Untamed

Jesus and Cinnamon and Sugar

Well, at the end of another full day we got to experience this moment with our daughter. I had been downstairs talking to our neighbor and came up to learn that Emily and Mommy where engrossed in a deep conversation about the Holy Spirit. I told Whitney that she was all over that one and quietly laid down on the floor. We have discovered that our 4 year old loves to ask some incredibly deep spiritual questions at night. She also was getting frustrated because 'she can't see Jesus'. So we attempted to talk about faith and that one day we would see Him. Meanwhile while this incredible conversation is happening Joshua has transformed me into his own personal jungle gym as he continues to climb over me walk around me and climb over me over and over again. This video clip happened as she wanted to 'read' from her Bible about how Jesus died on the cross for us. It's quite the story as she includes elements like the disciples falling asleep and Jesus getting a little peeved at them to a king and a castle, etc. But not a bad little rendition for her age I suppose.

Then there's Joshua....Well he is quite the constant source of entertainment for us and laughter. Around dinner time this evening I was in the living room and noticed this scene as depicted by the picture on the left (opened cinnamon and sugar container). I thought to myself...hmmmm....I don't remember this container being empty.....hmmmm....then I look over to discover my son frantically engaged in activity over on our nice blue chair. I discovered that he apparently was trying to conceal the evidence (aka millions of cinnamon and sugar molecules) by wiping them away with a baby wipe he had found in the guest bathroom. So yeah we had a nice pile of sugar and spice in the chair and on our kitchen floor, etc.

Later on in the evening Joshua was making faces and having a great time standing on his step stool in the bathroom and got a little too excited slipped and of course bit his lip and drew some blood. So he then posed for us showcasing his massive lower lip. Also if you look real closely you can see his 'third' eyebrow or as I've dubbed it the 'tri-brow' which he got last week as he was doing some climbing in the playroom and apparently lost his balance. So yeah, it's always an adventure.

Being Still

Yesterday in our Sunday Morning couples class we talked about having a still attentiveness in order that we might hear from God. It was definitely one of those truths that I need to be reminded about all the time. I went to a big conference over the weekend and it had all the elements that you would think would be the perfect ingredients for a huge God encounter but I just honestly didn't encounter God personally. I'm just at a place where I need to go and be still and breathe and get alone with God and no one else. Just like Elijah who finally heard God's voice not in the wind or the fire or the earthquake but in the stillness in the silence. "Be still and know that I am God" How do we know He is God, when we are still. I think noise and activity are some of the greatest hindrances to us having a deep, real, and meaningful relationship with our heavenly Father. So maybe this week we should steal away for a few moments with God, turn off the radio in the car, turn off the TV 15 minutes early in the evening. Let's position ourselves to hear God because I know He is speaking to us if we'll only take time to listen.

We're becoming more like our parents

Well, I'm officially old now. Whitney and I just attended our first parent meeting for Emily's pre-school and signed up to be a part of the PTA. I thought PTA was just something that my parent's did so it's kind of weird when you cross these thresholds in life. It was also weird how in the past we just take our trips out to Georgia whenever we feel like it but now we have to coordinate with the official school calendar. We have correspondences, car pool lines, PTA pizza days, etc that we have to now keep up with. Pretty wild. We are entering into a new stage of parenting. I asked Whitney if she thought I should run for PTA president and she ever so curtly and politely said, 'uh...no' So I'll lay aside my desires for PTA advancement and keep on doing what I'm doing I guess.

A Full Weekend

On Thursday we headed out for Corpus Christi (right at the beginning of rush hour, brilliant) in order to go spend some time with my grandparents as we celebrated their 60th anniversary on Saturday. We got in late Thursday night but still had to catch a little olympic action (is anyone else sleep deprived from being hooked on the olympics?). Friday morning we slept in and then headed over to North Beach right there in Corpus. It was kind of cool because this is the beach I grew up going to when I was my kids' age. Right when we got there a lady was so gracious to inform us that her son just got stung by a jelly fish so of course Emily is quite freaked out the whole time about that. Nonetheless they had a great time just digging a whole in the sand and writing their name and drawing pictures and watching the waves crash in and erase it all again. Later Friday evening I got to spend some time with my grandfather who's 87 and Emily and Joshua. I've included a little video where Emily and grandpa are having a little conversation. As I watched them I felt really blessed that Emily is getting to know and enjoy her great grandfather. Joshua konked out at around 6:30 and actually slept through the night miraculously. The next day we had a little reception from 3-4 for my grandparents and put together a little slide show with the song 'Best thing that ever happened to me' by Gladys Knight and the Pips (what exactly is a 'pip' anyway?) It was a special time as about 150 people showed up to honor them. As we were visiting later in my Grandparents apartment my aunt confessed that as she was helping get my grandmother ready she kind of forgot to put her hearing aids in so the party was a little on the quiet side for my grandmother, oops. We made it back in on Saturday night late and turned it around and went to church yesterday morning.

