The Greenhouse 5

Unbalanced family is like an unbalance diet

2009-08-10T21:23:00.000-07:00

There's times where we eat an unbalanced diet because we want to. There's times we eat an unbalanced diet because we're busy and/or don't make time. And there's time where we eat an unbalanced diet because we simply have no choice! In the end, it really doesn't matter why, we end up with a body that's not getting what it needs.

So it goes with family. Right now we're out of whack because we have no choice. I'm not who I normally am. Pain. Stress. Impatience. So it goes. But I see the playing out in the rest of the family. The scale is unbalanced. Too much Mr. Incredible around when he's more like Mr. Incredulous. The scale will be balanced with time. This is a time to learn and to grown. The Greenhouse 5 will be back, right now it's more like Greenhouse4.5

Is it easier to help or be helped?

2009-08-08T13:09:00.000-07:00

We live in what I consider to be a pretty stuffy neighborhood. People are nice but not too nice. The yards are relatively big and you could really survive without having to see anyone. Up to this point most don't even know that I'm laid up even though I've been laid up for almost 5 weeks. Today while picking up some yard trimmings that the garbage men didn't take (in my cast) , a neighbor yelled across the relatively busy side street "Do you need some help?". I waved him off. Just now another neighbor emailed to ask if he could help. Missed opportunity on 2 fronts.

One thing I've learned, is that you ironically make friendships by making yourself vulnerable. Sometimes, God takes care of making you vulnerable. Other times you have humble yourself. But in either case, others are served by serving you. Not in some mushy humanitarian way...but by letting others do things, conversations take place, trust can be built, walls can be broken down, and longer-term things happen.

Take my own example in our first home. Not long after we were moving in, I went to Radio Shack and bought the BIGGEST TV antenna they had. As I was struggling with carrying it up a ladder...walking across the roof...avoiding high voltage lines...and steadying it for mounting, my neighbor across the street came running. I think he was concerned I was about to reproduce the Ben Franklin electricity experiment. He got on the roof and gave me that extra hand needed to mount it. From that, a friendship grew. And with that, after he got married, he began to sense God's tug on his life, partly through conversations with me. Soon after, he and his wife were at our church, eventually making decisions to follow Christ. It all started with my need.

Another example is a story by Pastor Don Piper, who survives a horrific crash and finds himself in an unbelievable tale of recovery. He describes this moment in the book, "90 Minutes in Heaven", in which he realizes his need to let others serve him.

"In my thinking, I was being selfless and not trying to impose on them or cause them any trouble...In reality, I was being selfish. There was also an element of pride there---which I couldn't admit then. I knew how to give generously to others, but pride wouldn't let me receive others' generosity.

Another scenario that comes to mind also involves pride. Think of the pride of self. "If I let others help me, I owe them. I don't want to owe them. I won't even ask because if I do, I will be obligated to return the favor" A reality of the way you and I think at times. Some more than others of course...but in reality, all of us.

So in the end...amongst other things...we must learn the skill of letting others help us. And what's the ultimate goal here? The gospel of course.

Go and be helped. You might want to do some helping too, just don't forget both sides of the equation.

Instant Vacation Bible School: Just Add Kids

2009-08-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

Do my kids go? Of course. Do they have fun? Of course. Do they sing songs about Jesus? Of course. Do they learn some verses? Of course. How many camps did they go to this year? 2+. Would they gladly go to 10 more? Yes, without blinking.

Of the 3 VBS's we were involved in. One is a large multi-church event with hundreds of kids. It has tremendous involvement from the community. It's a "mega" event, with many churched and non-churched kids, encouraging visitors daily. Another is with the church we do AWANA with, a closed, preregistered event. It ends with a tempting catered BBQ on a Sunday morning. The last is a church we've been loosely connected to via a homeschool group. It's almost a day camp, with the usual VBS stuff, with other electives thrown in (sewing, cooking, crafts). It's almost a full day. It's also a preregistered, closed event.

But with all that said, I'm ready to call a spade a spade. Consider a few quotes from some online articles about the VBS "market".

"Despite the cost, many churches believe they could not do without VBS. With more parents working full time, VBS has emerged as a relatively inexpensive summer day care option for some families who rotate their children from church to church to fill up the summer school break."
"Parents and children now compare church to other venues, to children's museums, to high-tech elementary schools, Disney, even their pediatricians' offices are multimedia now," May said. "That's where children and parents are now, and church should probably not have the same homemade feel as when I was a child."
"About half a dozen major publishers now dominate the VBS kit market, and use development methods similar to any consumer product company introducing shampoo or cell phones: extensive market research, hefty technology investment, and field testing with children to see what works and what doesn't."
“We’re about ministry,” says Cushing. “I know there are parents who use us as daycare. They’ll sign their kids up for five straight weeks. But [the Apostle] Paul said that what matters is that Christ is preached. I don’t care why they come. That they come is what I’m concerned about.”

I'll at this point add that Wonder Woman's first exposure to church was a large VBS. From there, she went to Sunday School, and then on to being a regular attender at church. It was at VBS she made a profession of faith. That profession, though simple in knowledge, developed into a deep faith with time.

So what is the purpose of VBS? Is it day care? Is it to strengthen the relationship to God of already-churched kids? Is it to introduce new kids and families to church? Is it simply for fun? Is it for day care? Is it all of these?

I'm not necessarily going to answer these questions. But I'll add there's a fine line here that parallels the American church in many other areas. The danger to make the primary focus the event and demote Christ to secondary. The danger to push the fun stuff to fit in to the culture. The danger to be a great club, available without membership dues.

As a Christian, if you're not struggling with these questions...then just call it day care.

The "whys" of life

2009-08-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

We all hit them. Some in stride, whereas some stop us in our tracks. "Why?" Why does God allow things to happen? Why doesn't God do things that "should" happen?

In the last year, I've seen a family in our church lose their only son at 18 in a car crash; now, another family we're friends with are facing almost certain death of the father to brain cancer. These are huge events. Acceptance or despair? Joy, sadness, or both.

On my homefront, an ankle break and surgery has me down. Literally on the day I return to work after a 3 week hiatus, I begin to experience abdominal pain. A few excruciating nights of pain later, I'm diagnosed with a kidney stone. It's still there...and I've got that feeling of being kicked while I'm already down.

I tend to take things in stride...it will all work out. No big deal. Push through and get on with it. It's just "life", don't over-analyze it. I know God's plans are what are executed. Proverbs 16:9 "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."

But especially when the "Why"s compound, I think it's a fair question to ask. God...What do you want to happen here? How does this fit into your plans? Are you trying to tell me something? Is there discipline going on here?

All reasonable questions to ask...and I believe He will answer.

Not deep and wide

2009-08-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

My spare time on the computer continues to be spent more on Facebook than here. Interesting that if you compare my personality from my interactions in a blog versus Facebook, you might think one was a ghost writer. Though I'm corny in both places, my Facebook thoughts are much more guarded whereas here, I am much more apt to let my thoughts flow. I enjoy word play and written banter...very much so in fact...and Facebook allows that with a wide, diverse audience. But it's hard to "be yourself" in a group of 100+ people that vary so widely.

So I keep it at a comfortable level...people like it that way. But every once in a while at least, I got to come over here and let it all hang out.

Miss California slammed

2009-04-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

Keith Lewis of the Miss USA pageant said "religious beliefs have no politics in the Miss California family." Anyone want to break that statement down for me? GEEEEZZZZZZZZ!!!! Thought police.

What if Google was REALLY slow?

2009-03-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

You click. You wait. You click "stop". Refresh. Close. Reboot. Kick. Yell. Call IT? Try a different search engine. Yell again. Scream. Is this speed measured by a baud rate? ARGH?!!?! The answers aren't there!

Interesting in looking at the lives of Joseph and David, they both went through a considerable period in their early adult lives waiting for what God had foretold. In the case of Joseph, after having those "everybody's going to bow to me" dreams, he had to go through years of slavery and prison before that was realized. David gets annointed king but has to run around the wilderness hiding in caves, running for his life for a decade or so. Patience and faith. Patience for God's timing. Faith that He will do as He says and desires.

So click and wait...just keep the right frame of mind.

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
And to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus says the Lord!”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.

Danger, danger, danger

2009-02-12T20:59:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon Soren Kierkegaard while studying the book of Ruth. The author of the book I was reading ("Faithful God", by Sinclair Ferguson) quoted him in noting that what we really believe about God is reflected in how we live, how we respond to challenges, crises, and trials.

"The greatest danger for a child, where religion is concerned
The greatest danger is not that his father or tutor should be a free-thinker, not even his being a hypocrite. No, the danger lies in his being a pious, God-fearing man, and in the child being convinced thereof, but that he should nevertheless notice that deep in his soul there lies hidden an unrest which, consequently, not even the fear of God and piety could calm. The danger is that the child in this situation is almost provoked to draw a conclusion about God, that God is not infinite love."

Good stuff. But when I read a little more. Boy this guy was a thinker. Amazing that the heart of man really never changes. More stuff from this guy, any relevance to today?

Secularised "Church" congregations are meaningless: The idea of congregations keeps individuals as children since Christians are disinclined from taking the initiative to take responsibility for their own relation to God. Kierkegaard stresses that "Christianity is the individual, here, the single individual. When individuals are faithful, congregational life is a natural and meaningful existence."

