Soulfood

Tomorrow bright and early we’ll be heading to Indianapolis to attend the 10th edition of Gamefest.  I am very excited to see so many good friends!

June 12th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Seeing as how I haven’t posted in ages, I expect I have no readers left.  I am really going to try to keep up with blogging again, though.

We are studying Genesis in our adult Sunday School class.  Right now we are chapters 27-28 and having a lively debate about patriarchal authority and why God justified Isaac’s, Rebekah’s, and Jacob’s actions but condemned Esau’s.  Personally, I’m fine with accepting that God is God and we have no basis to question Him.  But I think, too, that the root of Esau’s actions is that he profaned (regarded as common) God’s promises (cf. Hebrews 13, I think) while the rest of the family treasured them.  Food for thought. . .

June 10th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

I have a very clear memory of an incident that took place probably when I was 8 or 9.  I don’t remember why there was wine in the house since my parents rarely drank alcohol back then, but I do remember wanting to have a drink.  My dad let me try it.  I remember this incident because that one drink of wine at 9 years old left a lasting impression on me, and the impression was that alcohol is gross. 

That impression contributed greatly, I believe, to my complete lack of interest in alcoholic beverages throughout my teenage years.  At the ripe old age of 21, while living in Germany, I tried a beer.  I still didn’t really like it.  In fact, I think I drank exactly three beers the whole year I lived in Germany.  Then my mother-in-law introduced me to Kahlua, and I became a drunken sot.  Well, not really.   But I do have a healthy appreciation for alcohol these days.

My wife and I recently had a conversation about bre*stfeeding.  She asked if I thought she should try to cover up more while nursing the baby so as the boys get older so they don’t see bare bre*st (or heaven forbid, a n*pple!).  We are both in agreement that the best approach is *not* to make a big deal about it.  Without advocating immodesty, let me say that the best antidote to our culture’s hypers*xualization of EVERYTHING is to keep it in its proper place.

Which brings me to my larger point.  Our society tends to deify certain “adult” behaviors — in my examples, alcohol consumption and procreation – creating a mystique around them which serves rather as a lure.  Our approach is to teach our children to place things in their proper context, and to give them only the respect they deserve.

Let me say that the practical approach to these two examples is nowhere near the same.  I may let my children experience the taste of alcohol but I do not take the same approach to teaching them about human reproduction.  There is a strong spiritual element to s*xual intimacy which must be dignified rather than destroyed (which, incidentally, is why public schools s*x-ed programs fail — they may not teach the spiritual significance of s*xual relations and thus children are taught the means without understanding the ends — never a good situation). 

It is paramount that our children learn in a way that builds them up rather than tear them down.  Some experiences that are good and right in their proper context are only destructive when taken out.  The wisdom to know when and how to teach eludes many parents, and I don’t claim to have all the answers.  I do know that prayer and study of Scripture are my only hopes to be a “good” parent who properly equips his children for works of righteousness or (to put it in different language) to become good citizens.  God help me!

[Edited to prevent this post from creating unwanted hits]

February 7th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

My 5yo was grumpy tonight during family worship time so we were trying to cheer him up.

5yo: “I wish it was teeth-brushing time.”

Jamie: “Hey Ethan! I have a Tinker Toy in my underpants!”  This phrase has become quite the joke in our house since the 5yo first said it.

5yo: “I don’t have a Tinker Toy in *my* underpants.”  At which point he stands up, turns around to Jamie (who is sitting on the floor), and proudly pulls the waistbands of his pajamas and underpants to prove to her that he indeed did not have a Tinker Toy on his person.  The expression on Jamie’s face had me quite literally rolling on the floor laughing and gasping for breath.

Never, ever a dull moment in our household.

January 14th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The BBC has, in general, a somewhat more nuanced appraisal of the Bush presidency than much of the domestic commentariat (as does the Economist, as a point of fact).  I find it much less irritating to read the British take on Mr. Bush’s legacy versus, say, the New York Times.  Here is a link to an interesting analysis of the State of the Union addresses President Bush gave over the past 8 years.

January 13th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

So many things to do, so little time to blog.  Maybe I can figure out how to blog from my Blackberry Storm?  I did figure out how to update my Facebook status using this handy little device.

We moved into our current residence on Dec. 19th.  We left on Dec. 22nd for Goshen and stayed there through the 28th, enjoying the Christmas celebration and holiday with my parents and mother-in-love.  The latter gave my father and I tickets to see Penn State play in the Rose Bowl.  So on the 31st Dad and I flew to SoCal, played some disc golf, attended the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl game on the 1st, and flew back to Indy on the 2nd.  We had a great time (aside from Penn State’s poor showing) with much laughter and walking.  We gave my new (and first) GPS unit a whirl and fell in love with Audrey, as we named the female-voiced gadget.  We decided that “recalculating” is the Garminian euphemism for “you missed your turn you idiot.”

