I don't like mail

I don't like getting mail. Most of the mail I receive is either bills or junk mail. It's rare that anything worthwhile ends up in my mailbox. However, there are those unexpected things that throw this kind of thinking right out the window. You can view exhibit "A" in the photo below. Nothing brightens my day quite like receiving a handwritten thank you note from my 5 year old granddaughter. It's only a few simple words, but you can just see the care she took in forming each letter. You can imagine my reaction when I opened it... "AWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!" :-)

Truth Legacy

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new blogger amongst us. My very own wife, Tami has started a blog as well. You can find it here:

www.truthlegacy.blogspot.com

If you think you'll find posts that are similar to mine, you don't know Tami very well. She is a much deeper thinker than I am (it's obvious she is light years more intelligent than me). She's likely to tackle subjects such as politics (we're staunch ultra-conservatives), Christianity (we take nothing more seriously than our Reformed Christian faith and the Holy Bible) or any number of topics I choose to avoid on my pathetic little blog. Tami has an interest in challenging the post-modern worldview. Nobody in my household (or whole family for that matter) is better equipped to do this.
Don't look for posts daily either. Tami is one to agonize over a post for days. She will revise, edit, delete, research, and perfect her writing before she posts it. Me? Isn't it obvious? I type whatever happens to be on my heart that day and post it.

Of course you're going to get posts about our children and grandchildren too. She is a mother and a grandmother after all.

I urge you all to check out her blog. Especially if you're looking for something a little deeper than what you get from me.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Honey!

Beach Reach!

Several months ago Michael approached Tami and me and asked if he could go on a spring break missions trip to Panama. The cost was around $500. We both eagerly said, "Yes!". $500 for a weeklong trip to Panama... what a deal! It wasn't until a few days later that we realized he was talking about Panama City Beach in Florida. What? You're not going to Panama in Central Americas?

Well, it turns out it's an excellent opportunity anyway. Even if he is only going to Florida and not some third world country. Michael will be traveling with about 25 other NKU students and a handful of adults to participate in a large, multi-university program called, "BEACH REACH". Beach Reach is a missions opportunity by college students and for college students. The Beach Reach teams will be offering free van rides to intoxicated spring breakers. You'd like to think this type of service wouldn't be necessary, but the truth is thousands of underage students are getting sloshed in Florida and other spring break destinations every year. Very sad! The Beach Reach teams will also be cooking and serving free pancakes to the multitude of hungover students who may not otherwise be thinking about eating a good breakfast. My guess is they are trying to save their money for their night life. Finally the teams will be handing out tracts on the beach. You know, people on the beach need Christ too :-) The Beach Reach teams will not be spending all their time serving other spring breakers. They do get time to relax and enjoy themselves too.

All in all, I'm really proud of Michael's heart for Christ and his willingness to serve others. How convenient that he decided to take a missions trip to Florida when there's snow on the ground in Cincinnati. You know, people in Alaska need Christ too :-)

Michael leaves for Panama tomorrow afternoon. I'll be praying for his safety and for the furthering of the kingdom on the beaches of Florida. I only hope he brings some sunshine home with him. God bless you, my son.

SNOW DAY!

No school today! SNOW DAY!

As a teacher, I am not normally a fan of snow days. I know that sounds kind of crazy, but the unscheduled days off just cause more problems than they are worth. However, in this case I was happy about it. We had our second evening of parent/teacher conferences last night and I had to work late. After working late, it's a strange feeling arriving back at work the next morning... it almost feels like I never left. It's not a good feeling and this snow day helped me avoid it this time around. What a blessing today! Thank you, Lord!

To my relatives in Florida, I have only one thing to say:

WISH YOU WERE HERE!

From bad to worse

Local Weatherman now predicts 4-8 inches of snow for Cincinnati.

Things are going from bad to worse!

By the way, my mom reported it was cold in Florida over the weekend. She said it got down into the 50's. Poor babies! I don't know how they stood it!

Spring is on the...