The prime years

2009-02-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

Today I'm 37. Am I in my prime? There has been my debate about what the prime years are. Is it the teen years? The 20's? The golden years. Actually, it's pretty simple, in my expected life expectancy, there's 21 prime years, and I'm in one of them. It started at 2, then 3, then 5, then 7. I never really understood until now, but now that I do...gosh darnit, I'm going to embrace it. Odd as it may be (certainly not even), I've only got about 9 of these left.

Mathematically dilemma of life: Does a + b always equal c?

2009-02-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

Am I being illogical in assuming life is logical? My mind wants to assume that the left side of the equation should always equal the right (and vice versa). Take this to it's logical conclusion, and the actions/events of life lead to results, and the results are the summation of actions/events. Call me simplistic, but I'm not the only one...and I guarantee you do it too.

There was recently a shooting here in Danville, not exactly your high crime community. Put this in the logicameter ... (drugs + bad choices) = shooting/death. Easy peesy, lemon squeezy. I'm sure I could add to the actions/events with more facts, but what is more lacking and unknown is the result, the right side in this equation.

I suppose these are the "when God doesn't make sense moments" in life. When we see the answer and yet fail to understand. Why did so-and-so get taken so soon? Why am I blessed/cursed in situation x when I've done y? I don't always understand, and when I do, perhaps I don't.

So, I leave you with this, from William Cowper, "God moves in mysterious ways"
"His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev'ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow'r."

Dances with death

2009-02-01T13:57:00.000-08:00

It's something we realize and I don't know any who wouldn't agree....death is inches, if not millimeters away. No matter how young or old, it could come anytime. Some have experienced it much closer than I...friends and family taken before their time. Though it's in my head, I don't know that I really comprehend how close it really is...it takes reminders to have it sink in.

Last year, Dash just about ran in front of a car in Hawaii. It was a blind alley; I watched it unfold in slow motion. Him running, car screeching, stomach dropping. No matter how fast he can run, it wouldn't have been fast enough. Wouldn't have been anybody's fault, the car should've slowed (the mom was obviously in hurry), Dash shouldn't have been running there, Mr. Incredible should have stopped him. But it wouldn't have mattered. He would have been gone.

Last night, while I was enjoying a fire and Wonder Woman was sleeping next to me. Dash swallowed a marble, or should I say, partially swallowed a marble. At breakfast he commented while eating his cereal, "My throat hurts a little bit...it's because of the marble I swallowed last night." From what I can gather, he was tossing it in his bed...and missed. I gather he managed to cough it up, he said he "made a little noise" while getting it up. Another close call.

So, suffice to say, some kids make it more exciting than others. But the reminder is close to home. God in His grace keeps us going. The thought of losing my kids or others close to me is hard to bear, yet the realization of His sustaining their lives gives me great joy. Thank you God for another day...it's never boring.

Yes I am still here

2009-01-22T17:41:00.000-08:00

Likely most of my readership is gone by the wayside, but that's OK. Facebook has gotten some of my time, and I honestly don't know where my brain has gone, but it seems to be emptier than normal.

Anyhow, one interesting phenomenon in parenting is trying to instill things into your children that you don't have. Pick one...discipline, compassion, patience, gentleness.... I find personally that discipline is pretty high on my list. I'm an action guy, I like the exciting times...activities that move... but I'm not so good when it comes to disciplining myself to get better, especially in the mundane. You can go to a certain point on instinct and raw ability, in fact pretty far if you've got the knack...but to become good or great, you've got to have the discipline.

In parenting, yes...each child is their own. And yes, they constantly surprise me with their abilities, many of which I don't have. But...I cringe when I see the nagging traits repeating themselves. Luckily they get the good stuff too I guess :-)

So in the New Year, a repeating mantra to self. Do not be satisfied with the previous status quo. Fail and fail again. But never give up. How much more powerful the lesson to succeed when failure has been repeated over (and over) again. And share those victories (and failures) with your kids...it's good for them to know you fail too.

Some good advice

2009-01-10T18:49:00.000-08:00

I have a superior who often uses the phrase "All things reveal themselves with time." Really good advice...a proverb of sorts that I refer to often. There is of course the followup question, "How much time?".

This week I had a former superior get fired for what I surmise was inappropriate interaction with an outside company. The specifics don't matter, but the bottom line is that a code of ethics was broken and he paid the price. An interesting sidenote is that I observed the infractions firsthand and was very uncomfortable with my working relationship while in that position. He certainly had a hand in my "moving on". My decision, but a hand nonetheless. So in this case, the answer was about 5 years.

In another relationship, I lived with an individual who would definitely rival Jacob (remember Esau) in his deceiptfulness; no doubt in my mind he'd steal lunch money from a kindergartener and not feel a twinge of guilt. Over the course of decades, the game went on. Though the consequences for this individual still to this day haven't necessarily completely hit, there's been some sense of justice and for many around him, the cover is blown. In this case, the answer is decades if not more.

We've all got these situations in our lives. And many times it seems that no good deed goes unpunished while these types keep plugging along. There's some solace in seeing justice; not in the sense of getting revenge, but in the sense of seeing consequences for actions.

In the end, we've all got a payment to make...the Bible makes that clear. I'm relieved that much of what I've done WON'T be revealed in time. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So in my life, at least for my soul's sake, the best answer is an eternity.

Guilty as charged

2009-01-05T19:22:00.000-08:00

A story that I'll pass on from some reading I'm doing...this is from a sermon about Joseph by Ron Ritchie of Peninsula Bible Church

=================
In l983 I was fifty, and my son Ron, Jr. was about to turn twenty-one. So I invited him out to dinner at a local restaurant to celebrate his passage into responsible manhood. At the same time I wanted to have a last man-to-man conversation with him about all the spiritual and practical principles I had learned in my fifty years on this earth about my relationship with the Lord, women, money, and the choice of a career. We had a wonderful dinner, and then during dessert I asked him if I could share some of these things. He said he would really like that. So I began laying out some basic principles of life, and some of my mistakes as well as some of my successes. He sat there listening for more than an hour, and then when I was finished I asked him if he had any comments or questions. I will never forget his mature response:

"Dad, I heard every word you said. But could I just ask you one question?"

"Yes, of course," I said.

"Do I have to be fifty at twenty-one?" my beloved first-born asked. For as he listened he understood that physical, emotional, and spiritual maturity doesn't happen overnight, but it is a process that continues over a lifetime, and he was hoping that I also understood that.
=================================

A good reminder for us parents!

Some holiday wanderings with the camera phone

2009-01-05T13:08:00.000-08:00

Things get strange when Wonder Woman doesn't come. A journey to where no man has gone before...

First, the reason why Wonder Woman couldn't join us. She was having lunch with an old friend...

Yes, as Cosmic Boy noted, this trail seems to have no end.

An unlocked man-hole cover--I wonder where it goes?

Now where is that lock when I need it?

Lucky for Cosmic Boy, Dynagirl, and Dash...there was an escape portal...

Now, where do I get me some of those? I think this guy is kookier than me...

Some ice cream. Hmm, good.

The end (of the train)

Who says white boys can't dance?

2008-12-24T11:59:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas to all!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

And the beat goes on

2008-12-20T17:20:00.000-08:00

Those of you who come him for thought provoking inspiration might have to go elsewhere, at least temporarily. Right now, I've got bathroom on the brain...all other thoughts have gone down the tube, flushed down the toilet, shall we say. But the good news for you (and for me) is that it's almost officially done...Santa won't need to bring me a toilet for Christmas. Just a little caulking, some paint on the baseboards....and it's DONE!

Is this an add in "Martha Stewart Living"?

I'll take requests for the next post to be me in a bubble bath?

Will it be done be Christmas?

2008-12-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

That's all I want for Christmas.

Operation pinecone, part ???

2008-12-11T16:20:00.000-08:00

Is that light at the end of the tunnel? Nah....probably not.

Hey, this looks pretty good in the picture. And as luck would have it, dark stain with marble is back in style. Unfortunately the cabinet is kinda low, the doors need replaced, and the marble counter is fairly stained. In today's throwaway world, replacing the counter, hardware, raising it, fixing some doors....is pretty much equivalent to buying a whole unit. In plus Wonder Woman doesn't like it...even if it is in style :-)

Now I just twinkle someone's nose and we're back in business. How about Dynagirl's? Never mind, I don't want to touch that with a 10 foot pole since she's got step-throat.

Random thoughts from today

2008-12-10T20:50:00.000-08:00

From John Macarthur's message today regarding being thankful, something to the effect of "If you're not seeing God's blessings in your life, maybe you're not looking around". Kind of goes with another quote I really like, given specifically in the context of marriage, "If you want to be happy, you got to bring happy with you."

I'd add my fortune (from the cookie I just ate) to the list of quotes for today...but it was empty. Now what does that mean???

Ye ol' Christmas Choir

2008-12-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

Some Cosmic Boy dialog, and the best trio (including Dynagirl) ever...

Couldn't be complete w/o some groovy moves by Cosmic Boy and crew...

A few good pens

2008-12-08T15:37:00.000-08:00

Actually only one. Do you remember the scene from "A Few Good Men". No, not that scene...I in fact can handle the truth...the other one...about the bat.

======
Kaffee: I need my bat. I think better with my bat. Where's my bat?

Jo: I put it in the closet.

Kaffee: You put it in the closet?

