10 years

Ten years ago today my best friend became my wife. I had heard all sorts of stories growing up about how God blesses His children. Through the ten years, my wife has stood by me through injuries, addictions, depression, and a variety of other things that she should never have to endure. I take this day to honor the Proverbs 31 woman that God has given me. I love you honey, and thank you for giving me the best ten years of my life...and I can't wait to see what the next ten years have in store.

Wake up call

I found out this morning that one of my former students, a 16 year old girl named Kalyenn, has lukemia. Her Chemo started today. From what I am hearing, it is in an early stage and should be fully treatable.

This was a rude awakening. Life is short. Our pastor this past Sunday talked about the end times and what we are doing to grow the kingdom. I truly believe that she will make a full recovery, but what about all the other people in my life? What excuses have I made for not sharing the Gospel with them?

Please join me in praying for Kalyenn. Also, please pray for me as I become more active in sharing my faith. God Bless.

10 things that make me mad

Ok, here is the follow up to my last post.

10)Waking up, getting a bowl of cereal, then realizing there is no milk.
9) Seeing the "leash kids" at the mall. Set them free already.
8) Missing an easy lay up.
7) Getting to the post office 5 seconds late.
6) Fair weather sports fans.
5) Having a presidential address interrupt my favorite show.
4) Seeing my son cry.
3) Church politics.
2) Knowing my wife is sad and I can't fix it.
1) Knowing that people still pay Keanu Reeves money to act.

That last one is more jealousy. He has made some of my favorite movies (Bill and Ted, Point Break, The Replacements, Parenthood) but the guy just flat out can not act. The coolest part about this list is that it was harder to make than the ten things that make me happy. Maybe I am a happy person. I will leave you with words of wisdom from TMBG (they might be giants)

"I'm your only friend, I'm not your only friend, but I'm a little glowing friend, but really I'm not actually your friend, but I am."

Have a great day!

10 things that make me happy

Ok, so I got this topic the same way REO Speedwagon got a hit song...Heard it from a friend who, heard it from a friend who...ect. (thanks for the idea Rachel)

10) Watching the sun come up between Carolina mountains.

9) The smell of a charcoal grill making meat.

8) Seeing the look on a students face when they finally "get it."

7) The sound of bacon frying up on a stove first thing in the morning.

6) Falling asleep to the sound of a strong rainstorm.

5) The coldness of the other side of the pillow (thank you Stuart Scott).

4) Watching the University of Miami football team run through the smoke.

3) Knowing that my wife loves me for who I am.

2) My son and his infectious laughter when the "five" attack him.

1) Knowing that God's plan for me is a bajillion times better than my own plan.

I think that I may do 10 things that make me angry later...

Ranting about education

The county I live in is amazing, in the worst possible way. They have spent millions of dollars to teach teachers how to write lesson plans. They said that lesson plans are the reason why this county has recieved a D or F grade in education. As a teacher, I know lesson plans are important. I also understand that lesson plans are not the reason why kids do poorly on tests. The leader of the school board was the highest paid in the state. If her schools were not performing, then why was she getting so much money? Teachers suffer if their kids do not do well. Shouldn't the same rules apply?

The FCAT is the test used to measure if a student is doing well in school The problem is not the test, it is the weight that the test carries. A child can be held back if they fail this one test, even if they pass all their classes. The greatest irony comes from the title of the rule that helped develope the FCAT: The no child left behind act.

My hat goes off to all the teachers out there. Its an uphill battle that seems to have no good ending. Trust me, you teachers who are actually teaching, not reading the paper, playing on facebook, or tweeting about how bad your classes are, will be rewarded one day.

Thats all the time I have for today. Thank you for reading.

Fathers Day

Fathers day was about as perfect as it could have been. I always joke that the best gift my wife could give me for fathers day is to take my son and go out for the day. I was lying. We started off by going to church and taking a family picture. The pastors sermon was on end times and sharing the Gospel. Very touching and moving.

After church we went to lunch. We ate at Crispers. Not my favorite place, but I never leave with a complaint. Today, I had the steak and bleu flatbread. As always, it was phenominal.

After lunch, my wife let me take a three hour nap. When I woke up she let me go play basketball. I love playing basketball. I just think I may be too old to do it. I am 37 and my body is built for half court games. We always play full court. Right now, I am awake because my body is saying "fine, go ahead an play, but good luck sleeping."

The best part of my day took place right after church. My son made a card for me at Sunday School. It said how much he loved me and gave some reasons why. One of his reasons was that I play video games with him. That is my boy.

I hope everyone out there had a great fathers day. Talk to ya tomorrow.

The Journey begins

Greetings. I am not exactly new to stay at home dad-dom. I did the same thing when Devin was born. The difference is that this time, we can not survive minus the income. This journey has many steps. The first is finding work from home.

That step would almost seem easy. The problem is there are many scams out there. I have found and fell into quite a few. I can still hear my dad saying that there is no get rich quick scheme. I am going to try my hand at freelance writing. I am now working on my masters in counseling and I have been writing a paper a week since January. The average length is four pages and it takes me about an hour. I have had several leads that would pay about 25 dollars per article. Lets see what happens.

Another way that I am going to try to make money is through blogging. This is my second blog. I loved writing the first one, and it was mostly comedy about my life, work, and ministries. This blog will be about my day to day exploits as a stay at home dad.

If anyone reads this and needs a blogger or article writer, or knows someone who does, please let me know. Again, I am not looking for handouts or easy money. I will send some examples of my writing to anyone who needs to see it. You can also help me by keeping me in prayer. This blog will be updated regularly, but the real fun will begin in September, when the little one arrives.

By the way, we still dont have a name for him. My first child was named after University of Miami football players. If anyone wants to suggest some names, please do. Also, do not suggest the name Keanu...I have issues with Keanu Reeves.