This is #147

One year ago today I posted my first blog. It was the following:

Here we go?
Well, I want to give this a try. After keeping up with some blogs (I feel so adult in saying that) I am enticed to try this myself. I realize that only 4 people may periodically read this, my wife and three college roommates, but that is enough. This may be an avenue to share what is happening with my family and maybe God will bless someone through that.
My life is truly consumed by fatherhood and work, and that does give me many things to write about. God has richly blessed me with a wife I don't deserve. Beth Ann is the rock in my life. My two boys, Riley and Owen, are such blessings to me and put smiles on my face each day. These two red-headed little men provide momentum for me each day. I see God at work in their lives and I am so thankful. My best friends: Chris Doggett, Brandon Scott Thomas (where I received the inspiration to blog along with Danny Sims) and Stephen Bailey, besides being the only people beside my wife to possibly read this blog thing, are true friends that will be 100% a part of my life for ever. My loving parents and in-laws have a provided a heritage for my family that is unmatched.
My job is to serve as principal at Southwest Christian School in Ft. Worth, Texas. I have been there almost 5 years now. What a great place to call work. How lucky I am to be able to work with Christians each day and to spend many hours with Godly families.

As my good friend Steve Hawkins says.."You just gotta smile"
Smile through it today and take delight in the Lord!


Well, 2 or 3 people may have read my blog during my first year. I love the opportunity to talk about my family or stuff in my life. Thanks for reading and sharing.

Have a great day!

50 years and marriages

Yesterday at church Richland Hills celebrated their 50th anniversary. It was a big celebration. Many current and former ministers and elders played a big role in the events that occurred yesterday. It is an amazing accomplishment for a church to survive 50 years as well as grow and prosper like Richland Hills had done. Thanks goes out to the leadership at RHCC as they have listened to God as He has lead us.

______________________

Marriages are on my heart this morning. We have friends that have hit some rough points in their marriage. There are families where I work that are having some difficulty in their marriages. I am thankful that we can be "real" to each other and talk about these times. I pray that continues and that we do not have to attempt to make everything always look perfect. I am thankful for my wife and the lessons we have learned along our path together. What a blessing.
Father, I lift up the marriages of our friends and people that we know. I pray for protection over their relationships. I pray for an openness with you and with each other. I pray today to be a positive day for many families that are tired, struggling and stressed. Bring a renewed vigor and excitement to the marriages of your children. Shine mightily today.

Have a great day!

Two Books

I just finished reading two books. Both good but very different.

The first was the new book by Max Lucado, CURE FOR THE COMMON LIFE. This book is centered on how you view your work and how to do what you do the best, the best you can. As things are a little unsettled for me at work, this book was beneficial for me. Max, once again, offers some great ways to look at the things in our lives.

The second book was called, WHY DO MEN HAVE NIPPLES? As you can tell by the title, this book was a bit different from the Lucado book. The authors of this book ansswer questions about our bodies and life. This is clearly a good bathroom book. It did help me find out what eye boogers are made of, why hair turns gray, that it is safe to mix pop rocks and soda, and that our ears do grow as we get older. Interesting stuff. Chris Doggett would like this book.

Have a great day.

Holy

I love it when I learn a lesson from a two-year-old...

Last weekend we were enjoying some family time at home. We were trying to take advantage of a day where we can just hang around the house. Riley and I ran a few errands and later in the day Beth Ann and Owen got out for a few minutes. When they got back home, the boys were playing around the house, I was in the office and Beth Ann was in the kitchen. Owen was walking from room to room checking on everybody and playing. He was singing a song over and over again. He was singing, "and we cry Holy, Holy Holy". He was singing it at the dinner table, while playing on his beep-beep, while holding his blanket, while following his brother everywhere. He was in worship to God while doing everything. I found comfort in hearing a two-year-old worshipping in that way.

I wish I could be in constant worship when I am playing, paying bills, driving and working. Sometimes I am and sometimes I am not. I wish I could be. I wish it could be as simple as Owen makes it.

Teacher Man

The job of a teacher is always an interesting one. Each day can be very different. The personality of the teacher, the vast schooling options, the attitudes of the students, administration and parent support are just a few of the variables that make teaching such an interesting profession.

It is clear in Frank McCourt's new book, TEACHER MAN, that his 30-year tenure as a teacher was one of interest. McCourt chronicles the positives and failures of his teaching career. He tells funny stories and he is honest about how it really was for him in the classroom. McCourt found a way to make his mark, to try to be different.

McCourt ends his book with the following advice:
Find what you love and do it. That's what it boils down to. I admit I didn't always love teaching. I was out of my depth. You're on your own in the classroom... They may like you, they may even love you, but they are young and it is the job of the young to push the old off the planet... It's hard but you have to make yourself comfortable in the classroom. You have to be selfish. The airlines tell you if oxygen fails you are to put on your mask first, even if your instinct is to save the child.
The classroom is a place of high drama. You'll never know what you've done to, or for, the hundreds coming and going. You see them leaving the classroom: dreamy, flat, sneering, admiring, smiling, puzzled. After a few years you develop antennae. You can tell when you have reached them or alienated them. It's chemistry. It's psychology. It's animal instinct. You are with the kids and, as long as you want to be a teacher, there's no escape. Don't expect help from the people who've escaped the classroom, the higher-ups. They're busy going to lunch and thinking higher thoughts. It's you and the kids. So, there's the bell. See you later. Find what you love and do it.


Thanks to those that find what you love in a classroom. Thank you for being a teacher.