To Be Determined

It's always interesting when you hear the phrase "Well, that's to be determined" or "That's to be decided". These phrases usually mean pending some future event. "We don't know if they'll make it or not, that's still TBD."

Well, for me, I think the way that phrase tends to be used needs to be put to rest. My life isn't To Be Determined. However, my choice is. My choice is to be, determined. It doesn't matter what our circumstances are. See, we can all choose that.

So many times in life, rough times happen. As a nation, as people, we have survived tough times, World Wars, Pearl Harbor, The Great Depression, Dotcom bubbles popping, September 11th and so much more. Yet through it all, we as people were determined. We were determined not to walk in fear, but in faith. We decided to push forward no matter what. We have a heritage of grandparents and great grandparents that persevered in the face of all that, so they could give us a future of freedom. Let's not sit idly by, lets earn it, lets grasp that freedom, that future, that's been given to us and move forward.

So, in the midst of all of the current events,

I choose to be determined to not allow financial markets define how I treat my neighbor.
I choose to be determined to not allow personal pain determine my ability to smile.
I choose to be determined to not allow circumstances define my joy.
I choose to be determined to offer an encouraging word and not drag people down.
I choose to be determined to keep moving forward, no matter what.
I choose to be determined to not walk or react in fear, to be not afraid.
I choose to be determined to treat people and relationships with integrity.
I choose to be determined to keep my faith and trust no matter what life brings.

I choose to be determined to Thank God every day for all of His blessings in my life. For my children, my wife, my family, my friends.
I choose to be determined to thank the people around me for their friendship and graciousness.
I choose to be determined to give more in this life than I get from it.
I choose to be determined to make someones day today.

(By the way, I saw from Google that its Paddington Bears Birthday today. So, here's a picture of one of my mascots I was given for my birthday a few years ago. ;-)


















Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord, For he will be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out her roots by the river, and will not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and will not need to be careful in the year of drought or stop yielding fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8

Lets choose to be determined, even when we are in the tough spots in life. Lets determine to keep moving forward. Lets choose to be determined to give the fruit of hope or a smile at a moments notice, no matter what.

Light Bulbs, Perception, the Reset Button and a Laugh

So, the stock market is a mess. The financial industry is a mess. The credit industry is a mess. All the experts, naysayers and doomsayers are talking crisis. Funny thing is, it all appears to be perception.

Since my first lesson in finances years ago, (I was in a small private school where a CPA firm that visited was providing classes for us,) I was told that the price of stock doesn't really mean that share of a company is worth that much in dollars. It was only worth what people believed it to be worth.

So, if it was a light bulb company, buying stock, or pieces of a company simply meant that people believed that company was going to keep making light bulbs, because, gee... I was going to keep using light bulbs. So, this stock could be worth a lot of money, because we were going to keep buying light bulbs.

Now, these wise gentlemen explained to us that if someone convinced a bunch of people that the light bulb company couldn't make light bulbs anymore, that everyone would try to get rid of the light bulb companies stock, and noone would buy it, until the company either had no more shares and got booted from the stock exchange or it actually couldn't make light bulbs anymore and so stopped doing business.

So, I laughed, a little when I heard that traders didn't know what to do on Friday. I heard 3rd hand that some just stopped and stared at screens and couldn't figure out what to do. I thought it was a little silly.

Do you know why? I'm not an economist and won't pretend to be, but I know a couple things.

There are over 300,000,000 people in the US.

Guess what? We need stuff.

We need food for our kids. We need cars to get back and forth to work. Some of us need Internet services to work. We need computers and computer desks. We need houses to keep them in, so they don't get destroyed by the weather. We need chairs to sit in, at a home office or work office. Some of us will share germs and will need medicine to help us get rid of them. We need electricity, we need each other.

So, what does all that mean? We all have to figure out how to get stuff. We, as people, as a nation make those companies valuable. We make the stuff they make valuable. We are willing to trade our time, our creativity, our skills, for little green pieces of paper that we can use to buy the stuff to live.

So, some financial guy, a week or two ago, bought large portions of a company that makes light bulbs (among other things). All the pounding and fear aside. Darn it all, he must've known that my light bulb would burn out, and I'm going to have to go get a new one.

Sigh. I wish I was that smart. I would've bought the stock a year ago, cuz I bet we all bought a lot of light bulbs over the past year.

So... what were we afraid of again? Lol, I don't remember.

Excuse me, cause I'm going to need to find my car keys and figure out if I have gas in my car and where are those shoes I bought so my feet wouldn't get cold?

Fun with a cookie feast

There are lots of funny times that happen in our home.

All of our children have different passions and personalities. So, our 4 year old, Aaron, tends to be a light sleeper, in fact, we like to call him the night roamer. He has this nickname because he tends to wake up at 3am, 4am or 5am depending on the day of the week? We think he acquired the bad gene for it from his Dad (go figure, lol). Heather and I accuse me because she likes her sleep and I have traditionally been the 4 hours a night and how come the day hasn't started yet, person.

Well, the other night I was sleeping and our serious, almost 5, 4 year old got up during the night. Probably around 4am. He woke me up and announced that he was hungry. I decided, in my infinite lack of wisdom, that it was too early for him to eat and if he would like a sippy cup with Koolaid, would that suffice? He affirmed, at least I think he did, because I was in that half groggy state between awake and asleep where I was refusing to wake up quite yet and start my day.

I stumbled around the kitchen and got him a sippycup, turned the pre-school or toon disney channel on and laid back down on the loveseat to go to sleep. (All of this usually prompts him to play on the computer or watch cartoons.)

Well, the usual was not for that morning. It seems the evening before we had some packages of Vienna Finger, shortbread type cookies and some double stuff chocolate filling type cookie and had left them on the kitchen counter.

Well, Aaron decided that KoolAid was probably not enough, he was still hungry. So, he turned the tv down, grabbed a second comforter to tuck me in (I of course am oblivious and sawing many zzz's) and went exploring into the kitchen.

The end result was that I was getting hot and trying to figure out why the living room had gotten so quiet, if he was watching tv. So, I sat up on the love seat looking around, trying to figure out where Aaron was, and calling his name. There was no response. So I got up and walked over to the computer desk and there was Aaron, with a pile of cookie shells. He had opened every one and licked all the cream out!

I stood there, amused and dismayed and told him he needed to take the cookie shells to the kitchen table. He looked at me with big, solemn eyes, and said "Do I just throw them away, Dad, or do I save them for Ryan?"

Somewhere between laughing and getting upset about the cookie disaster (clearly, the parents fault :-P ) I said to him sternly and gruffly, as he looked up at me with eyes as big as nervous saucers, "No Aaron, you don't throw them away... You are supposed to eat the shells with milk."


