Zone Defense

This past Saturday, we did something that should be commonplace for us but was actually a new excursion.  We took the dogs for a walk.  Emily has a project this week for Brownies: She’s supposed to be helping to take care of the dogs, feeding them, watering them and taking them for walks.  It just so happened that it was Timothy’s turn to take home the class pet as well.  Fortunately for him, the class pet is a stuffed animal: a dog named Buttercup.  Apparently each weekend, a different member of Timothy’s class gets to take the pet home and then write a story in the Buttercup Journal about his/her adventures.  After reading a couple of stories, I noticed that the gender of Buttercup changes from one story to the next.

At any rate, we took all three dogs for a walk yesterday around the blog.  We hooked on the leashes and for most of the way, Lucy walked Timothy and Cramer walked Emily. (Yes, I said that right.) Buttercup had the privilege of being held around the neck by Timothy for most of the way. 

It was a fun trip and something we should definitely do more often.

Cramer:

Lucy:

written by DaddyFranklin

This morning our church conducted it’s first Lord’s Supper service of the year.  I prefer when communion is celebrated during the morning worship service as opposed to evening services.  The different churches I’ve attended over the years have varied enormously in this respect, selecting different times and different types of services.  This morning’s version was a very traditional Baptist communion service with the tiny little crackers being passed around followed by the passing around of small plastic cups of grape juice.  The pastor’s sermon was relatively typical, teaching us to remember what Christ has done and to prepare ourselves for the taking of the Lord’s Supper by confessing and “righting” our hearts for the ordinance.

The passage was from I Corinthians 11 where Paul discusses some of these points.  For me, the most special part of today’s service was having Emily join us.  Even though she’s been part of one communion service before at this church (Indiana Avenue Baptist), I think I cherish it a little more each time. 

We actually didn’t know we were having this service this morning. 

Each Sunday morning, we’ll arrive around 9:25 or 9:30 and drop the kids off at Sunday School and then head to the worship service.  We’ve chosen to join a Sunday School class that takes place at the later hour so we go to worship first, followed by Sunday School.  Today, once we dropped the kids off and entered the sanctuary I noticed the setup for the Lord’s Supper at the front of the auditorium.  I double checked the bulletin and, sure enough, it was on the program. 

I decided that it was proper to go get Emily about halfway through the service so that she could join us for communion.  I was very proud of her because once I told her the reason for excusing her from Sunday School, she was very excited. I made sure to ask her to tell me what it means when we take of the bread and the grape juice.  She quickly answered that we are remembering Jesus’ body and blood on the Cross.

It was really special to have my Christian family, including my little “sister” Emily taking the Lord’s Supper together.  It is one of those events for which I am appreciating the communal nature more and more each time.

By the way, I still make it a point to “crush” my cracker before eating it.  I think we miss some of the effect of the picture painted by the Lord’s Supper in this mass-produced form of crackers and grape juice.  I picture in my mind Jesus tearing the bread apart in front of his disciples as he says that this is His body, broken for them.  I picture him pouring slowly the wine into a cup, hearing the sound of it splatter into the vessel, while he tells them that this is His blood poured out for them.  So, like I said, I have to “break” my cracker before I eat it.  Don’t worry though, I don’t spill my juice before I drink it.  I use my imagination for that one.

written by DaddyFranklin

This has been an excellent Christmas holiday.  We had a wonderful visit with my parents.  Both my kids and I got everything we could possibly want for Christmas.  I can’t speak for Lori because the main thing that she wanted, she still hasn’t received yet.  I gave an “allowance” equal to value of my big gift from Santa so she can go out and buy herself a whole new set of clothes: dresses, pants, blouses, and the like.  Here’s the problem with giving her exactly what she wants.  I think it just might take a big kick in the behind to get her out there and buying.  I can understand that she wants to shake off those holiday pounds before she starts trying on the new wardrobe but I know her and the longer she waits, the more she’ll want to spend the money on the kids clothes or just not spend it at all.  I’m still tempted to go to the ATM and pull out the cash so she has to spend it.  I’m exaggerating a bit, but I’m not going to let her get away without a big Santa gift this year.

As for me, I had one of the best “receiving” Christmases ever.  (Can Christmas be plural?) I also am quite happy with the fact that we were able to ACE the gift giving to our kids.  I must admit to being a terrible gift giver.  I don’t know what it is, I love to give gifts to people.  The more I give the better I feel.  I know it’s not about me but I have a great deal more excitement and joy in giving than receiving.  Fortunately, we were able to spend a little more on everybody for Christmas this year but in the end, I always feel like the gifts I came up with could have been just a little better.  If you got a crappy gift from me, I’m sorry. There wasn’t a single gift we didn’t agonize over putting a great deal of thought into.  I really hope you’ll get some happiness and joy out of it.

Thanks to everyone who gave so generously to us. (Is it “proper” to send out thank you cards for Christmas gifts? I have always wondered but never done it.)

Here’s some of the great stuff I got this year.

1. My new phone: Cingular Wizard (HTC 8125). It was new on the market in early 2006.  The iPhone craze changed the landscape in cell phones and this was certainly pre-iPhone but as a Microsoft fanboy, I was certainly more interested in a Windows Mobile OS for my phone, and I wanted a thumb-keyboard and 802.11b/g wifi enabled.  I got the perfect phone and couldn’t be happier.
2. Leather jacket.  I had seriously considered going out and buying myself a stylish coat for Christmas but fortunately didn’t have to because I got a GREAT new leather coat from my parents.  I have a nice winter coat but it is not exactly appropriate for walking into a business meeting.  I look like a teen or twenty something ready to go skiing in my old coat.  Now, I’m cooler than the Fonz.
3. Books Galore: I’m a book junkie, maintaining a current reading list on my professional blog.  I got several books this Christmas from my list so I am ready to make some serious headway in my reading lists in the beginning of 2008.  I actually already finished one, and the “review” will be coming soon:

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A. J. Jacobs Read more about this title…

Using the gift from my in-laws I was able to purchase a couple other books that I’ve had my eye on for some time.

Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis Read more about this title…

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson Read more about this title…

I also was able to get an old book that I used to own two copies of and now can’t find anywhere.  I must have loaned them out.  It’s one of my favorites and I’m glad to have it back on my shelf:

Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard J. Foster Read more about this title…

Plus, I love big coffee table books with giant pictures and tons of information.  Every time I pick one of these up, I learn something new. I got a great one this year. Thanks to my brother-in-law and his family for this one.

Philip’s Atlas of the Universe by Sir Patrick Moore Read more about this title…

4. A new wallet: My old wallet was busting at the seams with very little room to hold everything but I received a new one that, for some reason, is able to fit all the same stuff into a much smaller and more accessible package.  Thanks to Gran and Ol’ Grandad for that (I still have trouble getting used to the “Ol’” in front of Grandad, but I say it for the sake of my kids)
5. Cradle for my phone: I’m going to be collecting gadgets for my new phone and this was the first on my list.  One nice thing about a 1 year old phone (even though I bought it new, it came out over a year ago) is that all the accessories are cheap now.  Apparently it was a hit phone and a lot of accessories were made for it.  Now, everyone’s moved on to newer better phones and I get to clean up on the cheap gadgets.

Most of all, I enjoyed the celebration of Jesus’ Birthday.  We make it a regular tradition to remind ourselves (and especially the kids) that we are celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We sing happy birthday to Jesus, we eat birthday cake, and most importantly, we read the nativity story.  This year we even watched the recent film, The Nativity Story from New Line Cinema.  If you haven’t seen it, you need to.  It reminds me of the humanity of Jesus but the significance of God’s physical entry into our world.  It has easily surpassed “A Christmas Story” as my favorite holiday flick, but fortunately, it is in completely different class so I can be sure to watch both each year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

written by DaddyFranklin

IMAGE_00021.jpg,
originally uploaded by DrScottFranklin.

written by DaddyFranklin

Timo’s Party,
originally uploaded by DrScottFranklin.

written by DaddyFranklin

Drawl: I just learned that Emily has a word to add to the list of family words. It turns out that all these years she’s been drawl-ing pictures instead of just drawing them. I guess she’s now to the age where I need to make sure that she is saying the word correctly. We’ve got her fixed up now.

written by DaddyFranklin

Test post from phone,
originally uploaded by DrScottFranklin.

written by DaddyFranklin

Young Gun,
originally uploaded by DrScottFranklin.

Me

written by DaddyFranklin

Three days ago, we left church early because Timothy was feeling ill and lethargic and complaining of pain in his ear.  By the end of the day, we was crying in pain.  Ibuprofen and Tylenol were keeping him from being completely miserable all the time, but each time the meds wore off, he would begin to cry again. 

On Monday morning, Lori took him to the doctor to find out that he had a sever inner ear infection.  Fortunately, even though it was bad, it had not perforated the ear drum.

He’s now on antibiotics and doing much, much better.  He was back at school today (Tuesday). I can’t think of anything more upsetting then knowing your child is in pain and you can’t just make it stop.

written by DaddyFranklin

written by DaddyFranklin