Dodge Ram's Charlie Brown Moment

I still remember the ad: Mean Joe Green limping off the field down a gray corridor to the locker room, where a boy of about eight offers to help. Mean Joe says no. The boy insists that Mean Joe take his Coke. The football player relents, chugs the brown soda, then turns to the disappointed kid and utters the famous line, "Hey kid, catch!" He tosses his sweaty jersey to the disbelieving kid and smiles from ear-to-ear. Have a Coke and a smile!

It's about as syrupy as the Cola's secret formula, especially viewed through today's eyes. But when it first aired in 1979, that ad hit its mark. We were less cynical then; more open to pictures of brotherly kindness. A lot has changed. I used to watch the Super Bowl and its ads with my parents--I was nine when that Coke ad ran. I don't remember worrying about what we might see. It was pre-DVR but for the most part, the remote control's off button was untouched. No longer.

Last night we stayed close to the power switch on our TV (the remote's broken and we still don't have DVR), wanting to watch some of the game, but doing our best to weed out the raunchy and degrading commercials. Not just because we have four children, but because most of what aired during the time outs and half time is twaddle.

By the final quarter, I was in bed half asleep. Sometime before the Ravens' triumph, Steve started talking about the Tweets that were going around about "the farmer" ad. Being a big Paul Harvey fan, he pulled it up on his iPhone and played the spot. In my half awake state I listened, dumbfounded.

According to ABC News online, the ad "wasn’t flashy or filled with special effects but Dodge Ram’s Super Bowl commercial that featured the late radio broadcaster Paul Harvey’s tribute to U.S. farmers might have won the hearts and minds of viewers Sunday night. … The spot immediately set Twitter ablaze, with viewers registering their overwhelmingly positive reaction to the commercial."

It was hard to believe such a sincere piece could make the Super Bowl cut. Harvey praised the selfless, sacrificial, tough, unbending, tender nature that is essential to a farmer--"somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing." Listening to Harvey's comforting voice, I felt like Linus searching with Charlie Brown for the perfect Christmas tree in a psychedelic age. Surrounded by strobe lights and towering pink, orange and yellow aluminum Christmas "trees," Charlie Brown sees the twig that captures his heart.

"Gee, do they still make real Christmas trees?" Linus asks, unbelieving, as Charlie Brown declares about the twig, "I think this tree needs me."

And so I fell asleep thankful, surprised by the answer to my Linus question. "Gee, do they still make sincere, hard-work affirming, sacrifice honoring, soul-inspiring Super Bowl commercials?"

It turns out, that in the midst of the garish, glitzy, soul-eroding fare, they do.

Thanks, Dodge.

Family Discipleship at the Zoo

  Next to pictures from the apple orchard and pictures from birthday parties, the scene that seems most repeated in our family scrapbooks is the annual outing to the zoo.

Seeing the animals from the perspective of a three-year-old transports me back to childhood wonder in a way few things can.

And being so close to big beasts, having watched Earth and back in the day, Wild Kingdom, I'm amazed by the privilege and responsibility that comes with taking dominion.

There is much to learn at the zoo. It's the sort of setting where lessons about God are everywhere. The challenge for parents, if you're anything like us, is to set aside your agenda--your desire to see everything and still be home in time for a nap--and listen for the Spirit's prompting. Here are just a few lessons that may emerge:

God made the earth and all the animals (Genesis 1:1, Hebrews 1:10)

The earth, the heavens, the stars, all point to God, they declare His glory. (Psalm 19:1, Habakkuk 3:3, Psalm 50:6, Psalm 102:25)

The wild animals honor God. (Isaiah 43:20)

We, humans, are tasked by God with being good stewards of His creation, including the animals. (Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:15)

God feeds the animals. (Luke 12:24)

How we care for the animals is a test of our kindness.(Proverbs 12:10)

Family field trips are a great place to teach your children about our great Creator, the Maker of all the animals. Seeing the vast diversity of creatures in one small space displays His majesty. He designed it that way, as Job reminds us:

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,

or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,

or let the fish of the sea inform you.

Which of all these does not know

that the hand of the LORD has done this?

In his hand is the life of every creature

and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:7-10).

Getting Kids to Work Gladly

When our kids complain about their chores, and even more when they grumble about pitching in to help with the day-to-day work of a busy family, it's tempting to help them see how good they have it by reminding them how much more work I have to do. But that is not God's way. It will never turn their hearts from complaining by being a complainer myself. God made us in His image and when we work, we are doing what He does. When I work wholeheartedly, I show that I am made in God's image. God is at work.

Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (John 5:17). (See also, Psalm 66:5, Romans 8:28,Genesis 2:2, Psalm 121:4, Philippians 2:13, John 5:36, John 14:10.)

We serve an active God who has revealed Himself to us in Scripture, the very book that calls inactivity and laziness folly. Proverbs 6:9 asks, "How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?" Followed a passage that's sometimes quoted in our home:

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man (6:10-11).

So important is this lesson that it's repeated verbatim a few chapters later in Proverbs 24:33-34.

Author Paul Tripp says, "The call to meaningful, necessary, productive, and creative labor goes to the very heart of our identity as creatures made in the image of God." (Age of Opportunity, p. 203-204 )

Rather than model complaining and holding up all the work I have to do, I need to show our children that I embrace the work I get to do, that which I've been called to do. With gladness. It is a privilege to be given responsibility and working joyfully as unto Him brings Him glory. It's also a prerequisite for more and increasing responsibility (see the Old Testament stories of Daniel, Joseph, Samuel).

I pray today, and every day, I'll be a good example of what it means to work as unto the Lord with all my heart. There's much more at stake than just clean dishes.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Colossians 3:23-24).

Just Enough Snow

Spring arrives early in Kentucky. That's one of our favorite things about moving here from Colorado. About the time we'd be digging out of our biggest snowstorm back in Colorado, the crocuses are pushing up the earth in our flower beds. But not as early as February. Last week's short snow storm provided some early morning snow play.

There was just enough snow for sledding.

For snowballs.

Enough even for snowmen.

It's a good thing we got outside when we did. Because it was just enough.

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

Yesterday I tried to build a fire in the fireplace and it blazed away, till the paper and fat wood had burned through. “Keep an eye on it honey, or it’ll die out after it roars through your kindling,” Steve said while we talked on the phone. Check. This morning I asked Steve to build me a fire before he left for the office.

Thanks honey! It’s blazing. Still. And we’re on our ninth stick of firewood. I love sunny blue skies and crisp, dry winters, with a gas fireplace ready-at-the-flip-of-a-switch Colorado-style. But since we’re no longer in Colorado, I’ll take a roaring fire to keep the overcast, icy, bitter-cold-Kentucky winter company.

Besides, now it's snowing. Sideways. Better get the sleds ready.

Whining for a White Christmas

A few days ago, our kids made Christmas wish lists, excitedly handed them to me, and with equal parts naiveté and ignorant bliss, seamlessly shifted to full-on expectation mode. They're at rest knowing we'll do all in our power as their parents to make their dreams come true. A few weeks ago, just days after we arrived in Kentucky, I saw tweets from friends back in Colorado that the first snowfall had begun. Outside my window, it was sunny, warm, and gorgeous. But I was glum. Few things elevate my spirits more than snowfall in winter. And in Colorado, my spirits were uplifted a lot. Rather than take my heartache to God in prayer, I sulked. He moved us here. He loves us. And He gives good gifts to His children. But it seemed silly to ask Him for snow here in the south. I assumed we'd left the white beauty behind.

This morning I was praying about my ingratitude and lack of faith. I even thought about my desire for snow and how selfish and childish it is to pout over rain in December. I reminded myself of a kid I saw at Target who spotted a box of Legos and demanded it, only to be denied. The scene escalated quickly, with great volume, till nearly everyone in the store was uncomfortably aware of the showdown. With fists clenched he melted down in tantrum. Pity the mother who gives in at this point. To get what you want after demanding it in anger is to teach that tantrums are what satisfy.

I'm too often like that belligerent child. When I don't trust God, I miss out on the joy of seeing Him act and witnessing His provision. Instead, I find myself receiving the gift when it does come--as it so often does--with sorrow. In those moments I'm most aware of my doubt and fear, when what I should be focused on is His goodness and grace. It's humbling. How much better to have humility in the waiting, in the absence and lack; a humility characterized by childlike faith. I want to wait in expectation, fully convinced that God is able to answer my prayers, and as loving Father, does. Ultimately it's not the gift that satisfies, but Him.

I want to be like our kids with their wish lists, not like the boy at the Target. When I wait in faith, the answers God gives are sweet, even when they're not what I imagined they'd be.

He is good.

And sometimes His answers are even better than I'd hoped for.

