Mission Failed

Tab and I were excited this past weekend, we were going to go on a date!

While Wyatt went to go spend quality time with his grandparents, we drove to one of my favorite local theaters. Where we grabbed some popcorn, Mountain Dew (on tap!), and made our way to our recliner seats.

The previews featured some nightmare-inducing crud known as Slender Man (no thanks). And then our feature presentation began, Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

I’m not sure how far we got into the movie before the mission went south. Could have been thirty minutes to an hour before the sound cut out.

Up until this point, Tom Cruise had jumped out of a plane and was now making his way through a throbbing techno music infused party. That’s when the fight occurred in the bathroom. Superman decided to help Tom Cruise out.

The vocal and background music track cut out first. All Tab and I could hear were various grunts and bathroom tiles breaking from the fighting. One of those deals where you hoped it was just a momentary issue but knew something big, technically, had happened. The movie soon froze-in-frame and the lights came up. A major part of the theater sound system had blown. No more Tom; No more crazy mission.

The ultimate buddy flick.

Walking back out into the summertime blaze, Tab and I felt gypped. Mission: Impossible – Fallout had been fantastic ride up until the technical failure. We had been strapped into a most excellent rollercoaster only to have the ride malfunction and our tickets refunded. Bummer.

The backyard swimming pool ended up calling us for a bit. Nothing like floating around minus a kid making waves. Got to watch the thunderheads, off in the distance, grow and move about.

With our weekend date a sorta bust, we hope to join Tom Cruise and Superman again soon. We can’t wait to see how the movie ends.

Leading Family Worship

Read a quote this morning that was a bit convicting:

Lead family worship It doesn’t need to be extravagant or long or particularly deep. But it does need to be consistent and it does need to be led by you. Set a time, sing some Psalms, read a Bible passage, ask each kid a question about the passage, and then pray together. Even if this wasn’t the Biblical pattern for Christian families, could you give me a decent argument why it’s a waste of time or unnecessary? – Read more here

Leading family worship has long been a struggle for me. One of those areas where I could easily lay blame on it not being modeled growing up–my parents did the best they could–. But at some point, I’ve learned, one has to forgive their parents and accept responsibility for what one is doing with their own family.

So what am I doing to lead my family spiritually? / How can I take the lead?

How are you leading your family spiritually? / How can you take the lead?

Away from the lights and fellow believers at church, in our homes, how are we leading?

I’m not sure what a family worship time looks like for my family. I can’t imagine us all sitting around singing songs. Sure, we’ve tried a few things in the past. When Wyatt was younger, we’d read Jesus Calling and pray before bed. More recently, we’d sit down and read scripture/pray in the evening. Consistency has always been my enemy. Kind of like with a personal quiet time. An evening would pop up that was out of our regular schedule and the first thing that would end up going were family devotions.

Jon Acuff, in his book Finish, talks about the day after perfect; the day after everything hasn’t gone 100% well. He asks what you will do after that day? Will you accept defeat or continue on?

I know personally that I often complicate things. Simple can be my enemy. And yet simple has to be the starting place for leading family worship. The simple acts of:

  • Taking/scheduling time for the family to sit down
  • Opening the Bible
  • Reading the Bible
  • Discussion
  • Prayer

I know that these are all things that I can do. I simply choose not to make them important nor do them.

It’s time to change that. Let’s consider this the day the family worship vehicle was put into gear.

Zoom, zoom.

From Across the Net – “How to Love the Life You Have Even If It’s Not the Life You Wanted”

My wife sent this devotional to me this morning. I mention on my About page, which I recently redid, that: “I’m not where I thought I’d be and yet I’m exactly where God wants me.” The quote below, from the devotional, goes along with that.

The life you have today, and all it includes or doesn’t include, is the life God has given you. It’s the life you’re supposed to love, despite what it looks like. It’s the only life you have, and the only life you’re going to get. You can live it abundantly with joy based on Christ alone or let life pass you by as you allow problems, disappointments or drudgery to steal your zest for living.

From Across the Net – Games With Lives Podcast

Thought this was a neat idea to promote community and get to know the individual members of the Gamers With Jobs Conference Call. My only criticism is that it runs about 15 minutes too long. But otherwise, I really enjoyed this podcast episode.

Gamers With Lives Podcast

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