He is Greater.....John 3:30 says He must become greater, I must become less"

Hey everyone....I'm writing today to raise a call....a call to raise good, good men.  Today I was mowing the yard and thinking about Roger and our extra Kredit.  This morning XK got up early (as usual) and wanted to watch a certain show we don't really like or think is appropriate but it's also not horrible.  Roger gently and firmly guided him to a different Saturday morning cartoon.  Looney Toons.  Road Runner and Woody Woodpecker and later Tom and Jerry.  He explained the story line of both shows and after XK understood, the 2 of them sat together for awhile and watched and enjoyed some classic cartoons.   Roger wasn't so excited about saying yes to a foster placement.  He was nervous and apprehensive about all the things.....you can imagine.  We discussed it and we prayed about it and we said yes because all the things were things that were uncomfortable.....but not impossible.  Roger is a good, good man.  He was raised by g...

Exodus 16:4     Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you.  The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.  In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions." 3 weeks ago when we said yes to taking in a child who needed a safe place to live for awhile, we didn't know what we would need.  We did know we needed another bed.....and maybe a dresser.....but otherwise we could not know what we would need until we needed it.  It had only been a couple of days when the cry of my heart, and my prayer over and over each day was this.  "Lord God.....send fresh manna." The old testament story of how and why God sent manna from heaven to feed his people is a good one.  You can find it in Exodus.  The people were uncomfortable.  They were hungry and tired and whiney and wanted relief from their conditions.....and just like a good parent does, God knew that they needed ...

I learned something from my little extra Kredit today.  Well, I actually learn something from our extra Kredit every day.  This one I can share. Today extra Kredit and I went to softball.  It was my turn to drive for carpool and even though my schedule was crazy busy, I figured out the plan to make it work.  Precious and friends took the field and XK and I went to the park.  Before long, he needed to go to the bathroom so we left the playground and headed for the park restroom.  He was trotting down a small hill and hit a puddle on concrete pavement and totally wiped out.  I was a few steps ahead and heard his head hit the pavement, I kid you not.  He was flat out on his back, in a puddle, and started to wail.  It was a hard, hard fall....I rushed to his side and did a quick check and thank goodness there was no blood.  His head hurt, and he was wet and startled but seemed to be ok.  We found our way to the bathroom.  He came o...

One of our children was giving us a bugger of a time recently.  We were at an impass as to how to handle the behavior, the attitude, the implications of it all.  We were unhappy and, quite frankly, a bit scared.  It's scary when a kid chooses defiance and to exert his or her own free will.....It's mostly scary for me because I am not wired to be a hard core punisher.  We are not strict here.  We just are not.  For lots of reasons.  We wrestled with how to handle this situation separately and as a mom and dad.  We talked, we paused, we wondered, we agreed, we disagreed......parenting is just the hardest thing ever.  Our need for approval and acceptance and admiration causes us to strive to raise children who are successful and productive in the world.  Raising such children would make us feel like we did a good job.  If we raise children who are successful and productive in the world we feel that we deserve an award for churning some...

This week Roger said he was asked to share at his morning check in meeting tomorrow and he wasn't sure what to talk about.  I thought about it and said...."maybe talk about being uncomfortable.  Covid 19 has made us all uncomfortable and forced us to adapt and sacrifice.....the protests make us uncomfortable because we have to face our own view of racism and oppression and violence....and we said yes to a foster placement last weekend and that, too, is uncomfortable.  Talk about why we always need to feel comfortable and get really crabby when we are uncomfortable."  He said, "wow.  that's deep.  We don't usually talk about things like that".  That was a few days ago.  I'm still considering and thinking about the idea of being uncomfortable. I strive for comfort constantly.  If I have a hot flash, I turn on a fan or shed clothing or something.  If I am hungry I get food.  If I am overwhelmed I take action to find quiet or alone time...