First Day of Kindergarten

Being a husband and parent continues to teach me about God and our relationship to Him as His children and as the Bride of Christ. 

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”  1 Cor. 13:12

As Jonesy begins Kindergarten, the things that continually are on my mind are:

I hope she will behave and bring honor to us as her parents.

“Honor thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”  Deut. 5:16

I hope she will resist and turn from evil she may encounter.

            “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.”  Psalm 34:14

I hope she will talk to us about things that go well with her and things that don’t.

“Is any among you afflicted?Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms.” James 5:13

I hope her teachers and other kids at school will see how precious she is and treat her as such. 

“But when Jesus saw it, He said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.”  Mark 10:14

Shade Tree Fix-it Man

Many of you know that we completed Financial Peace University last spring. I’d like to share our most recent financial victory.

I drive a paid for 18 yr old pick-up. This has allowed me to remain free of the burden of a debt payment, but it also means that a little more maintenance and repair is required along the way. Over the last couple of months, it had been getting harder and harder to start. It was like it really wanted to, but just wasn’t getting enough gas to fire up right away. After talking to some guys at work that’ve made  livings as mechanics, I determined that my fuel pump was on its last days.
I’ve never been much of a mechanic. I can change a tire or a headlight and even explain how the internal combustion engine works, but diagnosing and fixing what is wrong has been beyond my ken. So I called to check on having a pro replace the fuel pump for me. He explained that the pump was inside the gas tank and that to replace it he would have to drain the fuel, drop the tank, replace the pump, filter the gas before replacing it, and then put it all back together. His best estimate was that it would cost over $700.
That was more than I wanted to pay, so I asked around, researched my internets, and found out that it was possible to change the pump without dropping the tank. I even found a you-tube video with two guys showing how they removed the bed of the pick-up for easy access to the top of the gas tank and the fuel pump.
A had a day off the other day and decided it was time to give it a try. I enlisted the help of the high school kid across the street, went to the parts store, and dove in. We ran into a few snags along the way, but we got it done.
The new pump, new injector hose, clamps, etc. cost me $190. I paid the kid who helped me $30. Total cost $220
$500 cheaper than it would have been to have the professional mechanic do it for me.
Because we’ve been budgeting money into an account for auto repairs, we had enough cash money to pay for this repair so we didn’t have to pay for it out of our emergency fund.

Lo que está pasando y la canción de la semana

I’ve been working a lot.
It’s been hot.
Jonesy starts Kindergarten soon. Makes me nervous.
Georgia is going to go to Princess Pea on Tuesdays and Thursdays like Jones did last year. I’m nervous for her teacher.
Annie makes me smile.
West is growing. Smiling more and is the best behaved of the four.
Leslie takes good care of all of us. Her behavior is pretty good most of the time.

Our good friend Bill Roberts passed away this last week. He and his wife Joyce were among the first people we met when we came to Temple. He will always stand out in my mind as a fine example of Christian manhood, although he often pointed to his faded tattoos from his Korean War days as he reminded me that he wasn’t always a Christian. He told and re-told the story of meeting his wife and how she led him to the Lord. I admired the way he loved her. A couple of years ago after a bout with some heart troubles he called me to his house and gave me all of his fishing stuff. That was one of the saddest and proudest moments of my life. Sad that he knew his fishing days were just about done. Proud that he thought enough of me to give me his tackle.

This week’s song is dedicated to Mr. Bill. It’s Vocal Union’s “Heavenly Music”. Many of you will recognize my old compañeros Cody Batten and Nick Gaultney. I haven’t seen either one of those guys in 5 or 6 years. If any of you have or do, let them know that they made TOTP. This particular line-up also features Brian the chiropractor, Gary Miller the best bass ever, and Steve Camping, my Nashville roommate for about 2 weeks until Ryan kicked him out. Amen.

West-2 months old

Curious George

I took the kids to see a summer special movie, Curious George, with several friends.
Jones, Georgia, Annie, Madalyn, Marin, Claire, and Bailey.




West with the best frown.

Song of the Week

I saw that they've come out with a new Karate Kid movie.  I hope it's not as awful as the previews indicated.

The original Karate Kid was great.  Karate Kid II was even better.  I was 10 years old and those movies made me a martial arts expert.  I still practice some of the moves I learned from Mr. Miyagi, Danielsan, and the Cobra Kai.  When I really want to disable my opponent I  just sweep the leg. 

This week's song is Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love" from Karate Kid II.  Enjoy the flashback to '86.

San Angelo

We made a trip to San Angelo to see Justin's Aunt, Uncle and cousins that were visiting from Japan. Justin set up his new three room tent down in the back acreage. Justin, Jones, Georgia, Annie, Molly and Ranger spent the night in the tent. Justin and Ranger didn't get much sleep.