Caged Animal

After Griffin was born (4 years ago) I stayed at the hospital with my wife (Vange) for a couple of days. The mistake I made was admiting that I felt like a caged animal.... YIKES! That one still comes back to haunt me at times.

Speaking of caged animals - we have some friends that are expecting baby #4. The mom is supposed to be on very restricted activity because of some complications in the pregnancy. Vange called them and asked if we could bring dinner over. They are the kind of people who feel bad accepting kindness from others (we are trying to help them to learn how to let someone bless them.) God has a neat way of teaching ME lessons. The couple agreed to have dinner with us.... only if they could pick up dinner and bring it to our house and hang with us for a while. My first thought was "No way, that defeats the purpose of mom taking it easy." Very quickly God nudged my spirit and said "Hey Doug, there are 2 big benefits to letting them bring dinner over....

1. This couple would love to feel needed, and know that they contribute..... even in a time when they could use some help and prayers.
2. Give them a chance to get out of the "cage" of their home and come enjoy a different setting with some friends, all while staying safely inactive for health reasons.

They came, brought dinner and their 3 kids (who love to play with our kids) and we sat and ate, talked, ate, laughed, ate, talked some more, ate, shared stories, ate, admitted fears of what lies ahead with possible complications for the new baby, ate, cleaned up multiple spills, ate, admitted that we don't feel like we've been to church unless there was loud rock-n-roll, ate.....

I have to say, I'm not sure all what God did in those 2 hours, but I AM SURE He was wrapping His arms around us and reassuring us that He loves us. Let me interject a quick prayer - God, You are incredible! Thank You for friends, family, and a chance to share the journey of life with them.... and thanks for a smokin' hot wife!

So, be aware of the caged animals in your life. Sometimes we need to learn how to accept the blessings of others. It will benefit us, but maybe more importantly, it could beneifit them, the giver, in a way we can only imagine. Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and action you have!

Are you Kidding?

We had a great weekend full of soccer, church, carving pumpkins, and NASCAR.... That's right race fans... Jimmie Johnson took the checkered flag in Atlanta Sunday.... that is is 8th win this year.

Griffin is my 3 year old son. He is one of our resident comedians. He is funny, without even trying. One thing he is learning is that "kidding" does not get you in trouble but "lying" does. His problem is that he blurs the line between the 2. Griffin is a typical 3 year old that does not want to get in trouble for some wrong doing (in fact, he is fine with Dawson getting in trouble for EVERYTHING...). We are talking about the 7 deadly sins at LifePoint. I've found that one of the most tempting sins for young-uns is lying (it's not one of the 7 we are discussing in the current series...) The last few times Griffin has been questioned about his behavior, he has denied being guilty.... After hours of having him in a small white room with a one-way mirror, loud heavy metal music blasting, and a spot light in his face (uhhh... OK, not really), he finally admitted guilt and claimed he was just "kidding." That's the point when I get to talk with him about what a lie is, and what kidding is. He's very smart, and I'm convinced he understands the difference. I'm sure he will still try to exploit the "kidding" defense a few more times... but we are learning life lessons together and having so much fun just doing everyday stuff. Don't worry about how tough we are are Griffin.... He's too cute to be too rough on him.....

Hogg Prayers

Hogg Prayers??? That's right..... Dawson is my oldest son, he is 5. I grew up watching (loving) The Dukes of Hazard.... OK, maybe it had a little something to do with Daisy...... But I loved the show! (There is a replica of the General Lee on the streets in Granite City - Very Cool!) One of the characters was named Boss Hogg. When Dawson was born, the nicknames came easily... and they just seemed to spin off of the Boss Hogg character...... We started with Daws Hogg, then Hoggalicious, then simply The Hogg. (My mother-in-law found NO HUMOR in this!) We even have custom T-shirts with some of these nicknames..... ANYWAY! We have always prayed at night with our kids, but lately Dawson and I have been kickin' it up a notch. We've been talking about how a prayer works... 1) We admit that it's kinda tough to pray to someone we can't see or hear, but we believe the Bible so we know God is real and He loves us. 2) We start by telling God we are crazy about Him (a phrase we use in our family to express love). 3)We thank God for some stuff. (We mix it up each night) 4) We ask God for stuff. (Protection, healing, etc... Juan Encarnacion is one of the St Louis Cardinals players, and he was hit in the eye with a ball and it broke the eye socket bones... Dawson prays for him every night.) 5)We say "Sorry" for saying and doing stuff that was wrong. 6) We wrap up by reminding God that we are crazy about Him.







It has been time well spent and I'm totally in love with my wife and kids. Dawson has been making my heart smile.... a lot!

Good Marriage Book

I grabbed this book at Granger Community Church a few weeks ago when we were there for the Innovate Conference. I'm only in the first chapter, but already I'm challenged to change my thoughts / behaviors toward my wife. One of the statements that GRABBED my attention is "My goal is to create in our marriage a place of SAFETY and SECURITY in which I can share EVERYTHING without fear and grow together in deeper love and intimacy." There will probably be some more posts to come from this reading.... by the way, I still hate to read, but this is awesome encouragement.

Really - you see this?

OK - the whole blog thing is really just an attempt for me to stay in touch with the "real world".... of course what that means is my "daughters' world." I was informed by a friend that weekly blogging is insufficient.... and maybe a bit lazy! Speaking of real world.... check this place out...... I here the Driven thing is awesome... http://www.lifepoint365.com/

The current series is talking about the seven deadly sins.... Good Stuff!

Trees Stink

Have you ever had one of those weekends that you just were not looking forward to? I had one of those this weekend..... I spent a good part of the time laboring to clean up some old storm damaged trees for one of my lawn clients.... (I have a lawn service on the side....) My brother was helping me and one of the 10" diameter branches that was suspended in a tree fell and hit him across the back and shoulder. Other than being a bit sore, he seems to be OK. The good thing about this project is it gave me a chance to play with man toys! CHAIN SAWS Later Gators

Great Weekend

Took a vacation day Monday... After Church I took my family to the lake and stayed the night in a friend's lake house.... Thanks Jeff and Lisa! My 5 year old son, Dawson, not only learned to ski on a 5 ft rope leader from the boom, he got up on his first try on the 75 ft rope behind the boat! I was shocked.... and intoxicated with excitement! By the way, our next lesson to teach him is how to let go of the rope when he falls....

Finally Friday

It's been a long week... I'm ready for some downtime.... Probably won't get any, but ready for it anyway. I'm listening to the new David Crowder release.... Remedy. Good stuff. Have a great weekend!

Time to Blog

Blogging takes time... time I don't have.... Oh well, enough whining! A group of leaders from LifePoint Church just went to the Innovate conference at Granger Community Church. Great stuff. We are continuing to learn how to lead people toward God and create a place for them to make real connection with God and people. We will still make mistakes, but we hope they are minor.... Until next time......