4th of Julily - Part II (Actually its the 3rd)

The Ten Tenors are a group of former opera students from Australia who have recorded with brilliance the classic military tribute, Here’s to the Heroes. It is a daunting song whose lyrics and music conjure up the visions and dreams of war torn soldiers whose blood, sweat, and tears have fertilized the ground of our democracy. The tympanis and violins meld with the voices to produce the portrait of a 19 year old boy, whose gun is strewn across his chest, his boots are well worn with the enemy’s dirt, his fatigues are ravaged and stained with his brother’s blood, and his eyes reveal stories his mouth will never speak.

Here's to the heroes,
Those few who dare,
Heading for glory,
Living a prayer.
Here's to the heroes
Who change our lives.
Thanks to the heroes,
Freedom survives.

Unfortunately our military and wars have too often become little more than political operatives and campaign buzz-words to further a politician’s agenda. How we have forgotten that within the gear and combat boots is a young man or young woman who has sworn allegiance to the dream that is America. Some live and some die. Some are wounded all will carry scars. Here’s to the Heroes who dare to live in the gap between freedom and tyranny. Whose very lives are the living wall that borders our constitution.

Lily Vanilli

I'm a sucker for new things. You might call it Adult Attention Deficit Disorder, I prefer the term Creatively Spontaneous. Food companies spend millions on advertising each year to repackage a familiar product. They take a drink that you have been drinking for twenty years, change the color of the can and WaLa, I'm the first in line to buy: New Coke, Clear Coke, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, Coke Classic, Coke Classic with Santa Claus drinking it, Coke Classic with the Olympic Rings painted on it, and then there is coke in a glass bottle (my favorite). A Rose by any other name is marketed to guys like me.
I think that's why I love the seasons. I love the spring until late May when I am ready for the summer. I love the summer until August when the heat gets a little excessive and college football is in the air. Fall is great for a few months. And, there is nothing quite like a fire in the fireplace during the dead of winter.
Today, I love the weather in Mississippi. Being that we are near a tropical zone, everything that has been green is now turning a deep deep green. After an afternoon thunderstorm the trees and grass almost glow a psychedelic green against the black skies.
This is the time of year that you have to be outside. And, being outside leads to all kinds of FUN yard work. As we have hit our mid-30's we have transitioned into gardening type people. I don't know that I ever aspired to be a gardening type of guy, but I really enjoy working outside. Shauna is a gardener. She loves to work in the yard, and let me emphasize the word WORK. My neighbor has deemed her 'The Warden.' He looks out of the perch on Baldwin Drive, and knows when the Stockstill family is serving their sentence. It's not that we use our kids for slave labor... well ok, we do use them for slave labor; but, we are faithful to give them free kool-aid.