This past week has been a pleasant return to whatever the new normal has become.  We are still church-hunting but other than that we are enjoying the return to normalcy.  Some recent comical utterances from our daily life:

“I have a Tinker Toy in my underwear!”

“You’re a bald bunny.”

“I want the government to take me away.”  (This one isn’t nearly as bad as it might be construed to appear.)

January 10th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I got around to setting up our utilities and communications connections this week so we are now completely ready to move in on the 19th.  Today I got confirmation of our equity from the relocation company and it’s spot on (actually a little more than) my calculations.  All I’m waiting for now is my relocation bonus to come through, which should happen tomorrow.  My obsessive-compulsive urges regarding financial order are slowly becoming sated.

We decided to end our 8+ year relationship with SBC/Cingular/AT&T with this move.  I signed up for Comcast internet service and let me tell you, I’m looking forward to that cable modem speed.  What I really don’t understand is why I could (if I wanted to, and I don’t) get basic cable service for a lower monthly fee than basic broadband service.  It’s ridiculous.  As a point of fact, I could get cable + internet for only slightly more per month than we’ll be paying for broadband.  But I really, really don’t want commercial television to gain any kind of foothold in my household, as it were.  Not that it matters — in a couple more years you’ll be able to watch anything you want over the internet as easily as you can on cable now. 

We are also ditching the land line and going exclusively to cell phones.  Whenever my Blackberry Storm comes in (they are backordered) I’ll be on Verizon, and I got Jamie a Verizon phone as well.  My parents are on that network as well so it is a good fit.  The drawback is email as we will no longer have access to our SBCGlobal addresses.  If you email with me regularly look for a change of address notice to come soon (I’ll be moving to Hotmail). 

All of these changes will net us a lower monthly cost while getting Jamie a reliable cell phone, something she has lacked for the past 2 years since we stopped paying $35/mo to maintain a cell phone we used 2-3 times per month.  I’m pretty excited in general, but ready to be through this.  This time next week I’ll be in this same hotel, but with my family as we will have said our final goodbye to our home of the past 3 years.  1 week from tomorrow we’ll be moving into our new home.  Yippee!

December 11th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I try very hard not to take pleasure in the misfortunes of others, BUT I am positively giddy over the news of Rod Blagojevich’s arrest.  I cannot help but to enjoy his downfall.  Not only was he corrupt, he has been a terribly incompetent governor (yeah, there’s probably a direct correlation there) and if the state of Illinois had any semblance of an opposition party there is no way he would have been re-elected in 2006.

(For the record, I voted for the Green party candidate rather than the lame-o candidate — Judy Baar-Topinka, I think her name was – the Republicans put forward in 2006.  In fact, it’s sad but I can’t even remember who the Republicans ran against him in 2002.  Here’s hoping there will be a decent candidate to vote for in 2010!)

Nobody in the national press wants to talk about it, but our President-elect came from the same corrupt Chicago political environment which (hopefully soon-to-be ex-) Governor Blagojevich took advantage of for the past 6 years.  In the end, I think it must have been Blagojevich’s belief in the absolute purity of the corrupt environment around him that caused his downfall.  He honestly seems to have believed that no one would turn him in — that everyone he extorted would keep playing his game.  Either that, or he is really stupid and his lack of intelligence finally caught up with him.  At any rate, I’m hoping he’ll do the right thing and resign, while expecting he will attempt to delay the inevitable long enough to create a lucrative exit strategy for himself. 

I still fully expect we will find out that President-elect Obama has some skeletons in the closet, too (not that it matters anymore).  Chicago politicians are dirty.

December 9th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I am here, there, and everywhere.  My schedule is so jacked up now that my company is giving me a Crackberry.  I used to want a Blackberry, because I’m a gadgets guy.  I really wanted one when they first came out.  Now, I have some residual excitement (as in, oohh a Blackberry of my very own!) while at the same time a deep sense of trepidation (as in, oohh yeah now the Man can really steal my attention from the important things in life whenever and wherever!).  Nevertheless, I take the plunge!

I have been on the road a lot lately.  I have spent more time over the past two weeks in the home I don’t yet own than I have spent in the home I still own for a couple more weeks.  The home inspection is done.  We’re asking for a plumbing issue to be taken care of, but hopefully that won’t gum up the works.  I’m very excited that we’ve reached the home equity stage at which we no longer are required to escrow our property taxes and hazard insurance.  Now I can put the money in an interest-bearing account instead, and make something off it before I hand it over to Rod Blagowhatever to flush down the sewer that is the wonderful government of the great State of Illinois.  Lord, won’t you please lead me to a job in Indiana?

Yeah, so enough whining.  I’ll get to see my family again this weekend, and 2 weeks from tomorrow (Lord willing) we will be moving into our new home!  At this point I’m more excited about having our family together again than I am about moving in general.  2 weeks and counting down!

December 5th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment