1000 Posts and even more THANKS!
Well, today I passed an electronic milestone… 1000 posts on Kidology.org
Kidologist.com: Karl Bastian's Personal Site and Blog
Archive for June, 2007
Walking, Bumps, and Holding Hands
As Luke is learning to walk there are many lessons I am learning about my own “walk” with my heavenly Father. And one of those lessons literally hit home yesterday. But before I get to that, here are some snapshots of Luke’s journey in learning to walk, many illustrate my own journey in the Walk of faith.
(Note click on any image for a larger view)
In the beginning, Luke could not walk at all. Even to stand, he needed his father to hold him. I remember as a very young boy how much I loved being close to my dad, and close to God. The outdoors was always my favorite place with both of them, and how Luke points toward the outside almost every time I pick him up.
Then there was the day he stood all by himself for the first time! The delight on his face was amazing as he stood and clapped for himself. I told him, “Luke, you have taken your first step into a larger world… and I mean that quite literally!” My first taste of walking alone was when I headed off to Bible college. For the first time I was truly making my own decisions, without having to check in with Mom and Dad, and my spiritual life became my own, not just something I inherited from my Christian upbringing. I remember the thrill of being in Bible college, training for a life of ministry, and getting to start my own ministry at the same time.
Now Luke could stand, but if he took a step it was all over. On vacation he tried on some Micky Shoes at the Disney Store (vacations planned by my wife I suspect include the query: near a Disney store).
While the shoes provided some laughs from employees and shoppers, the reality was they were far too big and frustrated Luke who could only stand there looking grown up but not really go anywhere. Boy, do I know that feeling! Early in my ministry I felt my shoes were too big! As I got invited to speak at different places, even national conferences, my thought was “why me?” I’m grateful that people benefiting what I tried to offer, but I am always amaze that God would use me. I’m not as big a man as the shoes I’m often asked to fill or assumed to be wearing, but to God be the glory, great things HE has done!
So we took Luke to Stride Rite, on many recommendations, to get him his first official walking shoes, so that he could learn to walk correctly and with balance. I too went for the training I would need to walk with God for life – on many recommendations (mostly parents) I chose Moody Bible Institute and could write another whole post why that is an incredible school I recommend as well. But while I could go on and on about the excellent training I got at MBI, I’m not sure I learned balance. That is where I began to speed up in my walk with God, training by day, serving by evening and weekends, my life became non-stop ministry, and I had no intention of ever slowing down… WOW! Serving God is exciting, and thrilling, and fulfilling and the best adventure offered here on earth!
Now Luke is a man on the go! And one of his favorite places is my car. He knows it will take him on what we call “Adventures.” Anytime we go out, since he was a baby, invite him with the words, “You want to go on an Adventure?” He now lights up and heads for the door, and whenever we are outside he points to my car, asking to go on an Adventure. He knows that with Dad there are places to go and people to see and new things to experience. By himself life isn’t quite as exciting. Isn’t the same true with us? When I think of the greatest adventures of my life – the places I’ve been, the people I’ve met, and the experiences I’ve soaked in, all of them are something I’ve been doing with my Father.
When Luke first started walking, he needed Mom or Dad to hold his hands, then his hand, then maybe he’d just hold on to a finger. Eventually, feeling his new freedom and independance… he started to push us away. “I don’t need you any more” he said with his body language. He a Walker now! Last Sunday we were informed that he could move up to the Walkers class. We are proud of him and happy for him, but a little sad too, since he doesn’t need us quite as much, and at times, doesn’t want us interfering with what he is doing. I can’t help thinking that God often must feel the same way. First we cling to Him, going everywhere with Him, then as we “mature” spiritually, we don’t need God as much. One hand or a finger of God is all we need. And at times, we even push Him away as we discover independence. I think God misses when we clung to Him.
Now Luke can walk all by himself. While I watch, close by, ready to move in at the first sign of faultering. I’d like to think that is how God watches me. I think I’m on my own, but He’s there, watching. Ready to move in if I falter or fall, or waiting for me to reach up for a hand when I encounter some uneven ground in life.
How Luke is a little super hero, walking and exploring and going wherever his little feet can take him. But then it happened yesterday. His legs got a little ahead of himself, and he fell flat on his face, hard, on the hard wood floor and gave him a nice little bump right on his head. Ice and hugs was all the medicine he needed, but there was another change we noticed right away. He was back to clinging to us to get around. Walking had hurt him, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to walk alone any more. As I was trying to work around the house, I was slowed down by a little boy behind me with both hands gripping my shorts so that I had to walk in baby steps with my son tailing behind. He walked, he fell, and he was scared to walk again.