Jo: I was tripping over it.

Kaffee: Don't ever put a bat in a closet.

Jo: He thinks better with his bat?
================

I've been dealing with the loss of my pen. Psychotic...well perhaps. But I think better with my pen. Not just any pen...it needs to be substantial...it can't be a cheap throw-away...it needs to be in my pocket...it needs to have a good clip so it won't fall out of my nerd pocket...and I need to be able to twirl it.

I've been dealing with not having it for too long, gosh it must have been at least a couple of months. So here it is. The 2008 model closeout, thank you Office Depot. It's got good lines, fits well in my pocket and my hand. Doesn't really matter how it writes, no one can read my handwriting anyhow. I think I feel better already.

Bon Voyage SuperBo (aka Marmaduke)

2008-12-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

We'll miss you and all, but boy are you a lot of work :-) And if you get any bigger, I don't think you'll fit in my lap. Until next time boy....

And lastly, a few items we used to own. Let's see...a number of baseballs and tennis balls, a pair of rain boots, a bubble machine, 2 pairs of flipflops, a pair of safety goggles, a number of buckets, a few rags, a shirt or 2, a bug catcher, and a few other misc items.

Tis the season

2008-12-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

Dash recently reminded us that it's time for us to open the "Advil calendar". There might be a few days during the season that I'll need to open more than one flap. I wonder if I can buy an extra strength ?

I couldn't make this up if I tried...

2008-12-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

This is the partial text from the Massachusetts General School Law of 1647, also known as the "Old Deluder Satan Law":

"It being one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures...It is therefore ordered that every township in this jurisdiction...shall forthwith appoint one within their town to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the inhabitants..."

Ironic to think about the origins, isn't it? Here's more info.

400 channels

2008-12-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

A recap of the recent channel lineup here at Greenhouse5 headquarters:

2006 and prior: Antenna, broadcast channels with an occasional bout of cable
2006 - sep08: Comcast, 50 channel or so lineup
sep08 - nov08: Nothing except for tv on the internet
nov08-?: 200 channels officially, but 400 channels with the free "preview" that hasn't stopped

So what does one do with 400 channels? Apparently get fat....Eat turkey. Watch TV. Eat turkey. Trying to live up to the Mr. Incredible figure. Or perhaps join the future of the humans portrayed in Wall-e.

So another case of more is not better. Give me a-la-carte TV anyday. I want my sports and a few sitcoms and dramas and I'd be happy.

Snapped these when we weren't being followed

2008-11-30T18:42:00.001-08:00

Me, myself, and ?

2008-11-30T18:31:00.001-08:00

A beautiful day in Union Square, but have our identities been foiled? Will the Greenhouse 5 make it back for next week's episode? Is this the end of their supercrime fighting?

I clearly spotted them by the ice rink...

Then again with the 3 little superheroes...

Grammie was even being followed...

A mere reflection?

More subtle, but obviously there...

Stay tuned.

Superdog

2008-11-24T22:09:00.001-08:00

A new hero in our midst. Bo "Superdog" Reis. There's mixed reaction to his arrival; there's 2 furry members of the house who pretty much think he's Satan. Princess as you can see below has gotten back into character, and kitty, aka "Rock" has been spending a lot of time on the roof.

I think he's a pit bull / lab mix. Man those jaws are strong, but he seems to be one big BABY. He fashions himself a lap dog and tries his hardest to get into Mr I's lap. We're dog sitting for about 10 days. Dash says he doesn't like "to get slimed"; Dynagirl isn't quite sure about it either, tho both certainly spend a lot of time playing with him. Cosmic Boy is sold on the dog thing, but I'm not so sure his superparents are. Boy, cats are nice.

Hodgepodge

2008-11-22T22:05:00.000-08:00

So we got WW acting like she was the queen of tiling here...

And we got Dynagirl modeling her stylish headpiece here...

And lastly, we were invaded by aliens in our living room, here they are...

Up from the grave....

2008-11-16T19:59:00.000-08:00

Last week our "Walking Stick" pets died. They had been a gift from a friend of the kids last spring or so. The whole family kind of took to them; they'd crawl over you with kinda sticky (pun intended) feet and also generally creep out the insect hating crowd. We started with 4 or 5 of them but only 2 survived and grew (and grew and grew).

Trouble is, like many pets "for the kids", Mr. Incredible ended up having to do a lot of reminding like "Did you give them leaves recently?" or "Anybody give them water?".

So, sure enough, when they died last week, there were some lessons to be learned. There was a sadness and disappointment in the house, especially since we had no idea how to replace them. The friend we got them from is not geographically close if she even still has them.

So, yesterday, I was up early in the morning studying for a Sunday School class. The topic happened to be "In the Garden"; after studying this passage for the past couple of weeks, I was pretty overcome with the "cup" that Jesus has taken on my behalf...the suffering, the pain, the humanity that He took on. Death. I was certainly wishing my study would get past the death and on to the life...you know that Good Friday feeling you get? The one where you can't wait until Easter?

About 7:30AM, Cosmic Boy came running in..."They're alive!" he exclaimed. Huh??? So the big buggers laid some eggs on the way out. And sure enough, we've got at least 8 of them in there now; who knows how many more are coming since the eggs are really hard to see. Hallelulah!

A sidenote, after the death, we pretty much realized that the Walking Sticks are illegal in California. Sounds like they can wreak havoc on beings that have leaves; you know, pretty much all the things in your yard that you want to keep. Apparently, our crime isn't just a state one; seems that they're also illegal in all of the U.S. Hmmm, what to do with this one? Maybe we'll get a ferret so the illegal prisoners can have some company?! More to come on their fate; their lives may hang on the court of appeals, who knows which way the court will go in this country.

Playin' in the mud again...

2008-11-15T17:40:00.000-08:00

Getting there. If I'm playing in mud, there must be light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully next Saturday we tile...

Homeschool athletics

2008-11-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

Formalized sports teams at school are certainly not a big issue for us now, but it could be in the future. I found an interesting perspective about it here. Not sure I've ingested it all completely, after all we aren't really homeschooling since we use a public charter school, but it was an interesting read. I thought the 4 points below, even removed from the athletics discussion, rang true to my experience.

========================
Snippet of the article
========================
...However, despite these factors, there is continuing pressure for increased state regulation of homeschooling. Once regulations are in place for homeschooling athletes, there will be strong pressure to apply them to all homeschoolers, leading to increased regulation of all homeschoolers.

How do we know this will happen? For several reasons, including the following:

* First, through no fault of our own, we homeschoolers are seen as a threat to the educational establishment, The most powerful interest groups in our society. Most of the educational establishment feels that homeschools need to be controlled and regulated and forced to become as much like conventional schools as possible.

* Second, our society does not trust parents and others who are not trained professionals or "experts." Although homeschooling has gained some acceptance, many people still feel there may be "something fishy going on;" the government probably should check up on homeschoolers.

* Third, the general public has accepted increasing government control of public schools, most recently in the form of new educational standards and increased use of state-mandated standardized tests. Most non-homeschoolers assume the government should also oversee homeschools.

* Fourth, some school officials are telling truants, dropouts, and expelled students to homeschool, or at least suggesting it. These officials are then turning around and saying that greater regulation of homeschooling is needed because truants, dropouts, and expelled students may be escaping to homeschooling.

Now that's what I'm talkin' bout

2008-11-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

Hmmmmmmmm. Pomegranate guacamole. It's the BEST! Find it here.

The case has many points

2008-11-08T20:27:00.000-08:00

So this morning we were tee-peed. No big deal, pretty tame job...a few rolls around some trees and around the cars. The only thing is, we don't really know anybody local that would tee-pee us. Our kids don't go to school here, we have a handful of friends on this side of the hill, none of which would do such a thing.

So a little closer examination and it all made sense. "Being gay is fun. No on Proposition 8" drawn on the driveway using the plentiful supply of persimmons in the front yard as "chalk". Luckily the vandals were pretty tame, I'm suspecting my 16 year old neighbor who seems to always seems to be in trouble and who apparently has a best friend who is gay is probably behind it.

Let's see...just because we put a sign in our yard...Wonder Woman's been verbally assaulted, the sign's been stolen, and we've been vandalized. I admire the tolerance of those who disagree with me. Our society is tolerant of only those who toe the line. Ironic isn't it?

My other neighbor was agonizing over her oldest son embracing the same agenda. She is a staunch Irish catholic and her oldest (first year of college) thinks she's stupid for being pro-life and pro-marriage. Twelve years of school adds up. Don't believe me? Wait 5 more years.

Capitol(al) G

2008-11-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

That's a "G" for Greenhouse and an "A" for Arnie.

Coincidence?? I think NOT!!

2008-11-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

As I woke up this morning, I was feeling a bit discouraged over the outcome of our presidential election yesterday. Never-the-less, the kids and I began school together, just as we do every morning. We started off with our Bible lesson which listed our Bible reading as Psam 46. As I began reading with the little superheroes, I was struck at how timely and "coincidentally" perfect that passage was for this "day after the election". I had nothing to do with choosing that passage or assigning it to today--it's in my pre-printed Bible curriculum and we just happen to be on this lesson! So, here is Psalm 46--it helped fix my eyes back on the Lord and encouraged my heart--I hope you will find encouragement in it as well. And, the kids and I had a really good discussion as we applied it to our situation today!

