Father's Day

Father's day used to be one of the worst days of the year for me. I always got a little stressed as the day approached knowing that I would need to buy my father a card and possibly give him a call. I dreaded having to do that. I could never find a card that really fit him. I always stayed away from the "You are the best father... yada yada yada" type cards. I had to get the funny ones' instead. Well, now he is gone and it's not so bad anymore. But I do think of him on this day when it rolls around.

Things are different now that I am a father. I know that I have and will continue to make parenting mistakes. I hope my children will have good memories of their father. I hope they never struggle to buy me a Father's Day card.

Spanking

Yesterday I read a story at Sacbee.com about a new bill just written to make it illegal to spank your child three years of age and younger. Oh dear Lord, what is our society coming to?

I was so outraged after reading the article that I posted a comment about how ridiculous this bill is. I was glad to read so many other comments from people who felt the same way.

I really think the problem today is that parents do not discipline enough. And tragically, many of the young men going to prison today have something in common: they were raised without a father. What our kids need today are two parents that love them enough to spank them when they need it.

I spank my kids from time to time, only when they need it. I don't like to spank them -- it breaks my heart. When I do spank them, I tell them why I am going to spank them, then afterwards I hold them on my lap and hug them until their crying stops. All the while reminding them that I love them.

It bothers me to think that our legislatures are spending time trying to tell me how to parent. Our country is becoming communistic. My generation really doesn't appreciate the freedom we have, we take it for granted. My generation has never had to fight for any of the freedoms we currently enjoy, those battles were fought for us.

Happy Birthday Honey!

Today is my lovely wife's 39th birthday! We have been celebrating for over 24 hours now. Yesterday her siblings and their families along with her mother joined together at Momma Suzanna's Italian Restaurant for a wonderful meal and good times. Tonight, we went to McDonalds for a quick dinner and back home for cake. Antoinette and I enjoyed a nice lunch ALONE while the kids were in school.

Antoinette's 39th Birthday

Fall Update

Sorry, I have been sooooo busy lately. There has not been much time to blog. It's been over a month since my last post. Work is crazy busy--we are having our best year yet. We were really busy with Soccer every Saturday, now the Holidays--at least Halloween and Thanksgiving. I am enjoying it though. Here are some photos from my Web Album. There are captions to help tell the story.

Please DO enjoy! TTF DJ

Halloween 2006

End of Soccer Season

Thanksgiving 2006

Christmas Tree Day 2006

California International Marathon 2006

Ready for the Holidays

Surrender

Taken from The Purpose Driven Life, Chapter 10 The Heart of Worship:

Rick Warren is speaking on surrender--this jumped out at me today:

Sometimes it takes years, but eventually you discover that the greatest hindrance to God's blessing in your life is not others, it is yourself--your self-will, stubborn pride, and personal ambition. You cannot fulfill God's purposes for your life while focusing on your own plans.

If God is going to do his deepest work in you, it will begin with this. So give it all to God: your past regrets, your present problems, your future ambitions, your fears, dreams, weaknesses, habits, hurts, and hang-ups Put Jesus Christ in the driver's seat of your life and take your hands off the steering wheel. Don't be afraid; nothing under his control can ever be out of control. Mastered by Christ, you can handle anything. You will be like Paul: "I am ready for anything and equal to anything through him who infuses inner strength into me, that is, I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency."

I have been worrying too much lately about things beyond my control.

The Most Popular Post To Date

I find it fascinating that the most popular post to date (based on the number of comments) has to do with my old church. I really start to wonder if there is this wound we all have that hasn't completely healed.

Sometimes I think I am over the whole thing, but then something comes up and I am reminded of it all over again. Sometimes I get mad, sometimes I get sad, other times--I don't think of it at all.

I am pulled between letting others know what happened to me and just letting it slip into the past. Part of me doesn't want to ever forget the craziness of it all-- and part of me wants to forget it forever.

I don't ever want to repeat it--I don't ever want to let myself slip into a spiritual slumber again--I want to be sharp! I want to be able to spot nonsense the second I see it and call it for what it is. I don't want to be blindsided again.

I don't ever want to overlook the compromises of others for the sake of friendship or acceptance. I don't ever want to overlook or excuse my own failures.

I don't ever want to have someone I trust piss all over my boots, then tell me that it was rain, and then allow myself to believe them (for just a moment).

I don't ever want to be in a place where I feel I have no one to turn to and no where to go. Where do you go when your issue is with your pastors? Do you call 911?

911: 911 what is you emergency?
Me: The pastors and elders in my church are [fill in your experience here]
911: I'm sorry sir; this number is for emergencies only.

I experienced that type of isolation only a few of years ago. I may as well have been living in a commune in the middle of the woods--because that is how isolated I was from the rest of the body of Christ.

I remember a time while I was in the midst of the old church drama and I thought to myself "Who can I call for advice?" I had no one. It was horrible place to be. Thank God I had my two faithfull brothers with me!

You see if I am on your team or we are friends, I have to believe you, and I have to trust you. You have got to be honest and trustworthy. If we don't have those basic things, we aren’t going to be a very good team-- and we can't be very good friends. I can't defend you if there is a doubt in my mind about your guilt. I would never make it as a criminal defense attorney. The only way for me to defend you is to have it out with you until I am convinced you are telling me the truth. Once I've got that down, I’ve got your back man!

So, in order to never repeat the mistakes of the past, I don't ever want to forget. But, I must move on as well--there are better things to consume my time with.

In Dr. Suess name amen.

Lily's Baptism

Today is October 8, 2006. Our daughter Lily was baptized today. She made this decision all on her own and we couldn't be happier for her. We had been talking a lot about it this week. She was a little nervous, but excited for it to happen. When she came up out of the water, she was overcome with tears of joy. It was really neat to see. Then everybody started crying, mom, aunts, pastors, Sunday school teachers. It was really a blessing. God's got us in the palm of his hands.

Here's some photo's and video of Lily being baptized and another just after coming out of the water. Her uncle Victor gives her a hug as she weeps those tears of joy. Then she exits the river and into the embrace of her mother. God is so good.

Lily's Baptism

Oct 8, 2006 - 9 Photos

====== Video from Aunti Marita's phone =====


====== Video after the baptism =====