blessed beyond measure

Last night, Brandon and I had the rare privilege of attending a fabulous rock and roll festival. That was its actual name, "Fabulous Rock and Roll Festival". Our sweet little men for about an hour set aside their relentless fighting and chose to work together, to put on a performance for the ages. They set the scene carefully. Their stage, the 3-foot-square landing almost at the bottom of our basement steps. Their sound system, a kid CD player and Paw Patrol microphone. Premier audience seats provided by two perfectly placed gigantic floor pillows. There we sat and took in the magical and quite humorous talents of Trey and Aden. Two songs each, and while one brother was singing, the other would pop out from behind the stair wall at select moments of the song, and dance. There were some odd moments, like when Aden came into the audience, picked up a fake carrot from the toy grill and threw it on the stage at Trey. Or when Aden sat down with the audience, grabbed a me...

I try to fit You in the walls inside my mind. I try to keep You safely in between the lines. I try to put You in the box that I've designed. I try to pull You down so we are eye to eye. When did I forget that You've always been the King of the world? I try to take life back right out of the hands of the King of the world. How could I make You so small when You're the one who holds it all? When did I forget that You've always been the King of the world? Just a whisper of Your voice can tame the seas. So who am I to try to take the lead? Still I run ahead and think I'm strong enough when You're the one who made me from the dust. When did I forget that You've always been the King of the world? I try to take life back right out of the hands of the King of the world. How could I make You so small when You're the one who holds it all? When did I forget that You've always been the King of the world? You set it all in motion, every si...

Wanted to share this, from my journey through the Bible this year chasing the word stop . This was one detour I took after getting to John 20:27, "Stop doubting and believe." Words said by Jesus to Thomas, who in his very much humanness needed to see this completely unbelievable thing that had happened. And in my very much humanness, as I long with every fiber of my being to see Jesus, He says these words to me when I need them the most. I took a side road and hunted down the word believe in the Scriptures. And found promises innumerable. Precious promises. Here are some results of belief I found. Not just believing in God, but really, truly, actively, sold-out believing God . Not the celestial police officer ready to toss down lightning bolts at all who stray. Not the apathetic grandfather in the sky who has lost control. Not, for the love of all things holy, a political placeholder. Not the genie who fits into our small boxes of understanding. But the One and...

This past summer, our Sunday school class, which started with about five people ten years ago and has since, through visitors and marriage and babies, grown to over seventy, held a party on church grounds. The guys set up a massive slip and slide for the kids. Trey, usually a wallflower, jumped right in and really enjoyed himself. Aden had a blast too. Ham. Then came Pastor Clif, being all things to all people. Enjoying the first football game of the season from Daddy's VIP spot on the track. Daddy's a very big fish in a pretty small pond, and buddy, we reap the benefits! Top-of-the-ferris-wheel selfie at the county fair. I refuse to have anything to do with selfie stick ridiculousness, so of course you can't tell we are at the top of the ferris wheel. But we are. New rule of grandparenting: on your birthday, buy your grandkids a present. And so Poppop did. And so we had target practice in the house late one night using clear plastic cups as targets. ...

One thing is for sure, Aden's got him some boys. And there was some serious male bonding that went on during the fall Kindergarten field trip. The BFF crew of Aden, Noah, Nolan, and Levi are like peas and carrots. And peas and carrots. Since there's four of them. Levi, Nolan, and Aden - Noah stuck close to his Mama at first, but warmed up after a while. The farm workers tried to get all the kids to hang with their parents. These boys weren't having it! The free souvenir - a baby pumpkin! Aden's poor teacher started out reading the story that marked the way through the corn maze, but by halfway through, the kids were just screaming and running in all directions. It's Kindergarten. Jumping pillow, and I still wish we had one of these at home. Corn works so much better with backhoes and dump trucks than dirt. And no mess, other than the kernels falling out of your socks later in the day. Giant tire climbing. It doesn't get any manlier than t...