“When men feed on the word, it is turned into a principle of life, spiritual strength, and growth within; which a taste of it only will not give. As food, when it is digested, turns into flesh and blood and spirits, so doth the word, and Christ therein, unto the souls of men spiritually. Hence Christ becometh “our life,” and “liveth in us,” as the efficient cause of our spiritual life, Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3; and we grow and increase by the word, 1 Pet. 2:2. A mere taste, though it may yield present refreshment, yet it communicates no abiding strength. Hence multitudes relish the word when it is preached, but never attain life, or strength, or growth by it.” (John Owen, The Works of John Owen vol. 7, 31)
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Amusement Park Rides Mixed with Heat and Thunderstorms
It would have been nice if we could have picked a cooler day for roaming an amusement park under the sun; but amidst the humid heat we discovered memories that will last a lifetime. Months later, looking at the photos reminds me of those memories that can be so easily forgotten in the business of daily life.
Lake Winnie is a modest amusement park near Chattanooga Tennesse. The weather forecast predicted it to be one of the hotter days and coming out of the car onto the pavement gave a foretaste of the hot afternoon to come. The heat was so thick it felt like I needed to move slowly and carefully or the heat would somehow penetrate my body too fast. I’m prone to sweat, so I carried a wash cloth with me that afternoon, wiping the waterfall of sweat that was raining from my forehead. I was careful not to put sun screen on my forehead knowing that sweat mixed with sun screen would burn my eyes.
Quite honestly, I remember the afternoon like some sort of survival test. Would our bodies hold up in the heat? Will we survive the several minutes that we had to wait in line? Will we actually enjoy ourselves?
Papa Mike, Nana Lynn, Sammy and Karen drove separately. We didn’t see them until perhaps 30 minutes later. Supposedly they had watched us since our arrival from the other side of Lake Winnie’s man-made lake. Why didn’t they come meet us? Perhaps it was a combination of the heat, the fact that they were sitting at a table they scored in the shade and because Mike had fallen over from a likely heat-induced dizzy spell. Yeah, it was hot!
Time seems meaningless when it’s this hot. The mind only has the capacity to think about right now and perhaps there’s a few ounces of energy to plan where to go next.
After a few minutes or hours into the afternoon the sound of thunder could be heard approaching and the clouds were building. As a safety precaution, the park shut down all the rides. Rain poured down and we rushed to the parking lot and climbed into our vehicles. Sammy, Karen, Mike and Lynn left for the day while the rest of us stayed in the vehicles and ate a hodgepodge of snacks. We were unsure if this was the end of our day. There was a chance that they would shut down the park for the day and give our money back. After suffering the heat, I was secretly wishing they would.
In hindsight, by God’s grace that thunderstorm came through at the right time. The thunderstorm cooled the air, provided some shelter from the harsh rays of the sun, and was a nice transition into a pleasant cooler evening at the park.
We rushed back into the park and occupied nearly every minute until closing. We rode nearly every ride and enjoyed nearly every minute. I hope the memories last forever.
The photo above was taken as the kids were running to the last ride. Unfortunately, when we arrived, they had already closed the entrance to the ride. The galleries show a picture of Claire crying after discovering that it was over.
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Family, Sunday, October 24, 2010
A Survival Strategy For Outdoor Fun
Alabama had one of the hottest summers this year, and the best way we survived the heat was to jump in a pool. Our friend Jeannie, brother Sammy, brother Jared, aunt Jean, and Nana Lynn all had pools. Sammy’s pool was the most unique swimming experience I’ve ever had. You can kick back, relax, and wave to the transfer trucks rolling down the freeway.
Matthew and Claire loved being in the pool and their skills as swimmers improved, even though they still need swimming aids. Towards the beginning of our trip Claire was using both a floaty and arm rings, and always staying close to one of us; by the end of the trip Claire was using only one swimming-aid and was roaming the pool on her own.
Matthew jumped off a diving board for the first time in Alabama. He would hold his nose and take such a deep breath that his cheeks puffed up like a puffer fish. At first he wanted me to be so close to the diving board that he would nearly jump onto my head, which brought both of us underwater. As Matthew overcame his fear I would move back a little more so that he could jump more into the water rather than onto me.