He found out the hard way that he isn’t a super hero. That he can get going too fast, that he can fall down, and that when you do, it hurts. But he is clinging to his father, and daring to walk again, and while the bruise still hurts, it is healing.
Me too.
remember me
As a good friend’s bumper sticker once said, “Freedom is not free.” This video was a moving reminder, not only of our troops, but of the many other relationships impacted by their service for our country.This American would like to say thank you in the midst of a normal everyday day. You are not forgotten.
It’s Not What You Do That Counts
You’ve heard it said, “It’s the thought that counts.” Well, we all know that’s a lame excuse for when we fail to do what we should, but what about the thought that what you do doesn’t count either?
When it comes to our walk with Christ, what we do doesn’t count either!
My “mentor” Oswald Chambers (OC) writes today, “We count as service what we do in the way of Christian work; jesus Christ calls service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him.” In life you will discover that it is far easier to work for Jesus than to abide with Him. “…that is why so many are devoted to causes and so few devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not want to be devoted to Jesus, bu only to the cause He started.” (OC)
This forces me to ask as I look at my “to do” list, how many of my tasks is Jesus asking me to do? How many are a result of my ideas instead of His? OC gives a warning that I can personally relate to, “If I am devoted to the cause only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a doormat. The secret of a disciple’s life is devotion to Jesus Christ.” While I don’t feel I’ve been treated as a doormat, I do relate to the exhaustion and faltering when my zeal to serve Jesus gets ahead of my zeal to simply abide and walk with Jesus.
Today, is my 14th anniversary and we are soon heading out to celebrate today, but I must confess that I have been guilty of treating my wife the same way I treated the Lord in the past – trying desperately to prove my love through devoted service (doing), and missing that all she wanted, like Jesus, was ME. Not what I could do for her.I am learning in my marriage as well as my walk of faith, that those I love do not need my service, they simply want me. So today I’ll be abiding with Jesus and my wife and my boy and trying to resist the urge to DO for them, and simply BE.
Gotta Go BE! Catch ya later!
My First “Official” Father’s Day
2nd Annual Lake Geneva Father’s Day Picnic
Last June I posted my first Father’s Day as a Dad, and in May last year some thoughts on finally being a Dad. This year, with the adoption final, it was nice to just BE a dad and enjoy Father’s Day as a dad without any question marks or fears or concerns.
Of course, we marvel at how much he has grown!
Father’s Day 2006
Father’s Day 2007
And, unlike last year, where the dressing in swim suit and photo-op lasted longer than the swim, this year, Luke LOVES to swim!
Luke is all splashes and smiles this year!
We adopted a fish!
But what made 2007 extra special were some little critters that Luke won’t see again until he is 18 years old… yup, there were cicadas everywhere!
Grandpa catches one!
Boy oh Boy, Are These Things UGLY!
(click for larger image!)
Luke was hesitant to hold it, but wanted to poke it!
But he mostly wanted to walk… with parents in toe!
(That’s Grandma/Grandpa far left watching!)
Or chill out in a grown up chair!
It was a wonderful Father’s Day.
Being a Dad is the Best Thing!
Several family have asked for a video of Luke walking, ENJOY!
Luke Walking (.MOV 4.5mb)
Dying is Easy
Dying is easy! What would you die for? Your country? Your Family? Your Savior? YES! And some are given that opportunity to show the “greatest love” by giving up their life for those they love. But we ALL are asked by our Lord to “lay down our life.” Now that’s something different altogether!
As Oswald Chambers writes, “Jesus does not ask me to die for Him, but to lay down my life for Him.” And there is a task that is do much harder to do! You can only die for someone once! But to lay down your life is a daily, even moment by moment, sacrifice that is far more difficult, for after it is done, you must do it yet again and again. “It is far easier to die than to lay down the life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling.” A life lived with our own desires and dreams set down is a life that truly pleases our Lord, because it is so exceedingly difficult! THAT is the sacrifice. Our life is not worth as much as our LIVING.
“If I am a friend of Jesus, I have to deliberately and carefully lay down my life for Him. It is difficult, and thank God it is difficult. Salvation is easy because it cost God so much, but the manifestation of it in my life is difficult.” (Italics are OC quotes)
What does it mean to lay down your life for Jesus? For each of us, it will mean something different, but for all of us it means to put His agenda for our life first – to set aside our desires and dreams – to seek Him first and His righteousness – to ask Him each day what HE wants for us in that day – to live in today and let go of the future.
