Monday, December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas from the Laras

UPDATE: finally added yakima video (there's no broadband at my in-laws house.) and updated the prosser video to be a little clearer.
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May this day, and everyday, be a Christ-filled day.

we'll have three videos of today. the first is from our own family Christmas in Grandview. check back later in the day or tomorrow to see the video from prosser and yakima christmas family celebrations.

THE GRANDVIEW CHRISTMAS!



THE PROSSER CHRISTMAS!



THE YAKIMA CHRISTMAS!



// today i'm thankful for:
1. Deborah
2. Anna
3. Danielle
4. Julia
5. Rachel
6. Baby Jesus!
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Friday, December 22, 2006

two quick notes

first off, the discussion on this post: oh the sounds of family, is great. plus the fact that i wrote a lot in response to some of them and i don't want to type it all again here; just read the posts, read the comments, and leave your own.

secondly, i think the end is drawing near for us, mag. blogger doesn't say "beta" anymore. i don't think it will be long now until they say 'YOU MUST CHANGE, NOW! ! !'

anyways, i'm sure it will be like DEATH. we're so afraid of it now, but we'll like it when we're on the other side. :-)


// today i'm thankful for:
1. a wife who can spell
2. a wife who tells me when i spell something wrong
3. a wife who knows what makes me happy
4. a wife who does what makes me happy
5. a wife
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Thursday, December 21, 2006

oh the sounds of family

it's now quiet. about 2 minutes ago when i finished tucking in my kids for bed they were all crying. (except for rachel, she was already asleep) the story goes something like this . . .

all three girls took a nap this afternoon so we knew they weren't going to be ready to sleep at their normal 8.30 pm bedtime. so at 8 o'clock i took anna, julia and rachel to the store for some milk and snacks. meanwhile deb and danielle stayed home to make popcorn balls and cookies (w/walnuts for me).

anyways we got home about 9.45 pm and now it was definitely bedtime. julia went to bed crying because she was just tired and didn't want to go to bed (normal stuff). danielle was crying because she was in her pajamas already and on the computer when her mom asked her to go to bed. i was putting away groceries. deb was talking to anna (story coming below) and then had to pause again to tell danielle a second time to go to the bathroom and go to bed. after about 3 more of these interchanges i came over to danielle with a 'spanking spoon' and gave her little bottom (which was sticking up in the air) a little swat, told her she had gotten a spanking for not obeying her mother, and told her to obey what her mother had told her. so she went crying to the bathroom and then to bed. i went and consoled her (we always comfort our kids after a spanking to let them know that we still love them and to make sure they understand that the spanking was a consequence to an action on their part, and not out of anger on our part). but nonetheless she was still crying and wanted her mom (the one she was disobeying in the first place but not the one who had given her the spanking -- on a side note: "that's one of many reasons why it's nice to have two parent homes")

so the reason anna was crying was because i went into her room to debrief (some more) on what happened at the store. well it finally happened. i knew this day would come for one and/or all my kids, and today was anna's day. i caught anna in the process of stealing a candy, and lying to me about it when i first asked her. (not that every kid steals candy from a store - but every kid comes to a point where they've done something major-ly wrong which left unchecked will not only make them a 'not nice person' but could land them in jail)

it was from one of those 'bulk candy' bins and after confronting her, i also had her apologize to the cashier. as we were leaving the store i also told her she'd have to come home and tell her mother what she had done. -- (btw, the danielle and julia have started crying again) -- well that process in itself was long and drawn out because she was afraid that her mom would get mad at her. but deborah handled it very well and used it as a time of instruction. so anyways, i was coming into her bedroom to reassure her once more that we loved her and that she understand that it's not okay to steal things from anyone ever. and just the thought of her feeling like she had lost the approval of her parents was too much for her and was what caused her to cry.
:: to my kids ::
rachel, we love you and we're loving getting to know more every day this new little person that God has brought into our lives.

julia, we love you and know what's best for you at this time in your life (a full night's sleep for your body to grow and be healthy). our desire is that we're teaching you to trust us.

danielle, we love you and are trying to develop good character within you. as such, being able to be under God given authority (of your parents, in this case) is necessary in order to ever be in a position of authority yourself.

anna, we love you and want you to know there is nothing that you can do that will make you stop being our child. your life will have many more choices of right and wrong, we pray even when we are not around you will choose the right thing.