He took a step back, in surprise, I think expecting to get in trouble and said "Ok". So, I poured him a glass of milk and he proceeded to dunking and munching.

Halfway through as I'm sitting in the living room again (not going back to sleep this time!) I hear his voice, all matter of fact and as if you had asked him the cure to world hunger, muffled by a mouthful of cookies and milk saying "You know Dad, this is really good with milk!"

Calm, peace and joy in the storm

Have you ever met someone with that infectious can-do attitude? How about that "the sky is falling, I'm giving chicken little a run for his money"? Who do you want to spend time with? Who do you spend time with?

So many industries today have reasons for negativity, layoffs, off-shoring, shaky money markets... All of these make people uncomfortable, nervous and worried. Many pundits (important talkers about stuff) report the sky is falling. It's good for their jobs. Chicken Little, real or not, sells. Should we be buying? Why are we spending our time with Chicken Little?

As a community, as a nation, as a free world we can't afford to buy the fullness of that story. We need to shake it off. Buying Chicken Little isn't about money markets and banks rippling in trouble. It's really about our peace in the midst of a storm. Markets stabilize. In the case of the US, our Congress realized the need to infuse cash and that is taking place.

That infusion made some people more secure. The emotions and feelings of people running stock markets, banks and insurers turned more positive, and they started buying again. And now, everything will continue along the tracks that give us confidence in our nations monetary stability.

So, how do you stay calm in the midst of that storm? The clouds were big and black, banks consolidated quickly in days and weeks that normally would have taken years. Some banks got hit by the economic lightening and were sold in the resulting fire sale. Now the US markets are shaking off the ash and dust, and some of our foreign friends and neighbors are picking up their firefighting equipment, because the storm has moved.

Criticism of how the US is handling and has handled this financial storm, is rippling everywhere. We made decisions, acted on them and are moving forward. So, now many analysts will pull out their pencils, dust off their keyboards and tell us everything we've done wrong and are doing wrong. But, we are going to keep moving forward. In spite of all the talk.

There are still brushfires here. There are many who are personally in the storm and have been for a while. Before the market and bank problems even began, and for multiple reasons. There are so many critics. So many Chicken Little's. Some know our lives and some don't. Many say they would do something else, what we are doing is wrong. But, in spite of all that, do we walk in peace? Do we walk in the calm and joy that is so infectious and can change the minds and hearts of men?

While everything around us may not cooperate, or the storms and complexities of the moment may seem overwhelming, whether hurricanes, destroyed homes, health, troubled financial and housing markets, gas prices, layoffs, offshoring, downsizing, foreclosures and whatever else you can think of, there is peace and joy available.

See, troubles come and go and come again. They have since the beginnning of time. There is a foundation that is stronger than time itself, that no manner of turmoil can shake.

This is where my peace, my joy comes from. It comes from Christ. It comes from the joy of my salvation! My confidence, peace and joy comes from who God is in His word and in me. See, the great mystery is this, God's plan is not for condemnation or judgement, its one of salvation. We feel condemned because of sin.

For some, that self condemnation, is that nagging feeling that follows them around that something just isn't right. For others, it gets down to a dragged down, self-loathing, knowing that something is horribly wrong inside and wishing it could change. God sent His son, Jesus, blameless and without sin, to become sin for us. To take the punishment for our sins. He did this, not so we would continue to live in this horrible loathing of ourselves, waiting for the big stick to bop us, but that we would have life and have it more abundantly!

As a Christian, I can tell you that I walk in the joy of my salvation. I want to share that joy, that peace, this ultimate gift with you. And, as some things in this world get scarier and more troublesome, I want to share Jesus with you, not some wavy, ghosty image, but the Christ, who wants to give you life and joy and peace in the midst of your storms. The Christ who died on the cross for my and your sins, the Christ who wants to live in our hearts and give us true peace and joy, not founded in the things or circumstances around us. He is the one who rose on the third day.

It's simple. It's not rocket science, its not stock and bank analysis. He wants to take all our baggage and carry it for us, to give us rest.

This is the success, calm, peace and joy plan I'm glad I took a long time ago. That if I would speak with my words Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart, that God raised Him from the dead, I would be redeemed and He would come to live in my heart.

After that, walk in the joy of your salvation. Being a Christian isn't about moping around in defeat, its about walking in peace and joy that supersedes our circumstances, even our health, finances or foolishness. Share that peace, that joy with people and you will be giving them something that is stronger than any oil consortium, any financial market any personal or national crisis.

In our weakness, He is strong. 2nd Corinthians 12:9 "And he said to me, 'My grace is enough for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' ...."

Have an Awesome Day!

In the few moments that you read my blog, I could sit here and complain about all the bad things that have happened in life. I could drown you in negativity and depression and at the end we would have the biggest biggest pity party and case of poor me's or poor you's ever.

Do bad things happen. Yes. We know and live the reality of these things every day. Should I drown you in the sucking sound of sorrow that comes from them?

No! That's not fair to you and it's not fair to God. It's not fair to the kindness and generosity and opportunity I've had the joy of experiencing throughout my life. I will tell you that I have 5 awesome children who make me laugh and smile, who I can play with and pray with. I have an awesome wife that I am in love with to this day. I can tell you that I have experienced grace and mercy and such cool and awesome things in my life, that so many people said I wouldn't ever get or touch!

I truly have been so blessed. I didn't graduate from a traditional high-school. I graduated from a homeschool. I worked as a custodian, to help my mom pay bills. I had a gift of study guides on electronics, I read, learned and memorized as much of them as possible. I love to learn, geek that I am. I had a year of college in electrical engineering technology (and later on another semester) with ok grades. Then I went to work full time. After a couple years of ups and downs, I met and married my dream girl. Heather.

We married, ambitious and excited about our future, lots of money coming in, three cars and a new baby on the way... then we lost everything. Her father died shortly after we were married. Not long after that, our startup business failed, we lost our contract work for the newspapers, money and dreams were in short supply. We filed bankruptcy. People were worried that I would be battling the same depression my father did a lot of his life. We prayed, read our Bibles, praised God and lived. I also started listening to a cassette tape I found at a Barnes & Noble bookstore by Zig Ziglar, Goals.

I ended up at multiple part time jobs. But during that time, I was determined to become good at solving computer problems. Not because it was popular or had good income, but because I loved working with the technology. I had finally learned that being excellent at and doing what you loved would help you succeed more than anything. I also learned that helping other people be successful at what they wanted and what they do, would help you succeed!

After getting better at computers and going forward with an attitude of wanting to help whoever I worked for be successful, God continued to bless. It was funny, throughout those years, I would apply for a job and people would say "You can't do that, they won't hire you." Others would say "They aren't going to pay you such and such, you don't have a college degree." The reality is, they were wrong and God continued to bless.

