Round Two

Speaking, Holding, and Walking

Revelation 2:1 To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands


Jesus speaks to us, holds us in his hand, and walks among us. We hear because he lost the Father's voice. We are held because the Father let go. We walks among us because he walked alone to his death the cross.


Forgiven because he was forsaken. Free because he was condemned. Fear not, little flock. The Father wants you to have the kingdom. Go in his peace and strength today.

Round One

Back At It

It's been a week of giant mice and ducks. We took a last minute trip to Disneyworld and even the internet was overpriced. There are lots of posts and pictures that should be coming. Hopefully I'll remember some of it. For now, a conversation with Joshua.

We were sitting in a booth at Moe's when a little girl walked up to our table.

Joshua - "What's your name?"

Little girl - "April."

Joshua - "This is my daddy. I have a van."

He Has To

I read this on Mary Beth Chapman's blog this week. Thursday marked one year since the Chapmans lost Maria in the tragic accident. She wrote,


"and at my darkest place, I wonder.....God, where are you and why in the world would you choose us to walk this out....It isn't fair! And then, all of a sudden, I hear this other voice in my head that reminds me over and over again of not what I FEEL, but what I KNOW....It might on certain days be buried deep down in my heart and have a hard time computing to my brain, but here is what I know and what I choose to believe, over and over again....even when it is really just a bad day! I know God loves me and my family, I know God is sovereign and He knows what is best for us, I know He has our days numbered and makes NO mistakes, I know that He will bring beauty from ashes....He has too....that is what I cling to in order to make it through another 24 hours."


The amount of rest that lies in the heart of God's character is beyond words. The truth is Mary Beth is right. He really has to make all the bad things good. He really has to make all the sad untrue. Not because he owes us anything. Not because we deserve it. It's because of who he is. He loves because he is love. He brings justice because he is just. He brings beauty because he is beautiful. His promises are true. Rest in him today.

Yearbook Signing Follow-up

I used to write personal messages to each student in the school. Then my doctor told me my hand was going to fall off if I kept up the practice. I have shifted to picking a verse to write in each of their books. This year's verse was Psalm 130:70. It doesn't exist. I meant to write Psalm 130:7, but somewhere between my room and the gym it multiplied itself by 10. I got a phone call from a fourth grader last night telling me her Psalm 130 ended at verse 8. Her dad called me this morning to tell me he had a word of encouragement for me...

Psalm 154.

Conversations With Joshua

Joshua - "Daddy, can we read two books tonight?"

Me - "Sure."

Joshua - "Okay. You pick the Jesus one and I'll pick another one."

Yearbook Signing Day

It's yearbook signing day. We all crowd into the gym and wander around with pens in our hands. Elementary yearbook signings are a little less dramatic than middle school and high school. Wishes of rad summers fill the pages. Most kids just write their names. Some of them even spell them correctly.

It's hard to believe this year is ending. Teachers live on a different calendar than everybody else. For us, the year doesn't end in December or begin in January. Our New Year's Eve lasts for three months.

The school calendar has a personality. August through October are full of excitement and anticipation. November and December are vacation months filled with programs and cookies. January and February are wild cards. If snow days are involved, the two months combine for what feels like a blink. If it's just dark and dreary, the months combine to create a feeling similar to how I picture the Dark Ages without all the talk of hope. March has Spring Break. April is great when it contains Easter and the longest 30 day month of the year when it doesn't. May is too busy, but too busy in a good way because you want time to pass quickly.

And it does.

I've been thinking a lot about how quickly it passes lately. The first batch of kindergarteners I taught will be freshman in the Fall. Joshua hit three and a half and his mommy this week. He starts pre-school in August. Andrew is almost two and a half and old enough (we hope) to tackle Disney this summer. We're talking about having number three and will have our seventh anniversary in August.

We attended a graduation for the son of one of my closest friends last weekend. I watched their slide shows and listened to bad country songs that actually made me tear up a little thinking about how soon we'll be in their shoes.

It makes me want to slow down and enjoy it all. I don't care if I can't watch a new episode of Lost until January, I don't want to rush to get there.

Tim Keller - How Can Christianity be Trinitarian and Not Polytheistic?

Link - It's Short

You're Probably Not Reading This...

You're probably not reading this, but you're out there. You're the next person to shake your head no at me or my wife as we walk by you at a resturaunt. We chose the resturaunt you chose because it was quick, cheap, and not fancy. We didn't go to Ruth's Chris, Flemings, or even Chili's because we knew our boys would be slightly rowdy and we thought you would be at one of the aforementioned resturaunts.

Anyway, the reason I'm writing you is to tell you I'm not just walking by next time. I'm going to stop and sit down. I'm going to ask you for parenting advice. I'm going to ask you what you would do differently with two toddlers fifteen months apart. I'm going to ask you about the last time you had fun. I'm going to ask you if your name is Mary, and if it isn't, I'm going to tell you either your kids acted exactly like this at the pizza joints you ate at while they were kids or you're a scary parent whose kids never acted out because they were scared to rock the boat for their uptight mommy.

None of these things have to happen. Just give us a little grace.

I warned you.

Thanks,
Danny

Another Installment

I realize my kids are dominating this website at the moment. It's a snapshot of life.

We were just putting a puzzle together. Andrew handed me the wrong piece.

Me - "Andrew, I need another part."

Andrew (running to the door)- "The park! Yay! Let's go."

Joshua - "No, Peter Parker. Peter Parker is who Spiderman is when he doesn't wear his mask."

As for me, I think I'm heading to the park.

Prophecy???

Mother's Day - More amazing video clips are a click away

Yes, this day is coming soon. Very, very soon.

Bammit

I just got this email from Rebecca.

Joshua’s new exclamation is “bammit”

He's the Disney Channel's version of Jack Bauer.

A Few More Conversations

Andrew and I were sitting in the playroom. Rebecca and Joshua had been gone for a couple days. I was watching a game. Andrew was playing with some toys.

Andrew (yelling) - "Get out!"

I looked at him.

Andrew (yelling louder) "Get out!"

Me "You want me to leave the room?"

Andrew (calmly) "Yeah."

And on the way home last night we heard Joshua singing this new song to the tune of Spiderman.

"Jesus. Jesus. Does whatever a Jesus does."

Conversations With Joshua and Andrew

Driving home from church this happened.

Joshua - "Last night I fell asleep with my lovie, but a man came in my room and took it."

Andrew (enthusiastically) - "It was Jesus!"

C.S. Lewis on the Sermon on the Mount

“As to ‘caring for’ the Sermon on the Mount, if ‘caring for’ here means ‘liking’ or enjoying, I suppose no one ‘cares for’ it. Who can like being knocked flat on his face by a sledge-hammer? I can hardly imagine a more deadly spiritual condition than that of the man who can read that passage with tranquil pleasure. This is indeed to be ‘at ease in Zion’ (Amos 6:1).”

–C.S. Lewis

Kobe, Kobe, Kobe - You Make it so Hard to Love You

It took a long time, but I finally moved beyond Kobe Bryant as a person and began to appreciate him as a basketball player. I have fallen back in love with the NBA and have rekindled an old flame with the LA Lakers. I even went to a game this year and Memphis and began taking part in the Kobe vs. Lebron arguments with the high school players I help coach. I took Kobe's side and defended him as the best player in the league. All the while being very skeptical of him as a person. There's something that just doesn't quite feel right.

While driving home from work and listening to sports radio, I heard a story about Kobe charging $50 for access to his blog.

Kobe, why do you do these things?