Time Flies When You Are Serving God

Saturday, May 12th, was one of those days that makes you feel old… but so happy too. It was a day of seeing another of my K.C. Krew kids getting married! The last time you’ll see “Cheek” after Krista’s name!Krista and Karl Today…. Karl and Krista in 1998! Cool Krista! (wearing a costume for Kids Church) Krista getting married, and that’s Sara’s dad doing the ceremony! This was a very encouraging day for me. You minister and invest in so many kids in your life, and you don’t always get to see what God does with their lives. Some you never even get to say good bye to, let alone, get to see them again years later. It was so nice to get caught up on what they are doing and how much they have grown up! Krista’s little sister Erin, Gwen, (me), Laura and Amy Joy. And YES, I have old pictures of all of them: (hope they still love me after this!) Erin back then! And Amy Joy too! I’ve got special stories with each of these girls, and it was fun to tell them over again at the wedding. Laura, second from the right, graduated from Moody…

Continue reading

One Year Ago Today

It was one year ago today… a day that came “out of the blue” and changed my life forever, in more ways than I could ever have anticipated… I became a Dad. My fist Father’s Day at Lake Geneva Being a Dad has been my dream since I was a boy. Why? Well, I had a wonderful Dad, and he was my favorite person in the whole world, and I couldn’t wait to get to BE a Dad and be on the other end of the fun… inventing the adventures… creating the laughter… teaching the lessons of life. And while my dad was not perfect, he was real, and that was good enough for me. I hope that I too can be a real follower of Christ for my son, if not a perfect one. Me with Luke, the day he was Given to me. If I had been asked a year ago today what changes this little life would bring into my life, I would have never guessed how dramatically my life would change. I thought I could simply add “being a Dad” to an already critically over-loaded life. I was wrong. But I have learned my lesson, and…

Continue reading

He Who Dies with the Most Acorns

OK, another poem from the past. This one was inspired by a bumper sticker that was popular at the time that said, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” ACORNS There once was a squirrel, Who got in his mind, To get every acorn, Of every last kind. A huge hollow oak tree, Weighing more than a ton, Is where he settled down, To build his kingdom. Day in and day out, He went off to look, And if he saw an acorn, That acorn he took. He cared not if he, Robbed another squirrel’s home, For he wanted all acorns, To be just his own. This went on through spring, And through mid-summer too, “Winter is coming, Oh, what will we do?!” Cried the other fine squirrels, As they gazed on his tree, Standing firmly there, Oblivous to the breeze. He say up on top, Way up high like a king, When along came a breeze, Into air did he swing. He fell to his death, The poor little guy, The others moaned for a moment, Thought they didn’t know why. He had done all that work, And had done it in vain, As the others bounded up,…

Continue reading

My Canadian Buddy, Tyler

Here is a picture of my Canadian buddy, Tyler, doing what he loves best: READING! I have never met Tyler in person (yet!) but I hope to some day! His parents are missionaries in a remote part of northern Canada, where kids church looks like this: (Tyler in the yellow shirt) I got to know Tyler via his mom when I learned that he is a big fan of Toyboxtales.com, my novel (Order of the Ancient), and my blog. In fact, I am blogging about him today in order to encourage him with his new blog, since I just discovered tonight that he credited me as his “inspiration” to begin his blogging career: Maybe some of the zillions who come here can visit his blog and leave a comment to encourage him! Here is Tyler, at a local landmark–the moose head at the gas station, with the autographed copy of my novel I sent him after I learned that he only had the downloads and needed to clear up some harddrive space and was sad to lose it. (The book was released originally online a chapter a week, which is when Tyler read it) Here is Tyler in trouble with…

Continue reading

9th Annual Success – I Kid U Not!

Hard to believe this was the 9th annual Kidology University here in Chicago. (14th Kid U if you count the ones in other states!) My new church played host and we had a great turn out, many of the rooms were standing room only, so next year we will be looking for an even larger facility. (leads anyone?) I enjoyed a break this year. No workshops. No EmCeeing, just taking pictures and visiting with our speakers and guests, it was a welcome change of pace for me. Especially walking around with my little boy. I was more daddy and less “Kidologist”… a refreshing change for me. Bill Allison was one of our many excellent speakers – one of the hallmarks of Kidology is that I am extremely picky about who speaks at a Kidology conference. All of our speakers embody our mission, Equipping and Encouraging. (but doing it while being Entertaining is ok too!) Master Ron, who as of yesterday is officially now “Pastor Ron” had the place cracking up with his balloon version of Samson and Deliah! And as our VIP, we had none other than Rob Biagi back! He is a V.I.P. to K.I.D.O.L.O.G.Y.! (not as catchy as…

Continue reading