Home Archive by category "Spiritual Growth" (Page 21)

Category: Spiritual Growth

Boy Meets Girl

Luke has taken his first step into a larger world… no, not of the Force… of Girls. :) Recently we had a family over from our church whose daughter is one of Luke’s favorite friends. Though we may have to keep a closer eye on them now…. BOY MEETS GIRL Sitting together on the couch. How cute. Luke’s got an idea… She is so lovely, and she adores the attention!Whoa! He wasn’t expecting THAT! But he doesn’t seem to mind either! Ooooo, what was that? a kiss? And no, these pictures were not posed, we were just taking pictures and letting them play, though someone may have said “give a kiss.” I cant’ wait to show these at Luke’s wedding someday! I think Luke is already fulfilling Romans 16:16, I Cor. 16:20, II Cor. 13:12, I Thess. 5:26, and I Peter 5:14!JUST FULFILLING SCRIPTURE Reminds me of the young Bible College boy who was taking a girl he fancied on her first date, and the girl’s father, who happened to be a preacher, asked him as they were about to go out the door, “What are your intentions with my daughter, young man?” To which the boy replied, “Just to…

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Easter Bunny Secret Identity Revealed!

Sara, Luke, and Karl – Easter 2007 Easter 2006 was a day that was very significant in our little family. While we took Luke into our home on April 1st last year, it was on Easter Sunday one year ago that we met with the birth mother and she made her final decision to give him to us. And then the legal adoption process began. Since that process ended in December, we’ve been enjoying our life as a little family at the beginning of this Adventure called Parenting! See how he has grown! Here is last Easter: Karl, Luke, and Sara – Easter 2006 Now he is a cool little dude who can crawl, climb stairs, and stuff Cherioes down the heating vents! Ready for Church on Easter Sunday! A man comfortable in front of a camera! And then the Easter Bunny arrived! Oh, how embarrassing, er, I mean, exciting! Yes, that is me, dressed as the Easter Bunny. (blush) But in my defense, it was not my idea! My older sister handed me the costume just minutes before the family Easter Egg Hunt and says, “put it on” and what’s a dad to do? Let pride get in the…

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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…

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All I Need

One of the reasons I highly encourage journaling is that you may find that years from now you can be your own best encourager! When you read words you wrote yourself long ago, you are more open to them because, well, you wrote them. The words of others can be hard to accept at times, but when your own words are exactly what you need, it’s kinda hard to argue. Such was the case with the discovery of this poem, written eighteen years ago. (am I that old?) At a time in my life when so much is new, and when letting go and saying good bye to many people and things that I loved and took for granted as a part of my daily and weekly life are gone – it was nice to read the words of a much younger version of me saying through this poem, “be content, all you need is God. But He’s given you so much more.” Enjoy! ALL I NEED Make yourself, Lord, all I need, In all I say and do, May my dependance be on nothing else, Let me only lean on you.   I want to need nothing else, Than…

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Constantly Becoming

Another poem from youthful days. This one I actually put to music, (key of G my hand written notes say) but, NO, I’m not going to record it and upload an MP3, good friends have advised me against a singing career. Chicago, taken 1989, no digital editing, I used a filter for the coloring. CONSTANTLY BECOMING I’m not who I used to be, I’m not who I will be, ‘Cause more like my Savior, I’m everyday becoming. I’m constantly changing, Constantly rearranging, And I won’t reach perfection, Until His second coming. But until I see Him in the sky On His love I will rely, I must let Him live through me, So with His glory I can shine. Oh, I tried to live life on my own, But I’ve learned my life is just a loan, God entrusted it to me, My life’s no longer mine. I’ve given it back to Him, The good, the bad and all the sin, So He can mold it and shape it, He’s the potter, I’m the clay. Sometimes I find it hard to trust, But I know that it is a must, If I’m to be all I’m meant to be, On…

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