts about how he was going to start a real estate business and become wealthy again. When we asked if Charlie had any hopes or plans, he said he didn’t have any.

When we asked Eric what he needed most, he said cash. When we asked Charlie what he needed most, he said a warm jacket and some work shoes. Jackets and shoes are something Ben and I can help with. Our plan is to take Charlie a new jacket and a new pair of shoes next Monday.

Here are some random thoughts from today:

• even homeless men have normalcy and routine in their lives
• some of them really are hopeless, and others just have unrealized dreams just like me
• everyone has their own unique story
• everyone needs some compassion in their lives
• no one person is above any other, though we like to put ourselves above others – that’s not really the way it is

would you quit your shenanigans!?!?

Oh the things you’ll say as a parent, even in a public place…

I met Lib and the 3 hooligans for lunch at Panera today. At one point Lib was getting super frustrated with Eli and she turned to him and yelled:

Would you quit your shenanigans!?!?

I just started to giggle, then Eli did too. I’m like Lib’s 4th kid, I laugh when she yells and then I make our other kids laugh. It’s a vicious cycle. But that got me thinking, what is a shenanigan? Really? And is this a word we should be using in public? Hmm…

According to my good friend Wikit,

A shenanigan is a deceitful confidence trick, or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance. The term is usually used in the plural, shenanigans. However, in some regions, shenanigans can merely refer to harmless mischievous play, especially by children.

Yeah, she was right on with her vocabulary. Shenanigan was the right word…na na na na

What’s something goofy that you say to your kids (or husband)?

mold – a show stopper? + Crowder

so we just got back from Crowder. He brought it to Philly. awesome. double awesome.

we got to go to the meet and greet thanks to our friend Tony, gotta love the hook up. Crowder was not aloud to talk after the show ’cause he’s on voice rest, I think he’s recording a DVD at the NYC show. All he could do was wave and give the thumbs up.

One surprise was getting to meet Shelly Giglio, Louie’s wife.  Shelly and Louie are the fine people that spear headed the passion movement.  The Myriad opened up, they were pretty impressive. I’ve got to check those guys out.  Another highlight was when the fans booed Crowder because he didn’t get a Philly cheese steak. It’s just like Philly fans to boo, so typical. But hey, he should’ve stopped by Pat’s – so shame on him.

So here’s my problem, I’m kind of hungry ’cause I skipped out on dinner. I checked the fridge for a healthy snack and found this…

Here’s my question – is mold a show stopper for you? I don’t even think the stuff is dangerous. Really. I need to check this on wikipedia. I think you can skim mold off the top and you’re basically fine. I think I know what I need to do…

driving, cooking and getting married

Some random comments from Eli & Eden tonight…

I asked Eden if she was done on the potty.  She said yes, then she said no.  The she said, “Daddy, do you know what yes-no means?  It means almost.”

While driving home from worship practice, Eli informed us that he doesn’t want to drive or cook or get married when he grows up - because they’re all too dangerous.

trick or treating & experiencing community

trick or treating was a blast last night. Eli “Buzz” and Eden were really cute, and Silas was dressed up as a monkey! He even had a banana hanging out his back pocket. He was cool and he didn’t even know it.

Halloween is an awesome family event for us. And it seemed our entire neighborhood was out last night, everyone talking with new people and getting to know their neighbors. It was an amazing feeling of community, something we lack most other days of the year. We had the chance to meet some new neighbors and they got to see our kids, and there was free candy flying everywhere. Sweetness.

sharing a meal with eric – part 2

Ben and I had lunch with Eric for the second time. Eric is homeless. You can read about our first lunch here. Or you can read a better account from Ben here.

We found Eric on the same bench we found him last time. And he was drinking a pint of whole milk, just like he was last time. It’s as if not much had changed since we met him over a month ago.

Today was like meeting an old friend for lunch. We talked about old times, like the time Eric told us that Bob Dylan’s wife is from Wilmington Delaware. Ben mentioned how that’s his go to now, for random facts about Delaware. We heard Eric has been in the hospital since we last met, because of his diabetes. He’s doing better now, but we had to walk SLOW as we walked to the restaurant.

We were able to go a little deeper with Eric, trying to get a feel for how we can help this guy.

I’ve realized it’s hard to take homeless people to lunch, on many levels. First, it’s hard to find someone willing to take a risk and share a meal with you. But beyond that, it’s hard to know how to help. I felt helpless just being with Eric. I also felt the eyes of those around us, people looking at us probably wondering why we were together. Maybe I’ve had a small taste of what it’s like to be in his shoes. Hard. And a lot of hardness surrounds him.

But there is hope for Eric, even though I don’t see much right now. Maybe we’ll meet him again.

These are the lyrics that come to mind. Lyrics I’ve sung before. I know they’re true – but this would be really really hard for Eric to sing.

There is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary,
and love for the broken hearts.
There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing
He’ll meet you wherever you are.

From “Cry out to Jesus”, written by Brad Avery, David Carr, Mac Powell, Mark Lee, & Tai Anderson

keeping it real

Lib is always reminding me that I can’t do 2 things at once. So typical of me. What gives?

Just to keep things real around here, I thought I’d tell a little story from my day to demonstrate that she is absolutely right (again).

I was driving down North Scott street in Wilmington, and I came to an intersection. I figured I had enough time to mess with my tape cassette player (lame I know!) while I was waiting for the light to turn green. I was fiddling for a couple of minutes and looked up to check to see if the light was green. It was then that I realized I was at a 4-way stop. Awesome.

I love it when stuff like this happens. Do you have any equally lame driving stories?

sharing a meal with eric – a simple act of worship

Ben and I had the chance to take Eric to lunch today. Eric is down and out, he has no money and is homeless.

We had a good time talking with Eric and sharing a meal with him. We got rejected 5 times before we found someone that was willing to join us. One guy asked us for a cigarette, maybe next time I’ll buy a pack before hand. A couple of other guys were playing chess and just sort of laughed at us when we asked. One of the guys that laughed had a gold tooth which I thought was cool.

We asked Eric if he wanted to join us for lunch. He said, “yeah, but I don’t have any money” We said, “that’s fine, it’s on us. Where do you wanna go?” He said, “Somewhere I can get a cheeseburger”. So that’s what we did.

I was reminded today that I am rich in so many ways. Eric is divorced, doesn’t keep up with his biological or married families, has 4 daughters that he doesn’t keep up with and he’s on the run. He has a college degree, went to Brandywine High school has served in the military and at one time was pretty successful. But now he sleeps at the Dunkin’ Donuts ‘because it’s open 24 7′.

I would say that sitting down with Eric, sharing a meal with him, and generally trying to engage in his struggle has simply been an act of worship. Not much more.

To be a worshiper of God is to Love the Lord your God with all your Heart (Deut. 6:5) AND to love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus simplified all the law down to these two commandments.

Loving God is connected to the way that we love people. And if we don’t love and connect to others, then we probably don’t really worship.

We so quickly stretch out our hands to God in worship, but so hesitantly stretch out our hands to others to offer help. But we still call ourselves worshipers. Hmm…maybe our logic is off.

Ben and I commented that just like anytime when you reach out, you end up learning more and getting more out of it in the end. That was true when we shared a meal with Eric. I learned I need to bring some Marlboro’s next time.