Psalm 46
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song.

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

8 Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields ^[b] with fire.

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

It all started by in 1995

2008-11-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

He was only 34 years old. He felt silly watching a movie about superheroes...but the draw was strong. He felt as if his future depended on it. In the end, he knew he simply must have it...and he does...oh yes he does.

"The future of {obama} is brain waves. My invention beams any TV signal directly into the human brain. By stimulating neurons, manipulating brain waves if you will. This device makes them feel like they're inside the show. Why be brutalized by an uncaring world?"

Luckily, we canceled cable 2 months before the election and managed to escape the strength of it's grasp. I think it's safe now, or is it? Maybe the mind control has just begun? Yikes, looks like I'll have to wear a funny shielded hat while watching TV.

A little progress

2008-11-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Dash for some big help today!

Prayer in schools?

2008-10-31T22:11:00.000-07:00

Remember that? Was it really that long ago? Wasn't there this big controversy about how it's religious and shouldn't be allowed? Is the position that school is about reading, writing, and arithmetic? Do I want a watered down prayer to a higher power in my kids classroom anyhow? That battle was really lost long ago. OK, fine, agreed.

With that said, now realize that really wasn't the issue. It's really about not allowing thought that is contrary to the agenda. Am I just towing the conservative line? Maybe so folks, but the line makes sense. Get ready middle America, it's coming, I hope that middle America is strong enough to turn the tide. I know this school. I know people who go here. This is just a few miles from where I used to live. Education is strong; mold the minds of the youth and you turn society. Try to be a conservative teacher in California and have a voice; if you're willing to fit in fine, if you have an opinion, good luck. Go ahead, wear a "Yes on 8" sticker to class, let me know how that works out.

Here's the article. Oh I'm sorry, Prop 8, it's not about schools. You're right. Do you think a school gets permission when it talks to your kids about marriage? About a family? Redefine a family and you think your permission will be needed, as if it is now? ARGGGGHHHH. WAKE UP!!!!

Speaking of morphing...

2008-10-31T11:43:00.001-07:00

Well, it's gone

2008-10-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

In honor of Halloween, the "Yes on 8" sign made like a ghost and disappeared. Tolerance in our society continues to be a double standard. Darn motion light broke this week or I might have caught 'em red handed.

Morphing Wonder Woman

2008-10-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Why? Well just because, but I think I like her better the original way. I'm quite certain she might use her superpowers to inflict some pain on me for the result. It's called "Mucha". Morph your own images here.

Redefinition of the day

2008-10-29T19:08:00.001-07:00

Peanut Butter:
(1) A paste made from ground roasted peanuts
(2) A paste made from taco sauce, flower, and honey

Interesting. I looked up the definition of the word marriage on Merriam-Webster online dictionary and got this:

(1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage

Hmmm. What's interesting is that I have a dictionary from Webster on my bookshelf from 1989 that has NO such definition (of the same sex variety). Now, certainly words evolve; there are no doubt words in the new dictionary that didn't exist in the old one. And in fact, many words have evolving definitions.

But in prop 8 situation, the fundamental elements have changed. We've traded peanuts for other ingredients so to speak. The prop was originally worded as simply a statement of the definition of marriage: 1 man, 1 woman. The liberal legislators reworded it to sound much more like a take-away of rights. Thus the no on 8 folks can market it much more as an attack on rights. But who's really being attacked here? Who rewrote the definition? If we hold this as a religious institution, the redefinition of the word is really the attack; an attack on MY religious beliefs. But religious rights really aren't important anymore are they?

It's time for a new word. As not to offend anyone, I'll let someone else come up with the word, just please, in honor of tolerance, let's not change definitions.

Message in a bottle

2008-10-28T21:14:00.001-07:00

Ah, but Cosmic Boy, as you see, I can write letters. Well not very well, but you get the point; my letters need some help in my letter. Click on the image to see it bigger.

Very belated movie review

2008-10-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

Usually, I kind of know what I'm getting in to before I go into a movie. There's a few exceptions, as a teenager and young adult, I'd watch most anything and saw some pretty lousy movies. Somewhere along the line, WW and I started to get fairly picky. With few exceptions, we check out what we watch beforehand and try to make sure it's worth watching. I still got some favorites that probably wouldn't make top of stack if it weren't for the fact that they somehow earned classic status...Sixteen Candles, Long Duk Dong cracks me up, but having just watched the movie again recently, I realize you got to overlook a LOT of crap to accept the funny stuff...The Jerk, come on, now that movie cracks me up. Here's a classic monologue from Steve. But yeah, it's got it's crap in there too. This topic probably warrants it's own post someday.

But the movie we just saw was "Million Dollar Baby". I know...old news, best picture like 5 YEARS ago, where have I been??? But I couldn't get over the title, it just didn't hook me in the least. I had NO DESIRE to even look at what it was about.

So fast forward to last week. I was in the library and right now we got no TV. No cable. Won't have any until mid next month. So I was checking out some books, the movie was laying there, I grabbed it.

All I knew about the movie was: Clint Eastwood, boxing, and a quote from my m-in-law from years ago "that movie was really good but sad".

Watched the first third of the movie on Saturday. It hooked me pretty good, good acting, good story. I was actually looking forward to the rest of the movie. But the "sad" quote from my m-in-law was in my brain, so I was a figurin' that the chick would get killed by the title fight.

Well, the fighter actually ends up breaking her neck in some freak accident in the ring brought on by some dirty play by the opponent (do I have to have a spoiler warning for a movie this old?).

At this point, Hollywood takes a good movie and turns it into a bad one; play up the emotions and lead people down the emotional path of justifying euthenasia. Thought provoking...yes. Would I want to be in that situation...no. They discredit the priest early in the flick, bring him back in the end to clearly state morality, and of course promptly contradict his words. Even if I did agree with the outcome, they took forever to get there.

A better writeup than mine here.
Really interested in the topic? Read all this and educate me.

Who do you think has more money?

2008-10-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

Apple computer or the California Teachers Association? Apple donated $100K to the "No on 8" campaign, whereas the CTA donated $1 million. The CTA is the BIGGEST contributor of all. Bigger than Apple. Bigger than Levi's. Uh, what's wrong with this picture??? I thought the schools were in a budget crisis? Last time I had a budget crisis, I focused on what was important. I paid the bills I needed to pay and cut out the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream.

So either there's no budget crisis...or the No on 8 is REALLY important to them. So why would it be really important? Com'on these are the questions one logically has to ask! There's a slippery slope that we're playing on here. The bottom line is that it IS important for the CTA to cram liberal ideology like this down our kids throats, directly or subtly. I know parents, I've heard it. "But they have to get my permission to talk about to my kid about sex". And "I love my kid's teachers." Fine. And I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you. But a lot is taught outside the formal curriculum.

Am I a radical? Do I think your kid can survive California public school. Absolutely. But one of the keys to power in any situation is influence. And for a small kid, the authority figures on the top of the influence pole are the parents and the teacher. It's pretty hard for a small child to decipher good and bad influence so you'd better be on top of it.

I'd say I don't really remember too much subtle mind molding until about the 6th grade. Maybe to that point the education was fairly pure or maybe I just don't remember, what 11 year old or lower boy would? Begin 6th grade though and the slant was steep at times depending on the teacher. Once I hit college, forget it. Just keep your mouth shut and get through the class.

So when do I "let 'em go" so to speak?" (the kids that is) You know I don't quite know yet. If I had all the answers I'd be writing books and getting paid rather than blogging (mostly for me :-) This much I do know, I'm certainly training my kids to stick up for themselves and their beliefs. Don't believe me...fine, ask Dash. And we constantly look for new ways to let more rope out.

Next year they want a new bond measure to tax me for more money in our district? Pack that, take your money that's supposed to be used for education and salaries and use it for just that.

So I leave you with a few quotes:

"Who dares take on religion, free enterprise, patriotism, and motherhood?
We do -- and we must!" ("Guidelines for Academic Freedom in the Public
Schools," CTA, 1984)" (25 years ago, long time planned)

"We are going to go right on trying to discredit you in the eyes of your children, trying to strip your fundamentalist religious community of dignity, trying to make your views seem silly rather than discussable" the late Richard Rorty, professor at Wellesley, Princeton, Univ of VA, and Stanford

Hopefully I'm not the only one

2008-10-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

Dang I'm a dufus. I hate it when I flake!!!!!!

Happy New Year

2008-10-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

We've all done the New Year resolution thing. Oh, and by the way we've all failed on at least some of it. But you know the concept is a good one. Focus on something and change it. Stop it, start it...do it. So since you failed last year on Jan 1, why not start on October 23rd? How about a reasonable goal...100 days...a long time yes, but yet an attainable goal. And for those of you who like round numbers...100 days from today is 1/31/2009.

And if you don't want to join me, I'll be kind enough to share that we are 63 days from Christmas and 110 days from my birthday...so get shopping.

Guess I have to get another arm before I put up this sign

2008-10-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

Been there, had that

2008-10-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Well, Luke and I must be doing SOMETHING, we keep on getting poison oak! I'm back to the theory that we should lock ourselves in our rooms and do nothing. Probably safer that way.

I leave you with a song. What does it have to do with anything? Absolutely nothing, but I'm sure it will inspire you for something. Here it is...

