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| Every morning Selle prepares breakfast for Taylor to eat. She usually asks Taylor:
"Do you want blank to eat?" Where blank could be, eggs, bagels, toast, french toast, oatmeal, etc., and Taylor usually responds with a YES or NO answer.
Well yesterday was a little different. Selle asked Taylor:
"Do you want some oatmeal?", and Taylor responds with:
"No, it's hot"
I looked at Selle and she looked at me, and we just started laughing. This was the first time that we could recall Taylor actually reasoning things out verbally. I cherish those kinds of moments. I love seeing the growth and maturation process of her. I wonder in amazement, how she learns things. It's such an awesome thing to be a parent.
"No, it's hot"......I love it.
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| I was visiting one of my job sites today in Beverly Hills. As I was exiting the freeway, I saw a man holding a sign that said "I haven't eaten in a while, please provide money so I can get to a shelter". The light was red, and I had my lunch bag sitting right there on the passenger seat, so I decided to flag the man down and give him my lunch. He then walks over to my car, so I roll down my window and hand him my lunch bag. Here's how the conversation went:
Bum: "What does my sign say?" (in an aggressive voice)
Me: "It says you haven't eaten in a while, so here's some food"
Bum: "It says "I need some money so I can get to a shelter"
Me: "Well here's some food"
Bum: "I NEED MONEY YOU CHEAPSKATE!" (Yelling)
Me: "CHEAPSKATE??? Your the one asking for money and your calling me a cheapskate?"
Bum: "Your an $%#hole!!!!"
He then proceeds to walk in front of my car and flip me off!
At this point I was boiling with rage! My first reaction was to open the door and punch this fool in the face. (In fact, I did actually open the door.) My second reaction was, it's not worth it, plus he looked bigger than me =). I finally sort of get my senses back and decided to just let it go. As I drive off, I'm still thinking about how anyone can be so ungrateful. I mean, I'm trying to do something nice for this guy, and never in a million years would I expect one to react in this manner. Anyhow, the more I drove, the more I calmed down, and I actually kinda laughed about it because I was thinking, man, even the Bums in Beverly Hills are snobs!
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| We kind of have a routine in our family, where I give Taylor her bath everyday, and read to her after her bath. It's funny because she expects me to read to her every time now. Anyhow, last night, was the same routine, but something felt different. I've been feeling a tug at my heart. I felt as if someone was praying for me. I felt a heavy heart. Not sure why, and for those of you that know me, I'm not one that over-spiritualizes things, but something was really different last night.
So, during reading time, I let Taylor pick out which book she wanted to read, and she normally just picks the one that is on top of her book pile. This time however, she digs deep and finds her children's bible. She says to me "Bible". I say to her, "Taylor do you want me to read the bible?", she responds with a "Yes". OK, easy enough, it's a Children's bible with lots of pictures, she'll enjoy it.
This is where it gets weird. I pick up the Bible, she looks at me, and says "Papa, pray". My first thought, was wow, my parents taught her something cool last night (they took care of her all day the night before). I say to her, "Do you want me to pray?", she again responds with a "Yes". This is when I felt the Spirit move. I prayed. I prayed for her, I prayed for us, I prayed for our family, and during the entire prayer, Taylor sat still and stared. After the prayers, I was amazed at how God did that. God used my daughter to speak to me! Thank you Jesus, thanks Taylor, and thanks to whomever was praying for me!
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| "Everything inside me says there's more than what I've heard, so much more than empty conversations filled with empty words"
I was at a men's breakfast Saturday morning, and we sang the Switchfoot song "On Fire". The lyrics above really stood out to me and pierced my heart. I'm the king of "empty conversations filled with empty words". I can talk about sports, surfing, work, my family life, and all kinds of other things all day long. I can have these kinds of conversations with non-believers and believers alike, but what good is it really? I mean, sure it serves a purpose. It shows friendliness, communication skills, and life status updates, but all these things really point to me and not Him. I'm sick of having empty conversations. I want them to have depth, meaning, and most importantly I want them to glorify God.
This is a bit strange to me to be writing about such "spiritual" things. I'm usually not one that shares these things online because, when I read things like this I always feel skeptical. Skeptical in the sense, that I feel people write these things to appear more "christianlike". For some reason, however, I felt the spirit tugging at my heart, and I just had to put those feelings and thoughts into writings. I'm not trying to appear more "christianlike", nor do I want people to think that about me, I just wrote this to engrave it in my heart. To remember this time that the spirit was speaking to me. Done.
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| Yesterday, the start of the New Year, my very own brother JP left for Oregon. I do feel a bit sad. Not sad in a way like I'm mourning one's death, but more of a sadness like you just experienced your first loss in an otherwise perfect season, or that feeling you get when you get that first sratch on your brand new car. It's a feeling of good things.....becoming imperfect.
Come back soon JP I enjoy perfection!
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