Do We Dance Enough?

This last Sunday in Imago Dei Kids, we had a guest band come in, play, and sing worship with the children. They were really entertaining, playing a wide range of instruments (I'd say around 11 total).

The highlight for me was watching the kids. All of the children just sat watching the band, not sure what exactly to do. All except one boy. This one boy (about 7 years old), who is normally a child that has trouble following directions, was jumping up and dancing. He was jamming along with the band and doing what he felt most comfortable doing.

Most adults would likely frown at this boy because he was "a distraction" or "bothering the other kids." But I think that God was totally joyful at this boy's excitement, joy, and praise for such wonderful music.

Are we letting children miss out on how to express joy? Are we letting them shout and dance for fun, or are we constantly telling them to be quiet?

Adults can be really boring and often too quiet. I'm afraid we might be passing that on to our future generations. Hopefully, I can try to do something about that. :-)

Image from peopleclipart.net

Coming Soon!

My first stop motion film! I made it for my writing class...watch the trailer below:

DIY Fair!

Have you ever wanted to give a gift that is more meaningful than a giftcard? Did you ever want to give something more heartfelt than something you just picked up at the store? Well, you're in luck...the Do It Yourself Fair is tomorrow!

A woman from our church is organizing this event in order to promote gifts during the Christmas season that represent giving relationally. The purpose is to equip everyone (men, women, and children) by sharing ideas as well as learning and practicing new skills.

Jen and I will be running our own projects there. I will be showing people how to make their own juggling balls and attempting to teach them how to juggle. Jen will be making candy trains, tealight candle jars, and food gift baskets. There are many other awesome ideas to be learned there, such as making hats, terrariums, silk flowers, comics, magnets, pendants, wooden toys, printmaking, and much more!

The whole idea came from Advent Conspiracy: To spend less, give more, love all, and worship God fully. The main purpose is to save money and send the money saved overseas for people to have clean drinking water. Check out more about it here: adventconspiracy.com

Two great videos about it below...

Work Affecting Marriage

I don't actually have a job, but I certainly do a lot of work. Schoolwork has seemingly consumed my life for the past five months. It has kept me busy day and night. I go to classes during the day and come home to work on projects and reflection papers at night. It seems endless.

How can I fit in a social life? Well, that's easy...I can't. At least, not a very healthy one. My good friend Patrick has been so patient with me as I rarely hang out with him anymore. My family over on the westside probably has forgotten what I look like by now. And my wife...well, let's talk about her.

My marriage is affected by my work. That's a given. But the question is, how will it be affected? I am the person that influences Jen's attitude more than anyone in her life. It is crucial that I be diligent in making time for her and focusing my little free time on her and only her. Doing the dishes for her before she gets home surprises her and lets her know that I am thinking about her. Surprising her with flowers at work by riding TriMet for 3 hours in between classes is totally worth it. And giving her a back rub not only helps her feel loved, but also helps me avoid carpal tunnel!

I can see why marriages fall apart so easily when job hours or demands increase. It's tough being in a relationship that requires so much focus and time when all of that focus and time is expected to go into my work.

But overall, we are trying our best to focus on God in this marriage and constantly trying to be servants to Him and to each other. And thankfully, that is keeping us relatively stable.

P.S. - Patrick inspired me to write this post. :-) Thanks man!