This evening we were priviledged to attend “An Evening of Art” at Wilmore Elementary School. Below is a gallery of the Crockett kids’ work.
It has been nearly two weeks since our return from Florida. It feels good to be home. Florida is enjoyable but it is not home. We enjoyed our time with friends and each other. No matter what the weather was I would just look at the weather in KY and I would be happy with whatever we had in Florida. Despite the fact that we encountered temperatures in the low teens upon our return, we have had some beautiful days. I have even been able to sit and read on the front porch one morning. However, we have taken a turn toward cold again. Can spring be far away?
I have been able to get several projects/tasks done in the last two weeks. That always makes me feel good. My work shop now has an addition electrical circuit so I can now run a tool and a heater and lights all at the same time. The hot tub has been recharged and is HOT. We have been in it a couple of times. Feels great after working out. Fertilizer is on the yard and the flower beds have been cleaned. The crocuses are blooming along side the house. Monday we got four new windows for the living room and our bedroom. They make a big difference both in appearance and function. We will replace the rest in a few months. The spare bedroom door is waiting in the shop to be painted and rehung. I’ll get that done as soon as I get some warmer weather.
I signed up for the Triple Crown of Running in Louisville and Ann and I participated in the first leg, the Anthem 5K. The next race is a week from Saturday and is the 10K. Ann has not decided whether she will sign up. She did well in the 5K and I am confident she can do the 10K and the 10 miler. I feel ok with the 10K but the 10 miler will be a challenge. You can see pictures of Ann HERE. Of course you can purchase them if you wish. They didn’t take any of me???
We were able to attend Tyler’s basketball game last Saturday. He is a good player and really wants to do well. The teams look a lot like the Verizon network running up and down the court. The Crockett’s finished up basketball and have started practicing baseball. It looks like I may help coach again this year. Both Ryan and Kyle made their middle school baseball team and are getting ready for their first game.
I’m not sure this post represents a break-through in my blog clog. I do have some thoughts on the current state of our economy (who doesn’t?) that I may share. I’m not know how I would characterize the current state of my journey. I think a lot about it. I guess at this point I’m just trying to be sure that I don’t get ahead of God.
I enjoyed to the opportunity to teach a Sunday morning class at Central CofC in Sarasota during our Florida visit. They people there were very kind and appreciative of our presence. In the process of preparing for the classes, I came across this post I did several years ago. I believe it is worth re-posting.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Isaac Keene always described the responsibility of Christian parents as being to disciple their children. This sounded strange when I heard it, but of course it is true. It says a lot that that I did not intuitively associate the idea of discipling with parental responsibility. I have thought of and described that responsibility mostly with words like teaching, instructing, disciplining, raising. It is not that teaching, instructing, disciplining and raising are not a part of the process of discipling our children, it is that they are only part of the process. My assumption was that if I could just get my children to do right everything else would fall into place. It was the same assumption that I applied to my responsibility as a Christian to “make disciples”. In a recent post I reflected on the contrast that Tim Keller made between religion and gospel.
Religion says “I obey therefore God accepts me”. Gospel says “I am accepted by God therefore I obey”.
In thinking about those statements, it becomes clear that what I was about as a parent was more religion than gospel. My objective was to teach a system and in that I mostly ignored the importance and prominence of relationships. One might argue that that was not all bad. Didn’t they learn to be responsible, self-sufficient, independent, good people? Of course. Religion is not all bad for the same reasons. But there is a vast difference in outcomes between religion and gospel. Jesus said the religion practiced by the Pharisees made their convert twice as fit for hell as themselves. The practice of religion rendered them unable to hear the gospel. An implication I see is that children parented in religion i.e. “I obey therefore God accepts me.” are at risk for developing hearts which are unprepared to receive the gospel. Of course there are other influences in children’s lives that may very well cultivate “good soil hearts”. I am of the opinion that if I had to choose between a family who parents with “religion” and a family that has no religion but parents with love and acceptance, I would take the latter over the former. I believe children raised in a community of love and acceptance will more likely have hearts that are fertile ground and and are capable of hearing the gospel. So what are parents like myself to do when they realize their efforts to raise their children, although done with an honest heart and the best of intentions, were not Godly? The answer for us is the same as the answer for parents who are beginning their families. The most important thing we can do is demonstrate the acceptance and love that God gives us in our lives and particularly in our relationships with our children. In relationships like those, hearts will be softened, ears will hear and eyes will see and the gospel will transform lives.
I am seriously delinquent on posting since we have been in Florida. It is not that I haven’t had any thoughts or experiences that would merit posting. I’ve just found it very hard to get motivated. I am still not very motivated so I thought I would post some pictures from our time so far in Florida.
This is a banner weekend. Three family birthdays. Today is grandson Chase Ezell’s birthday. He is a senior student at Campbellsville University. Tomorrow is grandson Tyler Gabehart’s birthday. Tyler will be 9 years old. He is enjoying playing his first year of organized basketball.
Sunday is Ann’s birthday. We are looking forward to doing something special in Sarasota after church. It looks like Sunday will be the first really nice day we have had weather wsie. Beach time maybe?