// today i'm thankful for:
1. my family
2. the 'envelope system'
3. teachable moments
4. understanding cashiers
5. a wife who loves me!
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new book and denver


i finally got my "Off-Road Disciplines" book yesterday and have been hearing good things from people that have read it. i look forward to reading and then as promised posting a review.

in other news, my youngest sister has been stuck in the Denver airport since wednesday. :-( and now the earliest to leave they're telling her is maybe friday @ noon. i even offered to go pick her up, but she said that all roads have been closed in and out of denver. and i read an article that even mail service has been suspended today. not a fun time to be stuck in the airport during christmas time. (oh, and she packed her cell phone charger so she's been calling my mom collect so as not to run out of battery)

in other, other news . . . i've started my christmas vacation. one of the niceties of working at a school, getting days off during the holidays & summer. so it's nice to kinda just 'chill' at home so to speak.

oh and we've begun a two week trial of netflix so as to get season 4 & 5 of "24" watched during this vacation and before season 6 starts in jan.

well that's about all for now. have a Merry "Christ-filled" Christmas!

// today i'm thankful for:
1. days off
2. netflix
3. 2 month old chubby babies
4. bed & breakfast
5. altoids
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Sunday, December 17, 2006

person of the year



It's Common Knowledge: 50 is the New 30
Person of the Year: You

// today i'm thankful for:
1. hymnals
2. church sound systems
3. church community
4. 100 posts! (yahoo!)
5. being named "person of the year!"
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Friday, December 15, 2006

dec. 15 update

i haven't had much to write about lately, so thus things have been pretty scarce here. so here's a little update.

and i didn't notice it till i logged in today . . . my next post will be my 100th! cya on my birthday!


// today i'm thankful for:
1. a wife with a sense of humor
2. frozen yogurt
3. knowing how to type
4. cell phones that double as an alarm clock
5. cold milk
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UPDATE:: I DIDN'T BOTHER TO CHECK IF THE VIDEO WAS ACTUALLY WORKING ON THIS ONE. SO IF IT LOOKS LIKE I'M SAYING SOMETHING AND YOU CAN'T HEAR IT. IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT. I HADN'T SET THE PROPER "AUDIO IN" SETTING. I'LL POST ANOTHER VIDEO SOMETIME, BUT I DON'T HAVE TIME NOW.

UPDATE: ok, so i never came back and changed the video or told you what i said, so here goes. i was basically saying that "the play" was coming up and that my mom was going to take me shopping for a new suit! (which she did) i'll wear it next sunday, christmas eve, and then post pics. anyways, that was about it.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

just got off the phone with pastor mike

read this first and then read this post:
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i just got off the phone with pastor mike. and yes, i did cry.

i was relaying the story that i wrote to my pastor and i suddenly realized, "hey, why don't i offer the shoulder to lean on? why don't i talk to him and show my appreciation?" so i decided to call him.

i read him my post. (actually i cried through the post, so it took a while) and then we shared some touching words of his faithfulness and dedication to the work of God that he had labored in. and he described how i had been an inspiration to him, just seeing me grow up and to see that i was still following after God regardless of the many pastor switches, and church difficulties.

if you'd like to drop pastor mike an email to show your appreciation (whether you know him or not) you can email him here.

// today i'm thankful for:
1. longevity
2. christmas time
3. soul cleansing crying
4. usb flash drives
5. delicious chocolate chip cookies with nuts! ;-)
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Saturday, December 09, 2006

a round of applause

first of all, i was really tempted to simply make another video blog entry since it's so much easier to simply talk than to have to write (that is another post i'll have to come back to sometime), and it doesn't take so long to listen to me say what i want to say when i ramble on and on rather than reading it, and the fact that it's just plain so easy to do so on a mac. (i won't get started)

but i decided to write partly because 1) i realized that not everyone who comes to this blog has a broadband internet connection so trying to watch a video would be painfully slow (how do you survive without dsl/cable connection?) and 2) even those that do have a fast connection, not all of you have speakers with which to listen to the video. (see comments of this post)

anyways . . . on to our regularly scheduled post
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yesterday, deb and i went to a 'sectional christmas dinner' for the assemblies of God ministers in our "section". it was a very nice dinner, and we were treated to a nice christmas theater and dessert that was also going on that same evening at the church that hosted all us pastors.

i enjoyed the company on the drive up. we met up with the team from the sunnyside neighborhood church and all piled into their church van. so, all in all, there was 12 of us (rachel came with us, too).

i was deeply moved by the dramatic presentation, reminding us that when we "do unto the least of these" it's as if we're doing it for God himself. and the choir singing was beautiful as well, although the sound system was having some issues.

i also enjoyed the desert aftewards. some delicious carrot cake is what i ordered. but what i want to focus on for this post is the "announcement and updates" time of the get together. our sectional leader, pastor johnson from faith assembly in pasco, shared with us various new pastors either coming into our section, one who is leaving for full time missions work, and another who is on sabbatical leave. he also mentioned two churches in our section that had closed their doors and the progress of the building sale or lease for each property.

