Today as we drove out to see the progress on our new house we’re having built, we had a very special plan: we brought a permanent marker with us.
No, it wasn’t for you to draw pictures in the back set. Mommy and I decided we wanted to both contribute a Bible verse on the soon to be covered up walls of our home.
As we walked in today, workers were starting some of the base coat painting; now that the dry wall is up. The brick is up, too; along with the siding, which will be painted later on.
Some of the only unpainted surface inside was the door frames. So in the door frame of your bedroom closet, I wrote “Jeremiah 29:11”; a verse Mommy is actually more familiar with that I am:
‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.’
I thought that was very thoughtful of Mommy. Obviously, she and I have plans to give you a hopeful future as well; and it’s so cool to think that God does too.
As for my Bible verse, I chose Joshua 24:15:
“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
I see this house as a blessing, yet one we’ve also worked very hard for. It’s important to me that we honor God as we grow in this new house together as a family.
So today, in our own quirky way, we dedicated our home to the Lord. It’s His anyway.
Granted, you were more fascinated by the painter who was using stilts to paint the walls around the stairway. It was pretty awesome to see.
But even if you don’t remember today, let this letter serve as a reminder that whatever crazy things may go on outside this house, God has wonderful plans for you.
And I believe, part of that is because our family is letting it be known, we serve the Lord; not any other power in the world, and definitely not ourselves.
Those are all just words, though. How we love each other and serve each other in the years to come is the true testament of our actions today.
Please know that every day I pray for wisdom, humility, faith, grace, patience, and creativity. Those are all things I focus on, and all things that will make me the father you need me to be.
I’m far from perfect, but despite my many faults you’ll see during your lifetime, I want you to know me personally as a man who loves the Lord with all my heart; as well as you and Mommy.
I don’t know who as enjoyed this Halloween more… you or me.
This is the most excited about “trick or treating” I’ve been since I can remember. I have been telling my coworkers all week how excited I have been for this day.
You were Batman, of course; dressed in $8 WalMart pajamas and a $4 Kroger mask.
I want to compliment you on the fact you actually said “trick or treat” before accepting candy from the dozen or so random households we accepted candy from tonight.
Mommy and I threw on random costume hats we had lying around the house so that our whole family could technically be dressed in costume for the night.
Going “trick or treating” really is so much fun… and so random.
I really like your choice of Batman. Your costume was very well respected among the houses we visited; as well as among other trick or treaters.
Today was also special in that I came to visit you at your school during your lunch. I enjoyed hanging out with you and seeing your friends dressed up. I truly appreciated the fact that your (girl) friend Eiley was dressed as a Power Ranger.
You even drew a special “Batman SUV monster truck” today for the occasion; which you insisted I cut out for you, to serve as a form of a toy.
Not to mention, you also have been making Play-Doh pumpkins, which you’ve been moving around with Lego bulldozers.
I was telling Mommy how much I enjoyed tonight and look forward to the Halloweens to come in the next several years. We had such a fun time together as a family.
Most of all, I loved seeing how excited you were to “be Batman.”
Love,
Daddy
P.S. Below is an inforgraph on the history of pumpkins; as I see relevant on Halloween.
I have now teamed up with a company called FlyBy Promotions Blogger Network. That means that as a reader of Family Friendly Daddy Blog, you will notice more reviews of products; books in particular.
Of course, I will be hand-selecting only the products which I feel are particularly relevant for my site.
The first thing I must say is that this is a beautiful book. Seriously, look at these illustrations.
It’s not being marketed this way, but I feel it is what is called a “graphic novel.”
I tested Noah: A Wordless Picture Book out on my son on the way to school. I just simply told him, “Here Jack, Daddy got you a new book.”
After several minutes of silence from the back seat, I heard, “Daddy, does Noah have a dinosaur?”
At the stop sign, I turned around to catch a glimpse of what was clearly a picture of a dinosaur alongside Noah and his family.
Jack also pointed out the fact that Noah is featured on the cover of the book, standing next to a tame tiger and is later soon cuddled up next to a friendly polar bear.
That quickly told me, in a subtle way, that the creator of this book is evidently like Ben Stein, Kirk Cameron, and myself: he’s an advocate of Intelligent Design which includes macroevolution, as opposed to the popular acceptance of the evolution theory.
Instead of believing in evolution where the Earth is billions of years old, allowing time for dinosaurs to die out before humans came along, I believe that the Earth was created by God in 7 literal 24 hour days.
But what about the dinosaurs?
Go back the story of Noah in the Bible. Go to Genesis; the book which contains this story. If indeed we are to believe this story is literal, I think it’s important to believe the whole story, not just the parts that might make for a good, safe, recognizable story.
Follow the scripture with me…
Notice at what point in human history that the Bible mentions people actually eating animals and where animals actually feared humans.