Hooray! It's March 5th and spring is on the way! Wait... what? 3-5 inches of snow by morning? No, that's not right. It's March. Winter is supposed to be behind us. There must be some mistake. Could you please check the forecast again? Seriously? The worst snow of the season? NOW? I knew I shouldn't have put my snow shovel away! DRAT!

Nooooooo!!!!!

Explain!

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case it's two pictures and eight words, but you get the idea. It completely sums up what the problem is... You judge for yourself.

The picture is actually too small to see, so here's the general idea. In the first panel the parents are demanding an explanation of the bad grades from the child as he cowers in fear. In the second panel the parents are demanding an explanation of the bad grades from the teacher while the child stands behind them gloating. Sadly this happens all the time. See the problem?

The Russian Ballerina

Sveta started her ballet lessons this week. It seems to me she may have an unfair advantage over the other kids. Aren't Russians really good at ballet? I'll bet it's in her blood. Here's my little ballerina :-)

Small Group

Most readers of this blog are probably familiar with the concept of small groups as it relates to church life and your church family. If you're not familiar, it's basically a group of 4 or 5 families from the church that get together on a monthly basis. Our church divides the groups based on where you live. Most of our families are from Indiana. The evening begins with a meal. Food is always a good way to start any gathering. Then there's a Bible lesson led by a church elder followed by prayer requests. The evening usually ends with a decadent dessert and socializing. Each family takes a turn hosting so you only have to clean their house every 4th or 5th month. Face it folks... when you have company over you clean stuff you wouldn't normally clean :-) Tonight we meet with our small group and I am really looking forward to it. The families in our small group have really meshed well. I'm guessing it's not always that way, but I can only speak for our own group. it also doesn't hurt that they are all good cooks... yum! I am thankful for this group of believers in my life. Of course it's also wonderful to have my regular family (Parents, siblings, nieces etc...), but a person can never have too much family and our small group just extends the number the people we care about and pray for. It also increases the number of those that care about us and pray for us. That's always a good thing.

Personal Responsibility

This is not going to be a rant about my stressful job. It's going to be a short commentary on the lack of personal responsibility.

What ever happened to people taking responsibility for their own actions? Watch any show where cops are arresting people. They all say the same thing. "It wasn't me!" "I didn't do it!" "Those aren't my drugs!" "I'm innocent, I swear!" Even when people witness the criminal committing the act, they'll STILL deny it!

I see the beginnings of these behaviors in my young students. During a quiet time, I saw and heard a particular student talking. I confronted the student and politely asked him to stop talking. This child looked me directly in the eye, without cracking a smile and said, "I wasn't talking". Remember I personally saw and heard him. I told him I saw and heard him talking and he once again firmly denied it. I was flabbergasted! Another student was observed by my teaching partner flashing an obscene hand gesture. When confronted, the student flatly denied any wrongdoing. My partner said she saw the whole thing and the student screamed, "I didn't do it you #$%@!" Unbelievable!

I always tell my students if they are honest and simply apologize, their consequence will be much less severe or the infraction may even be forgiven. But kids just don't get it! They lie through their teeth... every day! It's maddening!

It's obvious where these kids are learning these behaviors... their parents. A few weeks ago I saw some inappropriate images on a student's computer. Our school has a firewall, but it only blocks websites. For some reason the firewall can't block inappropriate pictures from Google Images without blocking ALL images. Anyway, this student had some horrible pictures on his computer (not pornography). The images were on his personal account and there was no way to deny downloading them. When the school attempted to give consequences, the student's mother sprang to his defense. She said it wasn't her son's fault the images were downloaded. She said it was the school's fault for not blocking them. Say what?????? This child is 11 years old and clearly knows right from wrong. When downloading the images, he KNEW they shouldn't be there. He clearly chose to do wrong. Where is the personal responsibility for this student? I think I'll try this method if I ever get pulled over for speeding. Can't you just hear me saying this to a cop? "You can't give me a speeding ticket officer. The government should have a speed regulator on my car. It's not my fault!". How do you think that's gonna fly? You're right... it's not.

I'm not sure what has happened to taking responsibility for one's own actions. Lack of personal responsibility is something that covers most facets of society today. It's not just kids and it's not just criminals. I see it everywhere I go. It's sad.