Snowman Fun

Dad sent me these comics in an email forward, and I thought they were hilarious. I don’t know who the author is of this strip, but they are a genius! Just click on one of the little ones and it should take you to a gallery, if I did it right.

Anyway, these make me miss Calvin and Hobbes…

The Gospel According to Scrooge.

It snowed a few inches yesterday, so I decided it would be a great day to begin my annual Christmas time reading of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. During the kids’ afternoon nap, I put in my favorite relaxing Christmas CD, made hot apple cider, dimmed the lights, flopped on the couch, and read myself into happy oblivion. I love this book. I think I’ve read it every year for about 15 years now. It’s great stuff.

After my oldest son got back from school, the three kids and I took a drive through the country to see all the beautiful snowy sights. We stopped for a few minutes by the Visitors Center of Saylorville Lake to take a quick stroll to check out the snow-covered woods. Gracie was absolutely amazed at the snow: she even tasted some, and seemed to like it. Of course, I forgot to bring the camera. Sam stuck his face in a snow bank and came up with a huge mustache of snow that would have rivaled Col. Chamberlain’s! And it was amazing, because he looked really good with a big bushy mustache. Seriously. Of course, Ryan tried to do the same thing, and couldn’t pull it off.

When we got home, I decided to start reading the Christmas Carol to the boys. We plopped on the couch with some eggnog, covered up in a blanket, and commenced reading. I had to do some editing and explaining, and it made me start to wish I had found a children’s version of the story, but they seemed to be understanding it for the most part. I read them the first stave, and they really thought the ghost of Marley was awesome. Sam was really getting into the story of the book. When Scrooge was walking up to his house, (right before he saw the knocker), Sam was curled up in a ball, pressed right next to me, with only his eyes peeping out over the blanket. He said, “Daddy, this book is scary!” so I asked him if he wanted me to stop, but I could see excitement in his eyes, and he said, “No! Read on read on!” So on I read.

We finished up the first chapter, and then got ready to go pick up mom from work. On the way there, I talked with the boys about the book and how it was just a pretend story. I didn’t want them to think if they grew up to be a greedy miser that meant they would wander around as a ghost with heavy chains. Ryan, of course, said he knew all that already, and explained to me what really happens if someone dies. (“You either go to heaven or hell. You don’t get to be a ghost” he said matter-of-factly”). I started talking to them about some of the parallels in the story with what the Bible says about sinners, salvation, and greed. So I said, “let’s look at the story and see if we can figure out what it would be like if it were real.” With a little help from me, Ryan realized that Scrooge would be someone who was a sinner, and hasn’t accepted Christ as his Savior yet. I said he was right, and then asked what they thought Marley would be like in the story. It was quiet for a few moments, and then Sam popped up and said, “Marley is like a missionary!!!” I laughed, because I knew what he meant. I thought it was very clever. I said, “That’s right, because Marley comes to Scrooge to tell him if he doesn’t change, then he will be punished forever, right? Just like in real life, a missionary would go to someone and tell them about Jesus, and if they don’t change (if they don’t believe on Him) then they will be punished forever.”

I don’t think I’ve ever thought about A Christmas Carol in that way before, but it has really opened the story up for me. And, I thought Sam’s comments were just brilliant. I mean, it wasn’t a perfect comparison, but it came pretty close.

My kids are going to be literary geniuses. Geniusii? Genii? Geniuseseses……eses?

Just like me!

The Wise Guys

This morning in church I heard an outstanding message on the story of the wise men in Matthew 2. One of the problems of having gone to church for most of my life is hearing those stories in the Bible that you have probably heard a million times, especially at Christmas time. Our pastor brought an interesting perspective to this story, and I thought it was incredible. I’d like to share with you a summary of his message.

I’ve had several questions about the wise men that I’ve never really tried to answer: Who were they? What country did they come from? How did they know when they saw the star that it meant a kind was born in Israel? Pastor gave some fairly good answers to these question, and I think he might be right. It was really cool to see the Bible come together like this.