Keep in mind there were 20 generations from Adam to Noah; back in those days the people lived a lot longer than we do now. See Genesis 1; the very first chapter of the Bible:
…28God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;30and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food“; and it was so.…
Based on God’s words there, I take it that God was saying that not only were His people to eat only plants, but also that animals ate only plants as well; during that particular time- the 1st 20 generations of man.
The first mention of rain in the Bible is not until after Noah finishes building the ark; until then, the Bible is clear to mention that plants were watered from springs within the Earth. It is also mentioned that there was a canopy of water above the Earth was well; creating a greenhouse effect; which might have a lot to do with why people lived so long back then. Here’s Genesis 1 again:
6Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.8God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
Again, until Noah built the ark, there is no Biblical mention of rain or people eating animals or animals fearing people.
Then the flood happens…
Obviously, there is the first Biblical mention of rain.
Then, once the flood is over, God speaks, and changes the game 8 chapters later in Genesis 9:
1And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2“The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.3“Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.…
Based on God’s words there, it is very clear to me that God is making it clear that His people had been eating plants, but would now start eating animals; animals that would now suddenly begin fearing man.
Notice the cover, where Noah is standing next to a tame tiger; which turns out is my son’s favorite part of the book.
And again, dinosaurs are clearly seen in the book as well.
This is the first Noah book I have ever seen or heard of that explicitly tells the story from an Intelligent Design perspective . And today, you may win a copy for your family.
If you’re the first person to do so, I will respond by saying yes… After that, I will follow up by getting your address to give to the publisher so they can send you your won copy!
Update: A winner was found within a few minutes of this post going live, so the giveaway is finished:
Thanks for reading today! And remember, I’ll be giving more books away; so stay tuned…
“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: ‘Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising’):
Many thanks to Propellor Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”
Immediately after leaving Walden Farm on Saturday, Mommy wanted to stop by some “cute” antique shops in downtown Nolensville.
I spotted a creek behind the shops, so you and I did the guy thing and opted for the outdoor exploration adventure as opposed to looking at beautiful junk in stores.
Our original agenda was simply to find rocks and sticks to throw into the water.
However, after you realized the creek was swarming with what appeared to be tiny tadpoles, you decided to “catch a tadpole” instead.
First, you called them: “Here, tadpoles! Come to me!”
Then you used a stick as a fishing pole, hoping to catch a few of them. I joined you, of course.
It didn’t take long at all before you thought you caught one, and boy, were you proud!
Granted, it was just algae… as it was each time after that.
But in your mind, there was a real possibility of actually being able to catch tadpoles simply by placing a stick down into the water for just a few seconds at a time; with no bait attached.
I love your fascination with fishing. Never mind the irony in the fact our family doesn’t even eat fish or any kind of meat.
Still, it’s as if it’s ingrained in a little boy’s mind to want to go fishing with his Daddy. Likewise, I want to “go fishing” with you.
You and I could have stayed out there at the creek all day, but Mommy eventually came back from looking around at the shops; happy to see us doing “guy things.”
Our recent fishing trip has inspired me to already consider buying us a small 2-man tent to put out on the back patio of our new house once we move in.
This past weekend my family visited Walden Farm in Smyrna/Nolensville, Tennessee. (It’s a 30 minute drive from downtown Nashville, TN.)
I have a feeling I could pretty much type anything I wanted to and no one would notice, because obviously, the pictures really tell the story here.
In the process of seeing these 14 picture collages below, you’ll get a good idea of why your family would have a great time if you were to visit Walden Farm.
But in the event there’s actually anyone actually reading the words to this story, not just checking out the fun pictures, I’ll do a quick narrative.
Parking is free and so is admission, but you do pay a couple of bucks per activity. We spent a total of $18 on all you see below, including the pumpkins.
I think my son Jack’s favorite activity at Walden Farm is the hayride.
It’s sort of like a mobile scavenger hunt, as your family tries to find all the semi-hidden spooky objects; like an eyeball, Frankenstein, a spider, etc.
There is also Toddler Town, a place that I am convinced Jack could hang out at all day and never even think about food.
It’s basically like a backyard, equipped with a gravel-filled toy table. Jack enjoyed scooping up the rocks in bulldozers, alongside dinosaurs.
There is also a dirt hill that he enjoyed rolling the bulldozers up and down.
Like any good pumpkin patch/farm, there are animals to see and feed.
And a tractor pull…
And those cut-outs where your family can transform into farm-themed characters.
Don’t forget the hay maze!
Jack wanted some pumpkins, so we paid just $1 and he was able to choose 2 really strange-looking ones; which he used as “lasers” the whole ride home.
As we were loading up back into the car, I pointed out to Jack a hedgeapple tree.
In case you’re unfamiliar, hedge apples (also known as Osage oranges) are basically a prehistoric fruit that no longer serve as food for animals today.
Hope you enjoyed learning about Walden Farm. Maybe your family can check it out in person!
