Through the eyes of God, the parent...

Genesis 2:8-9 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:15-17 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

Genesis 3:6-13 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"

God gave Adam (and eventually Eve, as well) only one command…Not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God wasn’t a task master; He didn’t delight in crafting impossible situations for Adam…one rule was all. He was even upfront and plainly told them the repercussions if they disobeyed…they would die…

I’ve read and been read this story…the story of the fall of man…hundreds if not thousands of times since I was a child. But now, as a parent I read this passage and I can see through the eyes of God, the Father, as He looked for Adam and Eve in the garden, surely knowing already what they had done…what would I have said? What HAVE I said to my children…’What IS this that you have done? I gave you ONE simple rule…I gave you EVERYTHING else, you were free to enjoy everything else that I had given you…I didn’t want this for you! That’s why I warned you against it! You have chosen an exponentially more difficult path…oh, how I didn’t want this for you…

One moment of pleasure changed the entire course of Adam’s life…banished from the most beautiful, most peaceful spot on Earth…loss of the intimate communion he had with God…and he had to bear the pain and sorrow of one son killing the other, just to name a few…what a price.

We all make choices...children and adults alike. We warn, guide and instruct our kids...hoping beyond hope that they'll listen or at least absorb some of the things we try to teach them. God is no different with us...and if we are honest with ourselves, at times we're no different then our kids...God wants us to trust in HIS wisdom and guidance, not just every once in a while...not just on the big things, but every day...every moment.

Oh, that I might have just a minute portion of the grace God has for His children…

~ V

It's COMING!!!!!!!

If you know what this sign is, then you're like me...a red blooded, full grown, Star Trek nerd...

Yes, I fully admit it, I like...no, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY like Star Trek and I can not wait for the movie to come out...this FRIDAY (that's tomorrow, just in case you were wondering)! No, I'm NOT some freak who will dress-up as my favorite character (although, that would be pretty cool...maybe not). I DO however, own an extensive collection of Star Trek themed Hallmark ornaments...honestly enough to decorate an entire Christmas tree...

Have I mentioned that I LIKE Star Trek?? I do, you know!

Star Trekin' across the universe...poor Lisa... :)

~ V

I'm not junk...

Ok, guys...please watch this video before reading on...(thanks for humoring me! Oh and don't forget to pause the player at the very bottom of this BLOG)




About a month and a half ago, the former youth pastor at our church came up to me after a Sunday morning service, looked me square in the eyes and told me, 'You don't have to believe the lies, you know. Satan is a liar and he's very good at what he does, but you don't have to believe him.' and then he moved on. Now, I barely knew this guy, in fact I can honestly say that I had never had any sort of conversation with the man other than a brief hello/hand shake on Sunday mornings. But there I stood stunned and I literally couldn't speak even if I had wanted to because of the HUGE lump in my throat.

You see, I've struggled with self-worth for most of my life. Never felt that I was good enough at any sport I tried, never really very good at playing the piano and though I love to sing, I have always questioned my ability. Never the good enough son, father or even husband...the list goes on and on. I've always felt that 'If I was just a little better' or 'If I would have handled that just a little differently' things would be different...

In this video, the character playing God said a few things that really struck home with me, he said 'There are things that you do in your life that do not work, but you go to these empty wells whenever you're hurting, whenever you're angry, whenever you're lonely and tired, but they do not work.' I try to handle my problems on my own and at those times I honestly feel (or I've convinced myself) that I know what's best...but I know that what I'm really doing is trying to prove to myself (yet again) that if I resolve this...if I fix that...that maybe, just maybe I AM good enough. Another thing that struck true with me in this video was when the man told God, 'I just feel like I've let you down SO many times.' that was/IS me...but what God said to the man in response just blew me away...'No...you were never holding me up. I hold YOU up with my victorious, righteous right hand and don't you forget that! In this relationship I hold you up...'