one of those churches was the one i grew up in. and i kinda have mixed feelings on the subject. growing up it's the only church i really knew. i knew it was a small church and in the 15 or so years that we went there, i don't think it grew at all that much. it remained at right at about 50 or less the whole time. so i kinda knew that eventually it would close because it wouldn't be able to support a pastor, or all the old people would "die off"! but nonetheless, it was 'my' home church growing up.

the other church is in a small community; and the church has also been small for as long as i can remember. in fact i remember a time growing up, the youth group at our church went to this other church and did some dramas and puppet skits for a vbs or some kind of outreach. so it was also small and had people "doing church" a certain way because "that's how it's always been done".

but there was one major difference between the two churches (coincidently they were within 15 miles or less of each other). the first church described (the one i grew up in) had probably 8-9 pastors from when i was in kindergarten till i graduated from college. the other church has had the same senior pastor for the whole time.

so let me tell you a little about pastor mike. pastor mike is a great guy, loves people, has a heart that follows after God, and he's also fairly young. i don't know for sure but i'd say he was in his late 40's early 50's -ish. (hey i'm turning 30 in a week, so i now realize that early 50s is still fairly young. especially if he's been at the same church for about 20 years or so!)

so pastor mike was at this "minister's dinner" last night and in fact was sitting at our table and was in the group in the van ride up. as they talked about the transition that was happening and that another congregation was looking at leasing the building with the possibility of purchasing after a year, i could tell that pastor mike was still deeply affected. you see pastor mike wasn't told by anyone to close the doors of the church. from what i understood him saying to those at our table, it was in large part his decision to shut down the church. he felt he'd gotten to a point where no matter what he said, or how he said it, or what new method they could try; the people simply did not want to change. they did not want to go beyond their comfort zone and step into what God wanted to do in their community.

so here was pastor mike sitting right next to me hearing his last twenty years summed up into about 5 minutes. in conclusion the sectional leader asking everyone to show their appreciation to pastor mike "for all the work he has done".

did we recieve an offering? did we come around him and pray? did we offer a shoulder to lean/cry on? or some other token of gratitude for 20 years of service?

nope, we gave him "a round of applause". and thus ended a season of pastor mike's life.


// today i'm thankful for:
1. connectivity
2. conference calls
3. full night's sleep
4. candlelight
5. good books
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Wednesday, December 06, 2006

the play and i'm turning 30!



oh . . . and earl creps returned an email i sent him saying the publisher never got my address. he asked for it and said he'd forward it to the publisher. thanks earl!

// today i'm thankful for:
1. my beautiful, fabulous wife
2. tv dinners
3. video cameras
4. working under pressure
5. the INTERNET!

Monday, December 04, 2006

so where's my book??

some of you remember me mentioning a free book giveaway for earl creps's new book "off road discipleship". so i've been patiently waiting for my book, but not really giving it much thought, since i had no idea how soon the publisher would be sending out the books.

but all that changed sunday night when i was at my pastor's house, noticed his copy of the book on his couch, and then he asked me how i was enjoying the book. the only problem is - i don't have my copy of the book yet. then to top it off he said that his daughter had also gotten her copy of the book already. normally i'd just chalk it up to the mail system delaying some copies of the book (even though we only live 3 blocks away), but what really gets me is that my pastor didn't sign up for the book giveaway for almost 4-5 days after i did! so that would assume that i should get my book 4-5 days ahead of them if not exactly the same time (if the publisher waited to send any books until they got all the orders in).

anyways, monday has come and gone and still no book, so i will wait patiently some more (for all i know it's the name of a chapter in the book "be patient with stuff you can't control").

all this to say, from what i hear (from others) it's a great book, you should get a copy. seriously, you should, i'm not being cynical or sarcastic.

oh and . . . let me borrow it when you're done. ;-)


// today i'm thankful for:
1. cars the run when the gas is on "E"
2. unexpected blessings
3. my fabulous wife
4. pacifiers
5. change on the horizon

Saturday, December 02, 2006

a week after 'black friday'

for those who don't know, deb and i (and we dragged our sisters into it too) love shopping on black friday. (actually now that i think about it, i think maggie actually went shopping on black friday a year before we started to)

anyways, i know some of you avoid it like the plague. but being the very competitive creatures that we are, we love it - no wait, THRIVE! it's just plain fun, a lot funner than clicking a mouse. heck i do that everyday, nothing very exciting about it.

anyways, i could see myself this year getting more and more consumed with wanting to go shopping to get stuff, when i didn't really need anything, and thus not being the thankful for the things/people i've already been given.

anyways, i read this article today, that really indicted me. i guess he had the same feelings . . . well that gives me a year to adjust my attitude/thinking/actions.

read it and then comment back here. (it's okay, it's a short article)

these girls seem to know what to be thankful for on Thanksgiving.


// today i'm thankful for:
1. heating
2. christmas parties with strangers
3. healthy kids
4. stability
5. apple pie

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UPDATE: FIXED LINK TO ARTICLE