Caption Please…(Just a little Friday Fun)

I’ve been putting off going to the zoo with my family for years, because it’s just not one of my favorite things to do.  I grew up on a farm so I got to see plenty of animals and smell plenty of crap, so why would I want to go to the zoo?  Last Friday during spring break I finally gave in and took off work to take my wife and son along with my brother and his family to the Fort Worth zoo.  It was a really great time and I walked away with a clasic picture.  Definitely worth the day!

Today you get to help me have a little fun.

Caption Please….

Taken Friday, March 20, at Fort Worth Zoo Copywrite by Kyle Stickens/Urban Eye Studio

 

Come on now it’s only fun if you leave a comment!

Thirty Eight and Counting…

Today I celebrated my 38th birthday and do you want to know what was on my mind more than anything else?  My Grandad.  He passed away in 1996 and almost 13 years later, I still miss him.  I think it’s because every time I look at myself in the mirror I see glimpses of him.

As I get older and my hair recedes further and the pounds seem too fade away at a much slower pace, it seems I look more and more like him.  My Grandad was a bald, hefty guy, but he was so fun to be around.  He was always the jokester and there are days when I think about him and can see how much we are alike.  Quiet at times, joking and sarcastic at other times and often very serious.

I can’t think of a better birthday gift than to have beautiful memories of my Grandad.  I loved him a lot and wish he was still around to share in my joy’s and to listen to my thoughts and ideas.  He was a great guy and I can’t wait to see him again some day.

Growing Up

Our Organic Church plant has been taking place for eight weeks now and since we started we’ve had the opportunity to teach our children about sharing, friendship, serving, Jesus’ love for the outcast, about who God is, about taking care of and helping those who are different than we are, and many other little life lessons as we experience life together.  What’s been fun are the stories we hear from parents each Sunday about experiences they’ve had throughout the week with their children as what we’ve been teaching is starting to play out in real life.

Over the past few days I’ve really seen a difference taking place in my son’s life.  Even though he’s a nine year old special needs child, he still has a big heart and is grasping the concept of the lesson’s he’s being taught.  On Saturday during his bowling league he was passing out hugs to everyone and I think he made several of the parents and buddies feel special.  Several of the teenage buddy’s stayed after bowling to play video games and hang out with Wakeland.  I’m sure they had better things to do and things they’d rather be doing, but they chose to hang out with the little boy who had earlier shown them love.

On Saturday night while having dinner together I shared my bread with Wakeland and you could see in his face how he felt about it.  He smiled, commented on how nice it is to share with others, and blew me a kiss.  I knew right then that he truly understands the concept of sharing.  (Now there are no more excuses!)

Sunday rolled around and while the adults were engaged in conversation we could see our son along with our friends two year old trying to get onto the trampoline.  Wakeland was trying his hardest to help our friend’s son climb up, but you have to understand, even though there’s almost seven years difference in their age, there’s only about 10 pounds difference in their weight, and Wakeland trying with all his might couldn’t get his little buddy up on the trampoline.  But it was so cute seeing the two of them work together trying to figure out how they could work as a team to accomplish this task.

Last night was the icing on the cake for me.  We’ve been trying to give Wakeland more opportunities to be responsible since he is growing up so quickly.  We got him ready for bed last night and like usual he wasn’t ready to go.  So we told him he could lie on the couch and watch cartoons until he either started feeling sleepy or the cartoon ended.  At that point we told him to get up and go to bed, because he wasn’t allowed to fall asleep on the couch.  About an hour later I went into the kitchen and decided to check on him to see if he made it to bed.  He takes medication at night to help him sleep and it’s pretty fast acting and works in about 30 minutes.  We often find him sleeping on his floor, because he didn’t make it all the way to his bed.  But last night, he had turned off the TV when he was finished and was sleeping soundly in his bed when I checked on him.  I smiled and was so happy and proud of him for showing us this responsibility.

When I saw him this morning I hugged and kissed him and told him how proud I was of him for going to bed all on his own, for turning off the TV, and for showing us he’s turning into a responsible big boy.  He smiled and glowed!  Then he went right back to playing.  Moments like these make me proud to be a parent and help me realize how blessed I truly am.

Our Story

I can still remember the day like it happened yesterday.  I had just returned from a men’s retreat with my church and when I arrived home, my wife greeted me with eager anticipation and excitement.  She’d probably been waiting all weekend to take the test, but wanted me to be preset so I could be a part of it.  Within a few minutes we knew we were about to be parents.

We were excited and happy and couldn’t wait to make the appointment with the doctor to have our initial thoughts confirmed by a professional.  Those box tests aren’t always accurate, so we wanted to be sure before we started telling our family and friends.  It was one of the longest, hardest, and difficult waits we’d ever endured.  We wanted to share our excitement with everyone else, but decided to wait until we were 100% sure.  At the time, we didn’t know this would end up being one of the many difficult times we waited for answers.

Over the next few days I’ll be sharing our story.  A story of joy, unexpected twists and turns, questioning, love, grace, anger, depression, and faith.  The road we’ve walked hasn’t been easy, it’s been very difficult, but it hasn’t been too difficult for us to endure.  This will be the story of how we’ve learned, grown, and wrestled with God.  How we’ve tried to embrace our own efforts and strength and learned that we must rely on God for his strength.  It’s a story that is incomplete and a story that’s still being written.  We don’t know the end or the in between, but we do know who holds the pen!

I don’t know what this weeks writings are going to look like.  I don’t even know what I’m going to say.  But I know that it’s a story that needs to be shared.  It’s time for me to finally put the feelings, the battles,  the regrets, and the joys on paper.  This will be more for me than anyone else, but someday my son will read these and know how much we truly love him.