Chex Mix Makeover

Eliana was helping her mom make up some chocolate/peanut-butter Chex mix (w powdered sugar). She was in charge of the shaking to mix everything together and coat the Chex w/ sugar. Mom thought that the bag needed some more air. She adjusted the bag, opened it up a little more, re-sealed, and gave the bag back to Eliana. Eliana stops shaking and starts to unzip the bag. Mom asked what she was doing, to which she replied, "The bag needs more air."

Before mom could stop her, Eliana had opened the bag and puffed really hard into the bag. The powdered sugar flew out of the bag and resulted in a white mask of powdered sugar on her face. (Kind of like a white raccoon.)

After they cleaned up and finished, she wanted to know if she had to test it like Daddy had "tested" the previous batch.

Thoughts on Halloween - from a Christian perspective

Darrin Brooker has some good points about the celebration of Halloween from a Christian perspective. He also refutes some of the common arguments Christians use to justify celebrating Halloween.

Running Well - » Thoughts on Halloween

Lately, I've been considering the idea of how our witness is affected by the way we celebrate (or don't celebrate) the day.  This article reminded me that God tells us in His word that we are to "abstain from every from of evil" or the "appearance of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:22).  What's evil about little kids dressing up in costumes begging for candy?  Nothing in particular.  However, the day itself is the day of celebration for those in direct opposition to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

"Our battle is not against little children in costumes trick or treating, but against demonic forces that disguise themselves as light and innocence."

Some of the articles quoted in Darrin's are ones I've read and they also brought up some points that sound valid.  However, I think Darrin backs up his case with scripture.  Sure, Halloween is just another day, but it is still a celebration of darkness and evil at its core. (or do I miss something in the fact that all of the decorations traditionally associated with Halloween are tombstones, ghosts, monsters, witches, etc.?)

I'd recommend reading through the article and considering the arguments Darrin offers prayerfully.  This is a tough issue for a lot of Christians and I'm sure quite a few of us have fond memories of going trick or treating when we were younger - lots of candy, cool costumes, etc.  We are not supposed to be "just like the neighbors" - we are called to be different and be a light to the world amidst the darkness.

Eliana - Reporter

No idea where she gets some of these ideas from.  I walk in to our room as mom is doing her hair.  Eliana reaches over an grabs a spare hairbrush.  She starts talking into it along the lines of "We're here with a big giant.  Here he is." and points the hairbrush at me.  This goes back and forth for a while as she pretends to be a reporter while her hair is being put up.  When that was done and I left, she turned to her mom and started to interview her.  Shortly before I left she ran out of the room, grabbed her jump-rope, and ran back in.  I then heard, "That's not a stethascope!"

It's interesting seeing the role-playing that she's doing.  She was a gymnast yesterday and was flipping all over the living room and eventually walked the balance beam (her jump-rope again).  Reporter and doctor combination today.  Who knows what it will be tonight?

Foster Care - Part II

As expected, Paris and Solomon left to go to a more permanent foster home. We had the normal issues that can be expected from two kids who have been moved around quite a bit, but they were great to have around. Eliana was a great "big sister" and helped constantly with both of them. When Solomon was crying, she would comfort him by telling him that everything was okay and there was nothing to cry about (sometimes a little too loudly, but she tried). When we explained that Paris was having trouble sleeping because she was a little scared of the different environment, Eliana was determined to explain to Paris that there was nothing to be scared of at night.

We are praying that they will have a great home to live in permanently very soon and that they will grow up safely. They're already on the right path. Paris is a very bright and friendly two year old. Solomon is a great baby and is extremely happy when he's not pre-occupied with typical baby matters. (nap, eat, cuddle, etc) We miss them, but are glad that we could play even a small part in their lives.

Foster Care

We have our first experience with foster care providing respite care for two beautiful kids - Paris and Solomon. They've been great to have in our house, even if only for a couple of days until they can be moved to a permanent foster home. Eliana has been a great "big sister" and has played well with Paris and hugged and kissed Solomon for the little baby he is. It's been different with new young ones in the house, but I'm glad that we've all been given an opportunity to be together for a short time. We've been learning a lot through this experience and I know that we'll all be somewhat sad to see them leave.

Vegetables Won't Kill You

Apparently while mom was encouringing Eliana to eat her vegetables, she said that a little bite of this vegetable won't kill you. Eliana finally took her bite and immediately started a gagging, coughing "fit" and then slumped over pretending to be dead. I guess this was relayed to grandma who was listening on the phone while this happened.

No idea where our kid gets the over-dramatic tendencies - I don't even think this has been in a movie she's seen, but they definitely make for great stories. :D

Allowance Time!

