Category: family

  • Not like my dad

    I found out from my dad last night that he probably won’t be coming to our Thanksgiving feast. For the second year in a row he’ll chose to work overtime instead of spending the day with his grandkids.

    You know, it’s one thing to break a lifetime of promises to your own children, but it’s a whole new level of hurt to disappoint another grankids who just want to see their grandpa. Pehaps I should expect it, but I am tired of being disappointed.

    "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." Duetoronomy 20:12

    Sometimes I wish there were an age limit to that.

  • The Megan Anthology

        Mem005

    Megan: 1 day old

    Mem283 Megan: 1 years old

    Mem412a

    Megan: 2 years old

    Lf0__082

    Megan: 3 years old

    Mclane__179

    Megan: 4 years old

    Mclane_fall_018

    Megan: 4.5 years old

  • the last rose of 2005

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  • Fragile Strangers

    Ywcover Denise McKinney wrote an excellent article for Youth Worker Journal this month about foster care. As someone who grew up with no fewer than 4 foster children in her home, she experienced foster care from behind the front door. I found her challenge quite strong as she suggested a couple of things that could help churches "do something, anything!" to reach these "fragile strangers." [Article not yet released online]

    1. Get involved with caring for adolescents in the foster care system by being a mentor or volunteering at a local temporary shelter.
    2. Become an emergency placement shelter yourself.
    3. Be a part of encouraging a few families in your church to become foster parents.

    As I think about that list I realize how much more we could and should be doing for the many kids in the system around our area. While I am not certain that this would be the right time for our family to start foster parenting, Kristen and I have long desired to do that long term. But I know for a fact that the other 2 options… I can do that. While I know of a single family in our church family, I can think of a few others that I’d like to see considering it. These are families who have been excellent at raising adolescents in their home that now could use their skills to reach our to bruised but not crushed adolescents.

    As for the inevitable problem of "how can I let people into my life that I know may not appreciate it or may even break my heart, McKinney writes, "I’ve heard people say that they couldn’t bear to form a strong attachment to a child and then have to abruptly say goodbye. But I believe that regardless of how painful the goodbye is, the hello and everything in between can be life changing."

  • lightning strikes one of my friends!

    LighteningSo I just found out one of my friends got hit by lightning while walking around at Roberts College.

    Two lessons to learn here… first, skip class on Wednesday’s. Second, don’t go outside with an umbrella for any reason other than golf.

    [Here’s the article]

    (Rochester, NY) 11/09/05 – Four women were struck by lightning Wednesday.

    Three college students and another woman were struck by a bolt of lightning while walking across campus at Roberts Wesleyan.

    A spokesperson for the college said there was the sound of a loud crash when lightning struck Cox Hall.

    All four were carrying umbrellas when lightening struck.

    They were all examined by a school nurse and checked out at the hospital as a precaution—they’re all OK.Dsc05868

    She says she is fine… but look at this recent picture.

    Val, I dunno… I think you need to go back to the doctor. Seriously, praise God you weren’t hurt.

  • leaf blowing magic

    Blower I picked up this little darling at Home Depot yesterday while shopping for something else. Oh yeah, much cooler than an old rake. So if you see a fat guy in his yard with millions of leaves flying… that’s probably just me.

  • let’s get sirius

    Siriuslogoblu_img_lrg So yesterday I posted that I got out of the oil business. I still think it was a good call. I stuck to my target and got out when Grey Wolf hit my sell point.

    So, again I am taking Jim Cramer’s advice and backed up the bus to get me some Sirius satelite radio. Hopefully, I will make enough on this to actually afford buying satelite radio. I think that with some new technology coming out for Christmas, lots of cars coming Sirius equiped, and strong membership growths… this is a good play for the holiday season. If I am wrong, I’ll just have to work an extra year or two before I can retire. No biggie.

  • discipline issues

    There are a lot of places in my life right now that I am having discipline issues.

    Mclane_fall_016The kids That’s right, my perfect children can be a royal pain in the neck. Now these are really good kids, don’t get me wrong… But sometimes a 4 year old and a 2 year old will drive you nuts. Take this morning for example. Kristen and I were looking for the keys [see the next story!] to the car and Megan and Paul were at each others throats. Megan was mad that Paul touched her toy. So we told Paul to wait his turn. Then she was mad that Paul touched her toy ring. When I told Megan that Paul could play with the ring until you let him have the puzzle… She went nuclear. So in the midst of looking for the keys, I had to take Megan upstairs to her room. Good way to start a day!

    Dogs and cats Our beloved dog Stoney and our beloved cat Violet still aren’t getting along. The big Dsc06560 problem is our dog Stoney. Apparently, we aren’t giving him enough attention and he has been acting out bigtime. Over the weekend he managed to dig two bog holes in the yard, eat a grill cover and all our grill utensils, dig out all my landscaping lights, and eat the hose. Not bad. Yesterday and Monday he was fine as I paid him lots of attention. But this morning while I was taking a shower and Kristen was getting the kids dressed… He decided to eat Kristen’s purse. Now he didn’t destroy everything, he just pulled everything out and hid it different places. So… 30 minutes later when I was getting ready to leave the house… We couldn’t find the keys. It took us about 20 minutes but we finally found them in his bed. On the cat side… Violet is staying inside a lot more these days and she is getting into everything. How much longer until Spring?

  • mi case es su case put to the test

    This weekend, I am in the Chicago area with some upperclassmen visiting Moody Bible Institute and Trinity International University. For LF, this is an annual thing. Yes, it’s become tradition. And there are lots of little traditions that go along with it.

    Such as, we take them to Irazu in Bucktown for an oatmeal shake. Then we have to go to Johnnies in Elmwood Park for some greasy Italian beef sandwiches. This is thin beef, cooked in some beefy oil, and served up with peppers, hot or sweet. It’s a whole in the wall… But holy cow is it good. This weekend is all about spoiling my upperclassmen… So far so good. Last night I took them to "what Oak parking" eat. We started at Flat Top Grill and followed that up with some high quality ice cream over at Oberweis on Oak Park Avenue.

    The crazy thing about this trip! What is insane about this trip is that for the entire weekend we crash at my cousin’s house. Maria is like a sister to me… Unfortunately that can be both bad and good. (As in, I abuse her hospitality sometimes by crashing 9 people in her house for a weekend every once in a while.) She always says the same thing, "Mi casa es su casa." I think that after this year she might be thinking "mi casa NOT su casa." But so far so good.

    In other news. I am officially sick with whatever is going around. Sore throat, nauseous, dizziness…. A real great time! I was awake a lot last night…. Not good timing. Megan just got over this and Paul and Kristen are just getting it too. Another funny thing… I just learned that our webhost for the church is dumping us. So while I liked the local guy… It looks like our growing site will be moving to godaddy.com.

  • picking fights

    Occasionally, my daughter will pick a fight with me. It’s kind of funny since she’s only 3, but she really does pick fights with me. Not the physical type, just what I call the "pissing contest."

    She will try to get her way. Even though she will know fully that I have no intention on giving into her, she will throw a tantrum anyway. For the most part I think she does this just to establish and re-establish who is in charge. But sometimes it’s more than that, it a principle thing. It seems as though she is trying to step up and let me know that she is really able to make a decision or do something that I am not allowed to do. I always t ake this challenge to her. Not because I like to be a bully, but because I am looking to challenge her rather than "over-loving" her and just giving her whatever she wants. I am interested in raising a daughter who knows when and how to pick a fight…. rather than just being a brat. I want her to be able to challenge anyone on anything and win. Is that strange, or what?