Parenting in perspective

When I began this blog last December I remember one of the motivations of doing so was to help me focus on and dive deeper into what I was reading in my quiet time and the thoughts/concerns I was praying about -- in short, put words into these thoughts I was having at the time.  I had been journaling off and on, particularly when I came across scriptures that spoke to me, or when I wanted to jot down a key point from a sermon or bible study lesson, or just record a memorable moment experienced with the girls.  I enjoy times of reflection, and consistency is in my DNA, so my early morning quiet times have become a sacred part of my daily life.   When I miss them, or more often, when I am rushed or my mind begins to wander to the plans of the day, I easily lose focus of what God may be trying to teach me through His Word or the circumstances I'm going through.  Yesterday I had one of those moments when you realize that time is just flying by -- half the summer is over and it seems like yesterday was the end of May and the girls were just getting out of school.  And to a lesser extent, I realized I hadn't blogged in 2 months.  There's a correlation here.  Indeed we have been busy this summer.  So here goes...just some quick thoughts on something I've been thinking about a lot lately:  parenting.

I've been reading through the Old Testament this year, and I'm currently in the book of 1st Kings.  The Kingdom has just split as God's patience with Israel has nearly reached its end.  The OT is filled with stories of Israel's continued disobedience toward God.  God was the perfect parent and Israel still wandered.  When I think of my role as a parent, I am reminded to look to God when I lose patience with my girls; acknowledge that I'm not perfect and just strive to extend mercy and grace like my heavenly Father.  With Cindy being out of town for work last week and this week, I've been forced into a more active role in this regard.  Of course when she's around I have the luxury of falling back into the common football analogy -- where we play zone coverage, and more often than not, Cindy does the heavy lifting much of the time as the "go-to-Mommy"  Today was full-on man-to-man coverage for me as the enemy is bearing down on Taylor.  With her right arm currently in a cast, she's been fighting a fever off an on and was diagnosed yesterday with an ear infection -- and last night's mysterious middle-of-night ankle pain episode led to a midday sick call from camp.  I was prepared for this and left work early to get her and Nicole, but I was not prepared for the dinnertime theatrics that ensued tonight.  As much as I tried to smooth things over, there was no winning this battle.  I think it was lost when Cindy left town yesterday -- they miss their mom.  I pray this week for a little extra dose of patience and wisdom in parenting as I man up to be the father God intends for me to be for His children, Taylor and Nicole.

Summer 2012!

Summer is my favorite time of year.  Baseball is in full swing; homegrown tomatoes and juicy watermelon; longer days and weekend evenings relaxin' and grillin' on the patio after day of yard work.  And of course, the much anticipated summer vacation trip to the beach.  This year we made 2 trips - first to Dallas over Memorial Day weekend to celebrate my parents 50th anniversary, then we made our annual trip to Perdido Key, FL for the week of July 4th.

This was the 6th year in a row we have been, and we are so grateful to Barbara and Jim (Cindy's sister and my brother-in-law) for allowing us to stay at their beautiful condo (Indigo) facing the beach.  The first year we visited, in 2007, the girls were 2 and 4 yrs old - now, they are 7 and 9, and for the first time they really enjoyed getting in the ocean.  It's always been more about the pool and just enjoying the condo and fun restaurants, and to a lesser extent, playing in the sand the past few years (the first couple of years they didn't even like walking on the sand!)  We all look forward to our family beach trip and I'm thankful for the memories we are making.

Every year I have made a slideshow (love doing this on the mac!), and this morning while I was running I had the thought -- how can I share this with my parents who are currently half-way across the world in Russia on a cruise to celebrate their actual anniversary date (7/12)?  Upload it to youtube!  As much as I love youtube, I have never attempted to upload a video.  After figuring out how simple it was, I posted it to facebook, but later discovered that my video could not be viewed on mobile devices as it contained music on it that was copyrighted.  I even received an email from youtube acknowledging this fact; however, there was no syndication issue with allowing the music to remain on the video for regular (non-mobile) youtube viewing.  So, here it is.

Summer 2012!


And now I think I'll upload my previous year's slideshows.  Enjoy your summer!