Not Today

The other day I was sitting at the dinner table with my family. We were talking about six different topics at once as larger families usually do, when one of the kids said something about "not today."

For some reason, "not today" caught the attention of everyone, and from there on out everything was noted with a "not today" remark. '"Dad, can I play computer?", "Not Today." "Do I have to mow the lawn?", "Not today." It was a very funny thing for our family to share together, and I don't expect everyone, or anyone for that matter to understand something you had to be there for.

As a husband and a father I enjoy moments like these. Those moments when we all get to laugh together and take a break from our roles as parent, kid, brother, sister, etc. all help make up the best in a family. We look across the table, forget who spilled milk on who, or who didn't do their chores, who was too strict in their discipline, we forget everything really and just enjoy eachother for who God made us. It is those "not today" moments that I teasure. It is those "not today" moments that I hope our family stores up in their memory.

Well, I hope you all share moments like these.

Does too much on your plate leave you full or empty?

Sitting at the dinner table last night, we had one of my favorite dishes, beef stroganoff. Needless to say since I am a big guy, I wanted to load my plate with my wife’s wonderful cooking creation. This got me thinking…

It is obvious that too much food on your plate will make you full. You put too much on your plate and you get stuffed to the point you can’t breathe. By the time you are done eating, you are sitting in your chair, fighting falling into a coma, sure you are going to get at least 10 stretch marks, and convinced you added 20 pounds to your frame. What we also know about too much on your plate is that it is unhealthy for life. Well, this really intrigued me so I thought more…

I am a husband, father of four, full time employee at Linde Gas, youth ministry leader, webmaster of a number of ministries and businesses, Boy Scout Chaplain, and… I think about this and say to myself, “self, you have way too much on your plate.” How does that make me feel? I look at all of this stuff I am doing, and how much I am giving out in the Lord on a regular basis, and it all starts to make sense why I feel like Gollum looks; drained, malnourished, thin… come to think of it, this may be why I can sometimes act like Gollum, too; talk to myself, extremely moody, angry. But I digress.

It starts to hit me that too much on my plate of life does not leave the same happy feeling I get when I gorge on Thanksgiving (this is a joke, but we all know how exciting the senses get when we get around tons of rich tasty food). Too much on the plate of life makes me feel empty and weak. It makes me feel like I have to do finish it all myself. I think this is exactly what the devil wants. Without getting too spiritual (since I don’t have a Bible handy right now) this act of filling my plate with “good things” keeps me feeling, though I am working for the Lord on most of these things, I am becoming too empty because there is so much to do. To add to this that I am spending so much time to do these things, and I end up doing them in the flesh. Then, there is so much that needs my attention outside of my family that I end up leaving them feeling empty too!

So, as I look at it, too much on my dinner plate can be bad for me, leaving me too full. Too much on my life plate leaves not only me, but also everyone in my sphere empty. I guess I will need to be more like Martin Luther. He once said he had so much to do that he had to spend an extra hour in prayer to accomplish it all.

I am a happy dad

Hello,

Allow myself to introduce myself. I am Rob. I am a happily married father of four wonderful kids.

Since I am married, I have a wife. Her name is Andrea, and she is my wife. I love her and am very fortunate to have married so well.

I mentioned I have four kids. Let me tell you about them. They are all younger and shorter than me.

I have two sons, and two daughters. For now, we will address them as Potato, Monkey, Pumpkin, and Peanut.

Potato is a very fine 12 year old son. He is growing to be quite the handsome young man. He is a very talented bike rider and Basketball player. He is playing pano and learning guitar. He is also a Scout.

Monkey is a very agile 10 year old. He is into basketball, biking, and drums. He is also a Scout.

Pumpkin is a very determined and beautiful 8 year old little girl. Her interests are teaching herself to do anything feminin.

Peanut is a very beautiful 7 year old girl. She is very tiny, thus the name Peanut. She sometimes goes by the name Dinkerbell. She is also very into being a little girl with dresses and the like.

This is a little about my family. I am a dad who really loves my family and loves the Lord. I get a little too busy with work and ministry, and need to spend more time relaxing. Hopefully this blog will be a fun thing for our family to enjoy together. Thanks for making it available.