Eagle Scout

This past Saturday we celebrated as our son, Kaleb, was awared his Eagle Scout badge. His is officaially an Eagle Scout now. It is quite a significant accomplishment and one that we are quite proud of. Kaleb started as a Tiger in Cub Scouts way back when he was in kindergarden. He's come a long way. Here are the requirements to become an Eagle Scout.

I've learned through watching both of my sons earn the rank of Eagle Scout that this award is a lot like life. There are rewards when you stick to something for the long haul, if you know what I mean. There were sacrifices that had to be made. There were times that they had to do what they were "required" to do rather than what they "wanted" to do. One of the main things was that each boy had to be determined to keep their eye on the goal and pursure it. There are always many things in life that can distract you away from your goal.

Way to go, Big K!

Worship & Evangelism Defined!

I came across this great definition of worship and evangelism on Mark Batterson's blog:

For what it's worth, here are my personal definitions of worship and evangelism. Worship is bragging about God to God. Evangelism is bragging about God to others. I think evangelism is a simple extension of worship. Let's not stop bragging about God when we walk out of church!

Batterson goes on to give a dream of his - I've had the same dream:

I've always dreamed of being part of a church that was experiencing the reality of Acts 2:47. It says people were added daily. Don't you want to be part of a church that is experiencing life changing transformation on a daily basis?

What do you think?

Just wait until . . .

This morning my two boys went to their first summer soccer workouts. I guess it just hit me, but I now have two boys at the high school, a junior and a freshman. My high school days don't seem that long ago, and I certainly don't feel that old.

I remember when my wife was pregnant with our oldest. I remember someone saying "enjoy your sleep now, just wait until he's born." Then after he was born, "just wait until he walks." The big one was always "wait until he's a teenager." As if the next stage in parenting was something to dread, and wish away.

Amy and I made a decision when we first heard the "just wait until . . . " nay-sayers. We decided that we were going to enjoy each and every stage that our children would go through. And we have. This doesn't mean that we've done everything perfect or it's been all rosy. But, we made the decision that we would enjoy our kids.

And we look forward to having two in high school and one in fourth grade. Are you "just wait until" or are you "looking forward to . . ."?

FYI - I'm not looking forward to the smell of sweaty teenage boys in the van when I pick them up!

Irritations

For the past few days, simple things that I have tried to accomplish have turned into - to put it mildly - big irritations.

Our refrigerator began to die about a month ago. I did the "thaw-out and restart" thing several times after it had frozen up. It would work for about a week, then freeze up again. Last week it kept turning on and off, becoming very unpredictable. Finally, after talking to several others, we headed to Lowe's and picked out a new fridge. It was to be delivered on Monday around noon and the old one hauled off.

Not so quick. We get a message to call back to the store. They're closed, so we call in the morning. They didn't put the fridge on the truck because it had a dent in it. So, I go look at the dent and pulled a Dave Ramsey and asked how much they would take off for the dent. $150. Cool. But no fridge until Tuesday.

As it would happen, they show up to deliver in the evening while I'm at a meeting. They refuse to hook up the ice maker due to the copper tubing that was used by the old fridge. So I have to go to the store and get new parts for that. Needless to say, I finally got that fixed tonight, so I've been dealing with that fridge for the past three days when I thought I wouldn't have to touch it and it would be finished on Monday.

I've had a similar deal with the church van. The A/C hasn't been working right, so we need to get it fixed before kids go to camp this coming Sunday. We take it to the shop last Friday and get word that it is ready on Monday. We pick it up, the A/C works but the vents aren't working properly. So we take it back on Tuesday. We pick it up today and now A/C not working. The compressor I guess has gone out. So it's still there. . .

I remember reading (I think it was in the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren) that if I need to grow in a certain area, God will allow you to experience the exact opposite situation. For example, if I need to grow in patience, I will not learn patience if all the traffic lights are green. But I will learn patience at the red ones.

As I look at these two "irritations" - I believe I'm learning patience and the fact that I'm not in control. I believe that if you are not learning, that you are not growing. If you are not growing, you are not becoming more like Jesus.

So, I have to look at it like this: I am grateful for these irritations. Without them, I most likely wouldn't be learning. What are you learning through your irritations?