First of all, he stated that the wise men were most likely from either Persia (modern-day Iran) or Babylon (modern-day Iraq). It was his belief that they were most like from Babylon. I suppose the case can be argued for either one, but Babylonians were renown for their studies in astronomy and astrology, so it makes sense to me. He continued on to say that one of the most famous Babylonian “wise man” was Daniel, the OT prophet who wrote one of the books of the OT. He walked us through the book of Daniel to show how he was also called a “wise man” and how he eventually became leader over all the wise men and magicians, etc of Babylon. So it would make sense that several centuries later, the wise men of Babylon would still have his writings. Pastor focused on prophesies in Daniel 7 and 9. If these early 1st century magi were studying these texts of Daniel, they would know several things. First of all, a power king/god would be coming to have dominion over the whole earth, and Secondly, Daniel 9:24-26 even gives a time frame for it! So by the time the first century comes around, and assuming they did their math right, they might have thought, “You know, there’s only about 30-40 years left of this 384 year time period. If there is going to be a mighty king coming, we might want to start keeping an eye out!”

So possibly this was on their mind, maybe not. Anyway, when they saw the sign of the star in the east (what ever that was, I don’t know if it was a literal star though) it must have been so spectacular, that they might have started searching their texts for an answer. Maybe they already were looking for signs. Anyway, they arrived in Judea knowing exactly who they were looking for: the one who was born the King of the Jews. I wonder: did they know fully this was God? Or were they just seeking to find out another powerful god to worship, only to discover that this was the One True God?

All of that seems to point to the fact that they also might have had other portions of Scripture to help them in their understanding. For instance, look at the gifts they brought Jesus: gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were not just random gifts. These were things that were necessary to worship God in the proper way, according to Exodus 37 (gold for The Temple) and Exodus 30:22-34 (use of myrrh and frankincense). That really sent shivers down my spine. This showed that the wise men spent a lot of time in preparation. When they arrived, they were ready to worship the king. So, could they have had access to the Pentateuch? Possibly.

Another interesting point that pastor spoke about was the fact that there were likely more than 3 wise men. This is something every good Bible college freshman is quick to point out to people to prove that they are Really Smart. Pastor did some historical research and showed how there were probably a lot more than that. Then, if you add into that their aides, servants/slaves, supply teams, and maybe even a small group of guards (they were crossing into the Roman Empire, maybe they were enemies at the time?) it could have come to be quite the entourage.

I know, much of this is speculation and a lot of jumping around in scriptures and depending heavily on a “sanctified imagination”. Also, I would like to do more study on the history of Babylon around the time of the early years A.D. (I think at the time they were just a mere province of the Persians). But I think it makes sense. The point to this message though, is that God’ s Revelation demands a response. The wise men responded in the right way: when they saw that God had come, they went to find Him, and worshipped Him.

I also see in this story a message of hope: God keeps His promises. The wise men studied the prophecies, saw what God had promised, went to check it out, and found it true.

God’s Word is true. When He has decreed something to happen, NOTHING can prevent it. Not time. Not people. Not historical events. God’s Will will happen. As one of the 2nd graders in my sunday school class said after we completed our studies on the character of God: God is AWESOME!

He is indeed!

Valley Junction: Plunging into Christmas

My wife had insomnia last night, so she already blogged about Valley Junction, the big jerk. And she already posted some pics from our trip last night, all nicely edited in photoshop so you can actually see what the picture was. So I don’t even know why you are here reading this.

But since you are here, I will post two of my favorite pictures that I stole from her website:

I love this picture of Gracie. She was so excited by all the lights, the music, and the horses running around Valley Junction. She is definitely in the Christmas spirit. She loves looking at Christmas Trees. She loves bopping to Christmas music. The highlight for Sam was finding a large pile of horse poop in the middle of the street. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve heard him laugh that loudly all day. I think Ryan enjoyed talking to Santa and getting cookies. He is bound and determined that this year Santa/Mom and Dad/Grandpa and Grandma/SOMEONE is going to get him a “Remote Control Train” aka an electric train. Sorry, bubs, it won’t come from us no matter how many times you ask Santa, because those trains cost money, and we have none. But at least we have these happy Christmas memories.

