Thankfulness and Thanksgiving

Last night Melissa and I took Cael to Walmart to do our weekly shopping. Cael usually has fun, we go shopping and he sits there and points to everything and utters gibberish. Though last night was different, he was a bit tired and feeling extremely sinful so he started to complaint. He was not yelling per se, but he had a nagging soft complaining whine. We knew that he was hungry so we gave him animal cookies and water, yet he continued to complaint. I started to talk sense into him, he is only 18 months, but I thought I could and I said to him, "Cael, don't complain, remember to be thankful. God has given us everything." OOPS... As I started saying this to him, I realize how whinny I sound to God. Granted, I do not probably yell and kick and scream, but I do have my own way of nagging and soft complaining. God has given me everything, I have to be thankful.
I need to renew my mind into making thankfulness a way of life!

The Lighter Side of US

Check out what Melissa made... Click here

Cael's First Email

Cael is a pretty precocious child. At six months, he is already emailing me.
Let me share with you his wisdom:

Subject: Bhnbhbfhtrtrgf

Body: E?d4d ;sfsSS Ai0k,,ikokp oio ;u uytyu t yumi I oi piol[op564fvl, gmnklvt
nkv4mly5dvlm;y dr5 .cxv ;o xp I rdtmkl dtfnmkl dnme djo nml dnl

I am not sure how to decipher this, but I am sure that he wrote me to tell me how much he appreciates me.

Cael got us sick!

Today I stayed home from work. I have a nasty cold, which I can feel getting better.
While I am licking my wounds reading/studying, Melissa is decorating for Christmas, what a trooper.

I will be back tomorrow.

By the way, we took Cael to see Santa, he had no idea what was going on and even though he will never believe in Santa, but we still thought it would be cute to take a picture of him. So here it is:

A Case of The Mondays? Ah... Nope!

This morning I awoke very early around 3:30 AM. No, I am not that dedicated, but I have a humongous exam that I need to study for. Thus, after I woke up and made myself a latte I started to study the Greek Cases. At around 5 AM, I heard this laughter coming from Cael's room; he was awake, which means that daylight saving's time means nothing to him. So I proceeded to get him and sit him next to me. He looked at me as wondering, "Where is Mom?" So I did what any other father would do in my shoes, I put him in his Rainforest Jumperoo. He jumped himself to laughter until about 5:45, at that time he became fussy. That is when it was time for us to wake up Mommy and for daddy to go to work. As I was driving to work, I thought to myself how often I tend to forget that God uses small things in our lives to draw worship out of us; in this case he used about 50 minutes with my son to remind me that a child finds happyness in the smallest of things, even jumping up the Rainforest Jumperoo.
Cael is already teaching me a lot about myself. He is teaching me what Jesus said about faith like a child, he is teaching me contentment, dependence, and to appreciate my wife much more than I ever before.
So today while I'm at work, I will think of the Jumperoo and thank God that he uses the small things in life to remind us that he is the giver of all.

It Was One of My Best Days

Years ago, Geoff Moore wrote a song, called 'Best Days,' in which he recounted three or four different instances in his life where things could not have gone better. Geoff Moore aside, I had an instance like that yesterday. If you were to ask me about my favorite days, I could not tell you, there are many; my wedding, the birth of my son, going to the Church of St. Giles and standing by the grave of John Knox, attending the LA Philharmonic at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and seeing the most complete Rembrandt exhibit that I have ever seen at the Museum of Edinburgh.
There is another day to add, Tuesday September 18th. What is so special about this day? It's Cael, my son; he is now almost 4 months and more active than ever. As I got home yesterday, I was reminded of God's goodness in allowing me to experience my son in a dimension I have not before, we played and wrestled... of course, I did not hurt him, he is very small. However, his laughs, chuckles, coos, and smiles made my day.

It all goes to show that God is truly a great God; he gives us simple pleasures to remind us that we do not need much in life to be happy.
It was one of my best days; I hope it was for him as well.

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