Marc's Musings

Tonight at dinner, I asked…no…I told my son to stop making noise.

Later in the meal, I started singing along with a song on the radio.

Son: That’s not fair.

Me: You live under the illusion that this should be fair? It doesn’t have to be fair. That’s life.

Son: No, dad. That’s hippocrissy.

My wife and I cracked up. We couldn’t stop laughing!

We asked him if “hippocrissy” was a large gray animal named “Chrissy.”

He was good enough to join in the fun.

Eating dinner with the kids tonight, my 7 year old daughter asked me if they could ask me they could repeat the all the words they’re not allowed to say and ask me what they mean.

What an interesting dinner discussion! Fortunately too, they didn’t throw me any curve balls.

We covered definitions, etymology, gestures. And why people use them even if my kids can’t.

I was so proud when the conversation moved into how God wants us to use our words. And how we can use our words to tear others down or build others up.

I was even more proud when my 7 year old daughter pulled out Wise Words For Moms. This is a useful matrix of negative behaviors, probing questions, and Scripture with to show how to put off the bad and put on the good. But my 7 year old daughter read it to her brother and sister.

My heart is very full right now.

(Even more so because she said the title should’ve said “Moms and Dads.”)

My sister-in-law is a crafty person. In alot of ways.

She knitted me a really cool looking thing. But didn’t tell me what it’s for.

Here’s a slide show of my family’s attempts at guessing what it could be.

Interestingly, there was nothing like it on her Etsy store (although there are really cool project bags there!).

What do you think this is?

I love watching Facing the Giants. Tonight, my son laughed, “We’re not even 35 minutes into it and dad’s already bawling!”

Tonight, the part that really hit me was an exchange between the football coach and Mr. Bridges, a guy that had been praying for the school for years.

Mr. Bridges felt God gave him a word for Coach Taylor. It was a good word.

Then there was this exchange:

Mr. Bridges: 2 farmers who desperately needed rain. And both of them prayed for rain but only one of them went out and prepared his fields to receive it. Which one do you think trusted God to send the rain?

Coach Taylor: Well the one who prepared his fields for it.

Mr. Bridges: Which one are you? God will send the rain when He is ready. It’s your job to prepare your field to receive it.

How about you?

What have you been praying for? For a really long time? Some situation where you really need to see God move in your life?

Are you preparing the field?

My brother-in-law, Paul Bruce, introduced me to Microsoft’s Photosynth. It’s a cool tool that will synthesize your images, putting them together and, if possible, making a 3-D composite.

Well, I didn’t have the zoom to make too much of a 3-D composite, but I dumped the 138 photos I took from my phone while at Fenway last night into PhotoSynth and got this:

It’s pretty fun! (First hit the “Click to view synth” button. Then hit the “play” button for the easiest way to see the pix.)

P.S. The Red Sox beat the Orioles 7-2. Big Papi even hit a home run in the first inning!

We’ve just had quite an adventure with YouTube!!

My wife found this Thriller video done with Legos. It’s a hoot!

[If you want to see how well they did, you can see the original Thriller video here.]

For some reason, she then found the A-Team, Legos style!

The A-Team is a hit with our family so we had to show the A-Team one to the kids. When we did, we found a Lego version of Bohemian Rhapsody!!

As you can see, there’s rarely a dull moment in the Pitman family!

14 years ago, at about this time, I was getting ready to walk down the aisle with the woman who was to be my wife. (Yes, we both walked down the aisle.)

14 years by the numbers:

• 5110 days
• 7,358,400 minutes
• 441,504,000 seconds
• 1 trip to India (the other was in the few brief months before we were married!)
• 12 moves
• 3 babies
• 3 states
• 3 employers (and 1 pyscho I worked for when I was self-employed)
• 1 church plant
• 5,000 individuals in the Waterville area shown God’s love in practical ways

What is harder to quantify is the ups and the downs, the curves God’s thrown on our path, the growth that comes from hardship and the joys that come from growth.

But any way you count it, I’m grateful for these 14 years and am looking forward to the next 114!

My wife’s grandmother turns 90 next month.

But what do you get a woman who’s turning 90? Nana is spry and full of life so somehow an “Official Nonogenerian” t-shirt doesn’t seem quite right.

Twitter and Facebook friends came to the rescue again!

Here are their replies:

and

Aren’t these great?! What would you add?

This morning, I told job Caleb to stop talking. His sister dropped her breakfast and what he was saying things that would get her worked up.

He looked at me and asked me, “Why do you tell me to stop talking so much?”

Good question.

I reminded him of the gasoline and water analogy our pastor told us. We approach every the fire of every conflict with a bucket in each hand: one full of gasoline, one full of water. It’s our choice which we one we pour on the fire.

I pointed out why I thought he was adding gasoline in this situation.

Frustrated, he said, “You seem to only comment on gasoline. Why don’t you comment on my water ones?”

He went on, “Dad, if you don’t see the water ones, you shouldn’t mention any of them at all.”

He’s right. 9 years old and he’s right. And I told him so.

Isn’t this a great leadership lesson? If we only point out the deficiencies, we frustrate those we lead.

While it’s great to try to prevent fires ourselves, it’s even more important to notice when those who report to us–or when those who look up to us–try to put them out too.

This morning my kids were using a newly invented Lego space shuttle to save us all from an alien ships that had kidnapped earth.

It was enough to make a dad proud.

But this evening, I had to put my foot down.

I got home, and my son showed me two more of his Lego creations: a new space station and…an alien space ship.

Me: Is that one of the alien ships that kidnapped the earth this morning?

Son: Ah…yes.

My goodness. What am I teaching these kids that they’d allow that into our house?!

I guess maybe I should ask him if he’d captured the enemy ship…