This Side of the Pulpit » Entries tagged with "family"
Being Mr. Mom
Marjorie and the eldest were away for the National Youth Gathering for six days. Six days with three kids at home, Sunday Worship and a large funeral. We had swimming lessons and trips to the store, swimming for fun and more trips to the store. And cleaning, cleaning, straightening up and dishes! Dishes galore! We also bought three kinds of chocolate cereal at the store. They liked that. Getting the lawn mowed was not easy. I had to pick a time I knew they would not be going at each other’s throats nor eating all the chocolate cereal while I was distracted outside. I didn’t do laundry, nor did I wash the floors. We swept them, and the Household Elves showed up yesterday wearing cute hats to sweep the floors very thoroughly. Nor did … Read entire article »
Filed under: Personal
Watching the Wheels on January 4
I have no New Year’s resolutions yet. Not at least expressed in any coherent, voiced way. Plenty of nebulous ideas, wish-dreams and desires. One of which is to get working out again. Too long away from Y at this point and the doctor is sceptical of my cholesterol level. At least Jack thinks I’m strong. It ain’t much for wisdom, but here’s my offering: don’t make resolutions too hastily, and never make them by yourself. Sit down and talk with the spouse, the family and whomever about what you want to do. Then do what I haven’t done yet: Write them down. Make them measurable. It’s self-growth cliche, but they really should be SMART (specific, measureable, attainable, realistic and timely–timed). In other words “work out more” is lousy. “Work out twice … Read entire article »
Filed under: Personal
A Semi-Return
I’m trying to get back to more regular blogging again. The remodel continues, but is finally shaping up. Dad is leaving tomorrow leaving us with plenty more to do–but all of it we can handle on our own. It will still be some weeks of nightly staining and finishing doors and drawer fronts, installing hinges, finishing walls, installing trim and kickboards and such. And the floors. The floors. So our traditional Christmas Open House will be an Epiphany Season open house…hopefully. It has been a real blessing to have Dad and Mother here for the last two weeks, working their tails off for us–especially this last week or so while I’ve been at the hospital and funeral and meetings and emergency calls and many other church obligations. They and Marjorie have … Read entire article »
Filed under: Personal
Thanksgiving Pause
Dad cut off the end of his finger last week. He was working on cabinets for our kitchen, wearing gloves to beat the cold, when the end of the glove brushed the router bit, pulling his hand into it. If you know what router bits are, then you’ll know that it shreds wood; they don’t cut thin grooves (kerfs) in wood like a saw blade does. Strangely enough, it didn’t hurt him too badly, but he’s got to be careful with it to avoid infection. This means that when he gets here this afternoon I get a promotion in the remodeling project–I’ll be responsible for a lot more that he won’t be able to do. Thanksgiving week, Advent starting, my NaNoWriMo novel to finish, and the kitchen remodel. All to say, … Read entire article »
Status Update
I suppose it’s that time of year… Everyone at my house has had at least one round of the nasties this year. The kids: H1N1, strep throat, ear infections–one or more each. Mix-and-match to your liking. Marjorie is recovering from the pneumonia and whatever caused it, I’m slowly improving from the sinus infection, and whatever caused it (pneumonia and sinus infections being secondary to whatever else). Liv went down again–imitating me with her own sinus infection. She’s back at school now. I’ve been to the urgent care place last week. Friday I’m off to my primary doc, who’ll check my cholesterol and get a bigger picture of whatever may be still going on. In other news, the computer project at home went swimmingly. At first. The hardware came, I got it assembled in the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Computers&Productivity, Personal
St. Michael and All Angels
Today we fest and celebrate for St. Michael and all Angels whom God has created to watch over, protect, and do all other sorts of duties we cannot fathom. We call the Archangel “Saint”, not to suppose that he is a human being glorified by God, but in giving him the title “Holy.” In other words, nearly every other time Saint is used, it refers to human beings who have been justified by God and brought into fellowship with Him. The Lutheran readings are particularly good for this feast day: Daniel 10:10-14; 12:-13 which speaks to some of the warfare and powers that the spiritual beings exercise on our behalf; Rev. 12:7-12 and Matthew 18:1-11 which gives us the teaching that we have guardian angels. On a sad note, when I was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
What I’ve Been Doing
I took a brief blogging break last week and a few days off to help my dad do some home improvement projects while Marjorie was out of town at the Mothers Of Preschoolers convention in Nashville. She had a good time and got back home safely, and dad and I got quite a bit done with my mom’s help with dishes and the kids. Yesterday evening a good friend of my parents who lives in the Oklahoma City area stopped by to see us. She was at my high school graduation and two family weddings, but I hadn’t seen her in a decade or more, so it was great that she was able to come and have dinner with us. We have a lot going on here at church. This weekend is … Read entire article »
Finally a Finished Project
I finished the compost bin this afternoon. It is an ugly, poorly constructed thing. But it is for grass clippings, fruit rinds, egg shells and coffee grinds, so I don’t feel too bad about it. I am fairly pleased with the way I made sliding doors for the front to make turning it over easier. Didn’t execute it well, but I think it is a pretty good idea. The bad news is that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to move it. I’m not sure it will hold up well once the dirt and rain accumulate and do their business. But even when we move someday, I’ll already be leaving behind the doggy McMansion I made a few years ago. It’s too big and heavy to get through the fence. And … Read entire article »
Filed under: Personal
Good Sunday
…and now I’m tired. DS III –except we cut the Introit in favor of some “Matins-training.” They sang the opening versicles pretty well. The two hymns (Venite and the Te Deum/Benedictus) will be coming soon. During Sunday School a member who is affiliated with RAIMinistries presented on the ongoing recovery efforts in New Orleans. 65,000 houses vacant or abandoned. Still. At the second service Samuel D. Roper was baptized. Beautiful boy. After church the Ropers had a cookout, and the food and fellowship were great. This week a company is drilling geothermal wells for the sanctuary renovation. This is the first major step, and we’re pretty excited about it. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Personal
Abortion on TV?
Creative Minority Report discussed “The Abortion Episode” of The Family Guy that was too controversial for FOX to air. At first I thought of one of the pro-life episodes of The Simpsons I saw the other night, when Springfield tried to ban children. A memorable line from that one, said to a mob of citizens, “Now let’s go kill all the kids….. ‘s stuff!!” But in his post, Matthew Archbold goes on to this more serious angle, and I think he’s right on the money: I think for too long we’ve been told that abortion is too incendiary to discuss. It’s too hot a topic. Can you think of any other issue where Hollywood says this is “too hot a topic” to exploit for profit? The reason for the silence is not … Read entire article »
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