Parenting

Fathers: It’s Better to Attempt Than to Regret

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Last week’s evenings were pretty full for our family, and so I took off early last Tuesday to do something special with the Agnew boys.  Some of the guys in our college Bible study play for Lander’s baseball team, and so I decided this would be a great trip for us.  We had been playing a lot of baseball in the yard as of late, and I thought the game would mesmerize the boys.

After loading the boys in the truck, finding our way to the field, I realized something about taking 2 almost 3-year-olds to a baseball game:

It’s a horrible idea.

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Anticipating the Arrival

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There’s nothing like going home to me.  I wish you could follow along with me my drive up the driveway after work every day.  The excitement is at different levels at different days, but normally I walk into 3 people jumping around and cheering like I am the best person in the world.  No matter how hard the day had been, this hysteria at 5:10 makes all things right in the world.

The other day, as I noticed Obadiah and Eli’s faces pressed against the window, banging on it with their hands, I thought they had gotten taller.  Turns out, they had climbed up on the window sill anticipating my arrival.  I don’t know why Eli was still peering out the window when I was standing behind him, but regardless, it was a special moment as they climbed up eager to see my truck arrive in the driveway (even if they did disobey by climbing up there).

The reason they get that excited is due to their perception of the person they are anticipating.  I don’t think I’m that spectacular, but in this season of life, they do.  And they show me in how they eagerly wait and celebrate my arrival.

The problem is that we aren’t that eager concerning Jesus’ return.

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Shh…Eli Has a Secret…

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I took this picture when we were getting our boys new shoes the other day.  We were on the way to do some ministry at North Greenville on Friday, so we took our time and spent some time together in Greenville.

These boys are growing up very fast.  Their abilities and speech are taking off week by week.  I feel like I have two little men around me.

One of the things we have been having fun with is whispering in each other’s ears if we have secrets.  I’ll lean into the boys and say I have a secret, and I will say, “I love you,” or “Daddy is so proud of you.”

Obie got the hang of it first and began to repeat some of my secrets back to me.

Then Eli got into it, but I wasn’t prepared for what he was going to tell me.

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10 Things I Would Have Done Differently as a Father

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What a great day with North Side!  While I was hobbling from my foot and stuffy from my sinuses, our congregation carried the worship today as we gave it all we had.

Today, we worshiped to:

To setup the message on fatherhood today, I shared the story of my involvement in the curriculum associated with the upcoming movie, Courageous.  After that and watching the powerful video below, people were ready to sing out, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

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Imitation is the Sincerest of Flattery

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“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”  -Ephesians 5:1

Last night in our C-Group, we dug in deep into Ephesians 5 and sought to learn what it meant to imitate God.  One of the guys made a great point at how his son wanted to imitate him because he looked up to him.

I could relate.  It amazes me that these two wonderful boys, Obadiah and Eli, look up to their father.  Over the last few weeks, they have hopped around like they were on crutches  tryinb to be like Daddy.  Obie keeps telling me has a boo boo on his foot like me.  On Christmas morning, when they both got guitars, they stepped up to the microphone, stomped on foot pedals, and said, we are “playing and singing like Daddy.”

If imitation is the sincerest of flatteries, then I am a flattered man.

During group last night, I realized something with massive implications: they imitate me because they want to!  You may be thinking that is obvious, but do you get the spiritual implications?

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5 Things You Didn’t Know Fathers Do

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I wanted to share with you a list concerning fathers I found the other day.  As I have been studying and working on Courageous, I’ve been gathering a ton of information concerning the impact fathers have on their children.  Here are 5 things you didn’t know fathers do: Fathers Teach Empathy – A 26-year study published by the American Psychological

What is the Age of Accountability?

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Much debate surrounds the issue of the age of accountability. When the disciples asked Jesus who was the greatest in the kingdom (Matt 18:1), he sat a child down before the disciples to answer their question (Matt 18:2). It would have been pointless for Jesus to exalt a child to hold the mantle of who belongs in the kingdom if

Spoiled Rotten

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13 For you are called to freedom, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.
(Galatians 5:13-15, HCSB)

Spoiled Rotten

As a parent, I have certain rules and stipulations by which I prefer my children to adhere. My wife and I have standards of bed time routines, dietary selections, and level of freedom bestowed upon our children. We want our children to have fun, but we have certain rules we prefer them to live by.

That is, until they go and spend time with their grandparents.

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Family Resemblance

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1 Look at how great a love the Father has given us, that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.
(1 John 3:1-3, HCSB)

Family Resemblance

As a young boy, I would often hear from someone how one of my features resembled either my mother or my father. Some people could actually tell I was their child even if they had never met me. Now as a father, I always enjoy hearing from people who they think our boys look like. Sometimes I have left a room to have someone tell my wife, “I won’t tell your husband this cause I don’t want to offend him, but your children look just like you.” I always laugh at that. I’m not upset if my children look like their mother (I did choose to marry her, you know?).

It’s a fact of life: children share family resemblance with their parents. It might be the way they look, the way they talk, or they way they behave, but children often resemble their parents.

As children of God, we are called to do the same!

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The Popsicle Fiasco

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I have been going through family footage this week during my recovery working on an adoption video, and I ran across a video of Obadiah from back in April right before I went to pick up Eli.  This routine was happening about everyday after nap time.  It wasn’t staged, it just was regular. Hope you enjoy the popsicle fiasco:

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