Did You Vote in the Primary?

This morning I got up a little early and got the family around to get to the poles. I was undecided right up until I stepped into the voting booth. I'm not sure why, but it was a very difficult choice for me. I would have originally voted for Cain, but since he dropped out I have been undecided. In the end I had to go with my gut level feeling.
My wife and I were the third and four to vote in our district. It seemed to be a very low turnout. I encourage everyone to get out and vote for which ever candidate you find yourself pulled toward. The important thing is that you vote and let your voice be heard!!
If you voted today Feb. 28, 2012 let our readers know. Leave a comment a tell us that you voted. If you want you can even tell us who you voted for. Thanks for voting!!

Homeschooling Information

There are few things I really like about my job, but one that really seems to get me excited is talking to parents who are looking for information about homeschooling. Being home schooled myself I have a pretty good vantage point from which to explain the good and the bad about teaching your children at home.


Being that part of the store I work at houses one of the only Teaching Stores in Michigan we get a lot of people coming in looking to purchase materials for homeschooling. On occasion I get to talk with people who are considering the option of homeschooling and are looking for advice. Two of the biggest questions I get asked are 1) “Did you like being home schooled?” and 2) “Won't my kids be socially awkward or inept?” My answers are the same to everyone who asks; 1) “I didn't like it at the time, but looking back I got a really good education.” and 2) to quote my mom, “Your kids will have more social life than they could know what to do with.”

Most people researching home schooling don't realize that most home schooled students are done with their classes by noon. There are organized sports for students to get involve in, and there are classes that they can take that are away from the home.

The young couple that came into the store were shocked when I told them that there are organized sports for home schoolers. They also had no idea that there was anything out there to help teach your children at home. This particular couple had recently moved to the area and wanted to finish out the school year at home. However, when they heard that there were so many options for homeschooling her eyes got big like she wanted to do more than half a year.

The whole reason for this post isn't to convince readers that they should home school their children (heck, I'm not sure I will be homeschooling my own kid) it is to help those who are looking for more information on taking the plunge. The above couple were at a loss on where to get information on homeschooling or even how to begin, so I thought I would try and get some links together in one place to help those searching for more and better information. Note: some of the following links are Michigan based.

Teen Works (Michigan Based)

http://www.teenworks.net/

West Michigan Home School Athletic Association:

http://www.wmhsaa.com/index.php

Lansing Home School Athletic Association:

http://www.homeschoolingmichigan.com/kidsports.html

Abeka Curriculum:

http://www.abeka.com/abekaonline/downloadcatalogs/?user=guest

Home School Resources:

http://homeschoolcentral.com/

Homeschooling Conventions:

http://www.greathomeschoolconventions.com/

Please know that homeschooling is not for everyone. If homeschooling is your education of choice or if you are considering homeschooling please know that this is not a quick fix for children with A.D.D or A.D.H.D. Speaking from experience there will be times when your child will burst into tears because of the frustrations that can come with learning at home. Homeschooling is not easy on the parents, in fact parents need to be more involves than ever before in their child's schooling. If the parent is not attentive the child could end up failing out of school or falling behind their peers in school. While homeschooling can produce some very smart and well rounded students, it can also produce lazy, unhealthy, and uneducated adults.

Looking back on my own experience with homeschooling I realize that I got a good education and I was well socialized. I was involved in home school sports, a top rated youth choir, and had hundreds of friends home schooled and otherwise.

If any reads have any questions feel free to comment and I will try to get back to you in a timely manner.

Ped Egging the Human Heart

I have this affinity to the callouses on my feet. I like to get rid of them. Standing on my feet all day I seem to get an excessive thickness on my heels. A few years ago my wife bought me a “Ped Egg”. You remember the television commercials, don't you? They show a woman using this contraption to remove those pesky callouses on her feet. In just a few minutes they show the woman holding out what seems to be the entire first layer of her dermis in this little glorified skin shaver.