If I'm not ever good enough, if I always feel like I'm going to fail...What does that say about how I feel about how God created me? Does God create something that's bound for failure? or that is worthless?

I really crave your prayers for me with this...even though I read, see and understand these things, sometimes it's not easy...

~ V

100 myles...NO, it's MILES...of garage sales

This is the face of a man who isn't happy...
Why isn't he happy, you may ask? Well, this guy went to the 100 mile garage sale. Yes...100 miles of garage sales. It's a thing they do each year around here and honestly, last year Lisa and I went and we had a GREAT time! OK...so what's the difference between last year and this year? Ummm...the three kids we decided to take this year!
Why do kids feel that they need to constantly correct each other? Or maybe it's just MY kids (and what does that say about ME?? Ugh..) but after about the 100th time (yes, that's about 1 per mile) of listening to one of them correct the other for accidently saying shale instead of sale, I was about to wack (or is that whack) something or someONE. So I've established a new law...kids and 100 mile garage sales do not mix! I think I'll call it; Vince's Law of Simple Sanity...

Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I make it out to be, but ALL of you dad's out there, I KNOW you're feelin' my pain...

~ V

Robots and Squirrels...the age long enmity

OK...Lisa and I do the 'divide and conquer' method of putting our younger two to bed. She goes in and does her routine with Kyle and I with Hope. Last week, I had finished before Lisa and as I was passing Kyle's bedroom, Kyle said, 'Hey, Vince? Did you know that when God is done with this Earth, He will make a new one? And that when He makes the new Earth, animals will be our friends?' I said, 'Yes, Kyle, that's right. And did you know that the Bible says that the Lion will lay with the Lamb?' 'Yeah,' he said. 'And the robots and squirrels will finally be friends!' ...even I paused at that one...I said (with a barely straight face), 'I...wasn't aware that robots and squirrels were enemies??' Kyle didn't even pause, he said 'Oh, yeah...when a robot whose minding his own business gets too close to a tree, a squirrel will dive on it's head and attack it!' The visual (yes, us men ARE visual) was too much and I just burst out laughing!

So...when God creates the new Earth, the robots will have THAT to look forward to...

~ V

Is it still 'Green' if it kills the family pet?

OK...confession time. I'm really not much of a 'Green' person. Green...you know, the latest societal fad that has everyone from Al Gore (didn't he invent this too?) to the teachers in your child's school doing what they can to help 'Mother Earth'. Now I know that's not a very PC thing to say that and honestly, I do feel it's good to be a wise steward environmentally, but there are people that are fanatical about it.

I heard a radio commercial last week that involved two junior high school aged kids. One pointed out to the other that they weren't using energy saving light bulbs in their bedroom (I don't know about you, but energy saving light bulbs are the LAST thing ANY of my kids are thinking about...especially around their friends!). The 'guilty' kid at first tried to say that this really wasn't his room and then proceeded to try a few other stupid lame excuses. A couple things irritated me about this PSA, one was the obvious attempt to use peer pressure on our kids to get to us...that strikes me as wrong.

The biggest irritant is the lie surrounding these light bulbs. Have you actually sat down and read the packaging on the side? Probably not...after all, why would we? I'm pretty sure none of us needs to read instructions on how to install a light bulb, but you should...here's what it says:

And here is a reprint of a April, 2007 WorldNetDaily Newspaper article:

'Brandy Bridges, of Prospect, Maine, heard the claims of government officials, environmentalists and retailers like Wal-Mart all pushing the idea of replacing incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving and money-saving compact fluorescent lamps.

So, last month, Brandy went out and bought two dozen CFLs and began installing them in her home. One broke. A month later, her daughter's bedroom remains sealed off with plastic like the site of a hazardous materials accident, while Bridges works on a way to pay off a $2,000 estimate by a company specializing in environmentally sound cleanups of the mercury inside the bulb. With the Environmental Protection Agency promoting CFLs as the greatest thing since, well, the light bulb, consumers have been left in the dark about a problem that we will all face eventually – how to get rid of the darn things when they burn out or, worse yet, break.

