Rain Delay

The first settlement went well. A little long, but we got it done. Now we have cash to settle and make the repairs to the new house.

The game on Sunday was postponed to Monday night. Then both Monday night games were postponed to tonight. It's still raining off and on and we are up to about 6.5" for the weekend. Lots of flooding and the fields are really soggy. If it doesn't stop this morning, the games will have to be delayed again.

I think I'll get a few hours of sleep this morning and then decide if I want to go get the Jeep today or tomorrow.

Gotta get some more estimates for work on the new house in the next few days as well. Hopefully everything will line up and we will be able to schedule the work in the next couple of weeks.

Please continue to pray for us as we keep an extremely busy schedule.
Thanks.

Busy week ahead

I know I'm not supposed to look past the day I'm in, but next week is going to be incredible!

My 2nd daughter leaves Sunday morning for New Orleans to work with a team on the relief effort. She will be gone a week. They will be working on a house or two hanging drywall, spackling and painting. It's better than demo and clean up, but still hard and dirty work. Pray that she will be kept safe and avoid injury. A couple of my readers may have even contributed to her support for this missions trip. I hope she gets an eye opening and is blessed. I know she will be.

As far as work goes... Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights. That's 60 hours. A slow week... yeah right.
The problem with that is there are a few playoff baseball games happening too.
Two of my boys are still on teams in the playoffs.
My third son is playing Sunday afternoon. I can make that one and be a little late to work. If they win, I will need to get to a game later in the week.
My oldest son is in a game on Monday night that I will NOT miss. This team has a chance to win it all.
I've got to let my boss know about these games. He knows I've missed a lot of the regular season and understands that I need to be at these last games.

Just to make it interesting, we are also settling on three loans this week. An equity loan on our existing house on Monday and 1st and 2nd mortgages on the new house on Thursday. In between those, I'm trading the Honda S2K in on a Jeep (which will be my Winter transportation.

So, that's my week. It'll fly by, no doubt but I probably won't be back here for a few days.
Pray that I will be patient and safe. Pray that I will love my wife as Christ loves the church. Pray that I will play with my children and enjoy their company.

A Rare Day Off

I actually got a night off!!! Amazing, I know! I was actually supposed to work, but one of our clients decided that they needed us to... not work. NICE! I slept 6 whole hours, then watched some of my daughter's baseball game, then went to my oldest son's practice. Then I took him cruising in the Solstice. We went to an ice cream shop and had a cone and then hit the road. Top down and cruising fast! I'm so sunburned now! I forgot my sunscreen. Anyway, it was great to just drive with him and enjoy the ride.





We watched "Follow Me Boys" as a family last night. The boys wanted to watch Star Wars or Lord Of The Rings, but I thought they would enjoy this classic. They complained for a few minutes, but then they got totally into the film. It starred a young Kurt Russell as the bad kid turned success. I just looked at Kurt Russell's career list. This was his 14th movie! Hard to believe he has been making pictures for 5 decades! Neat movie, though.

It was a lot of fun! If you haven't seen it in a while, go out and rent it. You'll be glad you did.

Settlement and Selling Cars

We now have a settlement date on the new property.
We will settle on July 6th. Then the real work begins.

I'm pretty sure I've sold the S2K. It was picked up today by a broker to be checked out by the buyer. They will send a check tomorrow and have the information needed to pay off the loan.

I'm still looking for a buyer for the Solstice.
I may end up trading it in on a 2005 Jeep Unlimited. Since I will be farther away from work, I will need a dependable vehicle to get me through all the snow we will be having this Winter. I'm still on the list to get my turbo charged Solstice in the Fall, so I don't think I will miss it too much.

I do miss my S2K already, though. I took one final drive before they came for it.

Update on the nose-corn

Just to update you guys...
My son was able to sneeze the corn out before he went to bed the same night he put it up there.
Definately a praise! I really didn't want to have to drive up to the hospital and I would be afraid to try what John mentioned (although I am grateful for the suggestion). Isn't it possible that blowing into the mouth could possibly cause some damage to his ear drums?

Anyway... glad it's over for this round.

Nasal Veggies

So... it happened finally. I hoped we wouldn't have this to deal with, but we do.