I enjoyed walking around in the Christmas decorations, looking at shops, etc. But my favorite part was hanging out in the coffee shop (called “The Living Room”) listening to the guy play his guitar. His name was Bill Melton, and I thought he was quite good. He only played one Christmas song while we were there, though. But he played some nice songs. I think he plays folk/old country music type songs. And Gracie LOVED his music, so that made me happy. Then Erin took this picture, which I like even though it is a little blurry:

Wow, I just realized I kind of need a shave. Oh well. Anyway, we had fun! And we spent next to nothing for it. It seems like every where you look, people, media, and stores want you to spend spend spend or Christmas is RUINED. Now I admit, a big part of the Christmas excitement for my kids is knowing that they are going to get lots of presents on Christmas. It is possible, that is also a big excitement for me! But, since money is tight this year in new and amazing ways, we have to look for these cheap/free fun ways to celebrate.

And you know what, it is possible to enjoy Christmas without spending a penny. Would you believe it?

More Christmas fun to come…stay tuned!

Look Ma! I Blogged!

And now for my next trick…

Ok, so it has been a long time since I blogged. I admit, I have been lazy. And facebook is ruining blogging for me. I mean, why should I spend an hour trying to think of a funny blog, when I can just write a short sentence on facebook and still make people laugh? To which all of you out there say: we never laugh at you anyway!

I came to the decision I needed to blog for several reasons:

1. My wife recently blogged everyday in November. It was awesome, as she is awesome too. So, I decided I wanted to be awesome, and I would blog everyday in December. Of course, I missed the first 2 days, and probably after a couple days of blogging nonsense entertaining only myself, I will miss another couple of weeks, and then post Christmas pictures in March, the yuckiest month in the year. I hate March.

2. It’s Christmas time (surprise!) and we have a bunch of fun Christmasy things starting up (including a trip to historic Valley Junction tonight!) and I know all my family and relatives will want to keep up with what we are doing to celebrate. Well, at least my sister and my parents will. For some reason, Dad and Ma like to know what I’m doing with my life.

3. I have a 5 page paper due tomorrow, and I don’t want to write it, so by blogging it gives me opportunity to procrastinate!

4. Finally, I have several questions that I need answers to. These are deep, difficult, and most likely snarky and sarcastic questions I need to have answered. Such as:

Why are the Obama’s putting up a Christmas Tree? Shouldn’t they be celebrating Kwanza? Are they celebrating Kwanza? What in the world is Kwanza anyway? Am I even spelling it right?

Why were scientists hiding and deleting data concerning global warming? Were they trying to hide something? LIke the fact that it doesn’t exist? Or did the melting polar caps reveal (via government satellite) that Santa really does exist at the North Pole? And for that matter, are the elves that work for him really happy little helpers, or are they slave laborers?

How many toes does a fish have?

Why can’t I decorate my house to look like Chevy Chase’s house in the movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”?

Anyway, I had better get going and start some homework. I don’t think my wife will like it if I spend all of Christmas break working furiously on the 234,213,521,345 page paper I have to write due at the end of the month. But I will try to keep up on the blog this month, I promise.  I may even change it to a more Christmasy themed blog. But to do that I might have to put of doing some of my homework.

Oh, well. It’s the sacrifice I am willing to make to bring Christmas joy to all.

It’s my gift to you. (But for some reason, I can feel my wife glaring at me. Merry Christmas, everybody!)

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It is fall. I love this time of year! It is getting colder, my wife is making soup, and now people don’t make fun of me for drinking hot beverages when it’s 90 degrees outside.

