Nonsensical Ramblings of Mark

My boys and I have been enjoying a series of books that some friends of ours lent to us called Adam Raccoon by Glen Keane. My favorite is Adam Raccoon and the Flying Machine. The oldest likes Adam Raccoon and the Lost Woods and I think the youngest is still undecided, but the bully one where Adam plays soccer seems to be a favorite with him. I really enjoy the drawings and the story line of each one of the books. They are real doorways to go over what Adam did wrong , what the lion, Kin Aren , encouraged him to do, and how Adam succeeded . I catch the boys every once and a while opening the books up and going through them on their own so I know that they are not something I am forcing them into. They have taken a genuine like to these little books. These books are definitely a good gift from God and I am so glad that they were brought into their little lives. And mine too.

Ever since I read the book The Peacemaker by Ken Sande I have been looking for an opportunity to coach someone in peacemaking. Well, the pastor of the church I attend looks like he is going to open up an opportunity for me to do just that and it scares me. This is the first time I will have an opportunity to do this "formally" (or as formal as coaching gets) but with God's help I will have a go at it. I had a conversation with someone a while back about the book and he mentioned that he did not think that the author had addressed how he should go about being reconciled to a pastor that he was in a conflict with. I let the comment go, but I don't think he read the book that I did. I found it to be a comprehensive look at the Scripture as it pertains to making peace and being reconciled with those who we are estranged from in one way or another. I really think that the book handled the Bible correctly in all regards in this area as it is a completely unnatural and novel...

One of our pastors presented a sermon where he mentioned that we are so busy praying for good things from a good God that we fail to pray for great things from a great God. I agree and have been guilty of that as well. For example, praying that my son would have a good day in Kindergarten where he payed attention and did his best is squarely in the good things category. Praying that God would get a hold of his heart, save him, and sanctify him for a lifelong molding into the image of His Son - well, you get the picture. Sometimes this means that my son will go through difficult times, low moments, sickness, etc. so that he can become more like Christ. I need to be all right with that and even rejoice that the good work is progressing. I want that in his life in the worst way. In both of my boy's lives. On a more mundane note, my first exercise session in two weeks was a rousing success - warm up for 4 minutes, jog for 22 minutes, cool down for 4 minutes. I don't want to get ahe...

Yup, I got the clear sky alarm multiple times for tonight here in Rochester, so I am going to try to find the comet Swan yet again. It should be an easy enough target for the scope and, hopefully, by the time I get outside it will be high enough in the Western sky for me to get a good look at it. I think this may be the real deal...unlike the last time I got to the parent's house and the clouds were rolling in. We'll see. At any rate the battery for the scope is being charged and I will be ready to roll come what may. Vacation day tomorrow and then a couple of holiday days for Thanksgiving and the like so I will be incommunicado for a while. Are those crickets I hear?

I started this little exercise on November 16, 2005. Today is November 20, 2006. A year has gone by and I have over 220 posts to prove it. So why do I keep doing this? Do I need to answer that? I mean are my motivations that important? They are. In fact, they are everything. I would rather drink a cup full of razor blades than get caught leading someone into sin. I would rather be silenced than continue to talk and pollute someones mind with something that is false. It would hurt (maybe more than the razor blades even) but it would be good. I guess this writing helps focus me and gives me an outlet. I know I could keep a journal in a not so conspicuous place, but being the geek that I am to say that I have a blog fulfills another side of me I guess. Not that I have publicized this much. It is better for someone to stumble across this than to have them feel compelled to come. So my words continue to take up space on the Blogger servers and, prayerfully, the good ones in people's min...

Wow - it has been a super busy and frustrating week this week. Last Saturday I stubbed my little toe on my left foot and it has not healed sufficiently for me to exercise. That has been so frustrating to me I almost want to scream. It is funny how ingrained my morning exercises have become into my routine that I miss them when they are not there. Skipping them on vacation is one thing, but when I am home, well, that is another story I guess. I am pressuring myself to get back into the swing of things and, of course, that presents its own issues. What is that about not letting circumstances control how I feel? Yeah - easier siad than done I am afraid. I guess I can rest in the fact that I realize I am falling into that trap. But how much better would it be if I actually did something about it? Don't answer that. Work has been super busy as well and it looks like we'll be slipping software relase dates AGAIN for a large customer I am working with. It is not all our fault and I am...

Well, I am in the home stretch of my read-through-the-Bible program this year and found the books of Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel to be a tough slog. Not so much that they are difficult to understand (although a real Bible study in any one of these books would take a while), but that they are so depressing. The days of Israel's greatness were absolutely in the past and the false prophets/religion and captivity were set in so hard it makes me wonder how they ever got out of it. Obviously the books of Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra (and to a lesser extent Daniel) talk about the restoration of Israel by God Himself after his wrath was full (or as full as it could get save the work of His Son), but what a dark and gloomy picture these books paint. No wonder Jeremiah wept so bitterly. On a related note I have found the NIV to be a much easier read than the NASB. I know this is a big "duh" for most folks, and the NASB is still my preferred translation, but I have been enjoyi...