So, when things happened a couple years ago, with my ankle and then, with my gall bladder and the pain after that surgery not going away. Now, with economic problems and having to change services we provide and other things, people say "What are you going to do?" "Why don't you do this?" "Why don't you do that?"

I am doing. We are trusting God. My wife and I are doing what we can to move our business forward, and when we can't move forward any further, we will stand. My attitude isn't going to change because of tough times. I'm still going to walk in faith. I'm still going to find ways to help and give. I'm still going to treat customers ethically and walk forward. I'm still going to talk about and tell people about God's hope, His love and the truth that He cares for us, no matter what.

We all grimace when we are hurting, in spite of that, I'm still going to tell you about the peace of God that is in my heart. I am going to tell you that I will walk in His joy, no matter what the circumstances that go on around us. I will also tell you that God keeps providing and surprising us every day! Things that I have never thought possible, happen. Many days I sit down at the end of the day, in amazement and thankfulness for the kindness and grace and joy that He has blessed us with.

When I share my heart about our nation, about our communities, I'm talking from a reality that we sometimes forget to look for or look at. The reality is that God can work through people everywhere. The reality is that when we work towards a goal together, we become stronger as a people, as a nation. The simplest reality is, when you share a bit of joy, of trust and kindness, it spreads like the best kind of infection that could ever revitalize a community or a nation.

It's actually good for economies. Credit card companies know it. They show you a joyful, heartfelt moment and tell you how you they can give you those memories. The thing is, that's a moment you can have or give, without a credit card, without money, without perfect circumstances. I had the blessing of hearing a woman the other night, who talked about how you can walk into a place and change the mood completely, if they are struggling or down or fighting angry customers, you can share a moment of joy that can turn a whole office around.

The secret?

That same thing can turn an economy around! It can turn a community around! One moment of shared encouragement, or a smile or hope from each of our days, can change the despair of foreclosures and layoffs and struggling businesses into a community of real hope. We can change a whole business deal or relationship with a creditor by dealing with kindness and by sharing hope. It really does change things.

That's why I refuse to be down because of personal circumstances. That's why I say and believe that tomorrow is going to be a better day! I'm not faking it, I'm telling you that kindness and friends and sharing and doing something good with and for someone makes every day a new opportunity that I look forward to!

Stand - Keep Holding On!

Whac a Mole

So many times, when bad things happen, Hurricanes, Tornado's, Businesses being bailed out by the Fed, layoffs, financial turmoil in a nation or more, it's easy for us to ask if we are being punished. It's easy to think God may be playing Whac-a-Mole with a people or a nation. He's not. Bad things have happened throughout the years. They will happen again.

While it can be so easy to fall into a Charlie Brown mentality and say "Why is everyone (or everything) picking on me?" We can look for opportunity in the middle of the mess. "Ah, but your being Pollyannish, you don't know what I'm going through!" You're right, I don't know. What I do know, is this...

Over the past few years, I've watched our nation go through attacks, natural disasters, financial upheaval. We struggle with the fact that we have men and women overseas defending, not just our freedom, but that of others. It's hard to watch our children, brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles and neighbors put their lives on the line for things we don't always know.

I know that our nation and our people choose to come out of these things stronger, than they went in. There is something amazing about the volunteers, from all different walks of life, individuals, different volunteer or religious organizations, even businesses or corporations, breaking out of the mold and volunteering or giving to pull their neighbors in another state or country out of the muck.

We become stronger as a people as a result of these times. When we go through fire, we have that choice. We can use it to change, grow and move forward or cower and run. The nation I know, doesn't do that. Yes, we have our weaknesses, but we have our strengths too. We have the ability as a people, as a nation, to stand up and choose good. The biggest mistake that those who would try to come after us make, is they underestimate the strength of our spirits. They underestimate the power of our people.

They think that when we are down, that means we are out. We aren't out, we are getting back up, stronger than before that hard time. Ready to live in victory.

One of the coolest things that I've learned as a Christian, is that sometimes God allows us to go through valley's, sometimes he allows us to walk in the furnace, so he can refine us, like gold, and get out the dross, the waste. But He doesn't leave us, He is there with us in the furnace, there with us in the valley. That hard time, that valley is simply training for the mountaintop.



Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Share a smile. Today is a new day of hope, we can move forward, through the valley, to the mountain.

What to vote?

I've had a few people ask me over the past few days, how was I going to vote? Is there this policy that you are for, or this one that you're against? Because elections are coming up, these questions are on the forefront of a lot of people's minds.

Well, I read something the other day which struck a cord with me, because it is how I do vote. I vote with my core values, biblical values too. So, my vote, like many others is based on the values of Life, Freedom and the fear (respect and reverence of, not the quaking in my boots type) of God.

I have to say that, "values voting" as some like to call it when they don't want to talk about people having a core set of beliefs that is balanced with the truth of God's Word, will turn this nation around.

So, I agree, when I hear people asking why we are talking about Change of this or that. Sorry, but in recent years we've seen what both of our major political parties are capable of in finances and in the midst of war. No party is able to prevent the massive destruction of a hurricane or keep wars and rumors of wars from happening around the world. No party is able to stop the enormous financial drains that these things can put on a country.

But, if that leader has the values, the core set of morals that lead to the right direction, I believe we can weather the storms together, if we remember that we are "...One nation, Under God..."

I think Twila Paris did a much better job addressing this on her site, if you want to read what she had to say, you can find it here.... http://www.twilaparis.com/thoughtsinfo.php?id=13

How to fail

So, you know you are not in control and God is. How much of that control are you willing to give up? So, what if it costs you money? Hundreds of dollars? Thousands of dollars? How about Ten Thousands of dollars?

Well, we had/have one of those moments on hand. Last night, when we found out about a bank transaction that was supposed to occur Monday, and hadn't, I was full of righteous anger. I was going to call up angry and ask what the heck they thought was going on, and blah, blah, blah. That was a failure. My finances, my home, my car, how do they think they can do this.... no. God's "stuff", yes.

I forgot, for almost a whole night. We are stewards, right? We are supposed to be living it, not faking it, right? My wife was also looking to me, what are we going to do? After my outburst last night, I pushed it away and we continued on, and actually had a pretty good evening. This morning I woke up to the quiet, yet firm prodding of God's voice. I thought it was mine. What are you worried about? Why are you upset, if it's my stuff?

Right there, I got down on my knees and asked forgiveness. I asked forgiveness for trying to take back what we have told people was a gift from God, a blessing. I asked forgiveness for my clearly unrighteous anger. I also asked God to take back that heavy burden, that yoke, that I ripped away from Him in one of my thick-headed and hasty moments.

