Some of you do it all the time. I don’t know whether to offer congratulations or condolences.

Becky is spending the week in Memphis helping our youngest daughter celebrate her birthday.  It has been a wonderful week for mom and daughter. But the flight to Memphis meant an early Monday morning trip to the airport for us. In deciding when to leave, we had to factor the I-95 component into the equation. We left earlier than we might have and made the trip in 45 minutes or so. By the time I was heading home in the north bound lanes after dropping Becky off, I was glad we had made the decision to leave early. Southbound traffic had become a bit thick.

Becky had plenty of time to enjoy the Starbucks near Gate B-14. Continue reading →

Becky and I are enjoying the life of long-distant grandparents this month. Last week we were with the Massachusetts three – five and two years old, and one month old.  At the end of the month we will be in Michigan for the baptism of the youngest of those two (one and three years old).

I like being a grandfather.  Papa in Massachusetts and Grandpa in Michigan.

After a few days in Massachusetts, we brought our five-year old Caleb home with us for three days before returning him to his parents.  Yes, we were the typical grandparents, soaking in every wonderful moment of the visit, exhausted at the end of the day, and sad to have the experience over (the Lego creations are still on the coffee table in the living room), but not altogether unhappy to have our house and our days back.

Grandparenting is one of God’s best inventions. Continue reading →

John Smoltz was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame this past week, and his Cooperstown speech has made for good discussion among fans.  Included in his speech on Sunday was a warning to parents who have made competitive youth baseball a year-round sport. Specifically he warned about damage being done to young pitching arms, and aggressive parents whose dreams for their child’s professional career are stronger than any twelve-year old’s could possibly be.

Children matter. But sometimes it seems as if children matter in the same way that mom and apple pie matter. More lip service than getting down on the floor to play with a toddler or seeing to bed-time prayers with an eight-year old or talking through hurt feelings tough decisions with a teenager. Continue reading →

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6

The youngest kids among the 120 or so who will be a part of this year’s VBS at LPC are four years old. The oldest are 12 or 13. Even without anticipating much change in life expectancy, we will be well into the 22nd Century when many of these children are old.

Let the techno-buffs and the futurists debate what that 22nd world may bring. We can barely imagine what may be, and there is not a whole lot we can say for certain. Utopia or dystopia, who knows? There’s one thing we can know for sure: it will be a world seasoned with the salt of the gospel, illuminated by the good works of those who are following Jesus. We know for sure because of VBS. More precisely because of what VBS represents.  VBS represents the promise of faithful parents and a supporting church to raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Continue reading →