Kids' Quotes

A couple of recent funny quotes from the kids:

Sally, requesting some of that zesty soda that comes with a maroon label:

Can I have some Dr. Seuss?

Silas, on the way into the mall, where we planned to visit the LEGO® Store:

I can smell LEGOs!

Snow in October

Yes, it's still October in Ohio.  And yes, it snowed this morning.  Kim, the almanac was right!  Thanks, Sandy.

Our New Looks

Tobey and I both have new looks for the fall ...

She'll be keeping hers until mid-April.  Me, probably not so long.

Hey Jude

Hey Jude, don't be afraid,
Take a bad blog and make it better!
Remember your letter, writ from your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.
Na ... na-na ... na-na-na-na!
Na-na-na-na, hey Jude!

OK, so I'm no Paul McCartney; and certainly no John Lennon! But in the coming days I am, like those two guys, going to be writing a little bit about Jude. That is, Jude the author of the second-to-last book of the Bible. In spite of my initial playfulness, Jude's letter is quite a serious and also wonderful piece of work. So I'm going to be writing on it verse-by-verse (and sometimes phrase-by-phrase) for the first umpteen weeks of 2011. I think I'm going to find it rich. Hope you do, too. Stay tuned.

What Beatiful Feet you Have!

Last week Tobey and I took the kids to Jungle Jim’s, our local international grocery that is, in point of fact, one part geography lesson, one part zoology lesson, one part aquarium, one part farm field-trip, and two or three parts carnival all rolled into one. We bought German chocolate and whole sugar cane. We ate Ostrich jerky (animal lovers should probably just skip the rest of this paragraph!). And we saw some animal parts that just aren’t supposed to be seen without fur and feathers on them … pig brains, a platter of duck heads (not the khaki’s!), and a carton full of chicken feet.

I had never seen chicken feet before – not in a grocery store, anyway! And it got me to thinking … why would anyone want to eat chicken feet? There surely can’t be much meet on those tiny little metatarsals! And they are just downright ugly, too! In fact, why would anyone want to eat the feet of anything? Feet – even human feet – are one of those body parts that just don’t usually make us sit up and call them beautiful. They are not the first thing on a woman’s list of attractive qualities she’d like to find in her future husband, are they? Muscles? Probably. Eyes? Usually. Teeth? Perhaps. But feet? Not usually high on the list … and for good reason!

And so (I know I am weird) it struck me as unusually noteworthy that Paul would say, in Romans 10.14: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news”! Beautiful … feet? Two words that we don’t normally hear together. And yet here they are, side-by-side. And, though I am sure Paul did not pause to consider the strangeness of the phrase (I’m probably the only bizarro who ever has) … I find Romans 10.14 another example of how different God’s ways often are from our own!

What do we look for when we consider beauty? Form and face. Eyes. Pearly white teeth. And the list could go on (indeed, it does in The Song of Solomon). But when God looks at us, “He doesn’t look at the outward appearance”. He looks at the heart … and strangely enough, at “the feet”! That is what makes the Christian beautiful … a heart that loves God fully, and its neighbor as itself; and feet that love the gospel, and carry it to work, to school, to the ballgame, to the family picnic, and to the ends of the earth! “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news”!

How long do you spend in front of the mirror each day – making sure your hair is in the right place; making sure your mascara is not clumped on the ends of your eye lashes; making sure you have just enough blush, but not too much; making sure your you didn’t miss any spots with your razor, and so on? How long? I’m not here to criticize! I like a clean shave, too! But when you are standing at the vanity (interesting name!) … ask yourself this: ‘Will my feet be beautiful today? Will I bring glad tidings of great joy to the people I encounter today?’

In fact, let me just ask you: Is there someone in your life, right now, toward whom you know those lovely feet of yours ought to be moving? Someone with whom you know God has given you opportunity to speak for Jesus, whose feet were pierced for our transgressions? Then get those feet of yours going! Make them beautiful this week … for Jesus!

The joys of children's Sunday School

Yesterday, Tobey was teaching the parable of the day laborers to her Sunday School class when something quite comical took place!

Illustrating that God grants the same heaven both to those who serve the Lord all their lives, and to those who are repent and believe, perhaps, on their death beds ... Jesus told a story about a land-owner who hired day-laborers - some at 6am, some at 9am, some at noon, some at 5pm - to work in his vineyard. At the end of the day, the owner gave them all, equally, a day's wages. But some of them grumbled, like the Pharisees about spiritual things, that the Johnny-come-latelies were being given more than they deserved (aren't we all?).

So, to illustrate this, Tobey gave the kids a clean-up job. Some of them only picked up one or two pieces of trash, others dozens of pieces. All, however, received an equal reward ($0.25). When she asked one of the girls (who had picked up the vast majority of the trash) how she felt about getting the same amount as everyone else, she responded:

"You can have the quarter back. I should have offered to do it for nothing"!

Great attitude! Blown illustration ... especially when a second girl asked: "Can I trade my quarter in for two M&M's?"

This after, when working on their catechism questions a few weeks ago, one child responded to the question: "Who was Jesus' mother?" by stating confidently: "The vermin Mary."

Gotta love kids and Sunday School!

In case you're wondering why I've posted four times today ...

We're feeling a little cooped up. Disconnected from the outside world. Plus, it's still hard for this southern boy, even after 8 winters in Ohio, not to go running for the camera when it comes down like this!

Nearly 15 inches on the ground. 3 ... 4 ... 5 more inches by tomorrow?

Hellllloooo...Hellllooo...Hellloo...Hello...He...

Is there an echo in here? Is there an echo in here?

I only hear myself talking. Tobey would tell you that is normal around the house. But in the blogosphere? I know you readers are out there. But I don't know who most of you are.

So, how about a roll-call. Who's out there? Do I know you? If not, give a little self-introduction. Maybe this will get everyone's fingers doing a little more walking in the comment section (which allows comments from non-bloggers, by the way).

If I don't hear from you, I'll just keep up the monlogue. I don't mind. Just ask Tobey.

An Exciting New Way to Share the Gospel!!!

Check this out. Hilarious, but perhaps effective!

I only have One Friend!

How embarassing to have an obvious, glaring typo that came out as a racial slur! And how much worse to have only one friend who was brave enough to point it out! The rest of you are in big trouble ;)

At any rate, sorry for the mistake...and if it may have offended anyone. And if you didn't catch it...whew!