So, when I called the bank this morning. I did it with humility. I didn't misrepresent the urgency of the matter and did ask to speak to a manager, who wasn't available, but will be calling me back later. I did tell the helpful young man that answered the phone, that I was frustrated, but not angry. I even asked him if a manager was the right person to talk to about this problem. His response was, "Oh definitely". I got off the phone, confident that the capable people at the bank would do what was needed. It's not my car, it's Gods, right?

Following that conversation, whatever happens, I'm at peace that it's in God's hands. See, following God isn't about being holier than thou, it's about God's grace in a circumstance, in a situation. We will all have failures every day. That's how we tend to learn. We are people, we do that. ;-) God wants to know that our heart is right, He uses the little failures to teach us not to fail in the big ones. (Sometimes He gives us an 8 hour window so we can get quiet enough to hear Him, too.)

I've had people say, "Wow, you are really good at computers, how do you know all this?" Yes, I read the manuals (so I know how its intended to work) and I work with it, but I guarantee I've broken it more times than you! That's how I've learned so much about computers. I've failed at them more times than a lot of people, and then had to figure out how to clean up the mess.

So, if you think I'm super spiritual or super geeky, because of this or that. I'm not. God just has had to pick me up out from under bigger busses, more times. I may have been raised in a Christian home, but I was taught, early on, to ask forgiveness and accept it. God knew that I'd be that kid that would learn to skateboard on a dirt road, with no knee or elbow pads.

Learn that it's ok to fail, give it to God and move on.

Smile - God is in Control

"Hello."
"This is God."
"I will be handling ALL of your problems today."
"I will NOT need your help."

"So Have a Good Day!"

The Joy of Hope

One of the saddest things I've ever seen is someone who doesn't believe in hope. There have been so many times in my life where I've seen desperate situations turned right.

To hear and see true life stories of good happening in this world and then to hear someone say, I wish that stuff was real, breaks my heart. One thing we have the ability to do, every day, is to give hope. Make someones life brighter with simple acts and words of kindness.

When I was growing up, one of the times when things were tight, my mother was in the kitchen, looking for food to make to feed us six children. I was sitting at the kitchen table watching all of this. Things were really scarce and she went through every cupboard and finally, she said a simple out-loud little prayer, "Lord, if I just had some flour, I could make some bread."

Not one minute later, there came a knock at the door from the little girl across the street. She told us that her mom was cleaning out her cupboards and was going to throw away this flour because she didn't have anything to use it for and wondered if we would be ok accepting it. She gave us an abundance of flour that made bread for a few days.

So, why do I have such a stubborn faith in God? Because, I watched these things happen all the time, while I was growing up. I saw, time after time when God took a near disaster and turned it good. I saw some people that didn't know we were having car problems, call my mother up and tell her that they were getting ready to sell their car, and they had been praying and felt that God was telling them to offer it to her for $1.00.

So, do I know joy in hope when all the signs point to sinking sand? I do. Will I continue to believe that God will make a way and care for His children, I do. Will a lot of people stand in judgement of my idealism and belief in God's goodness and faithfulness and that He still performs miracles today, in a modern day America? Maybe. Maybe not. But, regardless of what people think, or what God chooses, I will choose to say, with Job, "...though he slay me, yet will I trust in him...", and beyond that, I will praise Him and thank Him for what He does and has done.

We live in a world, in a place full of change, where people walk in fear every day. But we also live in a land of opportunity, of awesome opportunity. The one thing about fear is, that it feeds on itself. Why spread fear, when you can spread the joy of hope? Why not spread a smile... a hopeful, joyful smile, that changes someones day and lifts their spirits, instead of the alternative.

I believe, that if we spread that hope, good things will come from it, and hope will spread like those cottonwood seeds that blow all over Michigan, and from those seeds of hope will come trees of joy and growth that will make a few economic bumps in the road into yesterday's news.

I know that words sometimes fall so short of seeing hope in action, in actually participating in spreading it and having it happen to you. I wish that somehow, I had the ability to share that deep down knowing, from inside of me (and I believe given by God's grace) that tomorrow will be a better day, and that no matter what is going on around us, we can make it a better day, in some little way for someone. When we do that, we fuel something in us and around us, that grows and spreads like a flood, to the point where no wall of negativity or bad thing can stand against it!

Sorrow and tears may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning!

C'mon Detroit!! Give a little... to give a lot... together

I’m part of a business networking group called Motor City Connect (www.motorcityconnect.com) and one of the leaders there asked for something small. He asked that all of us do something small for a group called “walk4friendship” to support a place that gives a friendship and learning place of support to thousands of disabled and special needs kids and their families throughout the Metro Detroit area... called LifeTown, (on Maple Rd/15mile in West Bloomfield).

Do you know what he asked for? A $2.00 donation per member! (Yes, that was $2.00!!) When was the last time someone asked us for $2.00, most people want something big? Hey, we'll make you a platinum, platinum sponsor and give you a pie tin with your name on it, if you do such and such. Wow, I thought this was a really unique and cool way to ask. I personally believe it works this way too. I believe we can all give a little and together we can do and give big things!

Because of his asking this, my wife and I donated a small amount. We are asking everyone we know to consider donating or passing on the request to donate to anyone who might have a couple dollars and a minute or two to go online by or before this Sunday, September 7th and make a secure donation through http://tinyurl.com/bobwalk4friend . This will take them to my page and they can donate from there, or go to the Motor City Connect Team Page button at the top and donate through Motor City Connect directly. They get credit to meet their support goals that way also.

Now, lol (laugh out loud) this doesn't mean you 'only' have to give $2.00! If it's the right thing to do, you can give more. If not, you can give too by passing this note on and we can all help out disabled kids here in the metro Detroit area together!

Let's Give a Little to Give a Lot!

A short video about LifeTown can be found here...

http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/ccp.asp?ievent=270178%20&ccp=80451

God IS Faithful... and, by the way, He's in charge too

It's funny. Based on different things I was going to name this entry "Ask and you shall receive". However, over the past week or two, while I had this entry sitting in edit mode, God has been teaching my wife and I a thing or three.

In one sermon we heard, the teacher was talking about some of the hardest times in her life, when people kept saying to her "What are you going to do?" "How are you going to fix that?". She said sometimes her response was to try to "fix" things. But what happens when you can't fix things? That's when you learn the right answer all along wasn't about you. It's about God. What's God going to do? Isn't it folly for us to think, even when things are going good, great and swimmingly, that we had would claim the glory?

For instance, I told a friend the other day, that since I was a child, I've never been in a situation that I couldn't go whole hog and work hard and get things on the right track. There were times, when my wife and I were first married, that I was able to hold down two jobs. There were times, when as short as a couple of years ago, I could work days on just a few hours sleep. This friend of mine said that even that glory goes to God, it's because of Him and not me, and he was right.

