Monday Humor

This one cracked me up…I am heading out today to buy an air horn.

Happy Birthday Kendall

7 years ago today God blessed us with our first child…Kendall Faith.  When she was born her eyes were open, and they have barely shut since then. Kendall, I love you, and am so proud to be your daddy.  I hope this was your best birthday ever…

 

Losing her first tooth back in August

Rockin’ out with her bro JJ

Monday Humor…second time today

This Monday needs an extra laugh…

Monday Humor

Enjoy…I am gonna go bake some brownies.

High Low for the Week

The Winner is…

Jenn and I started doing the prep work for the arrival of “Baby Hannah” this week.  Got a few things painted for JJ and Kendall’s room, which needed to be done before we could move in Hannah’s room.  It’s hard to believe in less than 2 months we will have a new baby…it’s gonna be crazy…in a good way.

The Loser is…

I love to wrestle with the kids, and the other night we were battling pretty hard.  Kendall and I were fighting to knock each off the couch…it was an epic duel.   JJ-Kendall’s side-kick, decided fighting fair was NO longer an option.  I looked up right as he had his Thomas the Tank engine conductor’s whistle raised high above his head.  Before I could stop him he cracked me right across the ankle bone.  I had to ice that sucker for 30 minutes it hurt so bad.

Oh well, I am off to get a few more things done, and then prepare for Kendall’s birthday party tomorrow.

Marriage Makeover (part 9)

Makeover your communication

A lot of our communication comes from how we were raised.  Basically what was modeled for us is what we do now, good or bad.  Some of the communication styles we were raised under include:

• Avoiding it. Anything painful, uncomfortable, or awkward gets avoided, and you simply did NOT talk about it.
• Explosion.  Any communication was yelling, screaming, throwing things, maybe worse.
• Silent obedience. When you parents said something you simply did what you were told, and did NOT dare ask any questions.  So it wasn’t communication but more compliance…

And a lot of how you communicate today is drawn in large part from how you were raised. We carry dysfunction into our marriages, and often use how we were raised as an excuse to continue that dysfunction in our families.  At some point you have to reach the point where you decide that you will be the generation to break the cycle.  That you will have the awkward and uncomfortable conversations in a way that brings about resolution and benefits all parties involved.

There’s a great verse in the Bible, in the book of Ephesians that says, “So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth…” The challenge is for our dealings with our fellow man, but shouldn’t the place that this challenge is perfected, be in our marriages??  He says stop lying…lying in what we say, but also lying in what we do NOT say, and to start being honest.

Where in your marriage are you “lying”?  What TRUTH (you can’t handle the truth…sorry, I couldn’t resist) do you need to communicate to your partner? You can’t expect or hope for change if they aren’t even aware of what you think or how you feel.  Communication in our marriages begins when we stop lying and omitting truth, and we sit down and speak the TRUTH with each other, in a spirit of love, seeking to build each other up.

Monday Humor

This is a classic, I saw it on “Tosh.o” last week.  ”Out on you, out on you.”

High Low for the Week

The Winner is…

A great week with Affinity Groups.  Tuesday night and last night had some tremendous discussion and then also was able to sit back and watch people talk with each other.  As we grow as a church it’s so cool to see new relationships begin to form in the Affinity Groups.

The Loser is…

Sometimes I wonder if I like seeing the Yankees lose more than I like seeing the Red Sox win.  So seeing (well hearing of) the Yankees win is clearly the low of my week for sure!

Marriage Makeover (Part 8)

Last post was about how most marriages break-up because of finances, we introduced the Andy Stanley idea of “give, save, and live on the rest” and we keyed in on the idea of having the instinct to give first.  This post I want to focus on “living on the rest”…

As people we are very much guided by, in fact driven by “things”, “I need that”, “I gotta have that”, “I deserve it”.  The media and the consumer market know that and they advertise and appeal to our “need” to have more and more stuff.  Then we get that stuff and it’s not as good as we thought it would be and so we set our sights on bigger and better.  For several years I wanted a Honda Accord, and I now have one, and I remember the first day we drove it off the lot I was “IN LOVE” with it.  It was awesome…it’s still a good car, but it’s not nearly the car it was 5 years ago when I got it…cars rust, things get old, clothes wear out, and often all we have left is the balance on the loan or the credit card.

Learning to live by our means is a necessity.  Isn’t your marriage worth “making over your finances”…sitting down with your spouse and talking through your spending habits, being honest about reckless and irresponsible decisions, and developing a plan that could relieve stress on you and your spouses relationship??

If you are struggling financially and want help I would recommend Dave Ramsey’s site as a resource to get started.

Monday Humor

This is one of my all time favorites…”Janice, I’m falling”.