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“You are going to feel like hell if you never write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your heart — your stories, visions, memories, visions and songs. Your truth, your version of things, your own voice. That is really all you have to offer us. And that’s also why you were born.”
Anne Lamott

“You are going to feel like hell if you never write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your heart — your stories, visions, memories, visions and songs. Your truth, your version of things, your own voice. That is really all you have to offer us. And that’s also why you were born.”
Anne Lamott

Sunday AM Review

George

The past week was interesting and enjoyable. Sunday was full. The worship time at First Alliance Church was encouraging and provided special moments in which the presence of God was experienced and worship happened. There was a special lunch after services to benefit a missionary family to Turkey. They shared their heart and experiences with us. Sunday evening we hosted our Life Group and had a thoughtful and challenging discussion around our study of Ephesians.

I had coffee on Tuesday morning with a friend who is a C of C minister. Our conversation was very good and his words challenged me to think aboout my own journey. I expect we will continue our conversation soon.

On Wednesday morning I had coffee with my friend Walt and the missionary to Turkey. Again, the conversation was stimulating and helpful. It is even better because we meet at Main and Maple Coffee House.

During the week I was able to finish a couple of projects. The door to our spare bedroom is now painted and hung. I also finished re-working a play table for the Crockett kids. There are lots of other things on my list but it feels good to get through with these.

Ann and I went to the park with Tanya and the kids where we did some fishing and enjoyed a beautiful, warm spring day. It was a great experience. Not only did I help the Crockett kids fish, there were numerous other kids that came up and fished with us. Some had never caught a fish so they were really excited to catch  a fish even though we were only catching small ones.

Friday I had a first time experience. We attended the Kentucky High School State basketball tournament… “The Sweet Sixteen”. It is legendary in Kentucky. Our local school, West Jessamine HS, was playing. It was every thing I had imagined. Having lived in Louisville, I did not have an appreciation for just how BIG a deal the event is for people out in the state. I expect I will participate some more in years to come.

After the game we drove to Louisville. We had dinner with our friends Gary and Diane. Afterwards, we went to the Gabehart and watched the U of L game. Go CARDS! We finished up the evening sitting outside by their fire pit.

Saturday morning Ann and I were up early to participate in the Rodes City Run 10K race. It was cold but we had a great time. I felt good running and was satisfied with my time. Ann did really well walking and was equally pleased with her time. As soon as pictures are available I will post a link. I’m sure there a number of people who would like to purchase them.

Saturday afternoon we watched Ryan and Kyle’s middle school baseball team game. The day was spectacular. Unfortunately, they didn’t get to play as much as they would have liked and the team suffered a severe thrashing. This is the first year for their school to have baseball so they will get better.

The day was topped off with a couple of really exciting NCAA basketball games. Sorry that WKU didn’t pull out a victory. It was a full week. I’m looking forward today’s worship and little league practice this afternoon and U of L’s continued march to the Final Four.

Academic Athlete

George

jerodacademic

Today was a big day for Jerod, the Crockett academic athlete. Previously, Wilmore Elementary won their district competition. Jerod contributed first place in social studies and language arts and also was on the 2nd place Quick Recall team.

Today was the regional competition. Jerod won 1st place in Social Studies and 2nd place in Language arts. The qiuck recall team finished 3rd and Wilmore Elementary was 3rd place overall. He has really excelled and I am proud that he has done so well.

Way to go JEROD!

Back On-Line???

George

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.

Reflection

George

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.