How not to do New Year’s Eve

From Ray Ortlund’s blog: 

Couldn’t help passing this along.  Whatever you do, don’t give up on the video….watch it until the end.  Trust me…

Personally, I don’t have to worry about this.  I’m usually in bed by 10pm on New Year’s Eve, which also happens to be my birthday.  I may not be a party animal, but I’m well rested!  Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving…

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year with the family….

Here we are…everyone except Mark, who’s in the Air Force (We miss you and love you buddy). 

We didn’t know it at the time, but it would be the last holiday we would spend with my Grandma Marie.  What a blessing it was to have one last great day with her.  She suffered a stroke the Sunday after Thanksgiving and when home to be with the Lord on December 11.  She was on this earth for 100 years and was healthy and strong and funny right up to the end.  Here she is holding Grace on Thanksgiving (she’s on the left)…

 I have a lot of things to be thankful for… my Grandmother is certainly one of them.  I am thankful that the Lord blessed our family with such a wonderful woman.  I am thankful that the Lord gave her a long life.  I am that I was able to tell her how much I loved her before she died.   I am so thankful that she was here to meet our baby Grace.  I am thankful for all the wonderful memories.  I can’t wait to tell Grace all about her Grandma when she gets older.

She will be missed…

Dating Tips from a Nine-Year-Old

Came across this video this morning on my blogroll courtesy of Joshua Harris: 

Couple of thoughts rolling around my head…

1.  To Harper Collins (the publisher):  How do you even entertain an idea like this?  You must be scraping the bottom of the barrel for childrens books.   How do you sleep at night?  Have you no shame?

2.  The last thing I want my son to do is take relationship advice from from a 9 year old.  Seriously.  It’s like recommendations from a single buddy about which girls to date (don’t do that…if the girl’s so great, why isn’t he dating her?  Also, what the deuce does he know about finding a good girl.  He’s still single).  With that being said, I know some guys in their twenties that would probably benefit from this book….especially the part about not eating too much sugar and talking too much. 

3.  Just the thought that a 9 year old is even thinking about this kind of thing, let alone ‘write’ a book about it (I smell opportunistic parents) is disconcerting.  When I was nine, I was too busy playing Cowboys and Indians in the backyard to be  thinking about this kind of stuff.  Besides, as far as I knew, girls had cooties.   

4.  Grace isn’t leaving the house until she’s 30.

HT:  Joshua Harris

Today is a Special Day

Proverbs 18:22   He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.

Four years ago today, I met Catrina Gallagher for coffee at Starbucks in Tukwila…it was our fist date.  

Three years ago today, I watched as she walked down the aisle in a beautiful white dress….it was our wedding day. 

This morning,  I woke up and got to see my wife holding our baby daughter Grace….it is our third anniversary.

Proverbs 31:10  An excellent wife who can find?  She is far more precious than jewels.

By God’s grace, I found an excellent wife.  I am a blessed man.  Happy Anniversary Catrina.  I love you…

Reorienting to What’s Important

In the midst of extremely frustrating days at the office, and today’s been no exception, it was good for me to find this song on my computer and give it a listen….a couple of times.   I hope it encourages you as well.  Courtesy of Bob Kauflin and Together for the Gospel:

Jesus Paid It All

The 2 Aims of Higher Education…

…Ccourtesy of David Powlinson as said in an interview with Mark Dever found here (The entire interview is worth listening to).

Education should always kill two birds with one stone. You should always be studying something you want to learn and it should always open a door for you.  If it doesn’t do the latter, you can always do self study.  If it only does the latter, you’re a hypocrite.  

 

 

That’s the reason why I never seriously considered getting an MBA.  I don’t want to be a hypocrite.  I much prefer self study, especially with the easy access to quality (and free) theological content available online.  It’s much cheaper than going to seminary, I can pick my ‘professors’, and I don’t have to write papers.