Highlight Reel

Last Week


On Sunday/Monday, we kept on keeping on with "What Is Love? Baby Don't Hurt Me. - Part 5".  Love is not rude.  If you are like me, you are rude.  The problem arises when we go to lead our families after being a slob.  Our wives and kids are going to have a difficult time taking us seriously if we can't even behave ourselves in a halfway decent way.  You can't hold a family meeting in the stink you just made, my friend.


On Tuesday, we joined a conversation on Tentblogger.com, where John Saddington posted an article originally directed to entrepreneurs insisting they probably don't need as much money to get started as they think.  In "Lessons From Cutting Our Living Space In Half", I extrapolated to address all men, describing the experience we had with selling our house and consequently cutting our living space in half. Bluntly, we buy a lot of crap we don't need.  This thought was burned into my cranium as I took box after box and bag after bag of worthless stuff to the thrift store.  Spend your money on experiences, not stuff.  It's cheaper in the long-run.  Memories don't take up space.

Wednesday, I tackled the ultimate consequence of unchecked sin in "The Scriptural Armory: Bait In The Water".  In a River Monsters episode, host Jeremy Wade, learns to capture eels without a hook.  All he has to do is wrap some bait with yarn.  The eel clings on until it's too late.  We are the same way.  While we are made righteous in Christ, as fallen creatures, we still vacillate between righteousness and sin.  My encouragement was to let go of Satan's bait, and cling on tight as Christ reels you in to his boat.

Thursday, school psychologist Kirston Wilson, joined me to discuss the effects fathers' decisions can have on their children.  Life is tough.  Sometimes the methods we use to cope with these difficulties can really mess up our families.  If you feel yourself sliding, take real steps to catch yourself before it's too late.  The consequences are too dire.

In Friday's "Things To Do With Kids: Don We Now Our Bib Overalls", I recommended visiting a farm with your kids.  My wife and I have a firm "no overalls on grown men except for necessary work functions" policy.  I think most of my readers will agree.  But if you have a latent hankering to clad yourself from shoulder to ankle with one fine piece of denim, now is your chance.  Find a farm tour or a place to pick your own produce somewhere within driving distance.  Show your family that their food doesn't really come from the supermarket.

Next Week


Next week is Desert Week!  I'm sure you're wondering why.

It's for no apparent reason.  When I was planning what to talk about next week, I just noticed the theme come out a bit.  Still, I can hear your excitement resonating through cyberspace.  Go ahead.  You can say it out loud.

Scream from those arid mountaintops, "I LOVE DESERTS...SERTs.....SERts......SErts....Serts....serts!!!!!"

No you don't.  That's the point.  We don't like deserts.  Sure, Phoenix is nice (I used to live there) if you have quality air conditioning.  I can't imagine those 120 degree summer days without it, can you?  Or what about Dubai?  I saw an expat on HGTV say they turn off their water heaters in the summer, but the water remains so hot they can't even stand it for more than a couple seconds.

Sometimes God leads us through metaphorical deserts.  Sometimes we wander out into barren wastelands by our own doing.  Still, those desert times in my life have been some of the most poignant, the most impactful, the most foundational.

Look at this next week as a survival guide for desert wilderness situations.

Ok, now I really am psyched......