I'm sorry today for my doubt and fear and disappointment. But also, I'm reminded of His kindness and grace. So far, on this 4th Day of December, we've had snowflakes falling three of the four days. What a sweet gift--one I long to receive with delight over His goodness, rather than embarrassment over my faithlessness.

Thanks to our kids' earnest pleas to head outside at the first light of dawn, this morning I did.

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them (Mark 10:14-16).

$31.90 to Vote

We just spent thirty-one dollars and ninety cents to vote in tomorrow's election. I know, poll taxes are a thing of the past. What I didn't know -- till last week -- is that mail forwarding doesn't work on vote-by-mail ballots. When I realized our ballots were overdue, I called the Board of Elections and sure enough, our ballots had been returned to their office undeliverable. Thankfully, They offered to remail our ballots to our temporary address. Mail being what it is, I shouldn't have been surprised that we still hadn't received them as of this morning. My Dad, being who he is, called the post office first thing and asked if we could come retrieve our mail from the carrier's bucket with hope that the ballots would be there.

They were. So we headed back to my parents' to get our voting guide and fill out our ballots. Then we headed to the nearest FedEx. (This is where the $31.90 comes in.) In order for our votes to count, our ballots have to be received by our county elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday.

That's a lot of money, but a small price to pay to participate in this important election (and they're all important). Lesson learned: vote-by-mail ballots are not the same as voting absentee!

So here's my plea: if you're registered, go vote tomorrow. I suspect it will be a lot simpler for you than it was for us (at least I hope so!).

It's a great privilege to be a voice for liberty. I won't take it lightly.

Earlier concept for Mt. Rushmore

...would have included more of the president's bodies.

Four Great Leaders

...sure are inspiring with 60 foot tall faces carved in granite.

Reason #101 to Have Kids

Looking forward to family vacation.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

And this year promises to be better than ever with five new cousins added to our clan. Including our own 7-month-old Teddy, we have the twins (Kate and Lizzy) born just a day after T., 4-month-old Lincoln, and 1-year-old Willa. I can't wait to get my camera focused on the five new additions. It should prove to be a lively reunion with 22 of us in all!

Rainy Days and Mondays

Out-of-town company and consecutive days of rain aren't things we're accustomed to. But sometimes when it rains, it really does pour. My Dad arrived amidst scattered showers last Thursday, and it pretty well rained throughout his five-day visit. Though we were glad for the free water (I can think of a lot of things I'd rather spend money on than our utility bill), it posed new challenges to find five days worth of mostly indoor activities for the whole crew. We ate Crock-Pot chicken thighs and veggies—when the weather's right for comfort food in the middle of spring, you have to go with it!

But of course, we couldn't just eat. We had to find things to do. So we traded our typical schedule of hiking in the mountains and picnics in the park for bowling and playing cards. (The older kids are just old enough to start learning our favorite family game: Whist.)

We also went bowling, picked up pizza for dinner, baked cookies, told stories, and slept in sleeping bags (that last part was a kid thing).

On Saturday morning, my Dad took the big kids to Cracker Barrel for a down home breakfast and a to-go box of Marsha's buckeyes for me, thanks Dad! (Note: Marsha started selling these buckeyes 24 years ago in the grocery store I went to as a kid.) Then on to Lowe's for their Build and Grow Clinic (they made another variation of the wooden box project, hammer and real nails included).

By Saturday afternoon, it was time to get outside, rain and all. (Like I said, it doesn't rain here much so, yes, that is a sled on my dad's head.)

And after that. Carving! Carving what, you ask? Why, watermelons, of course. (You didn't think we'd carve pumpkins in May, did you?) This guy's still out on the front porch with a candle inside.

By Saturday afternoon, Steve and I needed a break. And thankfully, so did the storm. Just in time for our date to to celebrate our anniversary. Steve brought me these:

One for every year we've been married. During that non-raining hour or two, we zoomed over to P.F. Chang's for some dinner while the kids rode bikes and dug in the dirt and my Dad made mac 'n cheese. (Thanks to a tip from Tightwad Momma, our lettuce wraps were free.)

Now that Ippy's flown back home to dinner with my Mom, we're winding down a wet and wonderful weekend, full of gratitude for grandparents, and soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice. In the words of one tweet, "Memorial Day is to honor those that did extraordinary stuff so that we can do ordinary stuff."

Well said. This week, rainy days and Monday didn't get us down.