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No Gender Confusion Here

These are my son's feet.

He likes his sister's pink sparkly shoes and as long as we're confessing, he sometimes wears dresses around the house.

Today I tried a little experiment in reverse psychology. I said to him, "wow, those are nice sparkly shoes, little girl." He replied, "I'm not a little girl!" to which I said, "but you're wearing girls' sparkle shoes."

The next thing I know, he runs up to me and turns around, pointing to the back of his head. "See!" he says emphatically. "See what?" I said. He quickly replied, "NO PONY TAIL!"

It was pretty cute and worth a chuckle. But I persisted in my line of reasoning and repeated, "but those shoes are still pretty, little girl."

The next thing I knew, he dropped his pants and said, "I'M NOT A GIRL! SEE! I HAVE A PENIS!"

It took me a good five minutes to catch my breath!

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Incidentally, for more stuff from Elisa's and my reservoir of parenting stories, shortcuts, helps, tricks, and other miscellaneous stuff, see our new blog, Thoughts On Parenting.

A Little Nostalgia: Sermon from The Village

The other day I pulled out a (yikes!) audiocassete only to discover that it had been warped over time by heat, cold, and whatever else. My first thought was that all the sermons I preached at The Village (at least the ones we recorded) were on audiocassette in my garage. Thus, I have begun a new project: converting 4 years of sermons to digital form. For those of you who never knew me in the role of pastor/teacher, then here's a glimpse of what you missed!  For those who did, here's a little trip down memory lane.

As a side note, this sermon was preached 3 days before Cason entered the world!

Download 081102___daniel_part_1.mp3

VOTING: Why Bother?

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

Old Friends

It's strange to call them "old friends." It seems like just yesterday  we were over at Todd and Courtney's house in Raleigh with our newborn  daughter. It's been over five years, though, and now we have Jack and  they have Paige and Owen. And even though we didn't get to see  Courtney or meet Owen, it was great to catch up with Todd and Paige  this past Saturday at a birthday party in Rockwall.

Driving home from Rockwall, Elisa and I had a chance to muse about  our past, our present and our future. We certainly miss the past-- North Carolina and our friends there--but overall I think we're happy  where we are. Well, actually, we're happy to be on the path we are  on. There isn't much that is easy about being in grad school with two  young kids and a stay-at-home mom! But I don't think either of us  would change much.

Life is interesting.

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday it was around 60 degrees and sunny. Last week it was almost 80. Today, in the span of about 3 hours we got over 6 inches of snow! And not just any snow...big, fluffy, wet, sticky, snowball snow! Cason ran outside and said, "It looks like a fairy-tale land!!!"

       

       

Green Eggs and (fresh) Ham

Today we went to a "Birthday Party" storytime for Dr. Seuss at our local library. There were costumes, props, and a dramatic reading of Green Eggs and Ham. During the "performance," as one of the librarians was holding food on a tray and asking the other, "would you, could you, on a train?" Jack turns to me and says, "is that real?"

Thinking he means the cardboard train, or the stuffed mouse in the house or the fox in the box, all used as props, I ask for clarification: "is what real, Jack?"

"The ham."

:-)

Hermeneutics Quiz

My friend Paul posted a link to this hermeneutics quiz. I scored a 71, which means I'm "progressive," but at the low end  towards "moderate." Gee, I love labels! I just hope that no one tells the folks at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, or they may come knocking on my door asking for their degree back!

The interesting thing, though, is that I don't think my score is due to extremely recent developments in my life. I have a hunch I would have always been in the "moderate" to "progressive" category, even as a youngster in a Baptist (albeit VERY moderate) church.

Let me know how you score.

Irresistible Revolution 3

…when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor we will see poverty come to an end.

I am a systemic thinker. For good or bad, I always gravitate toward big-picture thoughts of organizations, structures, and systems. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult for me to spring into action when challenged to help the poor, as I have been by Shane Claiborne’s book. I’d like to believe that the world needs systemic thinkers—leaders, organizers, and directors—and that I’m equipped to be one for the good of the Kingdom. Then again, it could all just be an excuse for me not to “go and do likewise.”

Moments you don't want to forget

Today Cason said to me...

"I love you so much I don't know what to say. I just don't have words to explain. I love you as much as...what's the name of that big lake that's bigger than Lake Superior and goes all the way? Oh, yeah, the Pacific Ocean. I love you as much as the Pacific Ocean and more. And I love Mommy the same, too."

I just had to write it down.

Irresistible Revolution 2

Irresistible Revolution, Chapters 2-3
The Gospel According to Luke, Chapter 5

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You are my body, my hands.

I have long believed that we are the hands and feet of Jesus. We are His only means of acting in the world. If we want to see miracles, we need to get our hands dirty. But when I read stories from people like Shane Claiborne, I'm reminded that it's more complicated than that. Before we can get our hands dirty, we have to be near the dirt. And, of course, we have to see the dirt. Only then can we decide not to ignore the dirt and plunge our hands deep into it. Part of my problem isn't necessarily willingness, it's opportunity. I'm so far removed from the dirt that I don't even know where to begin to get my hands dirty. I think that's why so many white suburban Christians just go on week-long mission trips or volunteer at the soup kitchen monthly. We don't live near the poor, and we don't see any dirt. Church of the Saviour uses the phrase "being with the poor" to describe one of their fundamental pillars of faith. The idea of "being with," as opposed to "giving to" or "helping," is huge. Being with the poor means making them part of your life. Though not necessarily living with them, it means being in their midst, understanding them, finding solidarity with them, making them part of your life and faith. That's where we go wrong, in part because we are unwilling, but in part because we are all part of a system that separates the poor from the not-so-poor. If we want to be Jesus' hands, we have to go where he would go.