Conspiracy theory of the day

2008-10-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

OK fine, you've heard the conspiracy. But how about watching something you won't see on the nightly news. Is it true? Don't know, but quite interesting.

Reflection on a sermon

2008-10-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

Our pastor had a message yesterday on 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10. If my memory serves me correctly, at least three of the main points were that the Thessalonians were:

1. Active recipients of the gospel
2. Willing imitators of the apostles AND the Lord
3. Willing examples to other believers

Have you actively received the gospel? Is it something that you grab on to in life, or is it great head knowledge that gets you into a good club?

Who are you imitating? Who do you want to imitate? Who's on your pedestal? I laugh when I see affluent kids here in our town imitating thugs with baggy pants and sideways hats and lots of bling. An extreme and physically evident case yes, but one that gets the point across. We're all imitating someone. Who is it?

Are you willing to be an example for other believers? Do you want to be an example for other believers? It's certainly the easy and culturally acceptable path to say "mind your own business", keeping your focus on yourself and letting others be. It's certainly a lot easier that way. Being an example puts yourself on the defensive and on the offensive as well. There's certainly more critics than leaders in our culture; are you willing to be an example for others? It's not the easy path.

That's some meat to chew on throughout the week. Keep chewing...

Camping on Mt Diablo

2008-10-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

We are truly blessed with great friends. Wonder Woman is truly blessed to have the 2nd w/e in a row by herself. More pics here. If you're not my friend on Facebook, you should be! Leave me a comment to add you or go find me yourself.

Free speech for all?

2008-10-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

...that is unless it's the message that doesn't meet the agenda...

What do you think...are my odds higher or lower of getting vandalized with a "Yes" or a "No" sign in my front yard? This is 4 houses away from me.

Yes on 8

NOW

2008-10-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

No silly. not N.O.W. They aren't worth exercising my fingers about. Com'on...we've got a woman on the ticket, with the power to potentially be President, and where are they? Where's the talk of history, of equality? I'd personally prefer 2 men, but the history is staring me in the face. With Hillary saying today that she won't run again (yeah right), this could mean another 8 years before the possibility even arises. Oh never mind, I digress as usual.

My intent was not to talk about those ninnies. I'm talking about "now". The present. This instant. Did i stutter? Let's get on with it....

"We have become a culture addicted to instant gratification and a fixation on the material. Increasingly, concepts such as duty, self-denial, hard work, delayed gratification, and patience have been swept away."
Ken Blackwell, Family Research Council

Break the mold. Dwell on it. Think about it. Do it.

~Mr. Incredible...out

Why does it matter?

2008-10-12T18:02:00.001-07:00

Some friends of ours are very active politically. This couple attends conferences on lobbying politicians and belongs to local political groups that fight for justice and values. They choose their affiliations and support with care and research; for instance, I know they do not patronize certain eating establishments due to the political backing by the company.

On the other extreme, there are some others we know who shun the political world altogether, choosing instead to not register, not vote, and isolate themselves from that arena. As I understand it, it's more of the approach of not being in alignment with any party, to putting their faith in God, and letting chips fall where they fall.

Then there's us, more in the middle, a "moderate" in this spectrum (dang I hate that word!). Reading, voting, defending our philosophy on occasion, talking more in length with those who are more like minded. To date, we haven't plastered the bumper stickers, staked the signs, or attended the rallies.

Economically, I've got my opinions. Economist, I'm not. Logician, I like to think I am. Government to me doesn't typically solve problems; the bureaucracy of it all seems akin to the modern large corporation, ripe with critics and opinions, but incredibly lacking in true leaders. Meetings upon meetings, blah, blah, blah, with no action. So my logic sees large(r) government as wasteful and unproductive. The economic slippery slope to me seems to lead down a socialistic, "why can't everybody be equal", path. Interesting discussion, and certainly some passion in me, but probably not a hill I'll die on.

Socially, my opinions are more intense. You know the hot button topics ... abortion ... gay marriage ... etc. I believe in a right and a wrong and don't think now is the time to start redefining what those rights and wrongs are. Those definitions were made long ago. I'm not saying "stop thinking", but I'm saying there's a moral fiber that just plain makes sense. I have gay friends (some of which on occasion read this blog), I hope they realize I love them...but I don't have to agree with their lifestyle. And there are certainly other moral issues, not the only thing by which to judge a person.

Abortion much the same, the standard conservative position. Dang it, it just makes sense, don't kill babies. If the heart is beating (or not), don't kill it. Find new ways to save the life instead of putting energy into finding new ways to kill it.

I've often told Wonder Woman there's no doubt in my mind that gay marriage would be legal in my lifetime...nationwide. Believing this, my thought process is almost "Let's just get it over with". Certainly not excited or supportive but resigned. The same with other issues as well; do I expect abortion to be outlawed? Not really.

Again, are these the only issues in town? Of course not, but the attitude is what I'm talking about. You know, my sign walking friends, they're making more and more sense. In response to my thoughts of resignation, the paraphrased quote was "You just have to fight it; you have to fight for what's right." That's the point. In the face of defeat it's understandable to wave the white flag, but I hardly think it's what we're supposed to do.

Under a blood red sky

2008-10-10T20:28:00.000-07:00

I'm not even a U2 fan. Pictures speak for themselves...

Pressure points

2008-10-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

There's decisions that we've made for our family that aren't popular. For some of the superheroes, these decisions haven't gone from the head to the heart. Dyna Girl probably has the biggest problem with Halloween, which we don't celebrate. She really wants to "do" it. I understand, it's fun, there's candy...I get it. She's not boldly rebellious about it; as parents we can just tell. And furthermore, both us parents did Halloween; she knows that; we don't hide that.

Halloween in particular is also one of those head scratchers to some of our friends. A mom told me yesterday that Dyna Girl said we don't celebrate Halloween; when asked why, Dyna Girl said something like, "That's a good question, you should ask my mom about that." Especially to someone who's religious, there's a fine line to walk to not sound "Holier than thou"; in our case, it's one way we consciously separate ourselves from the world, from a holiday that has it's roots in pagan festivals AND the spirit world. I know, I know...so do some other holidays, but the ties to the past are still strong and to us, step over that line.

But it's important to know about Dyna Girl's heart, to pray for it, to dwell on it, to mull over it, to talk about it. After all, it's all about the heart isn't it? If she follows now with actions only, at some point her heart will be free to do as she pleases. It's relatively easy now to make my kids do what we want, but it of course is getting harder. Lord willing their hearts will follow their training.

As I understand it, in particular connection to this holiday, hypocrisy is derived from the Greek, to act out, as in the sense of trying to being something you are not. If I've got a mask on, my kids will quickly see through it. Talk is cheap; walk the walk, talk the talk. ~Mr Incredible....out.

Car rally goes bonkers

2008-10-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

The big honker definitely gets used...

Look who we ran into...

Cosmic Boy Turn(ed) 10

2008-10-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

Can you tell a good time was had by all? Not sure what we fed this bunch, this is how they ended up...

Bluetooth in the bathroom?

2008-10-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

It's a phenomenon I'm struggling with. For the second time this week I ran into it's use. You know, there should be a box to leave cellphones at the door.

Well said

2008-09-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Don't know that I agree with the whole of the article, but the quote aligns really well with our particular scenario...

"You know what? Our reasons for home educating our children have changed. Even if given the most perfect public school there is, I'm extremely doubtful that we would enroll our children back into that system. Just by the very fact of removing ourselves from that system, our horizons have broadened. We are much different people than we were three years ago. We have learned to question more and accept “expert opinion” less. We have learned that our own “instinct” is quite often the best answer we can find. We have learned to seek our own knowledge and to view things very differently from mainstream society. Not only are we adults learning to “think outside the box”, but our children are learning that there is no box."
Valid Reasons for Homeschooling

This is from an unschooler, something that at this point we're not. Strange bedfellows I tell you, maybe the answer to bringing together the left and the right is homeschooling. Seriously, we've been very pleased with supplementing our world with secular HS group.

Free range kids?

2008-09-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

OK. I'm trying to combine two things in my head here...here goes...

One is an article I recently read about a New York Post columnist who let her 4th grade child ride the subway alone. Her point? "My son got home, ecstatic with independence." Modern parenting is "debilitating—for us and for them." The article met national "outrage" by some and she ended up on the morning news circuit.

The other is a radio interview where a story was relayed about a young girl, obviously still in the "boys have cooties" phase, who told her mom, "My teacher says that when I get older I can marry a girl if I want." When the mom explained her position on this subject (in terms I'm assuming appropriate for the age), the little girl said, "My teacher said there would be people like you."

So one story is lauding the freedom of letting your kids go. The other, to me a least, shows a danger in giving your child's freedom to someone else. One story is about physical boundaries and the other more mental than physical.

In the search for right's and wrong's, as usual the answers aren't always easy. Do I agree with the columnist? You know, when it comes to physical limitations, everybody's got their comfort zone. To some extent I agree with her, you got to let your kids live and learn. I'll let my kids jump crazy on the trampoline, even though I know there's kids who have seriously injured themselves doing so. I pretty much won't let my kids snow ski; one because it's so darn expensive, but two, because I screwed myself up so badly doing it. But sure, you got to use your head; I'm far more loose where we live now in comparison to our old neighborhood. I guess if you can't live with yourself thinking that something might happen, then you got to take the precautions that keep you sane.

