Blessed Daniel

For the past several years, our church has celebrated graduating seniors with a special dinner and an opportunity for their parents (or in some cases, guardians) to bless them.

Three years ago, Joshua was eligible, but Kathy and I were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary in Turks and Caicos. So we sent an email blessing and one of our friends read it to Joshua. They did a good job reading it (or so I hear) and so it is possible that Joshua felt significantly blessed, but I suspect that the whole experience was diminished somewhat by the fact that we weren’t on hand to actually do it ourselves (sorry, Joshua).

Last year we had the opportunity to give a blessing to Rachel, but at the time we weren’t posting many blog entries, so (as impactful as it might have been at the time) it is almost as if it didn’t happen (sorry, Rachel). As everyone knows, if a tree falls in the forest but the event is not chronicled in our family blog, it didn’t happen (and in fact, there is serious doubt cast on the existence of either the tree or the forest).

This year it was Daniel’s turn. He will soon be finishing his Low Voltage Electrician and Fire Safety Systems course at Clover Park Technical College, and so we are declaring him a high school graduate (with a little extra on the side). It was very fun for me (and hopefully not too painful for Daniel) to publicly reflect on some of his strengths and to ask God for His blessing in a few areas. My nephew Timothy and his wife and son, and my parents were also able to attend, which made it a bit more solemn (while at the same time, more festive).

This time we were all able to rally around Daniel and honor him.

This time we were all able to rally around Daniel and honor him.

As I wrote his blessing, one thing really stood out to me — Daniel is an Evangelist. He really cares about the people that God puts in his path — and he doesn’t make the (often unconscious) mistake of judging people’s worthiness. When I look at a lost person, I often look at them in a human, strategic way, determining whether they are ‘likely’ to accept the gospel or not. If I think that they can’t understand the gospel, or are hardened against it, or have some other moral handicap that will probably quench the gospel’s effectiveness, I am very unlikely to care about them or to tell them about Jesus. This is clearly not reflective of God’s heart, but I tend to think that way.

But not Daniel. His first ‘solo’ attempt at street evangelism paired him with a young man who didn’t speak more than a few words of English. Last Fall, Daniel spent several hours befriending a homeless man so he could give him a Bible. He is routinely embroiled in the strangest arguments about spiritual matters with the most unlikely young men in his class at Clover Park. Daniel is not ‘strategic’ but simply obeys the leading of the Spirit and lives out the gospel to a lost world.

I’m very proud of Daniel. I blessed him tonight in several areas with confidence and hope — knowing that Daniel loves God deeply and knowing God’s expressed plan from Philippians 1:6:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Congratulations, Daniel!

Project 365, Day 146
Tim

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A Cousin, Once Removed

We spent the Memorial Day holiday with my nephew and his bride, and their new baby, my Grand Nephew. We ate delicious burgers, played games, went for a walk, scrounged a casual dinner and watched the beginning of the third Hobbit movie.

A 'quick' game of Robo Rally with my niece and nephew.

A ‘quick’ game of Robo Rally with my niece and nephew.

It was a delightful day, much enjoyed. I managed to win all three of the games, although not without a certain amount of mercy when I forgot to take my entire turn (or took an obviously-foolish action). We played Robo Rally, Star Realms and the DC Comics Deck Building game — an excellent way to spend a day off.

John spent some quality time with Rachel, who sprained her ankle yesterday.

John spent some quality time with Rachel, who sprained her ankle yesterday.

I needed to talk a walk before supper to earn some extra calories (and to make sure I don’t have to pay Daniel a forfeit for missing out on our exercise challenge). We did two laps around a nearby lake, and managed to put John to sleep (in spite of my wild driving). It has been a long time since I drove one of those stroller things.

A mostly-staged photo for the blog.

A mostly-staged photo for the blog.

During the walk, there was much discussion about whether little John Mark was a second cousin or a cousin once-removed to my children. Fortunately, the interweb helped us understand that my kids (Joshua, for example) are cousins once-removed from Little John (as Joshua calls him). I removed Joshua into the underbrush to underscore the point.

We are so thankful to have Tim and Sunny and little John with us here in Washington!

Project 365, Day 145
Tim

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All My Ducks in a Row

My babies are all home!!! I know, I know, three of them are actually adults and VERY far from being babies. Still, you know how mothers are.

Church together!!

Church together!!

And going to church is probably the sweetest job and blessing of all!

What a wonderful full day together.

