Thursday, January 08, 2004

Spatula Hockey My four-year-old son can't get enough of my time. It's not that he's demanding, though I do warn him about becoming so, but he's like every child: he wants his parent's time more than anything in the world. This morning, before work, between getting the girls to school, Jacob and I played Spatula-Hockey. What, you ask, is Spatula-Hockey? Two spatulas. One big black Gatorade top (OK, it doesn't have to be black, but if you want authentic puck color, there you go). Two chairs for making the goal between the legs (sit to the side of the goal and spatula only is your defense and offense, not your body). Oh, and you'll need a slick wood or linole-however-you-spell-it floor. Finally, two crazy dudes like Jake and me, and you're playing Spatula-Hockey. After we played three games, Jacob said, "Dad, how bout a game of football in the backyard?" I was heading out the door. "Under the stadium lights, son, after work," I said. 4:19:05 PM    comment []

Turn off your lights The other day I was entering the grocery store and a woman hurried up to me and asked was I the one in the Buick with the lights on? Yes, and thank you, I told her. I didn't tell her that my lights go off automatically. Why should I have squashed her goodwill by saying, "Oh, my light turn off automatically!" Maybe no harm to say that, but this made me think about what we do when someone tells us something we already know. Do we rush to let them know we are not idiots, that we have already been down that road and they are not telling us anything new? Have you ever been in a situation when another Christian tries to "re-convert" you or reform you without your invitation or a sense of community and understanding of your story? We want to shout, "My lights go off automatically! I've got it under control!" But do we. Maybe we ought to ask, "Is God sending this person into my life for such a time as this?" The woman who told me about the lights didn't really need to know that my lights went off automatically. So I just thanked her...and checked my lights just to make sure. 2:02:03 PM    comment []