I find that today a lot of people have a lot of advice and question. "You should do this." or "I would do this." or "I wouldn't do that!" or "What are you going to do?"

Well, plain and simple I'm a planner. I know formulas and catch phrases and how to plan and brainstorm. I've actually been taught and studied how to troubleshoot and plan. I've even planned how to recover from big messes, and done it. However, today isn't about me or my plan, it's about God's plan.

Another coincidence is that we were watching Evan Almighty the other night. It's a modern day story of a modern day Noah. What was interesting is that the depiction of God there was correct, when it showed Him as being more concerned about things that we don't think are the real reason for what is going on. Even when everyone may be looking on and calling us the fool, He is still in charge. And even then, God still pursues us, works in spite of us and uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.



It's an interesting thing to say you're a Christian. Sometimes we forget that its putting it all on the line, saying our life and the things around us no longer belong to us, they belong to God. It's easy to say it belongs to God when times are easy, it's easy to say your life is His, when you seem to be on top of the world, but then the question is, is God really first? How much are you willing to give and still praise him?

So, what am I going to do? I'm going to trust in God and His faithfulness. I'm going to go forward as far as I can and then I'm going to stand. I'm going to trust this adventure to God. And we are praising Him through it all.

What's your story?

Once upon a time....

... Is typically a beginning to a story, a fairy tale. What's interesting in life, is that everyone has a story. My story isn't yours. Your story isn't mine. I haven't been down your road and you haven't been down mine. Some of my story is silent, some of it is known and some parts of it are only known by a very few. My story isn't just my story, it never has been. I was raised in church, but not just in church as a "thing" you do. I was raised in what developed into a personal relationship with God. So, my story, is shaped by that. It's intersected by, overflowing with, affected, stretched and intermingled with that relationship. If you don't know about that part of me, then there is something missing, you don't know the whole me, you don't know the whole story.

As with all of us, some parts of my story have intersected other peoples lives, where it intersects, I don't always share; because sometimes those intersects might make me look good, but would wound or hurt other people, sometimes it might bring joy, but remove mystery. Also, there are parts of my story where I feel I failed and was less of the person that God or myself wants me to be. (Hopefully, in those cases of weakness, sharing those parts of my story would show how God steps in and rewrites a story, an intersect of divine intervention that is outside the bounds of the normal transcending normalcy and presenting forgiveness, grace and mercy.)

Funny thing in this world, stories affect us. We tell stories of history, of peoples and days gone by, of fictional persons and worlds and of modern people, real people; we look for hero's to cheer and monster's to boo. Some stories inspire us to greatness, others terrify us and make us wonder if we should go out at night. We learn from stories, we teach from stories. Sometimes, when something is too scary to deal with in reality, or reality is too real, we tell or remember a story of courage and hope, so we can help others and ourselves find the courage to face our fears.

Stories come in the form of parables, fables, gossip, allegories, biographies, auto-biographies, press releases, cartoons, tv-show's and more. Sometimes they come in the form of pieces of overheard conversations, half-truth's, real truth or outright lies. They are all stories, and they all tend to influence how we think and what we do. Lies have done in companies, stopped armies and started wars. Tales of hope, courage and integrity have built empires, saved businesses and inspired courage that makes us all stand up and take notice.

When it comes to stories, mine is as varied and diverse as many others. Whatever you may see on the outside, maybe it helps to know that I've seen times of hardship and nothingness. That, even since being married, we've lost everything and gained back even more. We've seen God perform miracles that defied all logic. There are many ways that our story influences our decisions, much as yours may influence your decisions. Our family doesn't make the same decisions everyone else does, or have the same reasons others do for making the decisions that we do make and have made.

So, does that make us self-righteous in our decisions or choices? No, it doesn't. But, we believe we are not called to walk the same road as everyone else. We work very hard to make choices that honor God, family and country. Sometimes, if you look at them from the outside, they seem completely wrong, in fact... if you made the decisions we did, they probably would be wrong for you. God doesn't intend for you to follow our path, our road. He has a road mapped out for you that will take you through your own set of refining fires and blessings.

Times may be tough, and we face the reality of them, every day. However, even in the midst of that reality, we know that God works out the impossible and won't give us more than we can handle. Besides, America was forged in battle and its freedoms created and protected with many lives. Jonah was forged in the belly of a whale, Daniel in the lions den. The examples go on and on. We have a story to follow, a road to tread, that is not only a great adventure, but has been tread by those greater than us, who cut that road with more than we have ever had to sacrifice. We choose to follow that road, humbly, in their footsteps.



So, why the long post and all the explanations of things that confuse? Simply put, my wife and I believe that there is more to how we are supposed to live. We are pressing on, we will take today's hardships to be shaped into what we are meant to be. We want to be more, live more. So, in spite of a little pain or hardship, we choose to push forward. May we honor God and those around us in that.

Passing on

I first saw this video in church a few weeks ago. I was reminded of it again, when earlier this week my Uncle Jim called to tell me that his sister's 9 month battle with cancer had ended.




Aunt Loretta had been in pretty good health most of her life and had even just passed a physical with flying colors shortly before the cancer was discovered. While it doesn't seem to always ease the loss, we do have the comfort that she is now in her true home.

Miracles - Do they happen, they do happen

I believe that miracles do happen. Sometimes we forget to see them. We actually had 3 gifts from God over the last week. Spending ever day in pain can mean a lot of things, my prayer is that it will only make me more humble and more considerate of those around me. Many people need miracles today, sometimes they get them and don't recognize them.

Two of our miracles were unexpected, little bits of money came in over the week from two unexpected sources. Those were miracles, maybe small in nature, but miracles none the least.

The third miracle outweighed the other two. My youngest daughter (two years old) got into a weed in the back yard. It appeared she ate some berries off of it. A quick search on the internet from Brad while I was calling a Master Gardner revealed from both sources that we had Deadly Nightshade or Belladonna growing through the fence in the back yard. Both sources recommended the ER. One source even stated that just a couple of the green berries could be fatal to a small child. Heather took pieces of the plant with her and the doctor confirmed, it was the really bad kind. Oh, and kids don't spit it out either, cause the berries are sweet, they don't have any bitter taste this is yucky alarm. So, a charcoal drink with anti-toxin was administered and a few hours later Kara was released with a clean bill of health and a "keep an eye on her for 24 hours".

During that time, while Heather was at the ER with her, so many people were praying for Kara. Friends and Family from Michigan to Oregon. So, in the midst of gas crisis, money crisis, financial struggles, physical pain and so much more... God reached down and performed a miracle. Maybe you want to define it one way or another, but I know that my little girl, two years old, is still alive and not sick today, and that's a gift from God, a miracle.

