YONDER BREAKS

Everyone wants to feed their kids well , right? But sometimes it just doesn't work out. The other day Katie had forgotten her lunch at home so we decided to surprise her with a Jimmy John's vegetarian sandwich . (Later I learned that she had in fact been craving  such a sandwich, and was considering heading there for her lunch break, so here's to marital one-mindedness.) I then had an inclination to contact our good friend Jason to see if he wanted to have lunch with the girls and me. Jason is like an uncle to the girls, having lived right across the highway from us for the past year, and so they love to see him. I had picked up an extra sandwich for the girls, but as for me: I elected to indulge in some Taco Bell . Judge me if you want, but even when I feel terrible after, the taste makes it (almost) worth it every time... Lunch was fine, but having consisted of half a sandwich and some snacks for the girls, I planned on something a little more nutritious for dinne

Since moving back to my hometown, I often drive by what used to be Hollywood Video on Highway 61. Right before that is the Blockbuster Video where I worked for over a year right after college. Immediately I am stricken with nostalgia, remembering the Friday nights where my family would often go out to eat, and then stop by the video store to get a game or a movie. I loved the unknown of the video store, not sure what they would have in stock, but hoping for something good. Hollywood Video in particular had an excellent kung fu selection, and was where I learned to love Jet Li's extensive repertoire, particularly this one : I lament the loss of these stores, and even more so the experience my kids will never have! Downloading digital copies or streaming movies just isn't the same, and removes the element of the unknown that is so exciting and in-the-moment! Of course this is a concept that we will become more and more familiar with, as Amazon Prime, rampant free two-d

These verses always intrigued me, Mark 9:42-50: “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble,  it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.  If your hand causes you to stumble,  cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell,  where the fire never goes out.  And if your foot causes you to stumble,  cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.  And if your eye causes you to stumble,  pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,  where “‘the worms that eat them do not die,      and the fire is not quenched.’ "Everyone will be salted  with fire.  Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?  Have salt among yourselves,  and be at peace with each other.” I always ima

I took my first business trip as a stay-at-home dad last week. Okay, it wasn't really a "business trip," but I think it's fun to call it that since my main purpose during the journey was to watch the kids, which is my job. My in-laws had decided to plan a ski trip to Breckenridge , Colorado during the busiest ski weekend of the whole season, President's Day . I have standby flights through my job, which we elected to use instead of forking over $1000 for all four of us to fly, so I knew immediately this was going to be a tough one. We packed up, I got a day off covered and we headed to the airport, making it to our hub with no problem. Flights to Denver, however, had been filling up fast over the last couple of days (despite showing open only days prior), so we started to scramble. Other families were doing the same, as we overheard conversations with nearby fellow employees in equal distress over the blatant inability to get to the Denver airport. Meanwhile, El

You may be familiar with the story of Daniel  and the lion's den. It's taught in children's Sunday school classes from an early age -- I'm not sure why, it's kind of a gruesome topic -- and my kids just learned about it recently at our church. Essentially, Daniel is continually faithful to God, and God continually rewards him. He was a big deal in the kingdom prior to the one in this story, despite being an exile from Judah, and was becoming just as big a deal to the current king, Darius . At this point in the story, King Darius was planning to make Daniel head over his kingdom, which some other royal advisors and satraps were not happy about. These guys convinced the king to issue a decree that no one should pray to any other god except the king (a common theme in Daniel), and he complied. Daniel of course goes right home to pray for help from the God of Israel, and is caught in the act. They went straight to the king: Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who