CFLs are all the rage. They are the spirally shaped, long-lasting bulbs everyone is being urged, cajoled and guilt-tripped into purchasing to replace Thomas Edison's incandescents, which are being compared to SUV’s for their impracticality and energy inefficiency. However, there is no problem disposing of incandescents when their life is over. You can throw them in the trash can and they won't hurt the garbage collector. They won't leak deadly compounds into the air or water. They won't kill people working in the landfills. The same cannot be said about the mercury-containing CFLs. They bear disposal warnings on the packaging. But with limited recycling prospects and the problems experienced by Brandy Bridges sure to be repeated millions of times, some think government, the green community and industry are putting the cart before the horse marketing the new technology so ferociously.

Consider her plight...When the bulb she was installing in a ceiling fixture of her 7-year-old daughter's bedroom crashed to the floor and broke into the shag carpet, she wasn't sure what to do. Knowing about the danger of mercury, she called Home Depot, who sold her the bulbs.

According to the Ellison American, the store warned her not to vacuum the carpet and directed her to call the poison control hotline in Prospect, Maine. Poison control staffers suggested she call the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

The latter sent over a specialist to test the air in her house for mercury levels. While the rest of the house was clear, the area of the accident was contaminated above the level considered safe. The specialist warned Bridges not to clean up the bulb and mercury powder by herself – recommending a local environmental cleanup firm. That company estimated the cleanup cost, conservatively, at $2,000. And, no, her homeowners insurance won't cover the damage.

Since she could not afford the cleanup, Bridges has been forced to seal off her daughter's bedroom with plastic to avoid any dust blowing around. Not even the family pets are permitted in to the bedroom. Her daughter is forced to sleep downstairs in an overcrowded household.

She has continued to call public officials for help – her two U.S. senators included. So far, no one is beating down Bridges' door to help – not even Al Gore, whose Academy Award-winning movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," urges everyone to change to CFLs to save the planet from global warming.'

The whole world, it seems, fearing global warming, is gearing up to ban the incandescent light bulb. It started in Cuba, moved to Venezuela, then Australia, Canada and the European Union. Now individual states in the U.S., including California, Connecticut, North Carolina and Rhode Island, are all in the process of legislating an end to Edison's greatest invention.

The issue with the incandescent is that it uses more energy to produce light. Advocates of CFLs say they save money and energy by producing more light over more time for less money and less energy. They prefer to minimize concerns about cleanup and disposal, usually saying more needs to be done in the area of recycling.

So, in weighing energy and ecological responsibility against the saftey and welfare of my family, well...I guess I'm just not 'green' enough.

THAT is the real Inconvenient Truth!

~ V

Look at the point spread on THAT one!

I absolutely LOVE my wife! Among the many reasons is that she makes me laugh and isn’t afraid in the least to laugh at herself! Last night, Lisa and I went to bed around 11pm and we did our little routine of shutting off the lights, etc and so we found ourselves walking across a dark house towards the hall that leads to our bedroom. I had seen that one of the kids had left an oversized ‘bouncy-ball’ on the landing, just in front of the hallway, so, not wanting Lisa or I to trip over it in the dark, I gave it a little kick and sent it rolling downstairs…Lisa didn’t see the ball, nor did she see me kick it. I heard her pause and she said, ‘Who’s there?’ Not quite sure what she was talking about, I stopped and turned and saw her with her head slightly ‘cocked’ sideways, looking downstairs. Again, she said, ‘Who’s there?...Did you see it?...Was that a Deer?’ At that point, I finally realized what had happened and I said, ‘No dear, that’s a ball! She saw this ‘shadowy figure’ bounding gracefully down the stairs and associated that with a Deer bounding gracefully across a field…

We laughed until our sides hurt and tears came to our eyes!

I LOVE my wife!!!

~ V