18 Years Later, and Just as Greasy as Ever!

Man, am I getting old! (You are welcome to talk me out of this conclusion!) Today, Sara and I went downtown to Moody Bible Institute where both dated and graduated for the Gary Chapman conference, Toward a Growing Marriage – first let me just say, it was a GREAT seminar and exceded even my high expectations. I would highly recommend his books and seminars to anyone who is married whether you think you need it or not. :) But as great as the conference was, the HIGHLIGHT of the day (sorry Sara) was going to MR. G’s! That’s right! The burger joint on Clark Street just North of Chicago Avenue: Mr. Cheeseburger in front of his favorie burger joint! I have not been to Mr. G’s for about 18 years! (That’s why I’m feeling so old) Has that much time gone by? Were the student here really babies when I was here! Yikes!! SO MUCH has changed in the buildings around MBI but I was soooo happy to discover that my favorite place for a burger run in college is still there! This little burger joint, just a block away from Moody holds many memories! All ya have to say…

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Baby Luke’s Adventure at Kid U Ohio!

Luke and Dad hangin’ out and roaming around the conference. Well, it was a crazy weekend but a lot of fun. There are still lots of pictures to go through, but since Luke was so excited to go to his second Kid U, I thought I’d post some pictures of his adventures. I had NO idea how many of the attendees would be greeting him by name as they arrived. I guess more people read my blog than I knew! So, by popular demand, here are some more Baby Luke pics: Too Sexy for my Shirt! (Kid U morning at the hotel) Me and My New Bear! (Gift from Pastor Kim!) Awana be in Awana! (Awana my diaper changed too!) As you can see by Baby Luke’s Awana Uniform, he is a big fan of Awana. (This Commander uniform was hand made for him by Commander Teri at Village Church!) I think he signed up at least three new churches for Awana while working their booth! Star Struck with Mary Rice Hopkins. (or is it the spotlights?) Mary Rice Hopkins held him while singing a beautiful song about babies. He got a little star struck – it was rather funny…

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Luke, by popular demand!

And now for our greatest source of joy in life…. Baby Luke! By popular demand, here are some recent pictures of our little boy. Enjoy! Mr. Smiles greets every day enthusiastically! Luke newest feat…. sucking on his feet! Yech! Must have been some lint between my toes! Daddy likes to torture me with poses HE thinks are funny. I’d be cute even if I was a girl, or a Bible character! Daddy let me listen to a little of Star Wars Clone Wars on his video iPod! Now the video iPod is MINE! MINE! MINE! What’s better than one of me? FIVE of me!! Hey! This is MY DEW!! Git yer own!! YYYYYEAH! DO THE DEW! Cowabunga DEWd! Please continue to pray for Luke’s adoption proceedings. We’ve now had Luke for over five months and as you can see, we’re crazy about him! The adoption is not yet final, and while there are some good signs, there are also some significant needs for prayer this month, so please lift this little guy up in your prayers! Luke appreciates it! (and we do too!)

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A week away does a spirit good….

“Be still and know that I am God” is the advice of David in Psalm 46:10 – but how do you find the time to be still when you are in very full time Christian ministry… or more honestly, when you do not know how or when to STOP and listen to God? I am guilty of doing MUCH for God, but much less with God. God tried to get my attention many times over the past several years – through family, friends, and circumstances… but I was too busy doing ministry to hear that still small voice, or simply too exhausted to hear it even when it was yelling at me. So, this past week was a week to finally listen. My wife and I (and Luke) headed to Tennessee for a place with no Internet (yes!), no phone, and barely cell reception. (Yes, I’ll admit holding my phone up at strange angles to see if I could get one bar… I’m not healed yet!) The place was Fairhaven Ministries, and I highly recommend it (and the burgers at the White Way Grill at the base of the mountain) to anyone needing some time away in a place where…

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Morning Feedings

I have a baby son. Since the day he entered our home, one of the biggest changes was that I have never used an alarm clock since. That era can now be refered to as ‘BC’ – Before Cryingbaby. Before Crying baby, I would fight the alarm clock every morning. Snoozing it untold times… exhausted from the day before and often working too late into the night, I would finally get up with just enough time to start my day. But since ‘the boy’ (as we call him) entered my home, I have awakened to his gentle cries for his morning feeding. Since he is adopted and we feed with formula, I volunteered the first day to be the one to do the morning feedings so my wife could sleep a little longer before starting her day. While eager for this time with the baby, I would nevertheless rise lethargicly and pick up ‘the boy’ and move to the couch or rocker in the front room to feed him. This morning I did so yet again. I am always amazed that he rises without an alarm – just an internal reminder that it is time to eat – simple hunger…

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Steve Tanner is my Inspiration!

My Smoke Detector Adventure (Inspired by Steve Tanner) You may not realize it, but my inspiration to blog came from my friend and now Kidology Web Director, Steve Tanner. His forum homepage is at www.steveandamysly.com but all the conversations end up at the Tannerworld Junction. There you can read about… well, just about anything. From beverage reviews to bathroom hand dryer advertising to the Trash Cans of DisneyWorld to his new toothbrush to the history of Dorito’s logos or watch Star Wars as an animated GIF! It’s all there among thousands of the other 13,547 posts Steve has posted to date! But this week, his inspiration went to all new heights and INSPIRED ME! It was his latest edition of This New Tanner Condo. (Changing the Smoke Detector!) READ IT! I was so inspired, I decided that I needed to blog my own adventure with a smoke detector. My smoke detector wasn’t broken, but it has needed a new battery for awhile now. So here is the blog record of my ADVENTURE this evening. I’d like to dedicate this post to Steve Tanner. Here is my upstairs smoke detector. It has been disconnected for several months. (My wife claims it…

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