Ye Princess Lily and Her Squire-ly Brothers

Dot… dot… dot. Every time I sit down to write I find myself worrying over the opening lines. I mean think about it, you can only make a first impression once. It’s those ‘firsts’ that stick in our mind. First steps, first tooth, first laugh, first smile, first words. When we miss those things that happened the first time, we somehow feel like we got cheated. It’s why the master authors worked to diligently to leave us with:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me." - Catcher In The Rye, JD Salinger
“Call me Ishmael.” – Moby Dick, Herman Melville
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” – 1984, George Orwell
“I am Sam” – Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss.
“In the beginning God created the Heavens and Earth.” – Genesis, Moses
And, so I give you dot…dot…dot. I know it’s not original but it conveys the simple truth that beginnings aren’t as easy for us grown-ups as they are for kids. 'Firsts' for us are often the most difficult part of our voyage. Adults like to analyze what should be done, while children go and do. have you noticed that destinations are for dreamers and voyages are for doers? Let me put it to you this way, if you fail to ever take the first step in accomplishing your goals and dreams you are absolutely positively certain to never reach them.
When I was a senior in high school I was one elective short of graduating and decided to enroll in a class on leadership. As far as I can remember it was not a very good class. At the end of the semester we took a piece of paper and wrote out our 10 year goals. We then placed our wildest dreams inside a canister and buried it somewhere on the school property. The idea was to open it at our 10 year reunion and see how we had progressed. (I missed my 10 year reunion because I was doing the Lord’s work… actually we were broke and didn’t have the gas money to get back to Oklahoma).
I don’t recall what I put on that piece of paper. Maybe it was something like: Scale Mt. McKinley barefooted; serve as a U.S. Senator; Cure cancer; walk on the moon or at least learn to moonwalk; solo at Carnegie Hall or at least eat lunch at Carnegie Deli; restore a 1973 International Scout II. I don’t recall exactly what the list looked like, but it was something like that.
My faith has goals. Philippians 2 – points my attitude toward Christ-likeness. 1 Corinthians 13 – points my love toward fullness and maturity. James 1 and Hebrews 11 point my faith toward completeness. I want my life, my attitude, my actions and reactions to mirror Jesus. I imagine many of you would affirm this same list. The destination of faith is a destination unlike any other. But, unless you are willing to take a first step you are only a dreamer. John Ortberg authored a tremendous book called, If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat. Enough said.
This summer many of you will go on vacation. You can picture the clear water of the gulf coast even now as you are reading this. You can smell the mixture of salt, sand and fish. You can feel the sun baking on your spf-90ed back. You will load up the beach chairs, towels and nets and get in your car. You will go to the bank and take out a loan in order to fill your car up with gas. You will set your GPS system to Beachfront, USA. But, there is a point when you have to leave… drive out of your driveway… hit the road jack… and get going.
Maybe the same thing is true for us today. It’s easy to complain about our life circumstances. It’s easy to focus on the things that are wrong with both us and the world today. We can picture in our minds quite clearly, who we would like to be, BUT, there are steps to the gym, steps from the refrigerator, steps to the church, steps to a different job. Stepst that seem so big and so scary. First steps are the most difficult, as you will surely fall. First steps are also the most rewarding because you know the journey has begun.

Spring. The Lily is in full bloom.

Sprung has finally springed... or something like that. The kids are in full pre-summer mode. Ready to rid themselves of that unwanted burden known as school. Dylan has the summer planned out to the day and Micah is all to willing to be his accomplice at every step. Shauna has her eye on gardening and I am trying to finish three Hebrew papers. And then there is Lily... Lily, Lily, Lily.
This girl is coming into her own. She is very content to wander which seems to indicate a spirit of independence. She loves to laugh. She wins in staredown every time. She sees no use in talking. She loves to run and fall and get up and run some more. She enjoys a good swing now and then. She doesn't like to be told "no." She likes cake and hates peas. She like cookies and hates green beans. She likes to open doors. She loves "Goodnight Moon" and "Brown Bear." She likes to dance. She loves her dog and her brothers. She isn't shy, but she will check you out to make sure you aren't psycho. She likes her momma in the morning and her daddy in the evening. When it's time to go to bed, she likes that. When it's time to wake up, she's ready. Her aunt Rebecca put her in pigtails and she looked like a little pixie.
She seems to be changing every day.

Happy Birthday Lily!!!

ONE. That number seems so pure. Hopefully there will be many birthdays that follow, some of which are certain to be monumental. Like Ten: The birthday where both hands are full. Thirteen: The birthday where they mutate into a Teenager. Sixteen: Drivers License. Eighteen: Adulthood (Kinda). Twenty-one: Adulthood (Really). Thirty: Adulthood (Really Really). Forty: Over the Hill. Etc….

But, for Lily it is ONE. April 11, 2007. It is a birthday that celebrates innocence. Everyday you can see the wonder of life reflecting in her eyes. Her brothers exist for her entertainment. Mom and Dad hung the moon. She gets to eat real people food. She gets bathed, changed, held, rocked, sung to, read to… Moments of Peek-a-Boo are the highlight of her day.

This is an election year. But, she doesn’t care.
The Pope is in the U.S. She is unfazed.
Gas is $3.50 a gallon. She sleeps soundly at night.
The economy is quite shaky. She wants some oatmeal.

ONE. It is the symbol of purity. It is the number that hasn’t been messed with.
You can see it reflected in other numbers, but there is no other number quite like it.
You can’t divide it. You get nothing more when you multiply it by itself. It just is.
It has no equal. It is simply perfect.

“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is ONE.” – Deut 6:4

First Steps

Apart from connecting 3 and 4 steps together at one time, these were some of her first real steps.