Tonight I was Ped Egging my own pesky, crusty, feet when a thought popped into my head like the sweet aroma of dead skin filling air and half filing the plastic egg. I found myself wondering, “I wonder if Jesus needed a Ped Egg?” I am sure He did because He walked everywhere. I would imagine that His feet were much more crusty than anything we would see today. Then I wondered, “if Jesus ever took a pumice stone to His feet, or at least tried to scrape His callouses on a rock?”

I can't help thoughts like these. They seem to fly into my head so fast that I don't have time to block them. I'm not sure I would even if I could. I get a lot of thinking done this way. The thought flies in, my A.D.D. kicks in, and my mind goes from “What is the square root of 3905763?” (because I am very smart) to, “I wonder if Jesus ever chewed on His own toes nails?” (again, because I am very smart).

I often wonder how far Jesus walked out of His way to see just one person? How far would He go to let some one know His love? The christianese thing to say would be “He walked all the way to the cross”. But, really, how far? Or, better yet, how far did he run, if you see Jesus as the father in the parable of the prodigal son? I don't run much, but I have done my share and it only increases the thickness of skin on my heels, so I would bet that Jesus had to do a lot more running than me.

I tell you what, I see Jesus not as someone who just runs to people in need, but I see Him as a Ped Egg to a world of calloused hearts. And getting down on His knees, looking past the stink and dirt, He takes His Ped Egg and begins to gently, lovingly, scrape the callouses off of our hearts. The interesting thing is, once He gets the callouses off of our hearts, He asks us to go and start doing the same for someone else.

So, who's heart are you Ped Egging?

Human Trafficing

As of late I have been awakened to the rising problem of human trafficking in our country. My wife and I were sitting on the couch a few nights before the super bowl and she was reading and article on human trafficing in America. she read to me a quote from that article in which it stated (and I am paraphrasing here) that something like 20,000 women and young girls were trafficked into Indianapolis to service the super bowl attendees. The super bowl is the single most event in the U.S in which women and girls are trafficked.

These statics blew me away! How could I have missed this before? I guess I have just chosen to not think about the problem. I recently read a book by Philip Yancey entitled "What Good is God" in which Yancey interviews a room full of prostitutes and sex workers. Durring the interview Yancey listened to the women compare their daily quotas. "Linda, a former top madam in Australia who's business used to gross $30,000 per week, remarked that in her day the 'girls' serviced around five clients a day; now they have to accomodate ten to fifteen. Hilda from Costa Rica reacted with shock: 'Fifteen? I did up to a hundred a day, on a double shift!" I was so caught off guard by what these women were saying. I became so sad as I read this portion of Yancey's book that I had to put it down for a few minutes in fear of breaking into tears.

My question is, where is the church? Where is the government? To be honest I know the answer to that question. One of the women Yancey interviewed said that they can't rely on the government officials to stop human trafficing. The government officials are some of their best customers.

I lived for several years in a small town near Lansing, Michigan. When I first moved there I saw a building (L.A. Spa) across from a John Deere dealership which from its name looked to be a spa. Boy was I wrong. From talking with some friends I soon found out that this was no spa. I should have known from the V.I.P sign on the door that it was more than a day spa. My friends and I would make jokes about the place, but since I have learned more about human trafficing I don't find it funny anymore.

What if the women hold up in that place are there against their will? What if they are never allowed to see the light of day or step outside and get some fresh air? What if they are being beaten daily? I have never seen anyone go in or out of that building, yet the sign out front is always lit up saying they are open.

My heart breaks for those women inside that place.

I have heard that the place has been raided by the police several times yet it is still open twenty four hours a day seven days a week. I cannot imagine the conditions the women are forced to live in. Just how many women are in there?

