These words of Robert Robinson express the reality of our experience (or needed experience).

O Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me ever to adore Thee
May I still Thy goodness prove.
While the hope of endless glory,
Fills my heart with joy and love.

O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

The # 1 son of Brady visited us last night (along with his friend that is a girl).

We noticed some interesting behavior and will be happy to share with the highest bidder.

Some of the details will be embellished, artistic license and all.

For example, even though they showered at the same time in separate bathrooms, remove the separate bathrooms from the sentence and you have “they showered together.”

Much more information is available for the right price.

We have 1/2 an acre worth of grass to mow (minus the house, the batting cage, the AG Pool) and thus justification for a riding mower.

I had a window of time last night to get the lawn mowed and spent the entire balance of said time looking for the mower key.

I vaguely remember putting the key in a new spot last time, somewhere clever where I could find it and those roaming mowing stealing marauders wouldn’t find it.

In the process, as these things go, I outsmarted myself.

Does anyone have any idea where I put the $#@*! key?

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the death of my friend John.

Some information about John:

• Sergeant Major (Retired) John Roby joined the U.S. Army in August 1969, and retired in June 1992.
• He was assigned to units in Turkey; Arlington Hall Station, VA; Fort Devens, MA; Fort Huachuca, AZ; Augsburg, Germany; Fort Belvoir, VA; and the White House Communications Agency, Washington, DC.
• While John was stationed in Turkey, he and another soldier risked their lives to take a boat out into a storm on the Black Sea to rescue a man. He never mentioned this when asked about his career.
• He considered his neighborhood his ministry–always there to lend a hand to a neighbor in need.
• He graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Data Processing Management with highest honors, and the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.
• His awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Army Meritorious Service Medals, Joint Service Commendation Medal, and Joint Service Unit Citations.

John was a hard worker, and a great friend.

I try to think of him when someone asks If I will do something to help them.

WWJD could easily apply and no one has to know that I’m specifically thinking of John as the J!

Have you ever seen / heard a mariachi band?

The good things going for the mariachi band include:  Sharp outfits, fun music and they sing (usually without amplification) loud enough to be heard.

It gives me some inspiration for a fall back career!

This weekend we attended (and I officiated) the quinceañera celebration of C.

A Quinceañera is the Hispanic tradition of celebrating a young girl’s coming of age – her 15th birthday.

The Quinceanera tradition celebrates the young girl (la Quinceanera), and recognizes her journey from childhood to maturity.

The ceremony is elaborate (think wedding) and the party is spectacular (Mariachi Band, DJ, Dinner and Dancing).

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday night.

Pouring the sidewalk around the back side of the house today which means renting a mixer.

Dee had a contest about guessing how many hats Tom had.

How about a contest guessing the total cubic inches of concrete to be used and the winner gets to help me pour!

Senor Snake seems to be fitting in well and for the record these hands have yet to make contact.

We understand that one of the challenges for snakes in captivity is eating which appears not to be a challenge for this snake.

One after another he / she put away 4 pinky mice, burped, licked his / her lips, looked up at us with those eyes that said “got any more?”

I’m thinking “great, of course, we bought the one with a healthy appetite!”

It’s enough of a challenge to keep a teenage boy fed and now Senor Snake?

School starts today.

The 10th grader was somewhat excited.

The 8th grader was less than excited.

Summer is like a small snapshot of your life.

You always wonder where the time went and regret not going to the lake one more time.

Enmity – mean deep-seated dislike or ill will.  Enmity suggests positive hatred which may be open or concealed.

Positive hatred sounds like an oxymoron.

Is the idea here related to a degree of hatred that is good for you?

The only creature in the animal kingdom to enter into this relationship with humans (biblically speaking) is the snake.

Genesis 3:15 (NIV) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;

Could it be argued, then, that a dislike of snake is simply following biblical protocol?

None of that seemed to work on the 13 year old who decided to use his birthday money to purchase a new reptile.

I’ve been steadfast against adding a snake to the reptile collection.

But I finally realized that a different biblical principle probably has more bearing in this situation.

Ephesians 6:4 (NIV) Fathers, do not exasperate your children;

Within the structure of healthy boundaries, we need to find appropriate ways to support our children in what interests them (even if we are somewhat fearful).

And this way we won’t have any more “arguments” about the disorder in his room as I will no longer be entering said room!  :-)