Yesterday afternoon we went to a blake bergeron's party at 'Pump it up' which has these massive rooms full of inflatables. So our kids were loving life and I must admit the adults were quite excited and having some fun too. Myself, Josh White and Dave Bergeron put on a dunking exhibition at the inflatable basketball court area. I was hoping that ESPN 27 might pick it up but I'm afraid we didn't quite make the cut. And then everyone being exhausted we attempted to go grocery shopping last night which was the trip from hades as the kids and the parents were at our breaking point. Their were temper tantrums, broken nail polish bottles, standing in shopping carts, screaming and all kinds of constant drama. It was up there with them more miserable trips we've had. And yet then we get back to the house (Whitney and I have absolutely had it) we get the kids bathed real quick and put in bed and then we have this incredible time where Emily is asking all these spiritual and life questions. She prays to ask Jesus into her heart and then we talk a bunch about heaven and you're just like 'where did this come from?' and how did we get here when an hour ago we were about to experience Dunn family meltdown. Wow, the wild ride of life.

Monkey!!!!!

So this was the scene yesterday after we got home from church and various activities. My son decided he wanted a banana. Now here's the key though...what you have to understand is that its not just about the banana its about the experience with Josh. The key point is that he wants you to partially peel the banana so that he "like a monkey" can peel the banana on his own and experience the apprarent adrenaline rush-like feel of being a monkey for that small moment in time. Well I tried to hand him the partially peeled banana but it wasn't working and the banana nearly fell on the floor so I proceed to just go ahead and peel the banana and toss the peel in the trash and give him the banana......HUGE MISTAKE! For the next several minutes it's all out pandamonium as he just is yelling out MONKEY!!! MONKEY!!! MONKEY!!! over and over. No amount of reasoning or coersion will suffice at this point I have awoken the sleeping giant inside. I desperately try to keep convincing him that its o.k. just to eat the banana...I then make a plunge for the trash can and grab the peel back out to try and reattach it to the banana and see if we can resimulate this eupohric monkey experience but oh no that just won't do. So I'm left with just letting the tirade run its course and finally he lets go of his monkey pipe dream and sits in my lap and eats the banana like a normal human being. Man, you just gotta love 2 year olds!

Boot Scoot Redefined

Well our dance party in the kitchen continues. This particular clip portrays a new twist on the boot scoot boogie as portrayed by our daughter.

Behind Bars

Saturday was quite a full day for me as we had rehearsal from 12:30-3 and then we loaded up in the old yellow StoneBridge shuttle with our praise band and headed down to the Walls unit at Huntsville. It's definitely a wierd feeling walking into that prison and hearing and seeing those doors slam shut and lock behind you. We had the privilege of leading a praise and worship night in a 250 seater chapel in the middle of the walls unite from 6-7:30. Most of us had no idea really what to expect but it ended up being one of the most powerful and Spirit-filled times of worship for all of us. The inmates who filled that chapel were some of the most humble and gracious people you'll ever meet. They were so unbelievably appreciative of us being there. And man they worshipped God like I've never seen. They would raise their hands, sing at the top of their lungs, and one guy would worship through whistling really loud. Another cool thing was that we had about a 30 member choir of prisoners behind us singing with us and swaying from side to side on most of the songs. It was another one of those times in life where my theme verse I Corinthians 1:27 (God using the foolish and weak things of the world) was shining brightly. I mean I was sweating profusely, guitar strings were breaking, I couldn't find the right music, I forgot the words or couldn't read the words, I forgot to turn on my guitar, and on and on yet the inmates just didn't seem to care. It was more about being there and being real than executing a flawless performance. So after a while we just had fun with it and didn't worry about all the little things and did our best. As I learned in India, sometimes just showing up is the most powerful and effective thing you can do. Us just showing up there on their turf in their prison impacted them above everything else.