It is strange that this little town from the outside seems to have it all together. There website states that "they come home to a small, close-knit community of established neighborhoods and businesses where people care for and about their neighbors. This community spirit makes Portland a hometown we are proud of." Yet, when you look past the shiny veneer of this little town it has a very dark under belly of sex and drug abuse. The sad thing is that this is certainly not the only town with problems like these. There are millions of small towns with these same problems, yet the brothels stay open and the strips clubs continue to flourish.

Because of these problems I am made keenly aware of the need for a loving and just God. One who gives grace and continues to give it as long as we live even to those who are doing the trafficking.

Captain Planet

One of my favorite cartoons as a kids was "Captain Planet". I loved sitting in front of the t.v. watching these characters battling the "bad guys" as they pollute the planet. They were dumping toxic waist out of big metal drums or spilling oil in the ocean. Anyway you look at it Captain Planet was the best cartoon ever!

I was singing the theme song in the kitchen this morning as my wife was fixing her breakfast. I asked her if she had ever seen the show. She said, "does it sound like I have ever seen the show? You have to remember I grew up in a house of girls." I thought to myself first, "how could someone so smart not have seen such an awesome cartoon?" and second, "that must really stink not seeing the best cartoon ever made".

As I was thinking about Captain Planet I wondered if Jesus' disciples ever felt like captain planet as they were spreading the gospel across the world. I am sure Paul had to feel that way because he was writing letters and planting churches all across the land. Paul came up against some pretty heavy spiritual pollution in some of the churches he planted.

I wonder if the pastors of today's churches feel this way. Like they have be the one to save the day and clean up the church environment. No matter how you look at it, our pastors have it pretty ruff. The next time you see your pastor let him or her know how much you appreciate how hard they work and the mess they go through everyday.

Where Momma Doe?

This morning I had a really hard time pulling myself out of the precious slumber that I enjoy so much. The main reason for this struggle was my son. He just turn two years old and he seems to have an acute case of the separation anxiety. We put him down for "night night" at right around 7:45 pm and he slept like a baby until my wife and I went to bed at 10 pm. We were laying in bed on the verge of entering dream land when we hear the piercing sound of screams and tears and "where momma doe? where momma doe?". Renee got up the first time and tried to settle the little one down and it only took a few minutes. She found her way back to the bedroom bumping into walls on her way. About ten minutes later we here the same piercing screams and tears as before. This time I choose to go and again it only took a few minutes to calm the boy and I was back in the bed lumbering toward la la land.
Well, to make a long story short, after getting up for what seemed like the twentieth time the alarm went off and it was time to start another day.
As I was spending my time with Jesus this morning I was praying and I got this image of God, frustrated and perturbed, coming to me once again to comfort me, His whining, screaming, child for the one thousandth time. I was taken aback by this image of God consistently coming to my aid as His child. He is there whenever I wake up screaming with tears saying "where Jesus doe?".
No matter how often I wake up in the middle of the night kicking and screaming He is always there. He may be exhausted and a little frustrated for having to get up for the one millionth time, but He always comes to aid me in my time of need. What a great Father I have.

I'm Finished!!

Well, it's done!! I finished the book I was reading, “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” by Donald Miller. I have to say that I am rather impressed with myself. I can't recall a time when it took me less than a week to read a book. Of course there are the kids books that I read almost daily to my son, but those don't count. I am talking about a book with 200 or more pages.


I am the slowest read I know and still slower than the ones I don't. I get distracted very easily and find myself reading over what I have all ready read just to get back to the place where I got distracted. In college I only finished one book in the entire two and a half years and it was only 150 pages long and it still took me five weeks to get it done. The amazing thing is that I still graduated with a 3.4 GPA. It was the book from my first college class. I am proud to say that this book that I just finished was 259 pages long.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is a very easy read if you were wondering. It was a story about finding story in the story you are living. That's a lot of story.

Oops, my son is waking up from his nap.