My 3 1/2 year old decided to see if a piece of corn would fit in his nose. Well, it fit. And I have not been able to get it out, yet. Unfortunately it has travelled far enough up the nostril that I can't get ahold of it with the tweezers.

I'm hoping he will sneeze it out soon. Otherwise we may have to take a trip to the doctor.



There's always one... but with our numbers there's usually three or four.

Hope your week goes well. I'm feeling the Lord's pull and have been trying to yield.
Pray for us.

Spreading The Load

So... I came home from work tonight after working 12 hours and got the lawn mower out to cut the grass. The problem is, I first had to pick up a ton of sticks, rocks and toys. This annoys me a lot. It's the same way inside the house (minus the sticks and most of the rocks).

What's the deal!? Do I really have to come home and put in another 8 hours of work before I can enjoy my home? We have 4 other people living in this house that can cut the grass.

Let me back up a bit.
You all know that I have been working lots of hours for the last few years. I don't have a problem with that. It enables my wife to stay home and care for the kids full time. We have really been blessed in this area. It's unusual in this day and age for there to only be one breadwinner in a family that has both parents.

I have always felt that the trade off is that stuff gets taken care of at home. That is the contribution to keeping us afloat that my wife and kids make. You know what I mean... food prepared, house kept clean, etc. We have a large family and I have always stressed that the kids need to help with the big chores - laundry, dishes, etc.

This is where it gets me. Seems like I am always having to get on everyone to take care of what they are supposed to be doing. This makes my time at home less than enjoyable. The last thing I want to do is fight with everyone about chores.

So what's my point?

Lately, my wife and several of the kids have been asking for money. Repeatedly and frequently. I know they need cash to take care of expenses. I know they want to do things with their friends and youth groups. I'd love to be able pass the cash around more freely. I would too, except that I don't feel like they need to be having fun while I'm doing all the work.

So I had a talk with the three oldest and my wife. I let them know that I need them to take care of these chores and make our home more pleasant for me (and any guests we happen to invite in). I let them know that, while the chores don't pay, keeping everything up and neat will make me much more inclined to come up with the cash they want to have their fun. I hope they understand. I just feel like the load needs to be spread out a bit. Many hands make light work.

Comments?

New Music!

Thanks, Michael for letting me know you still hear the music amongst the voices in your head.

I've decided to change the song to honor the memory of Rich Mullins. It's not the anniversary of his death or anything, but John's post on the SCC boards and Melina's post at our new our home has caused me to take a journey back down a path where I used to travel regularly.
Unfortunately, iWebTunes has decided to be messed up today, so I can't put the new song on. Here are the lyrics for you...

Elijah

Rich Mullins
Second Kings 2:11, Matthew 6:19-21

The Jordan is waiting for me to cross through
My heart is aging I can tell
So Lord, I'm begging for one last favor from You
Here's my heart take it where You will

This life has shown me how we're mended and how we're torn
How it's okay to be lonely as long as you're free
Sometimes my ground was stoney
And sometimes covered up with thorns
And only You could make it what it had to be
And now that it's done
Well if they dressed me like a pauper
Or if they dined me like a prince
If they lay me with my fathers
Or if my ashes scatter on the wind
I don't care

But when I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park
And it won't break my heart to say goodbye

There's people been friendly, but they'd never be your friends
Sometimes this has bent me to the ground
Now that this is all ending
I want to hear some music once again
'Cause it's the finest thing that I have ever found

But the Jordan is waiting
Though I ain't never seen the other side
Still they say you can't take in the things you have here
So on the road to salvation
I stick out my thumb and He gives me a ride
And His music is already falling on my ears

There's people been talking
They say they're worried about my soul
Well, I'm here to tell you I'll keep rocking
'Til I'm sure it's my time to roll
And when I do

When I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park
And it won't break my heart to say goodbye

'Cause when I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park
And it won't break my heart to say goodbye

Copyright: 1983 Meadowgreen Music, Inc. (ASCAP)



Listening to Rich sing, I have my eyes turned to Jesus. I am convicted and edified at the same time. I've missed this thing called worship.

Music?

So... do any of my readers (all three of you) hear music when you open my blog? I'd forgotten that I had iWebTunes on my page since I can't hear it at work for some reason. I can't access iWebTunes from here either to make changes, so I've kind of left it alone. Anyway, if you can hear it, let me know and I will look into changing to a new tune.