Thank you Lord, for your Grace, you Mercy and reaching down and touching our lives, sometimes even when we aren't looking.

What my wife had to say on her blog... PeanutButterKisses.blogspot.com

Hope for America the 4th of July

For those of us in America, the 4th of July is our Independence Day. It's a day that defines our countries first step into Freedom. While it has been muttered about as an insurrection and some people don't like to think of it; it was defined by men and women hoping and believing in a better way of life, a life that was cemented in a core belief that all men were created equal. It's still believed in to this day, by many people from many nations. People are still immigrating into this country, looking to make a dream of a better life, a better future, for themselves, their families, their companies.... really, for their hopes and dreams.

Right now, many regions of our country are torn apart and feeling hopeless. We feel the pressure of struggling housing markets, fuel prices at an astronomical high and every other commodity that we use today, being affected by both. Foreclosures, bankruptcies, credit failings, long time institutions and communities collapsing are trying to drive us into fear, into hopelessness.

The reality is hard times exist all the time. Sometimes a region will have flooding, another will have fires, another will have financial problems. In our saddest times a whole nation may be affected, whether its gas prices or towers and lives destroyed by extremists bent on revenge. In those times we remember to pull together, bound together by tragedy and indignation.

So what happens when we are bent over with struggle, trying to survive economic downturns or changes in economy? Hope is our call. It will be contagious. For some of us, our hope is in God, for others it's hope based on days gone by, where we learned that tomorrow does come and can be a better day than today was. For some, we see a future that is different than the past, there is hope and belief that we can work towards a better day tomorrow, next week, next month and next year.

My belief and my personal goal is to pass that hope on to others. When I see a discouraged look or downturned eyes, I want to remind that person that they are in a country founded on God and founded on hope. If we encourage each other and share that hope with each other, tomorrow can be a better day. It won't matter if OPEC scrambles for more money, it won't matter if oil companies inflate prices and it ripples through the cost of every product in this country.

None of that will matter, because Americans will do what they do best, stick together, stand together and fight another day for that hope and living that hope for a better tomorrow as we create it together.

This 4th of July, Thank you to all the men and women who serve this country and protect our freedom to hope for a better tomorrow.... Thank you to the men and women in our military, thank you to the families that allowed them to go, Thank you to the men and women who protect our country here, our Coast Guard and Border Patrol, our Policemen and Firemen, our Doctors, our Nurses, our Paramedics, and Thank you to the guy who goes to work at the local Hardware store, Thank you to those people that live their lives everyday, unafraid and out there, creating new hope and a fresh start every day. May we live up to the legacy you give us every day....

Happy 4th of July

Father's Day

Father's day is a cool time. We spent this father's day (and most of the week preceding it) camping at Outdoor Adventures in Davison. Father's day is cool, because... well, my kids actually had to be reminded . But, we had fun. There were homemade cards, a cool breakfast from Heather and just some good joshing around.

Somehow, I think I actually made my kids eyes roll a couple times (yes, even on Father's day). They were distraught cause they didn't have money to buy a fancy this or a new whatchamacallit (computer related, of course, lol) that I might have wanted. So, without trying, I made their eyes roll. I told them "That stuff doesn't matter, what matters is the blessings that I have here. The gifts that you are." Groans echoed through the camper. No, I'm not the perfect father. Sometimes I yell too much, sometimes I get upset at one kid for what another did and sometimes I'm just completely wrong. Sometimes (maybe a lot of times) I also expect my oldest son to act like he's 25 or 35 and not 13. Or, I expect my 10 year old to act like a young lady in her 20's.

But, in spite of that, in spite of my shortcomings, I do feel that way. Like my kids are a precious treasure and gifts from God. And for Father's day it's really cool, I see my son growing into a Godly young man, I see my daughter being inquisitive about the things around her. I see my 6 year old sons sense of adventure and my 4 year old sons sense of fun. Oh, and Kara, 2 years old and she just pulls the cutest stuff, I'm not sure what she'll be like when she grows up, but I know she's going to be breaking hearts somewhere.

So, on Father's day, to me, I tried to let my kids know how special they were, how they were my Father's day gift... because they are, every day.

A father's passing

I guess it's Tuesday now.

Not many hours ago, my father passed away. George T Ward, known by some as George, like his Dad, known to others as Tom or Tiny. Some called him Big Tom because of his weight. His grandkids called him Papa or Grandpa Tom or Grandpa.



He made it to 71 years old.

He'd been in two different hospitals since Christmas Eve. During the two weeks he's been in the hospital, I've had many opportunities to pray with him, read to him and just talk with him. Sometimes it's been on the phone, sometimes standing or sitting beside his bed while he went in and out of sleep and consciousness. I've spent a lot of time crying over the past two weeks, for my Dad and probably some for myself, not wanting to see him suffer through the holidays and miss Christmas with his wife and family and friends and not even thinking he would be going yet.

I think back to Friday night, getting the call that he'd been coughing up blood. My 6 year old Ryan, (he had been in bed sneak-playing his Gameboy and was still awake when my wife went to ask my oldest if he wanted to go see Grandpa Tom, because he might not be around much longer,) popped his head up crying, insisting that he needed to see Grandpa Tom. I gave in and took the two boys with me. My Dad was glad to see them. Ryan wanted to tell Grandpa Tom hello, and he did. My Dad talked to him and Brad a little. I was surprised by Brad, he usually doesn't do well in hospitals, but he did ok. In fact, the boys stayed in the waiting room for quite a while, occasionally, off and on coming back to his room, to see Grandpa Tom for a minute and talk a bit and then back again. We brought my Dad a picture of my birthday with the kids and a card Ryan had made for him with Grace's help.

Somehow all of it seemed surreal. I prayed with and for him, constantly hoping and encouraging him to pull through. Many times throughout the past week, he told me how much he loved his family, how much he wanted to see all of them truly give their hearts to Christ. Dad talked about how he knew it wasn't his time yet and he wasn't going to go. Every time the doctor's changed shifts, there were new statements, well, realistically it doesn't look good, but he could pull through, we should really leave judgment to his heart specialist and so on and so forth. He even told me that his favorite scripture in the Bible was the book of John, Chapter 1.

Don't get me wrong, the Detroit VA hospital doctors and nurses were wonderful, they were honest yet hopeful and I was willing to cling onto whatever hope they would give me, so I could share it with my Dad and try to encourage him to get better. However that throwing up blood thing, the kidney's shutting down not much later, that kind of stuff, that's scary. That's scary in a young healthy person... let alone a 71 year old with diabetes, and heart problems.