I even like Iowa this time of year, because it has some nice trees that turn colors other than brown or light green. Today, Ryan and I took a walk all around the woods at Saylorville Lake to take some pictures. I think next weekend will be the peak time for leaf colorage, but here are a few pictures of our trip. But first, some snow:

That’s right, yesterday, October 9th, we got some snow. Not the 6 inches that Omaha got, but we did get some. I was happy, but I think I would like more of fall first. Instead of coming early, winter can go late, so maybe next year we can go from winter into spring and then into fall, skipping summer all together. Here is a picture of Rosie “enjoying” the snow (not):

OK, now for fall:

Some more of the woods:

I really like these next two pictures for some reason:

These were taken near the outdoor butterfly garden at Saylorville Lake. No butterflies out this time of year, or flowers, but nice leaves!

Ryan brought our other, less expensive digital camera along and took some pictures with me. It was fun to do one of my favorite hobbies with him! I think Erin might be posting some of them sometime, if not I will soon. Happy Fall everyone!

Sam is 5

Today Sam is turning five, which makes us all feel really old and miserable. But what a blessing he is!

I love Sam’s zest, I love his big smile. When he laughs, he laughs with his entire self, body and soul.

So it came time to make the photo montage set to music of this past year of Sam’s adventures and fun. I was really stuck on finding a good song for him, and then Laura suggested one that I really like, and I think it mostly fits Sam and his excitement for living.

Click here. Watching this video makes me weepy to see how much he’s grown, and exhausted imagining trying to keep up with him.

Tolkien and Chamberlain: a tale of two legends

Howdy all. Check it out, I do blog after all! I’ve been reading some great books, so I thought I would take a few minutes to share some quotes from them. I am mostly doing this in response to a grump I had with my wife concerning how Facebook and The Reader’s Digest Condensed version of Facebook (AKA Twitter) is making us all into morons. (This, coming from the guy who frequently leaves facebook statuses like “I just picked my nose”).

1. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, by JRR Tolkien.

This books is wonderful. I am really starting to like epic poetry. This year I also read Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Dante’s Inferno, Beowulf, maybe one other one. Anyway, this story is Tolkien’s version of some Scandinavian myths. Reading it, I could see a lot of influence that these legends had on Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Here are some wonderful quotes:

“If in day of Doom

one deathless stands,

who death hath tasted

and dies no more,

the serpent-slayer,

seed of Odin,

then all shall not end,

nor Earth perish.

“On his head shall be helm,

in his hand lightening,

afire his spirit,

in his face splendour.

The Serpent shall shiver

and Surt waver,    (Note: Surt is the demon of fire)

the Wolf be vanquished

and the world rescued.”

That’s some good stuff right there. And the big epic battle at the end was amazing.

2. Bayonet! Forward: My Civil War Remembrances by Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain.

I got this book off of paperbackswap.com (for free!). It is a collection of writings by Chamberlain, one of my favorite historical figures, about his adventures and battles during the Civil War. He was a fantastic writer. This one I am reading more slowly, as I do have a lot of reading to do for school. But there are some great lines in his book, especially as he is contemplating death or the manly sacrifice the soldiers around him were giving. He came very close to going to seminary to study to be a priest or pastor or whatever they called them back then, and I would be interested in reading what kind of theology he had. Anyway, here is a passage from his chapter on Gettysburg, called “Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg”. He is describing the pile of dead soldiers and the graves they were buried in. I only wish I could write with this much poetry:

“I sat there alone, on the storied crest, till the sun went down as it did before over the misty hills and the darkness crept up the slopes, till from all earthly sight I was buried as with those before. But oh, what radiant companionship rose around, what steadfast ranks of power, what bearing of heroic souls. Oh, the glory that beamed through those nights and days. Nobody will ever know it here! — I am sorry most of all for that. The proud young valor that rose above the mortal, and then at last was mortal after all; the chivalry of hand and heart that in other days and other lands would have sent their names ringing down in song and story!”

There are critics of Chamberlain who say that the stand he made on Little Round Top during the battle of Gettysburg was not as significant as some historians would make it. But I think those debunkers just try to destroy things that tend to be classified as “legends”. What he did was very brave, and it won him the Congressional Medal of Honor. They don’t just hand those things out,  you know.