Usually in San Jose pools are only refreshing on very hot days, during heat waves, when it’s 95 degrees or more outside, otherwise it’s usually a too cool to be hanging out in a pool. But in Alabama, it was 95° or hotter, with high humidity nearly every day. It was so refreshing to hang out in a pool, take a break from the heat, and play in the water.
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Family, Monday, May 31, 2010
Especially When You Can Fit Inside Them
We recently purchased a new washer, which has many cool and interesting features. It’s one of those new top loading high energy efficient models with the glass lid that allows you to look down and see the clothes spinning and churning. But for Matthew and Claire the most interesting thing about the new washer is the box that it came in. It is actually big enough for the two of them to sleep in.
This new box stayed in our house for two days or more and this was not the only time that a box has provided so much enjoyment. Recently, Nana Lynn sent Matthew a cool batting toy that automatically grabs the ball and dangles it in front of you to hit; but the box that it came it was the most interesting thing to him. He immediately climbed into the box and sat in it like it was a rocket that could take him to outer space. Of course, later he did love the toy after we had put it together and it was actually doing what it was intended to do. However, that curious fascination and love boxes is also present in our children as that classic and mysterious enjoyment that all children share.
Christianity, Friday, March 19, 2010
My Mother First Taught Me and Then My Wife
Yes, today is my birthday. But I don’t get to have it all to myself because I was a birthday gift to my mother. I was born on my mother’s birthday! Happy Birthday Mom! 
So, from an early age, she taught me how to share my birthday. It’s sorta strange singing the birthday song to each other and I’m always stuck somewhere between wanted the day to be all for me and all for her. Nevertheless, I never remember a birthday that I felt robbed of the limelight. Every birthday has been a more special day than your average day. Perhaps all the birthday gifts have something to do with it. 
So how did Jenn teach me to share my birthday? Well, she found a very special man in the history of Christianity who has deepened my appreciation for this day. John Piper posted this article on his Design God blog. Jenn found it and passed it on to me. Now I’ll reproduce it here.
David Livingstone, written by John Piper
“Today is David Livingstone’s birthday. He was born March 19, 1813. He gave his life to serve Christ in the exploration of Africa for the sake of the access of the gospel.
“On December 4, 1857, he spoke the sentence that has made the greatest impact on me. It is one of the clearest applications I have seen of Jesus’ words in Mark 10:29-30. Jesus said,
“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
“Here is what Livingstone said to the Cambridge students about his “leaving” the benefits of England:
“For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. . . . Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view, and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.
(Cited in Samuel Zwemer, “The Glory of the Impossible” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, Ralph Winter and Stephen Hawthorne, eds. [Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1981], p. 259. Emphasis added.)”
Gallery, Saturday, February 27, 2010
The Wonderful World of Colored Sticks
The new Tinker Toys are vibrant, bright, colored, plastic sticks. We had a set of the old wooden style stick and they still sell them; but they are more expensive and harder to get. This Christmas we visited Toys R Us like many parents searching for gifts. I was hoping to find Tinker Toys in stock and it was their last one: praise God!
The kids love them. The plastic ones take a bit more effort to push together and take apart. Matthew occasionally walks up with stuck Tinker Toys in hand, holding out one end for me to grab. We play a brief tug-of-war to separate them.
The tub of Tinker Toys came with instructions to build airplanes and such. The pictures show the planes that I built for them. They enjoyed zooming around the room. It took me a while to realize that I built an object with sticks protruding in multiple directions, at eye level, perfect for gouging out eyes. I then encouraged them to hold it out in the air at eye level, and pretend to fly the protruding sticks around the house. Thank God, no eyes were harmed in the making of this fantasy.
Matthew built a full-on vehicle complete with seats, engine, working parts and more than I even know. He has quite an imagination, those cartoons have super-injected his ability to imagine things I don't even understand. Half our job as parents is to bring their imagination back to reality and ground them in truth.
Claire, of course, wanted to touch everything on the vehicle. Matthew, in general, spends a good portion of his time protecting the things he makes. The bigger they are, the more his sister is interested in messing with it. In this case, Jenn and I moderated their vehicle fantasy and assisted them in organizing a peaceful sharing of this fantastical vehicle. Believe me when I say, don't buy toys that make sounds, not only are they annoying, but they cost money to buy batteries. The kids make much better driving sounds anyways.
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