Talk to God Let's Talk to God Before the night is through - Undercover It is a good thing my wife was sitting down to lunch with us yesterday because I would have missed it. My oldest son said that he talked to God. The conversation went something like this: "I talked to God", he said to no one in particular. "You talked to God?" his mother asked. Dad's ears perked up as the youngest ate his peaches oblivious, or so I thought, to the conversation. "Yes," he answered not realizing the gravity of the situation. "Do you talk to God a lot?" his mother asked. "Yeah," he answered after nodding his head slightly. "What did you talk to God about?" his dad asked. "He had a truck and I wanted it," he reported referencing his youngest brother. "Oh," his dad answered. "You know, it is good to talk to God about things that we want. Sometimes He will give them to us and sometimes He'll ask us to wait f...

Well, we instituted a "no video before bed" policy on school nights and it seems to be working out all right. Of course, they got to watch one last night as the oldest has today off for Veteran's Day, but it seems to be holding and I think we are better off for it. We let them watch pretty much zero television (save their videos and the Veggies and Penguins on Saturday mornings when we are around) and I think that is a good thing. Of course I realized how dependent I was on their video time too. Like last night when they were watching their Thomas video I went to get milk and other items and got the parent's mail in. It was nice to sit when they went to bed. Sometimes I would mop the kitchen floor when they were in front of their video too. Well, my routine had to change as well and, even through that, it was a good change.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity ! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commanded the blessing--life forever. Psalm 133 Recently there has been reconciliation with some people that I am close to. When I see the International Space Station, or the Spitzer, Hubble, and Chandra observatories, or the Space Shuttle entering the atmosphere with its sonic boom I often think that this is humanity at its best. Reconciliation is, quite frankly, God at His best. Look what He did to reconcile us to Him. Look what He does to restore fellowship with our fellow man. I am often at my worst in conflict. It doesn't have to be this way, but it often is. Reconciliation is me at my best for it allows me to participate in the Divine nature in a most profound and meaningful way....

I should have known it was too good to be true. I got a clear sky alert for last night and, upon examining other sources, it looked iffy at best. So, I did some research as to what would be visible and saw that comet C/2006 M4 (Swan) looked to be high enough in the Western sky to be a good target. Then I got all excited. Then I got to the observing location and noticed dense clouds in the Southwest. Bummer. By the time I would have gotten set up and aligned things would have had gone from bad to worse so I bagged it. And the weather does not look like it will cooperate for the Mercury transit tomorrow either. Oh well - such is life in Rochester in the Autumn. A cloud-busting telescope is what I need for Christmas. Well, not really, because if I needed it my Father would have given it to me already.

Once a month the North Baptist Church family gathers on Sunday evening for a night of singing and also to welcome new members into the church. We decided (since the youngest does not like the nursery so well) to have our youngest son sit with us during the hour-long service. He did fine and even sang some of the songs that were familiar to him (he is 3 years old). As he sat beside me singing I couldn't understand a word he was saying. But he sang and I encouraged him the best I could. And then it hit me - how similar my son and I am. I mean, how much of my prayers, praise, and meditation is simply noise that needs to be interpreted or understood simply for what it is? I am sure that my communication with God Himself is more like my son's than the most intelligent thing that God has ever heard from a human. If it isn't my words, then maybe it is my motives messing things up. Even when I pray the Scriptures, how much of our English translation clearly reflects the original in...

When I dragged my son's humidifier into the bathroom to fill it with water for the night he triumphantly exclaimed, "Daddy, today is November because I have Larry sings the blues on my calendar." He has a VeggieTales calendar that goes with his VeggieTales room that he really enjoys. And time marches on. There is so much that is short and evil about these days. The energy I spend in making them count for eternity is a worthy investment. Redeeming the time is something great that God does and I want Him to do it in ever-increasing measure through me. I get so weary though and discouraged. Listening to NPR on the way home - everything was about Iraq or the elections. Will everything change if the troops are withdrawn or if the Democrats take the legislative branch? Everything will change, but nothing of true consequence will change. We'll vote this year, and in 2008, and in 2010 if the Lord so wills it. And this day will be a faded flower of a memory and this time will ...

I have had the chance to do some XML/XSLT stuff at work and I have been enjoying it. I have an XML file that I am receiving from an internally-developed application and am transforming it into a Excel spreadsheet. It has been cool and I realized how much I have missed it. I have been doing some design/customer relations stuff lately and that has been good, but there is nothing like good old fashioned development. Also, I have downloaded a super astronomy program called Stellarium that has an interface to my telescope. I have not been able to test the interface yet as I do not have the right cable to go to my hand control, but I would like to score one soon. Technology is so cool.