Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
I recently wrote about Andy Stanley’s book, Choosing to Cheat (see “Choosing to Cheat” 1.0) (this book was republished in 2011 as When Work and Family Collide: Keeping Your Job from Cheating Your Family). As I said, I want to share some personal reflections on how Joleen and I plan to cheat strategically so that … Read more
Today, we experienced our first Sunday worship gathering together as a family. First of all, Randy and I never get to worship together on Sundays, so what a treat it was for the two of us, let alone the three of us! We attended Faith UMC. The 11:00 am service worked well with Ethan getting … Read more
Awhile back, I read Choosing to Cheat: Who Wins When Family and Work Collide? by Andy Stanley (this book was republished in 2011 as When Work and Family Collide: Keeping Your Job from Cheating Your Family). The book is must-reading for anyone who is busy AND has a family! Incidentally, I try to read everything … Read more
Ethan’s absence was especially felt last Christmas. Christmas is such a special time for children, and because the time of our going to get Ethan was so close, we decided that in order for us (Randy and I) to survive the holiday, we would celebrate Christmas when Ethan was home with us. So, we left … Read more
I started to call this post A Rough Day. Much of the day was committed to Ethan’s first doctor visit since leaving Korea (he had just seen a doctor before being released to us on February 12). We wanted to get his medical record started here (in fact, we made today’s appointment before going to … Read more
Ethan’s big challenge right now is having to train two new, sometimes clueless, parents! 😆 Think about it, Ethan had invested six months (of his 8-month-old life) in training a foster mother (an experienced mother of three grown children) to read his signals and meet his needs. Now he has to start all over with … Read more
We would appreciate your prayers for our family’s health, especially that Ethan doesn’t get what we had last night! Joleen and I had the flu last night. My case of it was pretty severe — it was the sickest I’ve ever been. I spent 6 straight hours in the bathroom. Thankfully, though, Ethan seems to … Read more
I think I am going wrap up this discussion of the kind of culture we want to shape in our home with this post. I’m sure there are parts I’ve missed but I think what I’ve written so far is more than enough to get us started! 🙂 Shaping a Trustee Culture. In a trustee … Read more
Christ-followers are servants! We want to raise Ethan in a culture where serving God and others is part of the DNA. A culture where serving God/others is part of the DNA is a culture which says … It’s not about me! Rick Warren begins his book, The Purpose-Driven Life, with the words, “It’s not about … Read more
One of the things I look forward to as a parent is raising Ethan in the context of a leadership culture. Leadership is important to us; we’re both leaders. While we don’t yet know what gifts God has given him (and others God may develop in him in the future), we certainly want to provide … Read more