Today’s the Day

Please help me welcome Evie to the Dancy family.

She’s just over 7″ long and weighs in at a whopping 10.5 ounces or so.  She is officially 21 weeks and 2 days old.  She’s getting old now…I know, I know!

 

Man am I blessed!

Livin’ Out Loud,
Al

I was almost eaten by a Lion

Erica and I watched “Prince Caspian” together the other night after we got back from Life Group.

Rabbit Trail - Have you ever had to bow out of “grown-up” interraction to tend to your own children.  I was not completely thrilled that I had to miss out on over half of the conversation and good times in our Life Group that night, but my children needed Dad around to keep em in line.  If I hadn’t gone down, everyone else wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the time together.  Small price to pay for others to have community.

** Shot Gun Blast **  I now exit back onto the original Blog trail

I was floored by Aslan.  I’m not sure my take on this is completely accurate or exactly what C. S. Lewis intended, but here goes.  Alsan is a great picture of Jesus.  I mean take out the obvious likeness…Jesus had a mean Mane of Hair just like Alan…Right?!!?

But seriously!  Take away the supernatural power, the promised return, the authority, the majesty…I watched this Lion and God floored me.  I watched how he walked around humbly, just like Jesus did.  He didn’t flaunt His power, but when he flexed it, everyone knew about it.  I sat in awe as He welcomed back those that doubted.  You could see their hearts and countenance melt in His presence.

Now, I know that this was just a book/movie, but I imagine this is the way it was or the way it will be when I’m around Jesus.  It makes me wonder if people sense the presence of god when they’re around me.  I mean, we have the promise of the Holy Spirit living inside of us as followers of Christ.

So, how about you?  Does anyone see Jesus in you?  Do they sense His power and presence in your life?

Livin’ Out Loud,

Al

Let the Kid’s Ride!

PHOTO BY Paul Buckley.

I found this post on Mike Martin’s Blog.  It is a shame how legislation can have such a huge grasp on our personal/recreational lives.  The far reaching arm of our government frustrates me on a regular basis.  I do not need them telling me what is appropraite or safe for my children.  I think off myself as a pretty inteligent individual.  I don’t live in a fantasy world, where everything is butterflies and sugar plums.  I have a grip on reality.

Please stop…This is to the Government…Please stop inteferring with my ability to raise my children the way I see fit.

Don’t let the government and the CPSC step all over yours and your children’s rights to ride motocross. We need to work together in order to stop this ban and bring back children’s motocross. Here is a list of things you can do in order to help the situation.

• Spread the Word: Do you have a podcast or blog? Are you active on social networks? Leverage this communities to your advantage. Spread the word of this atrociety and make sure that all of your friends are aware of the ban and are helping in the fight.
• Submit a Letter: The following letter has been prepared by the MIC to be sent to the CPSC in support of the petition and ultimately in support of the removal of this ban. Download CPSC Letter Here
• Sign the Petition: visit http://www.tomself.com/, submit your info and sign the petition.
• Write to your Congressmen and Senators: Let them know the far reaching affects of this law and the many benefits provided to families by the small powers ports industry.**Thanks to Commenter Joe Roth, I have been made aware of an automatic system to submit a letter to your congressmen and senators which has been set up by the AMA. Check out the AMA’s Rapid Response System right away.**
• Watch and Spread the Video: Matt Wozney of MXPTV has produced an awesome video regarding the ban. Watch it, spread the link, and embed it on your site. The more people aware of this issue the better.

My children will ride…Oh yes!… They will ride!

Livin’ Out Loud,

Al

My Baby Girl

Yesterday some of mine and Erica’s best friends came visiting.  Kevin and Shari Schoener are friends of ours from College, and Shari and I knew eachother from childhood.  It’s always awesome to have them around, which hasn’t been very often since we moved in March 08.

Anyways!  Shari is an amazing photographer and offered to come out and do a session with Erica and Charlotte.  I already knew the pics would be incredible, but I had no idea they would be this good.

Shari you are the greatest Ti-Ti in the world, and Kevin, you are the best friend a guy could have…Well, besides driving out here and letting your kids destroy our house and eat all of our food, you did get em an HDMI cable…So, okay, you’re the man!

Check the Pics here

What if it Was Your Child?

Having children certainly changes your life.  More specifically, it changes the way you live your life.  At least it should.  When I got married I was already in a pursuit to let God change me.  I knew there were areas, and there still continues to be areas, that I God wanted me to change and ways He wanted me to grow.  I became more conscious of time, a little more organized, tried to manage my finances a bit vetter too.  And although getting married changed me greatly, it wasn’t until I had children that I really noticed the changes.

My mother in-law said to me recently that she is impressed with how much I have changed.  She  noticed that I see something that needs to be done, and instead of waiting till it really needs to be done, I get a move on and get ‘er done.  I appreciated to compliment, and appreciated the fact that she was watching even more. 

“So…what of it?  What’s the point here Al?  How does this have anything to do with Every Monday Matters?”

Glad you asked…

As I said, having children can really change you.  So, this week’s challenge, which is actually the challenge from 2 weeks ago, was to sign up to have AMBER alerts sent to you.  I chose to have them sent as a text to my cell phone.  I figure, it’s on all day every day as it is, so it’s probably the most reliable way to get an alert to me.  This challenge really struck home. 

“What if it was your child?”  Whoa!  What if it were my child?  It’s scary to even think about, but it is a reality. 

Since my mother in-law advised me that I was a “man of action”, I couldn’t be lax or forget about this challenge.  I signed up and will get text each time there is an AMBER alert in my area.  I have to tell you, I was really burdened by this challenge though.  I can’t seem to get it out of my head.  It’s not like a constant fear or anxiety that my children will be abducted.  It reminded me of how important it is to teach your chiildren these lessons, and also some of the things my parents did in preparing me and brother and sister for dealing with strangers.

I grew up in the era of Adam Walsh and McGruff the Crime Dog.  I remember learning about Adam, and how scary that was.  I also remember my mom getting me a set of books that taught a bunch of lessons on how to deal with strangers, and going over them with me to make sure I understood everything.  I remember one really cool thing that we implimented…the “code word.” 

Did you have one?  Well, it was a word or phrase that only me and my mom and dad would know, unless they gave it to somone.  The rule was that I would never leave with someone, stranger or not, that didn’t have this code word.  It was kind of cool.  Like I was some sort of kid spy, and knew that people were on my team if they had the code.

I think mine was the name of our first dog, “Pepper.”   It’s amazing the things you remember from so long ago, but it was a valuable lesson.  I remember my mom saying something like, “Even if your aunt comes to your school to pick you up.  Unless your dad or I tell you ahead of time, or she has the code word, you do not go with her.  No matter what!  Even if she says I was in a bad accident or something like that, you never go.”

Erica and I talked about this for a while last night, and decided that 3 1/2 years old is not too young to start these lessons.  Wyatt, our oldest, is a really out going boy, which could be dangerous.  I mean, I’m pretty confident that he wouldn’t just get in a strangers car, but hey you never know. 

So, she and I are formulating our plan, and we’ll probably enlist McGRuff to help us.   But I want my children prepared for the dangers in life.  I want them to know that there is so much beauty in life, but there is also danger.  I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

If you haven’t signed up for AMBER alerts…McGruff says to do it!  Besides, what if it was your child?

How are you making Monday’s matter?

Livin’ Out Loud,

Al