July Update

Greetings all. I've been much more delinquent posting to this blog than planned. My new goal is to post an update once a week (or so), so please check back for more...later.

I spent some time on Facebook tonight catching up with some friends and family. It's a great tool, but also an amazing time user/waster. I'll leave that up for you to decide. I also spent some time reading rss feeds, catching up on sports and news from around the legal technology and GTD worlds.

As I was browsing, however, it struck me that I was consuming a great deal of content prepared by people paid for their writing (ESPN) or by people sharpening their writing skills with something useful to contribute.

So, off with the procrastination (I should be doing some "real" work), and back to actually contributing something, rather than just consuming. There are some spiritual parallels here as well, but I'll save that for another time.

Our family is doing well. I is growing up fast, too fast. Renee and I were just commenting on how he's acting more like a teenager than a toddler (I know, what do we know, right?). He's been riding his "two-wheel" bike with training wheels while I jog beside him. That's been great exercise for me, and fun for him too. He's definitely going to be an athlete, given the level of his coordination and love for all things active. He already throws straighter (and sometimes further) than I do, so we'll have to channel that into the activity he really enjoys (c'mon I, think basketball, basketball, but no pressure).

A is fighting another ear infection, but seems to be handling it well. He's getting close to walking, but still chooses crawling as his favorite mode of transportation. This afternoon, I put him down in the grass to play while Renee and I talked about his doctor's appointment. He crawled over to the garage, got out a plastic golf ball, crawled back out to the porch, and wanted to play catch. That worked great, except that he's still learning that you need to let go of the ball if you want to have the other person catch it. It's fun to see him start grasping the concept of interacting and playing with others. He's also started to give kisses, and even laid down in his crib tonight when I told him to. Our little boy is growing up.

Renee is keeping busy with all things boys, and helping out with MOPS this year. She can give more details on that process later, but she's excited and travelling from store to store picking up items for all the moms. From the sounds of things, it's going to be a great year for everyone.

Me? I like to hang out in the background and watch my family grow. I'm still learning what it means to be a good husband, dad, lawyer/attorney (whatever is more politically correct), son, brother, friend, etc. I'm sure I struggle in all of those areas, but God is teaching me and molding me. I've been playing basketball again with a bunch of guys from a local church (College Park), and it's been great. Definitely something I look forward to every week.

That's the update from here. I'll try to keep you up to date more often so it's not such a strain to read. Check out a video from our Thomas the Tank Engine trip a couple of weeks ago. I and the rest of the gang had a "blast."

The Joys of Parenting

As I write this, both boys are trying to get to sleep. It's been a trade-off: first one will cry, and then the other will make him laugh. Then, that one will get in trouble for getting out of bed and keeping the other up, and he starts crying. So, the other one gets riled back up and the next thing I know, I have both of them actively participating in a game called: let's stay up 'till mommy gets home from grocery shopping, making daddy look like he can't handle a night alone. As they say, if the shoe fits...

As I was frustrated with getting my kids to bed, I was reminded of a verse I had read in Colossians, the book we are currently studying at church. The verse is Colossians 3:21:

• NIV "Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged."
  
• The Message: "don't come down too hard on your children or you'll crush their spirits."
• NASB: "Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart."
• King James "Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged."

The challenge is to discipline and help my kids grow up to be respectful and loving. How do I do that without "exasperating," "provoking them to anger" or "embittering" them?

If you look back to verses 12-14, I think Paul offers an explanation for how to prevent any resentment/exasperation/anger from building in a child when I discipline, get frustrated, and make mistakes as a parent. The great equalizer is love. Read those verses and see what you think.

I also dug into Henry's commentary on the verse, just to see what a real Biblical scholar had to say.

And parents must be tender, as well as children obedient (Col_3:21): “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Let not your authority over them be exercised with rigour and severity, but with kindness and gentleness, lest you raise their passions and discourage them in their duty, and by holding the reins too tight make them fly out with greater fierceness.” The bad temper and example of imprudent parents often prove a great hindrance to their children and a stumbling-block in their way; see Eph_6:4. And it is by the tenderness of parents, and dutifulness of children, that God ordinarily furnishes his church with a seed to serve him, and propagates religion from age to age.

That last portion is pretty humbling: as a parent, I'm helping water the seeds that God will use to serve Him.

We thought you would enjoy the video above when Isaac and I got to play ball together while Renee and Asher read. Also, for those of you who didn't catch it, here's the latest I&A Update.

Isaac...

• Often says "I'm thinking about opening Gordon." (meaning, opening the Thomas character Gordon at the Children's Museum.)
• Favorite foods: fruit snacks, sausage, waffles w/syrup, grapes, chocolate milk, vitamins, chips
• Dresses up and takes care of his teddy bears, with Asher's diapers and Isaac's pjs
• Plays with mommy's Christmas houses and figurines, without the lights
• Stayed dry one night!
• Says "hopelessly" instead of "hopefully"
• Said "Are you still my mom?" and looked at me with a very puzzled look when I put my hair in a ponytail for the first time
• Went to my friend Kim's house to play with her kids. When I picked him up I asked him about it:
  Mom - Isaac, did you see Serae's giunea pig? Isaac - What gunea pig? Mom - The white one in the cage. Isaac - What gunea pig? (on and on....finally....) Isaac - OOOHHHHH, you mean the smooshed kitty?

Asher...

• Is transitioning to one nap a day
• Is starting playpen time and does well for about 10-15 minutes
• Is learning the sign for "more"
• Got his first haircut, just a trim around his ears