We discussed an allowance for Eliana with her today. We asked her what her normal daily chores should be. She rattled off a list: Go to bed, take a bath, play with her friends, eat dinner, play games, visit her friends, eat breakfast, play with her toys, etc. After we brought her back down to tasks that would help the family and house, we decided on putting up her toys and clothes, helping put up dishes, and similar. We discussed a quarter per day if all of her chores were done. Eliana is a shrewd negotiator, though. She insists that we need to give her a nickel. While I'm all for that, mom wants to stick to the quarter.

Punishment for the friends....

Eliana decided that Susan, Lucy, Peter, and Edmund (her friends/brothers and sisters depending on when you ask - she got into Narnia in a big way) had "broken" her toybox. She resigned them to the hall for 2 minutes as punishment. Susan was initially left out, but after some clarification, it was determined that she was there as well. Apparently Lucy was the main culprit and the others were covering for her. She disappeared in there a couple of minutes ago to fuss at them and let them up. She does pick up on the oddest things at times. :-)

Zoo Trip with Eliana

Eliana decided late last night that her daddy was one of her "sons" (the other being a doll she's had for almost 3 years) and that we needed to get a good nights' sleep because we were going to the zoo "tomorrow". She then had me lay down on the couch to sleep and she lay herself down on the other couch with a blanket and pillow.
After a small amount of time (to work as "night", I suppose), she came over to her happily dozing dad and woke me up gently by shouting "Wake Up!" as loudly as she could. She then hurried around fixing me breakfast, insisting that I get dressed, and dragged me off to the "car" (a spot in the living room not particularly different than any other). We then got in the car (after opening the "door" of course) and she realized she had forgotten her key. She left me and the baby doll in the car while running to her kitchen to get her key (a pink plastic knife). After driving frantically (never saw those elbows move so quickly), we arrived at the "zoo".
I was then given a tour of the zoo (aka living room) where she picked up a souveneir and showed me the animals (in this case a giant stuffed chicken). We then had to get back in the car and go home so we could nap before going back to the zoo.
At this point, it was actually past bedtime. We all got ready to go to bed for real after some cleanup of the toys that were out.

She'd been to the Dallas Aquarium a couple of days earlier which probably prompted this trip. She got a set of binoculars while there and discovered last night how they are actually supposed to work. That was pretty cute as well.

Ordering Your Private World - Strength of Mind

I've been reading through Gordon MacDonald's book "Ordering Your Private World" lately and just finished the chapter on keeping your mind healthy/strong as a Christian. He presented a lot of food for thought that really resonated with me.

He commented that we need to exercise our minds as Christians because God created us in His image. We have the mind of Christ and therefore should be the most creative people in the world. Instead, we often turn off our minds and follow some strong-willed leader semi/mostly blindly. (Jonestown anyone?)

We also need to use our minds so we can engage the culture. If we aren't constantly exercising and disciplining our minds towards Godliness, then we are more likely to get sucked into the culture around us and dragged down into that culture. God's word is filled with examples of how Israel continually let themselves be influenced by the people around them rather than witnessing for the God who'd called them His people. In Judges, it ends with the sad line that "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." In Chronicles, Israel is led away into captivity for falling so far from God - first with the northern kingdom who never had a God-following king, then with the southern kingdom who had some good kings, but not enough.

Even the churches in the New Testament let themselves get carried away with the flow of the culture - probably why we have so many exhortations to exercise and discipline ourselves to be in the world, but not of the world. As one hymn tells us - this world is not my home, I'm just passin' through. We need to do our part while we are here, but this is not our final destination and too often we live like it is our last stop.


One comment that really touched a nerve was "amusement". Gordon brings our attention to the root for the word - muse, to think, a- without. Basically, this leads us to "without thinking". I've been convinced for a long time that our society will rise or fall based on how we use our leisure time. Do we amuse ourselves? TV? Games? Music? Sports? Books? All of them are good, in moderation. I tend towards books, games, and music - sometimes too much so. I have to ask myself regularly - Am I building myself up through these leisure activities, staying put, or actually moving backwards?

The last point Gordon brings up is based on another author and how we need to serve God with all of our mind, soul, heart, and strength. Gordon touches on how this can relate to people who are emotional, but don't have any intellect behind the emotion. Others who are intellectual, but don't have depth or emotion. Still others who have experience, but no emotion. We need to be perfectly balanced or we'll find ourselves out of control and easily manipulated (or the manipulators). Personally, I need to guard against over-intellectualizing my faith and translating that head-knowledge to heart-knowledge and life-application.

If you're reading this - how is your private world? Are you mentally flabby in your faith or are you growing? Are you the same Christian you were 1 year ago? 5 years? 10 years?

In Him,

-Peter