There have been times I wished to die for Jesus, and how easily in those moments I could have let go and entered into His presence, but He asks me instead, “Will you lay it down for me?”
“Yes, Lord, YES! Not my will, but Yours be done!” Now there is a prayer that is hard to pray, and even harder to live…but that leads to LIFE!
What are you wanting? Lay it down.
What are you clinging to? Lay it down.
What are you harboring? Lay it down.
What is hurting you? Lay it down.
What are you waiting for? Lay it down.
What are you regretting? Lay it down.
THERE IS A STORY of a woman who was carrying a huge and obviously heavy trunk down the street so a bus stopped and the driver offered her a ride. After explaining that she had no money for the bus, the driver insisted that she let him give her a lift. She reluctantly got on board with her trunk and the bus driver continued down the route. It wasn’t until they had driven quite a few blocks that the driver noticed that the woman was still struggling to hold the trunk. When he suggested she set it down and take a seat and rest she responded, “Sir, you were so kind to give me a rid for free, I didn’t want to bother you with my load as well.”Obviously, the bus driver was already carrying her load! Despite her good motives, her holding it was pointless after she accepted the free ride. But why do we, even after having accepted the free gift of salvation and a ride to eternal life with Jesus, insist on carrying our loads, lest we “burden” our Savior?
Lay it down!
NEW Kidologist.com is LIVE!
VISIT www.kidologist.com and see my new site!
Same web address, new enhanced site that will be more than just a blog.
Not sure if I will continue e-mail notification of blog posts. Hasn’t worked for months on the old one, and the new one doesn’t offer it. It uses RSS feeds instead. If you use RSS feeds the old one no longer works and should be replaced with the new one:
OLD:
http://www.kidologist.com/pkblog/atom.xml
to NEW:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/kidologist/
If you have no idea what I am talking about, don’t worry about it. 
If you’d like to know more, this link will explain more:
http://www.kidology.org/rss/index.asp
My preferred RSS Reader is www.bloglines.com
If you would really like me to continue/resume e-mails of posts, let me know.
Be the first to comment on the new site!
Kidologist NEW Blog Goes Live!
Here it is! I’ve been bloggin’ since March 1, 2005, and have been overdue to redesign this site and add more functionality for quite a while. The artwork on this site (and my new brochure, business card and letterhead) was done by the creative team over at Timbuktoons and this WordPress blog was themed to match by a firm they recommended, PowerServe. I would highly recommend both of these firms for excellence in work and ease of product management and speed!
Until we get the archives moved over, you can access the old blog here.
Be the first to use the Comments and let me know what you think! (no more required Blogger account!)
Meditate On My Header
Take a close look and meditate on my flash header. Enjoy everything that flashes by… you may never see it again… 
It Pays to Be Patient?
I just bought a few books on Amazon and when looking at my 1-Click account settings, I noticed a link to Wish List. I click on it and found that on September 21, 2004 (my brother’s birthday!) I had put a really nice digital camera on my wish list…. for $899.95!
I wondered, of course, if the camera is still available to purchase, so I clicked on the link, and discovered that INDEED it still is:
But for only $195.00!
See, by being patient and waiting three years, I can get this amazing 2.1 MEGA pixel digital camera with a 10x optical zoom lens that uses outdated SmartMedia and is ten times bigger than today’s cameras with less features and save hundreds of dollars!
Actually, I did buy this camera, just not from Amazon, and got tons of use out of it for several years, and still use it for still photograhy because it takes amazing pictures and with the optical large lens you get more light and faster shutter speeds, which makes it ideal for large indoor pictures (such as Kid U events) and fast moving images.
The Point: Yes, technology is expensive when it is new, and costs more than it will later… but you do get more for paying more. You get the use of the tool while others are waiting for the price to drop.
Which brings me to the final point: Why I would buy an iPhone as soon as they come out when over time the price may drop and features and hard drive space will improve.
If you have not watched the iPhone commercials, the flash promo, or the iPhone keynote address, you really should. This small sleek machine is beyond incredible… it is going to change the cellular world the same way the iPod and iTunes changed the way we buy, listen and use music, and the way the Mac changed computing. (can you even count the ways Windows copies the Mac, but just can’t pull it off?)
My treo650, once the most powerful phone on the market is now a toy for my little boy to play with.
And when he gets bored, it will make a nice paper weight. Sure, I could sell it or give it away, but that would be like giving someone an 8-track tape of Dallas Holm. But if you want it, let me know. (either the phone or the 8-track tape, I have both!)
Good things come to those who wait, but when it comes to technology, the best things come to those who buy right away! 
