This month, my oldest son felt led to take the step of following through with getting baptized. He wasn't baptized as an infant because I do not believe in infant baptism. We did have him dedicated at our church in St. Marys, PA...we dedicated him to the Lord to be Godly parents & to bring him up in a home where Jesus is at the table as well as the rest of the family.
He was so excited about doing something that Jesus Himself did & encouraged His Followers to do. I tried to make sure he understood that while this would be a time everyone would be happy, it was not a "pool party"...that it was a ceremony that depicts his inward faith through an outward expression.
The ceremony went well. It was hard not to have my eyes wet especially when our friend (and Elder in my church) prayed over my son just before he baptized him.
Now, when it comes time should my youngest son be baptized, I want to make certain that it does not go down like this:
10.25.2006
10.16.2006
Indians pull off Memphis Miracle - Sports
Indians pull off Memphis Miracle - Sports
What an incredible story for one incredible football team! I have spent the whole weekend reading all the newspaper articles about this miracle in Memphis. This just reinforces my pride in being an Arkansas State INDIAN fan!
What an incredible story for one incredible football team! I have spent the whole weekend reading all the newspaper articles about this miracle in Memphis. This just reinforces my pride in being an Arkansas State INDIAN fan!
10.15.2006
Family Portraits
The thought of yet another sitting that involved trying to convince my youngest boy to cooperate with the photographer so that we could have some portraits to send out with Christmas cards only created more anxiety. Every time we would enter the Sears Portrait Studio for our sitting, Daniel would instantly transform into this kid who would respond completely opposite to the way he would be told. If we tried to discipline this behavior, he would instantly well up & bawl his eyeballs out. And we know how lovely this makes for a photo.
Once at a Sears sitting, 19 different takes were shot before we could get a pose from Daniel that did not look like he was mad at someone or that he had red rings around his eyes from all the squalling. Daniel would want to play with the props instead of posing with them. When he could not, he would go limp & the poor photographer would have to contend with a limp ragdoll to try to prop up in order to get a photo shot.
My wife would leave the photo shoot in a straitjacket.
The photographers started asking for overtime...in advance... when they'd see we had made an appointment.
However this past weekend was a welcome change. We decided to pay for the services of a photographer (who also was the sister of friends of ours) to take shots as we posed in the local park in town. Plenty of backdrops ranged from park benches to waterfalls, autumn leaves to lattice, bridges to trees, and the like.
We had started a week early with Daniel - preparing him that we were going to get pictures taken. Only this time, it would not just be photos of he & his brother, as it had been in the past. This year, we would take the risk & have portraits made of the whole family! My wife drilled it into the 4 year old's head with bribery, promising Daniel a "surprise" if he smiled & cooperated.
When we started getting settled in our first pose, Daniel was asked to sit next to Mommy. But Daniel wanted to sit next to Daddy. And we were off to yet another disasterous photo shoot. But the photographer's husband began an animated display of entertainment which rapidly changed Daniel's attitude.
So, believe it or not, we were able to get many very good poses of not just the family...but of the two boys...and we all had a lot of fun out of the experience.
It has been a hectic weekend...shoot - it's been a hectic month! I have had stuff going on for weeks! And now with barely 10 hours of sleep over the past 48 hours, I am keeping from going cross-eyed as I record some of my thoughts.
Life is busy...unpredictable, and tiring. But in the midst of the challenges that I face, I still feel God is in control...even when it comes to chaotic family portraits. I often wonder if I have a life that is detatched from reality - that I am wondering lost without a clear direction except for what I consider to be the "right way". Yet I look at others & realize my life is not that much indifferrent from the next person's.
A lot can be read into the subjects who pose in family portraits. I believe that looking through all the distractions & challenges that our family faces each day, I can see that God is certainly smiling down upon our family.
Now, I can't write anymore... I need to take a nap.
Once at a Sears sitting, 19 different takes were shot before we could get a pose from Daniel that did not look like he was mad at someone or that he had red rings around his eyes from all the squalling. Daniel would want to play with the props instead of posing with them. When he could not, he would go limp & the poor photographer would have to contend with a limp ragdoll to try to prop up in order to get a photo shot.
My wife would leave the photo shoot in a straitjacket.
The photographers started asking for overtime...in advance... when they'd see we had made an appointment.
However this past weekend was a welcome change. We decided to pay for the services of a photographer (who also was the sister of friends of ours) to take shots as we posed in the local park in town. Plenty of backdrops ranged from park benches to waterfalls, autumn leaves to lattice, bridges to trees, and the like.
We had started a week early with Daniel - preparing him that we were going to get pictures taken. Only this time, it would not just be photos of he & his brother, as it had been in the past. This year, we would take the risk & have portraits made of the whole family! My wife drilled it into the 4 year old's head with bribery, promising Daniel a "surprise" if he smiled & cooperated.
When we started getting settled in our first pose, Daniel was asked to sit next to Mommy. But Daniel wanted to sit next to Daddy. And we were off to yet another disasterous photo shoot. But the photographer's husband began an animated display of entertainment which rapidly changed Daniel's attitude.
So, believe it or not, we were able to get many very good poses of not just the family...but of the two boys...and we all had a lot of fun out of the experience.
It has been a hectic weekend...shoot - it's been a hectic month! I have had stuff going on for weeks! And now with barely 10 hours of sleep over the past 48 hours, I am keeping from going cross-eyed as I record some of my thoughts.
Life is busy...unpredictable, and tiring. But in the midst of the challenges that I face, I still feel God is in control...even when it comes to chaotic family portraits. I often wonder if I have a life that is detatched from reality - that I am wondering lost without a clear direction except for what I consider to be the "right way". Yet I look at others & realize my life is not that much indifferrent from the next person's.
A lot can be read into the subjects who pose in family portraits. I believe that looking through all the distractions & challenges that our family faces each day, I can see that God is certainly smiling down upon our family.
Now, I can't write anymore... I need to take a nap.
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