Sunday school – Tim teaching
Lunch – big pot of vegetable soup
Card game – Rachel, Sarah, David
DC Comics board game – Tim, Daniel, Joshua
Ultimate Frisbee – Joshua, Rachel, Daniel, David
Movie at home – Sarah (then Rachel when she hurt her ankle)
Dinner – salad and bread w/some Pancho girls
Reading – everyone
Avengers – everyone plus James and Jenny

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring!! (Hopefully no more injuries)

Poor Rachel - twisted her ankle during frisbee!

Poor Rachel – twisted her ankle during frisbee!

Project 365 – Day 144
Kathy

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23rd Squared

Twenty-three years ago Kathy and I were married. We had recently finished college in Virginia and spent two weeks hurriedly throwing together the last details of our wedding. A number of Kathy’s girl friends from college came and worked for a whole week in advance, and the big day came together.

It has been a pretty good life, if I do say so myself. We have laughed a lot, raised five children, and been involved in many different kinds of ministry at various churches. We are both very hopeful that we will be able to grow old together, if the Lord permits (and if He doesn’t return).

For our 20th anniversary, we traveled to our favorite Caribbean island of Providenciales, but this year we just stayed home, puttered around the house, had a date at Lowe’s and went out for dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant. As Kathy remarked, “When your every-day life is as good as this, it is hard to feel deprived when your celebration is low-key.”

A few months ago, I stopped drinking Diet Coke. Well, technically, I only stopped buying Diet Coke. I can drink it if someone else buys it for me, but for some reason my friends and acquaintances haven’t been lining up to buy me my favorite soda. I keep dropping subtle hints (like this blog post) but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

My Sweetie is good to me, especially when she buys me Diet Coke.

My Sweetie is good to me, especially when she buys me Diet Coke.

As a ‘thank-you-for-writing-AWANA-software’ gift, Kathy gave me two twelve-packs of Diet Coke — it still brings a tear to my eye when I think of her thoughtfulness.

We also are celebrating Joshua’s homecoming this evening — he flew home tonight to spend a week with us before he rushes off to his summer-long research fellowship at Baylor University. It is such fun to have the whole family re-united, if only for a few days.

Joshua was tired from his travels, but cheerful and full of interesting stories, as usual.

Joshua was tired from his travels, but cheerful and full of interesting stories, as usual.

Welcome home, Joshua! Happy Anniversary, Beloved!

Project 365, Day 143
Tim

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Haircut Time

I feel I should apologize for writing so many blog posts about Rachel, but really, when she and Joshua are off at college, we write almost exclusively about David, Sarah, and Daniel. Therefore, some would say I have to double up on Rachel to give her fair representation.

"I leave for a few months, and you forget me.  Sigh."

“I leave for a few months, and you forget me. Sigh.”

Poor Joshua, he comes home tomorrow for a week. I guess every Project 365 will be centered on his TOO SHORT visit.

So excited to have him home!!!!

Things are coming to a close for the year. We celebrated the final AWANA ceremony this week. Our homeschool co-op ended several weeks ago. David and Sarah’s TPS (online) classes finished up this week. Their only remaining assignment is a final math test. Sarah completed her spelling today, and both kids did their last lessons of health. Wow! Love it when the end of a fabulous, but long, year is in sight. Ahhhh.

I slipped out of the house early this morning for coffee and a quick visit with two friends. The kids did school, then Rachel and I went to the salon for a summer haircut. A friend from church gave me a referral to her hair salon which came with an incredible discount on a cut.

This is as close to a before as I remembered to take.

Forgot to take a “before” picture. This is “in the middle.”

The stylist was so helpful – she pulled up a little footstool so I could sit with Rachel while she got her hair cut and styled, gave helpful advice about style and length, and did a GREAT job on Rachel’s cut.

Love the clip!

Love the clip!

Always enjoy outings with my oldest girl!

Always enjoy outings with my oldest girl!

Rachel celebrated her gorgeous new look with two handsome young men. Okay, they were 3 and 6, but still, I’m sure they really appreciated Rachel getting a makeover before babysitting. :)

David is jealous of Rachel’s new look. He wants a haircut himself and has been asking me for several days now (in his very respectful, typical David manner). Somehow the days keep zipping to an end with NO hair cut. Sorry, buddy. Tomorrow?

Does the hair add to his height?

Twins?

Twins?

Rachel isn’t ready for her younger siblings to get taller than her.

Um, I don't think that works, Rach.

Um, I don’t think that works, Rach.

Tomorrow we will get the house cleaned up for Joshua’s arrival. Always a good excuse to make everyone clean. Ooops, did I say that out loud?

Project 365 – Day 142
Kathy

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