1. This weekend was the Father's & Son's campout. I look forward to camping experiences about as much as I look forward to being shot out of a cannon. But I must guardingly say it was a non-horrible time. In fact, it was kind of OK.
2. I asked Josh ahead of time who he was most excited to spend time with at the campout. He said "you, Daddy." I said, "That nice, but which FRIEND are you most excited about seeing up there." He said "You, daddy."
3. Matthew was playing doctor last week and I was the patient. I let him check me out with the doctor tools. I told him my ear was sore and asked if he could give me some medicine. He said, "No" and then put his hands on my head and gave me a blessing, saying "bless daddy to have a good day at school in the name of Jesus Christ Amen."
4. Josh had a good baseball game experience this weekend. He played 1st at one point, and caught a throw that got the runner out. But then the runner tripped on Josh and he got just a little hurt. He called out to his coach and said (because he'd been hurt) that'd he wanted to be the DH. The other coach responded by saying...."Sorry kid, this is the NL".
5. Josh played a ton of baseball at the father's & son's. I actually left him in a ball-playing area to take Matthew to the lake, and didn't tell Josh. He said he was scared, but said "I started looking for you, and then I said a little prayer, and then you were right there!"
6. While driving to the camp-out, I saw a sign for a weigh station that made me think of the old Johnny Carson routine when he would discern the answer from a sealed envelope, and then read the question. In that spirit, the Great Carnac would have said: "What does an exhibitionist instructor teach his students?" The answer (and the sign): "Open When Flashing"
7. Our sacrament meetings often have all three speakers speaking on the same topic. Today's HC speakers were assigned the topic reverence, and so the other speakers were assigned the same. As she was setting up for her class, the Sunday School teacher said that she was a little disappointed as she had non-member friends, and had hoped it would have been a more "uplifting" or "Christian" talk. It got me thinking...themes and such are fine, but it's probably a smart policy if bishoprics always ensure at least one talk is a "Jesus" talk....something about the atonement, his life, why we love him, etc. Can you imagine a non-member coming on "tithing" Sunday? "Gee, not only are those Mormons non-Christian because they don't talk about Jesus in their meetings, but all they want is for their members to pay money". We should always plan sacrament meetings with an eye to a non-member attending for the first time.
8. I was reminded of the following in HP meeting today. Elder Christiansen, an Area Authority 70 from Boston, taught us that we always think the way to convert is to serve our neighbors. He said it's the opposite. Most people in the world want to serve others. It's part of their DNA. It makes them feel good. But they don't know how, when, or where to serve, and deep down, they're wanting that experience. So rather than dropping off a casserole to the neighbor, it would be better to say: "This neighbor just had a baby. Some of us from church are taking turns bringing in meals for the family. Would you like to have a turn?" What converts, too, is the feelings of the spirit, and having a positive service experience does that.
GO JAZZ!
Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment