Tuesday, November 10, 2015
What is wrong with this generation!?!?!?!?!?
If you have a child that has passed, you can either mail your story and stuff to:
Team Crusher
2220 W D St
North Platte, NE 69101
or you can also email me at thedadwhodads@gmail.com
OOOOOORRRRR you can hop on the facebook page and send it there!
Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.
The whole chapter is great, I mentioned this verse, but This kind of applies to the whole chapter.
I see this as something that is so true in society today that it is incredible. There used to be a belief that God could handle our problems. We used to be bold and stand up for what was right because we stood for and worshiped an almighty father. I am not sure when we decided that we, as a people, were more powerful and could take care of ourselves, but we can't.
I am a youth leader at a church and what I see happening to kids and adults alike, is that stuff takes over. We worship stuff. We worship the money that gets the stuff. We worship the time that we work to get the money that we worship to get the stuff that we worship. We worship the athletics our kids are in because that is where they learn character and morals. I call GARBAGE on that one. Do you know what a kid's number one influence is?
Their parents. No matter who you dump your kids off with, no matter how great you treat them or how poorly, they learn the most from you. So, when you look up from your phone long enough to ask yourself, "What is wrong with this generation?" You can look right back down and see the answer. They are simply following you and what you worship. If you would like to know where God went, the answer is nowhere. We are simply too busy worshiping other things to notice that He is still hanging around.
There is only one thing, one being who has been here from the beginning and will be here until the end. Why wouldn't you put your faith in the one permanent, the only eternal, Jesus?
When I married my wife, I thought that I was going to have to devote myself to nobody but her. I thought that if my every waking moment revolved around her we would get closer. False. We both were seeking Jesus together and as we got closer to Him, We got closer to each other. Once I stopped worshiping our marriage or worshiping my wife and started worshiping the one who created her, then and only then did our marriage get significantly better.
When we had kids, I thought that they would take over my whole life and that they would suck every second of energy from my body and that I would worship them like they were my whole world. Well, that gets very tiring and they don't learn anything except that they are more important than everything and they become entitled. You want to know what is wrong with the next generation? They are too busy following our examples.
The generation of entitlement is only a product of a generation of soft parents and adults who have misplaced their worship. Where did the humbleness go? When did we become better than our creator?
My hope through Team Crusher is that we can start to find our creator and worship him through training, racing and remembering. If it weren't for our Lord Jesus Christ, there would be no hope that we get to see our angels again. He wasn't responsible for taking them away, he is responsible for making a way for you to see them again.
I look forward to a new update next Tuesday.
Team Crusher
2220 W D St
North Platte, NE 69101
or you can also email me at thedadwhodads@gmail.com
OOOOOORRRRR you can hop on the facebook page and send it there!
Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.
The whole chapter is great, I mentioned this verse, but This kind of applies to the whole chapter.
I see this as something that is so true in society today that it is incredible. There used to be a belief that God could handle our problems. We used to be bold and stand up for what was right because we stood for and worshiped an almighty father. I am not sure when we decided that we, as a people, were more powerful and could take care of ourselves, but we can't.
I am a youth leader at a church and what I see happening to kids and adults alike, is that stuff takes over. We worship stuff. We worship the money that gets the stuff. We worship the time that we work to get the money that we worship to get the stuff that we worship. We worship the athletics our kids are in because that is where they learn character and morals. I call GARBAGE on that one. Do you know what a kid's number one influence is?
Their parents. No matter who you dump your kids off with, no matter how great you treat them or how poorly, they learn the most from you. So, when you look up from your phone long enough to ask yourself, "What is wrong with this generation?" You can look right back down and see the answer. They are simply following you and what you worship. If you would like to know where God went, the answer is nowhere. We are simply too busy worshiping other things to notice that He is still hanging around.
There is only one thing, one being who has been here from the beginning and will be here until the end. Why wouldn't you put your faith in the one permanent, the only eternal, Jesus?
When I married my wife, I thought that I was going to have to devote myself to nobody but her. I thought that if my every waking moment revolved around her we would get closer. False. We both were seeking Jesus together and as we got closer to Him, We got closer to each other. Once I stopped worshiping our marriage or worshiping my wife and started worshiping the one who created her, then and only then did our marriage get significantly better.
When we had kids, I thought that they would take over my whole life and that they would suck every second of energy from my body and that I would worship them like they were my whole world. Well, that gets very tiring and they don't learn anything except that they are more important than everything and they become entitled. You want to know what is wrong with the next generation? They are too busy following our examples.
The generation of entitlement is only a product of a generation of soft parents and adults who have misplaced their worship. Where did the humbleness go? When did we become better than our creator?
My hope through Team Crusher is that we can start to find our creator and worship him through training, racing and remembering. If it weren't for our Lord Jesus Christ, there would be no hope that we get to see our angels again. He wasn't responsible for taking them away, he is responsible for making a way for you to see them again.
I look forward to a new update next Tuesday.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Balancing Act: Family, Working, Training
This week, I have been thinking about balance. There are many new things happening in our lives right now and balance seems to be what we are always seeking. Just when we get comfortable or at least make peace with the balance we have, it seems like we shake things up.
For years, I was the working parent and Julie was a stay at home mom. With 5 kids, that only makes sense. This usually made it so I worked too much and Julie complained about it. I would try to not work as much, Julie would say thank you and inevitably I would go back to working too much. If people asked me my priorities, I would tell them that God came first, then family and work in the number 3 spot. If you looked at my life and how I was living, you would see clearly that work was number 1, family in a distant 2nd and God was somewhere on the list.
I really wanted my priorities to line up with how I was presenting myself and how I was living. When we got called to our new home, and new job, I told Julie that we were going to make significant changes. I made sure that the new church understood what my priorities are and that I would do my best to live them out.
It worked well for a while, but then Carson passed away. Everything changed. Now, Julie has 2 jobs, I am working full time, the girls are in daycare, the boys are both in school and I am training for an Ironman. To say that things are different is an understatement. It's like we have gone a complete 180. We have new balance issues, for example, it is more difficult for Julie and I to deflate and chat after the kids go to bed because I am usually ready for bed between 9 and 9:30 since I am usually up at 4:45 to train. So I am going to make sure that I am intentional about making time for us to chat, for us to hang out and for us to be happy around each other.
This morning, during my shower, there was a spider that climbed down the wall from the ceiling. He was very diligent, doing everything right, making sure he felt everything that he was going to walk over, a piece of dust here, some water spray there, the top of the tiles, you know, spidery things. Well he was so very diligent and very focused on what he was doing. So focused that he did not see my hand coming to squash him. It reminded me that I can't get so focused on on thing that I ignore everything else. Something else will come and smash me while I am not looking. I really don't like that.
Remember, if you would like to be part of Team Crusher, your child's name will go on my bike and I will remember them whenever I train and on race day. I will also pray for your family each day. If you want to be part of this, send your story and a picture of your child to 2220 W D St North Platte, NE 69101. You can also email me at thedadwhodads@gmail.com
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Team Crusher
I made a decision. I decided that yes... I race for Carson, but not for him alone. I want to race for as many families that have lost children as I can. I want to race for parents who lost a child. It does not matter what age they were when they departed. I want to race for you.
As parents who have lost, our lives can be very tough at times. You know, good days and bad days and whatever else. I want to give you a chance to let your child be remembered and prayed for by someone else.
I am asking that you would send me a letter with your story and a picture of your child. I would then like to put your child's name on my bike while I train and race. My goal is to cover my whole bike, my tri suit, my helmet, everywhere I can with names of kids. You are welcome to send donations to help me train and race, but my real goal is to race for your child. I would love to hear from you.
I don't only want your story and pictures though, I want to make sure you know that when I have that, I would like to pray for your family. I will take time on my rides and time on my runs and time on my swims and time on my knees for you. Sometimes it is hard to see where God is at in all of the terrible that comes with loss, but he is there. I promise.
If this is something that you would like to be a part of, email me at thedadwhodads@gmail.com and I will send you my address for your story, pictures and donations.
Also Check out my video blogs at Dadding As Hard As I Can on YouTube.
As parents who have lost, our lives can be very tough at times. You know, good days and bad days and whatever else. I want to give you a chance to let your child be remembered and prayed for by someone else.
I am asking that you would send me a letter with your story and a picture of your child. I would then like to put your child's name on my bike while I train and race. My goal is to cover my whole bike, my tri suit, my helmet, everywhere I can with names of kids. You are welcome to send donations to help me train and race, but my real goal is to race for your child. I would love to hear from you.
I don't only want your story and pictures though, I want to make sure you know that when I have that, I would like to pray for your family. I will take time on my rides and time on my runs and time on my swims and time on my knees for you. Sometimes it is hard to see where God is at in all of the terrible that comes with loss, but he is there. I promise.
If this is something that you would like to be a part of, email me at thedadwhodads@gmail.com and I will send you my address for your story, pictures and donations.
Also Check out my video blogs at Dadding As Hard As I Can on YouTube.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
I Must Be Crazy
I said it. I must be crazy, because we registered for an Ironman race. I can't express what this race means to me in words in one blog, so I will keep you up to date about what it means as we go. As I have said before, I race for Carson. My son. My angel. My motivation. My heartbeat. My reason. I train, I race, I recover, I train some more and I race again all because I need him to stay alive. I need him to be part of my life. This is how that happens.
On August 7, we will run an Ironman 140.6 in Boulder, CO. You may not know what an Ironman is, so let me enlighten you. We will start off the day swimming 2.4 miles, yeah, in the water. We will get out of the water and go grab my bike. We will then pedal my bike 112 miles. There will be hills and though I might want to quit and I might get tired, Carson will keep me strong. When we get back from our bike ride, we will strap on our running shoes and go for a little run. Daintily we will run a marathon. 26.2 miles. I will really want to quit at this point. There will be points on the run where I hurt so bad that I think I can't make it. That is when I will beg Carson for the use of his wings. I know that he will lift me by the heart and keep me on my feet.
Some folks might question my readiness or whatever they want to question, but I will tell you how I know that we are going to do this. When I can't sleep, when I lie awake in bed and just can't clear my head, many people will watch a movie, read a book, count sheep or whatever. I walk quietly to the living room and sit in my chair. I grab my computer and I log in to Youtube. I pull up the Ironman racing channel and I watch Ironman videos. I have seen all of them more times than is probably healthy. That, however, is not where it ends. As people finish, I cry. I weep knowing that the only way for my son to accomplish this feat is for me to take him on the journey. And I will do just that.
I told my wife last week that I wanted to do this. It should not be a big deal to tell the woman I love that I want to run a race, but I had to fight back tears to a level that I have not fought them before. I could barely get the words out.
I know that this is the only things that will fulfill my need to keep Carson with me. I can sleep on his pillows and wrap up in his blankets and snuggle his stuffed animals, but that will not make him proud of his dad. That will not let his siblings know that when bad things happen, they can't stop us if we don't let them. I pray every day that my kids know why I am on the journey I am on. I tell them, but I hope they get it. I hope it clicks for them.
I look forward to posting blogs and getting VLOGS up on youtube as well. When you read this blog or watch a video on Youtube, I would ask that you say a prayer for my son and our family. We appreciate the support.
On August 7, we will run an Ironman 140.6 in Boulder, CO. You may not know what an Ironman is, so let me enlighten you. We will start off the day swimming 2.4 miles, yeah, in the water. We will get out of the water and go grab my bike. We will then pedal my bike 112 miles. There will be hills and though I might want to quit and I might get tired, Carson will keep me strong. When we get back from our bike ride, we will strap on our running shoes and go for a little run. Daintily we will run a marathon. 26.2 miles. I will really want to quit at this point. There will be points on the run where I hurt so bad that I think I can't make it. That is when I will beg Carson for the use of his wings. I know that he will lift me by the heart and keep me on my feet.
Some folks might question my readiness or whatever they want to question, but I will tell you how I know that we are going to do this. When I can't sleep, when I lie awake in bed and just can't clear my head, many people will watch a movie, read a book, count sheep or whatever. I walk quietly to the living room and sit in my chair. I grab my computer and I log in to Youtube. I pull up the Ironman racing channel and I watch Ironman videos. I have seen all of them more times than is probably healthy. That, however, is not where it ends. As people finish, I cry. I weep knowing that the only way for my son to accomplish this feat is for me to take him on the journey. And I will do just that.
I told my wife last week that I wanted to do this. It should not be a big deal to tell the woman I love that I want to run a race, but I had to fight back tears to a level that I have not fought them before. I could barely get the words out.
I know that this is the only things that will fulfill my need to keep Carson with me. I can sleep on his pillows and wrap up in his blankets and snuggle his stuffed animals, but that will not make him proud of his dad. That will not let his siblings know that when bad things happen, they can't stop us if we don't let them. I pray every day that my kids know why I am on the journey I am on. I tell them, but I hope they get it. I hope it clicks for them.
I look forward to posting blogs and getting VLOGS up on youtube as well. When you read this blog or watch a video on Youtube, I would ask that you say a prayer for my son and our family. We appreciate the support.
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