So just a few good quotes to whet your literary appetites. Now, turn of facebook, run out to your nearest book store, and get a book. And read it. You might even enjoy it. It will be ok, trust me.

The Talented Miss Gracie

Some of you may have seen this video already, but I wanted to post it on my blog but I forgot. So here it is, Gracie doing her amazing talent: being cute.

In this video, she shows how she can be cute and attempt to eat her bunny, make faces, and stick out her tongue, sometimes all at once. Enjoy!

I am now speaking with an English accent.

I have come to the conclusion that the BBC is absolutely and utterly brilliant. I’ve been trying to find some tv shows or movies to watch while I am giving plasma, because I can barely stay away anymore if I read, even if it’s a really really good book. I relax so much when I donate that I can barely keep my eyes open. Visual entertainment still seems to keep me awake, however, but it seems that there are about 46 million versions of the same tv show on right now, and our local library has them all on dvd. Yawn. I was excited when shows like “Lost” and “24″ came on, (“CSI” was always pretty cool, too) because this was some honest to goodness creative thinking by Hollywood. But now just about every single show copies this format in some way. Now, I like these originals, but I don’t want to watch all the copies because they are not as good. They are a cheap imitation, like instant coffee: it’s not as good as the original.

So I decided to start branching out, since our library does have an amazing video collection (the books, however, leave much to be desired). I watched a couple of things from the BBC, and they were brilliant. So I kept watching different BBC shows, and they continued to be AMAZING. They are everything many American shows are not: interesting, intelligent, and CREATIVE. Awhile ago my Brother in law posted a blog about books he’s been reading over the summer, and I think I’ll do that too (I am in desperate search for a good book…I’m running into similar problems in literature), but here are a few reviews of some shows from the BBC that I’ve been enjoying.

1. Around the World in Eighty Days with Michael Palin. Yes, THAT Michael Palin, the “It’s…” guy from Monty Python. This is what American reality shows should be. In this 7 part mini-series, Palin decides to see if he can go around the world like Phileous Fogg from the Verne book. And the trick is he can’t use airplanes. So he goes by train, cargo ship, even a dhow. It was interesting to see different cultures and different methods of travel. I think what made this show fantastic was Palin’s sense of humor (not completely over the top, but a normal sense of humor) combined with his ability to find interesting people. He didn’t focus long on the areas he visited, his main focus was on the people in those areas. Of course, being a comic, he can’t help himself and put in a few sight gags, puns, and subtle references to Monty Python (One of the highlights of this show was watching him slowly slip into insanity during his cargo boat trip across the pacific. Hilarious!). I highly recommend this show if you catch it on PBS or a cable show or something. This was filmed around 1989, and since then has made several other BBC travel shows, which I am excited to say our library has most of them. He has also written books about his trip, and you can read them online free on his website.

More Briefly:

2. “Spaced”. This is from the “Shawn of the Dead” team, and I have decided that Simon Pegg can do no wrong. A short, two season long show about a guy and a girl who pretend to be married so they can rent a really cool flat. The awesome twist is all the subtle sci-fi and other nerdy references they work into the show. They parody so many shows, that you really have to know some obscure movies to understand a few of the references. It’s brilliant. And hilarious, especially the paint ball episode.

3. Other comedy: “Blackadder” and “Mr. Bean”, starring Rowan Atkinson. I don’t think I need to say anymore about this. These shows are brilliantly funny on an absurdist level. And, Christmas just doesn’t seem right without watching the Christmas episode of Mr. Bean.

4. Doctor Who (the new series, haven’t seen the old one): quite possibly the best sci-fi show I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot. Fantastically acted, incredibly well written, great special effects, and just Brilliant.

5. The Inspecter Lynley series, about an aristocratic Scotland Yard Inspector Lynley, and the lower working class sidekick, Sgt. Havers. What’s great about this show is that the two main characters will most likely not be falling in love, and it’s refreshing to see a guy and girl work together as friends (although she really really hates him at first, but in a funny kind of way.)