I was just so inspired by Miller's stories of world travel, meeting new people, and biking across the country, that I simply had a hard time putting it down. I would encourage anyone who is thinking of reading this wonderful book to do it. Live in the story that Donald Miller is telling, or better yet, read the book and get involved in your own story. Oh, don't just take my word for it, find out for yourself.

Before I started reading this book I read the back cover, you know, to get a feel for what the book is about. I also read the note about the author and I almost didn't read the book. Donald Miller serves on President Barack Obama's task force on Fatherhood and Healthy Families. I consider myself a conservative and had to get over myself to read this book. Who knew God could use a Democrat to introduce people to a larger story?!?! I am kidding of course. I have a number of family and friends who voted for President Obama and I love each one of them very much. It really doesn't matter who any of us votes for that matters, it's about how we all work together to make the country better, no matter who wins the election.

This really isn't an political blog I promise. That was one of my more distracted moments. It could be my A.D.D. or the fact that I am watching the movie “Groundhogs Day” as I write this. Anyway, I love Donald Miller's writing and I would encourage anyone to read any and all of his amazing books.

Here is the official trailer for the movie “Blue Like Jazz”.

 

 

The Story Your Living

By this point in the week we are heading straight into the mid-week hump and I have to say, I wish we were already at the weeks end. Since my son was born my wife and I rarely do anything outside of the home. Marcus (our son) heads to bed around seven o'clock and Renee and I get to work doing dishes, cleaning the house, and watching “Biggest Loser” and eating popcorn. I know, eating while watching a weight loss show seems pretty cliche, but that is exactly what we do almost every week.


I have recently been reading a book which talks about viewing life as a story and I have to say it is hard to do. I was thinking about the story I have been living thus far in my life. I came to the realization that I have been living a small story. A boring story. A story that would put people to sleep if it were ever to be put into film or book.

I struggle with an immense fear of people, conversation, and failure. Once when I was ten years old I started my own lawn mowing service called “Sutter's Lawn Mowing”. I hung fliers around a few towns in our area with the little pull off tabs with my phone number on them and waited for someone to call. It took a few weeks but I finally got a call back. I remember that phone call like it was yesterday. My mom answered and called me into to room and whispered to me that it was someone wanting me to mow their lawn. I took the phone into my shaking hands and put it up to my ear and said, “hellee, Helli, uh!, Hello?” I felt like the stupidest kid in the neighborhood. From that point on I hated talking on the phone and still do to this day.

There were a few years in there where I actually lived in fear of having to answer the telephone and speak with the person on the other end. My fear of phone calls translated and shifted into a fear of people. I wouldn't look people in the eye when in a conversation and rarely started one.

Looking back I can see that my fear kept me living a small story. My fear held me captive for far too long. Now, ironically I work in customer service at a retail store. Let's just say I had to face my fear of people head out.

Before reading this book I had not given much thought to what kind of story I was living. I was just living life, or so I thought. I'm the type of person who tries to live in the here and now, not the future. However, I do sometimes find myself living in the past. When I was in high school I played basketball on a home school team. I wasn't very good and spent most of my short lived career sitting on the bench. I was heavy set and short in stature, not a good combination for the sport of basketball, but I loved to play the game. It seems strange, but sometimes I find myself thinking back to a basketball tournament where I I scored eight point in the matter of five minutes. A career first (and last).. When I think about that time in my life I have to smile because I was such a dork.

My story at this point does have all the elements it needs to be a great story according to Donald Miller author of “A Millions Miles in a Thousand Years”. He says the best stories involve “a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it”. It is true isn't it? All the great epics portray someone overcoming immense odds to, like Frodo getting the ring to the Mountain of Doom or like Rudy getting the hell beaten outta him by college football players.

I haven't ever faced Orcs or gotten my hind end handed to me by a seven foot tall human battering ram, but I have been through my share of life conflict. I don't want to go into my past here but if you read some of my previous blogs you will discover some of the “poo” I have been through.