I loved my Dad, I loved him even when he didn't know it. I loved him all those years that we couldn't talk because of a gulf of bitterness and hurt between us. And then I watched him start changing. I watched him stop blaming everyone for his problems, I watched him change his attitude towards God and church. Maybe 8 or 10 years ago, I think he actually heard me tell him I loved him, without throwing up a wall of bitterness over the past to block my words. Even that time was too short of a window to get to know my Dad again. I watched him fall in love again, with a good woman. I watched my Dad becoming the kind of man I wanted to be friends with, to get to know again.

My Dad wasn't all bad. He had a hard life, but he did a lot of good. I know he played basketball at Fulgham High School in Kentucky. He was in the army, a Vietnam Veteran. He saw some hard things there, things that sometimes never go away. He told me a little, about watching a buddy get blown up by a shoeshine boy across the street from him, about being exposed to Agent Orange and even about playing football on base with the guys.

He had six kids. That was a few, even for that time. He really tried to provide for his family. My mom even told me about the time when his two jobs weren't making ends meet and he was ready to go get a third. They ended up working it out where she picked up the third job.

My Dad seemed to be able to fix any broken appliance, refrigerators, stoves, washers or dryers, hot water heaters, furnaces and/or air conditioners. He did it all. I was able to go with him in the summers sometimes and learned how to repair and troubleshoot appliances then. While there at one of the shops he worked for, I would sometimes troubleshoot appliances or he would give me money to go play a couple video games and get a Boston Cooler across the street. He gave me $20 one time, and kid that I was, didn't understand how much a $20 bill meant at that time, spent almost the whole thing on Centipede. He got upset with me, but only scolded me a bit and didn't even hang onto it, like he usually would.

He led a Royal Rangers boys group, when I was small at one of the first churches I remember, and took us camping and taught us how to make our own leather vests and so many more things. He loved giving that and doing that with the kids.

He had a creative/artsy side to him too. He would make leather items and create intricate art work, designs and patterns, on it. When I was younger he would hand carve the leather, as well as using some of the pre-made stamps. Over the past years as his hands got to be too bad, I knew he was frustrated that all he could use were the hand stamps and then even more frustrated when he couldn't do that anymore. Funny, when I smell real leather, I think of my Dad and all the work he did with it.

Dad loved movies too. Funny, I remember how he sneaked in a trip with me to see Star Wars, Return of the Jedi for my birthday. Only I couldn't tell my mom, because she thought I was too young to see it. Funny thing is, being a dad now myself and loving to take my kids to the movies with me, I think he probably wanted to see it as much as I did.

My parents separated and divorced, not something to be proud of, it happens. It took a lot of years for those scars to scab over, but they did and everyone seems to have survived it.

I know my Dad was proud to have been a Veteran. That was one thing he really did love, this United States of America and the men and women who served it.

He also loved his children and grandchildren. While we were growing up, he didn't always know how to tell us, I think he learned that later in life. He certainly told his grandkids a lot. He loved to see them and hold the babies. He would even come to their birthday parties, wanting us to have them in a park or outside, so he could have wheelchair or scooter access. He would come to our house in the summer and take the little kids on sidewalk rides on his scooter.


He would talk to me about his church and the ministries and outreach they would do. He loved the pastor's at that little church in Marine City. Pastor Meade and then Pastor Joe. He really gave from his heart and his time to those ministries.

I didn't get to see every life my Dad touched. I know he was still full of spit and vinegar at times. But I saw his heart soften over the years. I saw it grow close to God like it never had before, during my youth or childhood. As a result of that, I saw him reaching out to and joining his community and family, I saw him dropping the anger and bitterness that had so permeated his life. I wish I knew more, I wish I could have known more about the lives he touched.

I prayed with him and he told me he was proud of me and my wife. I told him I was proud of him and the life he lived. I was proud to be his son. I hope and wish right now, even a week later, after the memorial service we had for him, struggling to put my thoughts on this blog, that my life can make him proud.

During these two weeks, he told me, as many times that it wasn't his time to go, he was ready to go. His heart was right with God.

So, during his last few hours. I got to pray with him, watch Jeopardy with him, adjust his bed up and down for him, put wet cloth's on his forehead, help him with his coffee, hold his hand, feed him yogurt, listen to him ask about the two guys (that none of us could see but him) and when they were going to take him upstairs. So little did we expect that this would be his last day. We (and the nurses) thought he would be with us another couple of days. Pulling out onto the freeway, completely drained, I got the phone call that I needed to get back to the hospital right away, that he wasn't doing ok, that there was a problem with his oxygen. The first exit - turn around couldn't come quick enough, and somehow I knew, from my nieces voice on that phone, that it was already too late, I wouldn't make it back in time, that I had already said my last good-bye to him.

But now he can walk with Jesus. There's no more wheelchair, no more struggling to breathe, no more piles of medicines, no more heart attacks. He gets to see his Mom and Dad, my Grandpa and Grandma. He's in a better place and I know he wants me to rejoice for him, and I do. For him, right now, to live was Christ and to die is gain.... (sorry, crying again, it's hard to see what your typing through tears...) While there's a selfish part of me that doesn't want him gone, that wants to let him hold my youngest daughter one more time, that wants to hold him and hug him one more time, to tell him I love him, just one more time, I know he's in heaven and it's good. Seeing his body on that hospital bed, he was truly at peace, he had a peace and lack of pain on his face I hadn't seen in months.

I'm going to miss my Dad so much. I do miss him and I'm proud to be his son, and I so hope that my life can make him proud. Somehow time always seems so short, too little.

Goodbye Dad, my father, my soldier, Christian, Veteran, craftsman, handyman, servant, husband, grandfather, brother, son, friend... I love you...

Vista and Silliness, or Silliness and Vista.... err... whatever

Today it's story time in Mr Rogert's Neighborhood. As you read, think of the calm setting, with light music in the background, a toy train coming around the corner and a sweater wearing show host, in a calm and soft-spoken voice telling you his experiences with Vista.

Well boy's and girls, I've decided to use a Dell Inspiron 1720 laptop computer for my tale today.
Being that our neighborhood is a business designed to entertain and educate you, we went ahead and accepted Vista Business as our operating system of choice. I know, I know, maybe we should have chosen a MAC, but the package this came in, was deceptively attractive, playing with our imagination was a black encased notebook in well organized white boxes with neatly stacked, color coordinated manuals. The minimalism of the entourage really spoke to what Apple pulls you into in their world.

Well, children, we plugged in and turned on our new Vista Business machine and the setup process began. We were then promptly greeted by a pretty Blue Screen with lots of cool words, like "Please contact your System Administrator".

Somehow those words come across a lot less impressive when you are the "System Administrator". Well, a reboot later and setup seemed to complete successfully. Little did we know that a week later, post Windows Update, the laptop would take yet another dive. This one , this time, into a seemingly unrequitable death.