On the other one. It would certainly be a point I'd use to support homeschooling. California SB777 shows how schools are definitely overstepping their bounds, at least at the macro level. How fast that gets to the micro, where teachers who are not zealous for the agenda are actually actively being forced to support it, remains to be seen. That's assuming your kid has a teacher who is not actually already zealous. I could go on here, but that's not really the point of this discussion. Nor is this type of issue the only reason we homeschool.

But aside from these specific issues, the real question to me, in both cases is how am I preparing my child for both circumstances? How am I preparing my child for complete freedom (and responsibility) in adulthood? At what speed am I letting out the rope? In homeschooling, we've got much more control of that rope cuz we hold it almost all day long, but it's still got to come out. We've all seen the rope come out too fast, and we've all seen it come out too slow. In my opinion, both cases can lead to an accidental hanging.

One lady once said to me, "Our job isn't to protect our kids, it's to make them strong." Point taken, though of course it's obviously not an either/or situation...and you got to keep the end in sight.

Parenting...not for the faint of heart...now where's that rope? Ah, yes, last I remember, Cosmic Boy had tied up some of Dash's action figures with it...better go get it.

Intentional Living

2008-09-27T22:41:00.000-07:00

Hmmm. A discussion tonite with Wonder Woman about living life intentionally. You know, I do "X" because I want "Y". Keeping the eye on "Y" and thinking about the "X"s. You know we're not big goal setters, at least not in the cultural financial and life position standpoint. To a certain extent we hold to the put God first and let him do the rest approach; see what God is doing and try to join in, however, we certainly are intentional in many parts of our lives.

Now I didn't know "intentional living" was a loaded term, it just kind of rolled off the tongue...but apparently it is, per the Wikipedia article, "Some examples of intentional living include Cohousing, Ethical Living, Frugal Living, Intentional Community, Moral community, Simple Living, Sustainable Living, Vegetarianism as well as many religious lifestyles."

So w/o a big writeup on what we're intentional on and why, or if we should be intentional and why, or how intentions match to expectations, or how many scramble words I can get out of "intentions"...I'll just say, if you're going to use some words, I guess you better know what others think they mean. Cuz, I like my steak, I don't want other smelly people living with me (I'm enough), and I'm not even sure what "Intentional community" is.

I hope my intention is clear...signed Mr. Incredible

Individuality

2008-09-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

I read a recent "real life" funny about a group of teens full of piercings, tattoos, and chains, who walked into a store in a mall; one of the girls put some 'mainline' sunglasses on and modeled them to the rest of the group. At that point, one of the other girls said, "Please take those off, you look ridiculous!". Funny!

Danville is a pretty vanilla culture; there's, in my opinion, less room for the misfit. As a kid growing up here, for those who let's say weren't in to sports, or didn't have the looks of a cheerleader (or the desire), it was a tough place to be. Looking back I remember kids, especially starting in junior high, searching for a place to be an individual, to rebel against the mainstream. They became "Mods", they became "Stoners", they became "Geeks", and a number of other labels, or they chased the in crowd, searching for ways to fit in. As I look back, in some ways, many of the rebels were the most real, they saw through the charades and searched out their own place of belonging; or things were screwed up around them and they reacted by not being "normal". You could say the same thing to some extent in Anytown USA; and as an adult, I don't know that this pattern is all together different.

One thing that struck me as I was thinking about these subgroups; in the quest to be different, most of these people ended up being much like those around them. The girls who wouldn't be caught dead in any sort of colorful makeup were super particular about their black eyeliner; the boys who thought the jocks were dufus's for their rah rah fall-in-line attitude, all pinned their jeans and played hackey sack in the stoner section.

The point is most people are looking for a place to belong and that need doesn't stop once puberty is over; there seems to be an inner need to satisfy even for those who think they are "individuals". There will always be Sneech's looking for stars or taking them off. What does this say about the heart of man? Sure, "Birds of a feather flock together". How about "Are you off your rocker Mr Incredible"? Fine. But in a round-about way, I think it points to the yearning for something to belong to, for something to fill a void that exists deep in the soul.

So, how is this void filled? I think it truly can only be filled with a saving faith of Jesus who enables a right relationship with God by his dying on the cross for sins. And I'm not talking just going to church and learning the lingo. I'm talking about putting what that really means deep in your brain and dwelling on that peace constantly; making an individual decision that ironically puts you in a group where God intended you to be when he created you, one that worships Him and not self; one that seeks His leading and then takes the steps to follow it.

It certainly doesn't happen overnight, I'm continual evidence of that. There's precious few folks that I know and have known that seem to have embraced that peace to the extent possible. So, do you have a place to belong, one that lasts? I hope so.

Camera phone to the rescue...

2008-09-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, somehow we managed to forget the memory card from the camera on the last camping trip, but the trust low res camera phone managed to snap a few pics...

Spotlight on Cosmic Boy

2008-09-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

Who, you say? Cosmic Boy? Ah, superheros are more powerful when their fame is kept under wraps. Cosmic Boy first appeared in Adventure Comics, the founding member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, the original leader in all incarnations of the Legion. His character has been fairly consistent, with a serious attitude and a strong sense of duty.

Check out this description of him published on Wikipedia..."Cosmic Boy is like the all-around leader who puts it all on his shoulders, but he's magnetic. His powers are all about magnetics, and so it carries over to his personality. An he struggles to bring all the Legion back together. He's like, 'We can do this. We can bring it together' It comes naturally to him."

Ten years ago today, our Cosmic Boy blazed a trail into the Greenhouse5, transforming the Greenhouse2 into the Greenhouse3. In a style that has proved uncharacteristic, he seemed to be in a hurry to get out, causing Mr. Incredible to put the transport vehicle into hyperspeed to complete the mission without altering the flight plan.

Cosmic Boy is a joy to all who know him, like his alter-ego, he's magnetic. His leadership is beginning to shine too, leading the budding superheroes in our legion, with a style that at times shows a flair much like my own. He's responsible, capable, and an all around good young superhero. Happy Birthday Cosmic Boy, AKA Sheepdog, we're proud of you!

Never say never

2008-09-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

You've been there. You've said it. You've also begrudgingly eaten your crow. Let's see, a few famous Biblical dudes...how about Jonah...I'll never go to Nineveh. How about Peter "...Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will." One of the "nevers", a statement of disobedience; the other a statement of valor and allegiance. In both cases the opposite was true.

Let's see...one of the few times I remember saying "never" was in the context of a question "Would you move back to Danville?" Not a bad place to be per se, but in the context of my experience, not even on my top 1000 cities I'd move to. Huh, you say? Let's see...safe neighborhoods, friendly merchants, good schools, nice people? Let me be clear, Danville to me represented a detestably selfish culture. One that was in constant pursuit of elevation of self with little or no thought to the will of God. A culture with pride, and I daresay snobbery, that made me sick to my stomach. A culture that I once blended into, and even at times excelled. I punished myself for the parts of the culture that I once embraced and I looked back to my moving out as "the best thing that ever happened to me". But you know what? God uniquely prepared me for the mission he had for me, for my family. To swallow the pride that I had, ironically against those who I perceived of being prideful themselves, and once again live in Danville.

Just a week or so ago, a Danville dad sent me an email and said "Hey, I've found a Bible Study that meets on Thursday nites, would you go with me?" This is the same guy who I have recently had conversations with about getting back to a "walk" with God; a guy who once attended a Bible believing church but hasn't for well over 10 years; a guy who at this point is realizing his family needs God. Yesterday, I was able to invite a neighbor girl to AWANA, her mom has a fringe Greek Orthodox background but has had very little religious upbringing of her child. Within the past few months, Kim has developed a friendship with a Russian immigrant, someone we hope to share Christ with. And Cosmic Boy, Dash, and Dynagirl have all made friends in which we've been able to at least show witness to the work of God in our lives. Do you think God had a plan for my family?

So, whether your statement be honorable or detestable, be prepared to think about it carefully. And the next time I hear you say it, I just may ask you if like fries with that.

Are your annual dues late?

2008-09-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

The entrance fee into the kingdom of heaven is nothing; however the annual subscription is everything.

Henry Drummond

Jonathan Edwards quote, part 1

2008-09-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

"I claim no right to myself, no right to this understanding, this will, these affections that are in me. Neither do I have any right to this body or its members, no right to this tongue, to these hands, feet, ears or eyes. I have given myself clear away and not retained anything of my own. I have been to God this morning and told Him I have given myself wholly to Him, I have given every power so that for the future I claim no right to myself in any respect. I have expressly promised Him, for by His grace I will not fail. I take Him as my whole portion and felicity, looking upon nothing else as any part of my happiness..."

It's still a wonderful life

2008-09-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well, despite making it to the top 3 for the part of "Tommy Bailey" in a local production of "It's a Wonderful Life", Cosmic Boy didn't land the role. Well, we of course thought he was well suited for the part, but since we originally had him audition for role "just for the experience", we have to look at the positive and be thankful he made as far as he did! He's got the auditioning experience under his belt and there are some lessons learned. Good job Cosmic Boy, mom and dad are very proud of you!

Yeah, dogs are definitely smarter than cats...

2008-09-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

This is why some of you don't have cats...

2008-09-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

...but com'on...really...haven't you had one of those days?

Walllllll-eeeeeee....

