cream

i went to pick up Caleb from the nursery after choir rehearsal. i was talking to some friends as they were leaving and i kept noticing Caleb awkwardly pulling at his underwear. Finally, i bent down and quietly asked him in his ear, "Caleb, do you need to use the bathroom?" He said in his naturally loud voice that seemed to fill the room, "No. I think I just need some cream, Daddy."

I don't want you to die

Its late in the evening. after dinner, but just before the push towards baths, cleaning up toys, and getting the guys in bed. i'm sitting in the recliner watching tv. the 3c's are playing around in the living room.
Caleb has been learning his letters and numbers. He's constantly saying, "we're in an 'L', Daddy" or "look! it's a 1!" Now he has a piece of paper and a pink pen - he runs up to me and says, "Look, Daddy!" there's a pink 't' on the paper, and I'm about to tell him good job - but he continues, "i drew the church!!" It took a minute, but i realized he recognized the small t as the cross on the top of our sanctuary. You could tell by his face that he had surprised himself with the revelation.
I've been praying that I would recognize the opportunities presented by the Holy Spirit to share spiritual truths of God to them. I jumped at this one. After asking Caleb if he wanted to hear the story of about the cross, I began to tell him about Jesus' sacrifice. I explained that because we all sin (lie, cheat, pee on the ottoman...) that we would have to die. BUT Jesus loved us so much that he did it for us. He didn't quite understand the whole thing, because he asked me, "Daddy, you have to die?" I said that because I sinned I would have had to. He said, "Daddy, I don't want you to die." We kept talking until he understood that because Jesus did, we wouldn't have to - if we just give our lives to Him and obey Him.
It occured to me that if I could remember that without Jesus I would have to die, Caleb would have to die - we all would have to die AND IT STILL WOULDN'T BE ENOUGH - I would probably live a much more obedient life. I'm going to try to remember Caleb's expression when he began to understand the cost of my disobedience. the cost of my sin.

my trip to NY

I was very blessed to be able to go to New York twice this year. My first two times in one year!! This time it was Trey and I. We came into town on Thursday evening and went up to the Empire State Building. New York is really pretty from up here. Which glows brighter - Times Square or my head?

The next morning, we hit the ground running. We were up and gone by 7 AM. We had bagels and then went to see Ellis Island. All I can say is, don't skip this on the Statue of Liberty tour. And don't rush it. There's some really neat stuff here.

After the tour, we had lunch at the oldest pizzaria in the United States. It was GOOD!! Sausage and Pepperoni- my favorite. then it was off to a tour of Greenwich Village with James Nevius. He does private tours of various parts of New York City. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn a little about New York City. Interesting for everybody. www.walknyc.com

Washington Square

The famous TV show 'friends' tried to make us think that this was in Brooklyn. It's not. the 'friends' apartment was actually in Greenwich Village.

The Huxtables' house from "The Cosby Show" is also in Greenwich Village.

After a brief rest from our travels came the main event of the weekend. A Yankees game. They won. I wanted to root against the jugernaut that is called the Yankees, but it felt a litle dirty. I'm watching the Tigers play them right there on TV right now. Let's just say its easier to root against them now. After the game, we walked through Times Square and then walked 13 blocks back to the hotel. That's a long way. :)

the next morning, we hit it early again. We ate bagels at H&H, then bought souveniers at a shop. Then we hit St. Patrick's cathedral where a wedding was happening. Very beautiful church. Then we went to the MET. I can't say enough about the MET. we spent 3 hours there and only saw about 1/4 of the exhibits. i could spend a month of afternoons there.

Thanks, Trey.