Well, it all started, innocently on a Tuesday morning. In Mr Rogert's neighborhood, we affectionately call this "Patch Tuesday". We think this name came from the memories of a radical children's doctor, Patch Adams, or possibly from the patched plaid shirts worn by our comrade in sitcom's, Al Borland from Tool Time.

Regardless of origin, we decided that our Windows Vista machine wasn't functioning quite as up to par as we would expect it to on this one Tuesday. So, automatic updates started coming down to it. At their completion, we went out to the Dell website and downloaded the rest of the drivers and started applying all of them. The cute little Inspiron 1720, seemed to be happily winking and smiling at us, as it survived reboot after reboot. So, half an hour after all the reboots were completed, upon finishing our Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches on wheat bread, we decided to test out the glowing laptop with Lord of the Rings Online.

As we watched in anticipation, getting ourselves ready to send Sauron to his doom (well, really... trying to get our level 12 dwarf champion up another level trying to get ready to take out Sauron and his minion, the evil Witch King,).... "Blue Screen". Oh my, this one actually generated a memory dump and some jibberish about video card failure.

Our stomaches clenched in knots, as suddenly our green, tree lined, Mr Rogert's neighborhood streets turned to Molten Lava, the skies overcast with black and gray rolling clouds, the overcast shadows seemed to shimmer and stand out as if cast by ring wraiths themselves. Ahh, but, no worries, a beam of sunlight shined through the sky for a brief hour, as we attempted every new Windows Vista recovery tool known to man! This will not fail, it will work, we will survive!!!!

Bull-Pucky! Nothing worked. The blue screen continued with it's ominous warning, whether Safe Mode, Recovery Mode or Restore Mode. The Video card had succumbed to the evil Dark Lord and would be tossed into the fires of Mount Doom or tortured in the slave pens under Dol Guldur that none return from.

Then, a bright light came from the North, A Rugged Stranger with a Friend garbed all in white rode up to challenge the flame. As the 1720 booted from the Knoppix CD, hope was restored, the clouds turned back and a bright light shone from the skies.

Customer data, critical applications, e-mail and documents were now recoverable. A beautiful landscape glistened across the screen as data copied to an external USB 2.0 hard drive. After the data backup completed, the only sound that could be heard was the foolish wooshing and spinning of the CD-Rom drive as Vista Business reinstall CD's made their way back onto the now spotless hard drive.

Well, the system now runs everything, and Mr Rogert's neighborhood is back in business. High hopes are that the doors will not shut again or the streets turn to Molten Lava. A great evil has been avoided, lets hope that it stays that way!!

Crazy - Fun Day - getting to dinner

Today was kind of a wild run around town day. It started this morning with kids getting me up before 5am, and then again at 6am and then 7am, I think that's when I gave up and decided I should groggy my way into the day.

I started out catching up on some of my computer and gaming magazines online (hey, it is Saturday, gotta have some fun) in between the steady stream of my two boys coming in and out off my office to "see" me and "ask" me a question, which they forgot by the time they got to my desk.

The kids are all excited because Romeo is throwing it's annual shindig, the 76th Michigan Peach Festival and they want to go to the parade on Monday and then traipse around the fairgrounds sampling tasty things such as elephant ears, funnel cake, corn dogs and then mix it all up riding on the fair rides. Grace is especially happy about it, because she was sick, miserable and puking in the grass on our last trip there. That seriously cramped the visit, requiring that we take the kids home and get the rest of them ice cream on the way.

Now, this parent is probably more excited about the "peach" part of the festival/season because this is the time of year when his lovely wife takes the opportunity to make some very yummy peach freezer jam! I've been to a customer site a couple of times out in Romeo now and had the privilege to visit the wonderful folks at Verellen Orchards and pick up just yummy donuts, sweet corn and (of course) peaches for Jam.

(above picture is with new peaches from Romeo with our last jar of Freezer jam from last year... man, that's just cutting it too close for comfort!)

So, crazy day that it was, the Red Suburban was putzing around Mt Clemens today and took us (via the suggestions of a customer) to the Firehouse on Cass Ave just East of the Railroad Tracks. After a delicious Reuben, giant chicken sandwich, tasty onion rings and a humongous Antipasto salad, we were on our way again.

At that point, the wife and I had to split up, with me taking our 3 year old on adventures with me. And, believe me, anywhere you go with a 3 year old can be an adventure! Stopping at the 23 mile and Van Dyke BoRics for a haircut is always a necessity. The ladies there are professional and give you a good haircut and actually tolerated Aaron investigating everything. They even provided him with a Winnie the Pooh book to read and distract him while I was getting the hairs on my already balding head shortened.

Well, after his hide and seek and sneaking between the shampoo racks (thankfully nothing fell) we were off to Vince & Joes in Shelby Township at 25 mile and Van Dyke. The assignment from Mom was to pick up stuff for dinner. So, salad fixings and burger stuff. Of course, since we were at Vince & Joes, and they have a gelatto shop, (Dolce Gelato Cafe) and Aaron had already been sitting in the car and waiting at other stores beyond the patience level of a 3 year old, we decided to reward that patience with a kiddie cup o' Superman ice-cream, before starting our shopping. (Ever hear the country song, What was I thinking? )

When going into the Gelatto shop, the key is to get a taste or two of the flavors that abound, and then make your purchase. (They also have an ice cream selection, hidden off to the side for when your kid just has to have Superman ice cream!) My pick for the day was a delicious, small cappuccino gelato.



Well, upon completing that, we went to the front of the store (not counting all the 3 year old detours) and started our shopping. After picking up our fresh vegetables for a delicious salad, we then went over to the meat department and got in line for some chicken breasts and hamburger. (When you feed 7, with growing boys, that means 10lbs of hamburger is about two meals, maybe 3 if you mix it with something. Ouch, lol. :-P )

So, after the gentleman at the meat counter patiently waited while I retrieved the shopping list from Aaron, I put my order in, turned my back for a second and Aaron was gone, well not gone really, just about 5 feet from where I left him trying to run our cart into some other poor customer who kindly didn't say anything. (I'm just hoping I stopped him before he actually hit her, and if not, I deeply apologize for any bumps and bruises.) We then picked up some pretzels that Aaron insisted were on the list, but I couldn't find anywhere, go figure!


So, we headed off to home and for dinner. Here are shots of Aaron and Grace awaiting hamburgers and corn on the cob. Too bad, I thought the blue remnants of Superman ice cream around Aaron's lips would show up here. There's no real excuse for Grace's picture, she just likes to be in the limelight.















Do we go into bedtime? Oh probably not, chaos reigned supreme, however it was with full tummies and smiling faces, which always makes for a good ending to a blessed and life filled day! :-)