2008-09-13T21:14:00.000-07:00

Take it down, put it up. Hard to tell from the picture, but had to build a new wall about 12 inches closer to the exterior wall to make room for the new bathtub. I'm tired...if it were only done I'd take a lilac bubble bath...well, maybe not. But I'm sure Wonder Woman would.

Lucky us

2008-09-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

It just so happened that "Camping World" was doing a cover story on RV'ing, so, even though we didn't have a camera, they snapped a pic and emailed it to us. You all can check your next issue when it arrives to see if we make the editor's cut. Our RV was just behind the photographer, you can see the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus river behind us, where we caught the huge fish.

Forgot the camera...

2008-09-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

Well, not really...we had the camera for our recent camping/fishing trip...just not a memory card (oops). So, I had to go the archives and pull out some fish pictures from some past camping trips. I shouldn't have to even say it, but the fish I caught this time were HUGE...you can see the picture here of some of my past fishing experience..I am used to catching BIG fish.

Well, the whole hall of justice got some on this trip, but Wonder Woman got the biggest. You'll just have to take my word on it. They were big. Wonder Woman says she doesn't want any more rainbow trout for quite some time.

Hero Hiatus's Happen

2008-08-31T19:48:00.000-07:00

A time of silence is needed again. A time of reflection to gather deep thoughts to inspire us to get through the progression of fall and through the dark cold winter. Wait...we live in California...there is no winter. Well, I have to inspire my faithful Antarctic readers. Talk to you after some trekking....

I leave you with a deep thought from Jack Handy...
"I hope some animal never bores a hole in my head and lays its eggs in my brain, because later you might think you're having a good idea but it's just eggs hatching."

The Tale of Two Pennies

2008-08-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

So, today in SS we did a little object lesson by putting pennies in vinegar and salt to clean them, with the parallel of God cleaning our hearts from sin by the work of Jesus on the cross. The one on the left is the year I was born. The one on the right is the year Dyna Girl was born. The penny on the left was cleaned; prior to cleaning I couldn't even tell what year it was. I guess my body is kind of like that penny, beat up, banged up, and a lot of sin; hopefully the blood of Jesus will make my actual heart cleaner than this penny :-)

Insomniac 102, what the experts forgot

2008-08-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we got the Harvard expert opinion. Well, enough from that heady bunch, shame on me for broadcasting that lab-rat nonsense. Here's the real top 10 (almost), in somewhat random order...
1. Who me?
2. A little of this
3. Too bad this isn't the top one
4. Need I say more?
5. A little of that
6. Pick any of the sounds, you'll get the picture
7. It's not just for pancakes....
8. Can they come any earlier?
9. Must have more....

Insomniac 101

2008-08-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, not sleeping lately? Which of these is your problem? I'm quite certain mine is #2, saving the world 1 problem at a time can wear on you; and when will that red phone stop ringing?
1. Age
2. Stress
3. Change in life patterns
4. Jet lag
5. Medications
6. Napping during the day
7. Depression/Anxiety
8. Gender
9. Work schedule
10. Eating/drinking habits

Some people write far better than I

2008-08-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

Interesting to read the story behind the song here

All to Jesus I surrender;
all to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
in his presence daily live.
Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

2. All to Jesus I surrender;
humbly at his feet I bow,
worldly pleasures all forsaken;
take me, Jesus, take me now.
(Refrain)

3. All to Jesus I surrender;
make me, Savior, wholly thine;
fill me with thy love and power;
truly know that thou art mine.
(Refrain)

4. All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to thee;
fill me with thy love and power;
let thy blessing fall on me.
(Refrain)

5. All to Jesus I surrender;
now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to his name!
(Refrain)

The Greenhouse5 response to the DNC

2008-08-27T00:33:00.000-07:00

Tech tip, browser for your mobile

2008-08-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

For those of us who haven't forked out the big bucks for a iPod but nonetheless have a data plan for web access on our inferior phones, I found a cool tool, the Opera Mini web browser. Interesting enough, in researching it, I found numerous references to "Is this available for the iPhone?", so hmmmmmmmm. I digress.

Here's how it works.
1. You load the browser on your phone, go to http://www.operamini.com/ on your phone's browser. Click on the download button to load.
2. You open the browser.
3. You enter a URL (web address)
4. The web page is passed thru the opera web servers and rendered small for your little bitty screen on your mobile phone. Not only does this make it easier to see the web page, but it makes loading the web page MUCH faster, by passing thru the opera web servers, they strip it down for fast loading.
5. On the small web page, there is a zoom box, so you can zoom on a place on the page. This makes it much easier to see the context of the whole page before scrolling around

COOL! Browsing the web on your mobile still is not great, but it's much better than before. Here's a cool demo of it actually works, click here.

The other tip is to use the mobile version of websites when possible. For instance, Yelp! offers a version of their site, optimized for mobile devices Yelp Mobile. Click on the links, see how stripped down the mobile version is! Many other sites offer something similiar.

Happy browsing!

Random crazy people

2008-08-25T18:41:00.001-07:00

Who's this stranger?

Expectations

2008-08-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

Alright, I'm sure there's some theory out there, I'm sure there are academic studies of why or why not expectations for your kids are good or bad. I'm sure my kids will need some couch time at some point when they get older. But darn it, when I take my kids out, I have some :-)

So, in the category of "Rants", I pass on this tale...a similar tale no doubt could be penned by any of us.

Wonder Woman and I were on a plane with a 3 kids, one of which I'll call BamBam - age 4, and a mom behind us. Wonder Woman had to move to a different seat because BamBam was literally beating her chair with his fists and feet. This was of course after he sang nonsense loudly for a period of time. Luckily, this all stopped when mom pulled out the electronic medicine, aka fancy gameboy of some variety, DS or something (I believe he at least 2 of them on the plane). Ritalin with batteries.

However as the plane began it's descent, mom had to turn off her iPod, fancy smartphone, and laptop and again deal with BamBam; she apparently is inflicted with the same computer virus as her child. He began screaming "I want my DS!!!" At first the straightforward approach, "I'm sorry honey you can't have it right now". Then, she tried the lying angle, "Honey, it's out of batteries". As the conversation continued, she said things like "Let's talk about this OK?", or "See...mommy had to turn off her iPod too", or "This is the rule of the plane honey." or "This is also the rule of the pilot, he says people can't do this right now." Hmmm, do you think any of this worked?

Now, we move on to the sibling interaction. As this went on, the princess child, the only girl who obviously seemed to have a shopping connection with the mom, called him a "Brat". Actually she was right. But this transformed the conversation from the DS to the sibling rivalry. I heard the "Don't we want to be friends?" line, followed by the "Let's say sorry" at which the daughter mumbled out a pretty good, "I'm sorry" (for what?) Now my favorite line, with the mom's prompting to "BamBam", "What do you have to say?"...."Nofing", said BamBam. I just about laughed out loud. Geez. As the plane landed, mom turned on the phone and never had it away from her ear even as I saw her pass baggage claim.

I as a parent have expectations for my child. I am the parent. So, in this case and many others, I heard more "I'm sorry" from the mom than I did from any child. And since the mom had no authority, she had to call on anyone around who had some. People often say when they find out we homeschool, usually while in the "I could never do that" wavelength, "I can't teach my kids, they'll never listen to me!!" Well, I'm not telling anybody to homeschool, that's not for everybody, but don't let that be your reason. You must have expectations for your kids, and by golly set the bar high.

So, an extreme example, yes. But as I reflected on the little superheros, I thanked God for them repeatedly. Then as I picked them up from Ms America and her driver who watched them while we were in Seattle, she commented "They do fight a lot, don't they!?!" Ooooops :-) Well, at least she says, "...but they work it out"

"Ordinary is not good enough. Normal will not change the world. We are No Ordinary People, created by No Ordinary God, for No Ordinary Purpose." Denise Mira

Footloose in Seattle

2008-08-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Not even superheros can help the A's

2008-08-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

We got there early so we could pass on a few tips...

I know Brad Ziegler has had a pretty good year, breaking a 100 year major league record, but I still wanted to talk about his arm angle and his approach with left handed hitters. I'm pretty sure we'll see some results; I'm pretty sure I heard him talking about me when security was escorting me out.

Add this effect to your own photos

Things got sticky - day 1 in Seattle

2008-08-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

These walls represent a lot of chewing. I guess it's better than dropping it in the street...

Spotlight on Frederick

2008-08-20T08:43:00.001-07:00

As to whether he's a superhero, we're not quite certain. The extra chair in our house is always for Frederick. If there's an open seat in the car, Frederick is usually in it. If it's lost, Frederick took it. When there's no one to talking, Frederick seems to have something to say. Dynagirl is convinced he's a big hairy dog; Dash has joined that bandwagon. Cosmic Boy has a theory of his own. Mr. Incredible, one who has a long history of hearing voices and having friends that no one seems to see,
thinks he looks like Waldo, from the "Where's Waldo" fame. Wonder Woman doesn't even join in the discussion, I guess she's used to invisible things with her jet and all. Honestly, I don't know what the mystery is, I can see him quite plainly in the picture above, can't you?

Facebook, preachers' kids, and my kids...oh my!

