"Baby Landon's father, Marine LCPL Carpenter, made the ultimate sacrifice while serving with the 3/8 in Afghanistan earlier this year.. a month before his son was born." Used by permission/Inarastudios.com
This is not a biological statement. It is a character statement. Any dog can produce offspring. But dogs do not father their offspring; they could care less. Fathering means self-sacrifice.
Last week I wrote about our family picture shoot and my own impatience in the process. I asked for any other stories that you might want to submit, mainly so that I wouldn’t feel so alone in the role of spoiler. Thank you, Amy Kendall, for sending your pics and for your brief narrative.
Amy’s sister wanted everyone in white shirts for the picture, but somehow Amy did not get the word. In Amy’s words, “I don’t think I was a ‘picture’ of Christ that day.” The final result is below. Continue Reading…
Thanksgiving was fun. All of our kids were home along with new spouses and friends.
Our meal preparations were lively as the bustle around the kitchen was full of laughter and stories and conversation and an overabundance of excellent cooks.
We moved the dining room table into the living room, added the leaves, pushed the breakfast table next to it and seated fourteen all together. It was delightful. That was Thursday.
Saturday, we planned to make a family picture. Family pictures tend to become aggravating events–worth it, but aggravating.
This year’s picture will probably be memorialized among my clan as the year that dad (that’s me) displayed my own lack of self-control. If the saying is true that “You can tell the size of a man by the size of the things that upset him,” then I was the smallest one in the picture. Continue Reading…
“He looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘NO!’ at the top of his lungs.”
“I told her she couldn’t go to a movie with her friends. She sneaked out her window and went anyway.”
“He’s always facing off with me when his father is out of town. He knows better than to do it when his father is home.”
Defiance is a mountain–a very big mountain–if you don’t conquer it. And the earlier you climb it in your child’s life, the better. Continue Reading…
John Medina, in his new book, Brain Rules for Baby, says that the research shows that four-year-olds lie about once every two hours and six-year olds once every ninety minutes. Some of these studies were done inside their homes, not in a clinic.
The Bible indicates that every man, woman, and child is prone to lie. (Only Jesus did not lie, but he did tell some whopping big truths!)
So what do we do about lying? Continue Reading…
