Awana may have ended, but the memorizing continues...
Now that Andrew has finished such a big chunk of Scripture (Ephesians 2:1-10), he's whipping through individual verses.
Matt's trucking down the Romans road.
Emery's going with him.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Spring has sprung
Wa-hoo! I love spring! The grass is green and growing again. Leaves are sprouting on the trees. And our garden is growing!
Our lettuce has sprouted.
And our spinach. I can taste them already!
We planted something new last year that we can harvest this summer - asparagus! I love asparagus!
We also planted our peach tree last year. Although we really shouldn't expect a crop for about 3 years, do you see the little blossoms? We might get a few peaches this year! Can you tell I'm excited?
Our lettuce has sprouted.
And our spinach. I can taste them already!
We planted something new last year that we can harvest this summer - asparagus! I love asparagus!
We also planted our peach tree last year. Although we really shouldn't expect a crop for about 3 years, do you see the little blossoms? We might get a few peaches this year! Can you tell I'm excited?
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Soccer...again
Does this look familiar?
Same shirt, same shorts, same shoes, same team, same coach, same opposing teams even.
But a new season.
And Matt's still having a good time too. He managed to score a few goals today. It helps that he's not the shortest kid out there for once!
How about that defense? He managed to stop the other team from scoring and almost turned it all the way around to score for his team...almost.
Same shirt, same shorts, same shoes, same team, same coach, same opposing teams even.But a new season.
And Matt's still having a good time too. He managed to score a few goals today. It helps that he's not the shortest kid out there for once!How about that defense? He managed to stop the other team from scoring and almost turned it all the way around to score for his team...almost.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Awana Closing Ceremony
The boys and girl just finished Awana for the year and had their graduation ceremony.
Emery was very excited to sing her Cubbies song.
Matt was very proud of his 1st year Sparks ribbon. He did a great job memorizing 25 verses!
Andrew finished his first T&T book and earned a medal! He too did a great job memorizing 40 verses. He even got to recite a couple of verses during the ceremony.
Emery was very excited to sing her Cubbies song.
Matt was very proud of his 1st year Sparks ribbon. He did a great job memorizing 25 verses!
Andrew finished his first T&T book and earned a medal! He too did a great job memorizing 40 verses. He even got to recite a couple of verses during the ceremony.Tuesday, April 5, 2011
HILARIOUS!
Are you ready for the cutest and funniest thing ever?! Well, at least in our house. I came downstairs today to find Emery doing this completely on her own self-initiative.
Then before you know it, she gets herself a workout partner.
Notice that they are ready with their step, dumbbell and workout stick/sword/battle axe for future use! They worked out on their own for about 30 minutes!
Then before you know it, she gets herself a workout partner.
Notice that they are ready with their step, dumbbell and workout stick/sword/battle axe for future use! They worked out on their own for about 30 minutes!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Golf ball size hail
Wow! It's hard to describe what we just went through. It was loud. It was abrupt. It was powerful. A thunderstorm had been brewing and swept right over us.
And after it was done, there was hail all over the lawn.
There was literal golf ball size hail. And here comes some more...
And after it was done, there was hail all over the lawn.
There was literal golf ball size hail. And here comes some more...
Friday, April 1, 2011
#7 - First Break All the Rules
I just finished reading First Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curtis Hoffman.
Now, I'm not a proponent of reading secular management books for guidance regarding pastoral ministry. However, it is amazing to me how the best managers follow biblical principles of godly leadership. For example, the best managers are humble (Phil 2:3-8). They are are servant leaders trying to bring out the best in their workers and seeking the success of their workers and not their own benefit at the expense of their workers (Mark 10:42-45). They care about their workers and meet with them regularly - 1 on 1. That is, they know each individual worker and how best to help them succeed in their role similar to a husband knowing his wife and how best to help her succeed in her role (1 Peter 3:7).
With that understanding, some of this book was not biblical and not worth reading. Some of this book had great ideas but just needed the terms to be translated to a pastoral context, ie - talents and strengths could be spiritual gifts. And some of this book, was right on with biblical principles that could and should be applied to both secular leadership and pastoral leadership.
Without going through everything in the book, one really fascinating point that the book made was that typical managers try to focus on the weaknesses of their people so as to improve them. The latest conventional wisdom is that we should be well rounded individuals. However, their research found that this method actually discourages people and reduces productivity. Instead, we should focus on people's God given strengths (and for Christians - spiritual gifts) and help them flourish in those roles.
Granted, when people are in sin, as Christians, we should exhort and encourage them to repent. But if people simply have a weakness in an area, we should focus more of our time helping them excel in their strengths and work around their weaknesses. This was very encouraging to me personally. As a pastor, often times people want you to be good at everything and focus in on something they don't like about you or that you're not good at. As a leader, this gave me more incentive to help the people I serve with to excel at what they enjoy and are gifted at, supplying them with others who can complement their weaknesses so that as a team, they are well rounded.
This book has very valuable insight and practical wisdom for managers/leaders including lots of classic mistakes poor leaders make. For those in leadership, I highly recommend it but with the caveat that it will require some spiritual discernment.
Now, I'm not a proponent of reading secular management books for guidance regarding pastoral ministry. However, it is amazing to me how the best managers follow biblical principles of godly leadership. For example, the best managers are humble (Phil 2:3-8). They are are servant leaders trying to bring out the best in their workers and seeking the success of their workers and not their own benefit at the expense of their workers (Mark 10:42-45). They care about their workers and meet with them regularly - 1 on 1. That is, they know each individual worker and how best to help them succeed in their role similar to a husband knowing his wife and how best to help her succeed in her role (1 Peter 3:7).With that understanding, some of this book was not biblical and not worth reading. Some of this book had great ideas but just needed the terms to be translated to a pastoral context, ie - talents and strengths could be spiritual gifts. And some of this book, was right on with biblical principles that could and should be applied to both secular leadership and pastoral leadership.
Without going through everything in the book, one really fascinating point that the book made was that typical managers try to focus on the weaknesses of their people so as to improve them. The latest conventional wisdom is that we should be well rounded individuals. However, their research found that this method actually discourages people and reduces productivity. Instead, we should focus on people's God given strengths (and for Christians - spiritual gifts) and help them flourish in those roles.
Granted, when people are in sin, as Christians, we should exhort and encourage them to repent. But if people simply have a weakness in an area, we should focus more of our time helping them excel in their strengths and work around their weaknesses. This was very encouraging to me personally. As a pastor, often times people want you to be good at everything and focus in on something they don't like about you or that you're not good at. As a leader, this gave me more incentive to help the people I serve with to excel at what they enjoy and are gifted at, supplying them with others who can complement their weaknesses so that as a team, they are well rounded.
This book has very valuable insight and practical wisdom for managers/leaders including lots of classic mistakes poor leaders make. For those in leadership, I highly recommend it but with the caveat that it will require some spiritual discernment.
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