2008-08-19T01:51:00.000-07:00

More fallout from the Facebook realm; Wonder Woman recently stumbled upon the blog of a friend from her past (actually the blog of the wife of a friend from her past, but close enough). This friend was a preacher kid as was his wife. I'm not going to link the blog because quite frankly it crossed a line of respect in my opinion, nor do I want to call attention to that friend; if they want to do so, they can do it on their own ad dime. However, in summary, the theme of the blog is mocking Christian culture. I think it's up to #25 of a series of points (and growing); things like acting happy, youth pastors, worship teams, homeschooling, and other stereotypical themes/actions. Now the best critics of anything are typically people who come from the inside, so she's got a lot right. I don't know her well enough to know how far her mockery goes, whether the mockery ends at the culture or continues through to the message.

But my thoughts are on "What happened?" To her, and to others. What's evident and/or missing in "Christian culture" that repeatedly drives away some so close to it?

For the sake of this blog, I'll throw out a few examples of who I'm talking about. One one hand, there's the preacher kids (PKs) mentioned above. It's not too much of a stretch to label myself as a "preacher kid" to some extent, maybe some more details on that later. But my step-siblings, PKs through and through, have staunchly rejected Christianity in practice though I'll certainly leave it to God to judge their hearts. They like to talk of the hypocrisy thing, either of their own families, or equally as likely of the sheep in the flock. Unfortunately, not an uncommon tale.

Then there's the some other folks we've known. Maybe not PKs, but grown up in church, came to the church in their youth, or even worked in the church, who, if they haven't turned their backs on Christianity now, are skeptical and in the shadows if they even come to church at all. The adult who says, "Everyone is a hypocrite", or the former youth leader who says, "Parents were looking to me to parent their kids, and if I asked them to step up, they simply took their kids elsewhere. How is that a good thing?" These people may or may not still have zeal for Christ, more than often not. Unfortunately there's many we know in this category too.

Then there's some I know who still have the zeal for the message and passion for Christ but too have become so disillusioned with the culture that they avoid the church. The subtle difference between those above would be that they are still living a life with the fruit of a Christian. They are not disillusioned with the core, message, but question the cultural workings out. He/she might say something like "I'm looking for an environment where it's not a spectator sport."

So what is the deal? Without a deep dive into theology...predestination, foreknowledge, etc, I ask these questions... Would Jesus be pleased with my Christian culture or would he turn over my tables? Do we spend to much time amongst ourselves and not enough time outside "the club"? Are we living like we believe the message or living according to some written/unwritten "Christian" rules? Will my kids see a true yearning to please God or a religiousity to an organization? Have we created an institution where people can be comfortable with the organization as well as an active participate but not a passionate follower?

In the end, God draws people to Him. I don't necessarily completely understand it, but the Word is clear on this. But with that said, I want to influence my environments, church, home, and other, such that it's the real deal. Time to reread Matthew 13. If someone said it would be easy, they were wrong.

The quest to be comfortable

2008-08-15T23:26:00.000-07:00

An elderly lady behind me tonight at a play remarked to herself how hard the seats were. Luckily, Dynagirl had one of those bleacher pads and we let her borrow it. She was 86 and mighty glad to have it. On the way home, in one of those inexplicable mental leaps between me and Wonder Woman, it led to a question of whether God wants us to be comfortable; whether we should strive to be in that position of having a nice cushy place to put our tush. I'm not talking about material things here though they certainly can factor into the equation; it's more a question of striving to get to the spot in life where I get the stars aligned and I have things just the way I want it and I'm able to say "Please God, don't touch, it's just the way I want it." On one hand, it sounds so good; on the other, I realize it's probably something I'll never get, at least not on earth. And furthermore, I realize it's not what God wants; it's not the goal I should have. It's the stretch goals (please not at the waistline) that say, "I'm ready for what you want God", which by the way, is not always a comfortable place to be. See, it did come full circle after all.

Matthew 10:39(NIV) He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

Spotlight on Wonder Woman

2008-08-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's long overdue to pen this tale. But as we remember 15 years married together today, 8/14, (and 17 1/2 years as a couple), the superhero spotlight has to turn to Wonder Woman. You'll note that "She is a founding member of the Justice League. For several years, Wonder Woman was described in the splash page of each story as "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Hermes, and stronger than Hercules."

Yes that's her. Let's see, beautiful as Aphrodite, check. Wise as Athena, check. Swifter than Hermes, check. Stronger than Hercules...com'on...do you see the pictures?

She's been known to deflect my bullets, so she's equipped with gadgetry too. "Diana has numerous powerful weapons at her disposal, but her signature weapons are her indestructible bracelets and the Lasso of Truth." Ah, Cosmic Boy, Dynagirl, and Dash all know about the Lasso of Truth; she doesn't even actually have take it out; it, like her jet, seems to be invisible, encircling unsuspecting subjects with the subtle flick of a wrist.

How could Mr. Incredible survive w/o her? The love of my life with powers that are just a tad scary...perfect!? So, it's off in the invisible jet next weekend to the NW superhero headquarters to a sporting venue and some superhero alone time; she's certainly earned it.

You know these moments are coming but it doesn't make it easier...

2008-08-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

My thoughts are not going very far beyond the Wright family today. Our friends and brother/sister in Christ lost their 18 year old son to an automobile accident yesterday. There's not words to describe the agony that they're feeling; our prayers are with you. ABC News story here.

Where's the fruit?

2008-08-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

It's fruit season around the farm and although many of the trees aren't cared for like they should be, most are producing some fruit. The peaches had a bumper crop year last year, so it was likely they'd be down this year, which they were. The pears always seem to be big producers seemingly no matter what the care. One plum tree and one peach tree got hit by bores, so I'm wondering if they'll make it, maybe some DDT will help. The grapes I think are very susceptible to production being directly related to the care. Certainly, there's years where they produce despite of me, but I'm confident that they'd do much better with my attention and skill. This year, we'll have some grapes to pop but we won't be hitting any records.

All this to say, as we taught the concept of a vineyard in the Bible to the 1st graders at church today, how my mind wandered to the analogy of fruit in our lives. Galatians 5:22-23 talks of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives. How much more so will they multiply if we are faithful to God's Word, allowing it to prune out the bad growth and prepare our hearts for more fruit. Much like me around the farm, being lazy and eliminating these steps from our lives hinders the fruit production, even though some grows in spite of us. Certainly modern Christianity's focus on knowing and believing but not necessarily completely following contribute to this effect; can't we just hire someone else to do the work? As John MacArthur talks about in his book The Gospel According to Jesus, "...They have been told that the only criterion for salvation is knowing and believing some basic facts about Christ. They hear from the beginning that obedience is optional. It follows logically, then, that someone's one-time profession of faith is more valid than the evidence of that person's ongoing lifestyle in determining whether to embrace him or her as a true believer. The character of the visible church reveals the detestable consequence of this theology."

So, it's the beginning of the week; I know it's not the time of the year to be pruning; but the fruits of the Spirit aren't a summer fruit. Hopefully, the production is year round.

Wonder Woman says...

2008-08-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

...4 of the Greenhouse5 have listening issues....

She said "Mr. Incredible, take a shower..."

...so I took a shower (out)...

She tells the little superheroes, please don't write on the walls...

...well, they didn't listen to that, some of their friends even added some graffiti. So finally, she tells supercat to get away from the mess....

Supercat is queen of everything!

Ah, supervillians...foiled perhaps, but not stumped

2008-08-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Too much information?

2008-08-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

In case you've been wondering, you can have 256 columns of information in one row of an excel spreadsheet. Lately, Wonder Woman has joined the facebook crowd and she keeps on asking "How do 'they' know I might know 'soandso'?" I'm more than a casual member of a business version of facebook, LinkedIn, and have had the same response. These people seem to be able to figure out if you met someone at the mall 12 years ago. So when I joined facebook a few days back so I could do some searches (but really not wanting to "go there" when it comes to "building my network), what do I see in the ad on the side? Yep, "Need more hair?" So, somebody out there is using more than excel to track information on you and me cuz there's more than 256 points of data. A little scary...perhaps...but look on the bright side, maybe I'll stop getting spam for a breast enlargement.

Blogging about blogging

2008-08-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

Now a veteran blogger, I have some observations about blogging. Let's take my cousin's blog AtAHensPace. My wife enjoys reading it and knows what's going on in their lives such that she could walk up and talk to my cousin like they were close friends. There's just one little hitch...she probably hasn't talked to her in 3 years and other than a few passings thru in Chicago and a few family events in Ohio, has never really spent significant time with her. Now, in our modern world, that's not a revolutionary thought; I use email so frequently in communication that there are people I've barely spoken to that I feel like I know quite well. However, email is direct communication; you email me, I email you. Blogging is quite different. I post, you read, maybe a comment here and there. In the end, other than my hidden webcam that is watching you on every page, there's very little back and forth.

So that's what is so interesting...how it changes communication; many times it cuts back on emails and phone calls because a lot of information is communicated in the silly little posts. Furthermore, some people you don't know very well suddenly know a lot about you. Does it lead to deeper friendships, or different friendships? Or does it complement the existing friendships in ways not available before? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I guess time will tell. And why do I blog?....good topic for the next meeting with my shrink, Brainiac.

Wildlane Drive

2008-08-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

The Energizer just got back from what sounded like a great trip to Ohio. Couldn't stop myself from engaging in some nostalgia. Here's the original home of Mr. Incredible, burned down and rebuilt in 1974. Hmmm, price looks pretty tempting to the Californian but Wonder Woman is convinced her powers only work here. Interesting...seems like her powers were working just fine in Hawaii?