I'm still not quite sure what I am trying to “get” yet, but I know that it involves my family. My family is my world. I basically get up, go to work, and come back home, and I do it everyday for my family.

I used to think that the thing I was trying to get was becoming a world famous worship leader who would lead thousands of people in worship in stadiums across the country. I would travel all around the world on tour with Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio. However, as I said in one of my recent posts I got wrapped up in leading worship at my church and kind of forgot about my family. I spent way too much time working and much too little time with my wife and son.

Stepping down as worship leader was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. It wasn't just because I love music and I love the people that I was leading, but more because I had to let go of the dream. I had to lay down what I thought was important to be a better father, husband, and servant. I got distracted by a smaller side story. I took my eyes off of the real story, which I'm still not clear on, and began to focus on the side plot. Being a world famous worship leader is a smaller story. Being a good father and husband, now that is a story that I want to get wrapped up in.

So what kind of story are you living? Are you lost in the side story, back story, or the special affects? They are all things to distract us from the real story. I can't tell you what your story is, nor can you tell me mine. God has a story for each of us to live, we just have to hit the play button. So... what are you waiting for? To quote from the movie “Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader”, “Your journey begins now!”

The Riv

This morning our family visited a church that we have been to in the past. Riverview Community Church in Holt, MI. Renee and I visited Riverview about seven years ago before we were married. We really liked the church back then, but felt that it was too big for us small town folk. Seven years ago God had a message for us through the Pastor, Noel Heikkenin about sex. We got the CD of the message and listened to it a few different times.

This week God had a message for me. It seems that everywhere I look God is talking to me about the freedom we as Christ followers have through Christ. I recently read a book “Bringing Up Boys” by Dr. James Dobson and part of that book talked about freedom in Christ. I was talking to a customer at the store and he talked to me about the same thing and then this morning. I guess God thinks I need to know my true freedom in Christ.

Freedom in Christ has been something that I have been thinking about for many years, but I never really got it. I couldn't anyone who would explain it to me in plain terms that I could apply to life. Well, this morning I finally found someone willing to tell me in plain terms that I could understand. The text used was 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and it is as follows...

1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. (ESV)

I do not want to try and explain this passage at this time as I am still trying to process all the information I received this morning. I want to continue studying this passage to increase my understanding before I elaborate on this subject more. If you would like to hear the same message that we heard this morning just click on the link http://rivchurch.com/ . 

The Funk

Over the past few weeks I have been learning so much about myself and what I have been living like. As a worship leader I felt I was one of the best I had ever experienced. I felt that I had the right to think I was the best because I worked hard to better myself in the realm of worship music. I would work feverishly to work out a new song I heard on the radio and try to get it ready to play the next week at church. I found myself isolating myself from my wife and my son so that I could prepare for church once a week.


Granted, I was very busy. I work fifty hours a week at my job and then I would spend another ten to twenty hours on music at home. I found myself more married to worship music than to my wife and my son. I would throw myself into music and work and leave my family hanging out to dry.

Today, life is much different for our family. I stepped down from the worship leader position at our former church and basically stopped playing music all together. I had to detox from the habits I had gotten myself into as a worship leader. In fact we have been away from our old church about 6 months now and I just started to pick up my guitar again. It wasn't that I don't like music. I love music. I love everything about it, but I hated what it turned my into. Music brought out the pride in my life. I feel like I am finally starting to recover and learn how to give worship totally to God.

I played one of my favorite worship songs this morning I used “I” instead of “we” in the song. For me it took on a totally new meaning. It is good for the church to sings songs as a body, but so often we lose (as I did) our individual identity in the church. I would encourage you to change up the worship songs you sing and change the words from “we” to “me” and I think it will bring the effect of the song home to your heart.

I am so thankful that I am starting to come out of the funk that I have been in. I am hoping that maybe if you are in a funk today that this blog will find a place in your heart you too will be able to step out of the funk and into the light of day again.