Wednesday, December 17, 2008

This is the crew. There's the princess, the first grader, the lukenstein and DA baby. Last year for Christmas, we ended a 33 year run of driving all over the county on Christmas Day. We stayed home, made our own meal and enjoyed the time together.

Again this year, we are going to stay home and enjoy the day of Christmas as a family.

I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful, exciting
and probably full of drama. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Monday, November 24, 2008

"Howdy, Pilgrims"















With Thanksgiving only 3 days away, I thought it best to make a list of things I am thankful and grateful for this year. With all due respect to David Letterman, here's my top ten:

I am thankful for...

10. ... the opportunity God gave to me to go to the mission field and to serve him; Dominican Republic in February, and Galveston, TX in October.

9. ... God's hand in the health, safety and education of my children.

8. ... fellowship with God's people.

7. ... the way God provides for my family.

6. ... that even if I believe at times my family and Sam's are insane, I know the would be there in one word to help us out.

5. ... for the beauty God created in the beginning.

4. ... for music.

3. ... for the opportunity God has blessed me with to be the father of four wonderfully, uniquely and purposefully made children.

2. ... God has given me a wife who perfectly fits together to me, completes me,
understands me, and loves me.

1. ... that despite my selfishness, God gives His mercy and grace abundantly.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

"The Weekend Get Away"


I have written before concerning child #3.. the Lukenstein. I have complained concerning his stubbornness and strong-willed nature. I have often told of those extra prayers I set aside for him.

Well, this past weekend, Luke and I spent two nights in the hospital due to his severe dehydration. Poor kid starts out with a cold and ends up lacking about 1.5 liters of fluid. His potassium was extremely low. And with that, he had the most explosive intestinal bug, if you know that I mean.

He in essence was reduced to about 2/5ths of himself. Scary? Alarming? Yes. As bad as it could have been or as bad as others have experienced or are experiencing now? Probably not.
But it certainly has readjusted my thinking.

He is better now. He was back to being Lukenstein about 24 hours after coming home from the hospital. This is a good thing. I certainly to appreciate the way God has wired him a little more than I did Saturday night.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008


11 points. Biggest deer my father has ever shot.






It is now trending colder in these parts where I live. Indian summer is more than a week gone by. Winter is on the horizon. And it is now only 16 days until Thanksgiving.

A few weekends ago, I decided to travel out to the local retail establishment to find our family a few decorative turkeys or pilgrims or some other Thanksgiving decorations to dress the house up.
It was 2 days removed from Halloween, and I figured the time was ripe to get such house attire.
But to my dismay (really my disgust) Christmas was the items of the day. A run toward the retail giant was already sprung, leaving Thanksgiving as an after thought.

Jumping from Halloween to Christmas is really pathetic. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally a Christmas decorating freak and love my lights and yard creations. But to totally wipe away the holiday that is so important at the end of November is in my estimation... ridiculous.

"I will praise God's name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving. " Psalm 69:30 NIV

It is another attempt in our secular humanistic society to wipe the name of God from this nation... this world. I guess the thought of this generation is and continues to be: "if we completely ignore it, it will, at some point, become irrelevant.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to celebrate with thanksgiving this Thanksgiving all that God has blessed you with.

Friday, November 7, 2008


Sweet. Innocent. SO cute. Adorable. Determined.
All words that I've heard people use to describe the one that I would describe as, "hard-headed, strong-willed, rough, calculated, Lukenstein."

I'm not saying he's a holy terror. I'm just saying he marches to the beat of a different drum. His cadence doesn't match the rest of the bands.

This doesn't mean I love him any less than my other 3 children. It just means I spend a few extra moments on my knees for this one.

One word to the wise, if you ever meet him and he's holding that light saber, be advised, he likes to use it.

Friday, October 31, 2008



Today is October 31st, 2008... Halloween.
Setting aside the discussion of whether or not it behoove God's people to participate, isn't this a real opportunity to evangelize? I'm not sure how many people are going to come to your door, willingly, everyday. But this one night, the most impressionable will come. 10, 20, 100 kids knocking on your door looking for candy.
Can't we use this time to give them so much more?
They are coming seeking. Feed them.

When they had finished eating,
Jesus said to Simon Peter,
"Simon son of John, do you truly
love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." (John 21:15 NIV)

Monday, October 27, 2008

2 questions to consider this day:

1. Where do you place your hope?

2. Why do you place your hope there?

It's food for thought really.

Friday, October 24, 2008

I had the opportunity to go to Galveston last week and help in the recovery effort there. A few things have touched me through this experience.
1. Gutting out water damaged house is something that significantly bothered me. It was hard to literally finish the job Hurricane Ike started while the homeowners were trying, for some, to see the damaged that had been done. By "finish the job", I mean, gutting out and getting rid of everything with water/mold damage. It was a hard thing to do. I know it was the first step in rebuilding for the people there, but it certainly didn't make the job any easier. 2. HOPE. Two different women certainly stick out in my mind. They both assured our team, that their possessions lost, their homes damaged, the uncertainty of insurance coverage were not going to deter them from keeping their hope in God. All of it (the lost possesions) could be replaced by something else, but the love of the living God could never be taken away from the storms of life. I pray that when the day of rising waters and high winds shatter my life I will be able to have such faith. 3. I was able to actually walk in the Gulf of Mexico. It warmed me in many different ways. But the experience put into perspective the
bible story of building your house on shifting sand. If you stood too long in place on the sands of the gulf, your feet would sink. It was a great real life illustration of why building on the firm foundation of God's love is better than the sinking sands of what our society considers important.

If you have a chance to serve... anywhere, in your town, another state, another country, don't dismiss God's leading. It is well worth it.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008


T-Ball starts 10am Saturday morning. I'm not sure what terrifies me more: the 2 hours spent with 12 T-Ballers, or the responsibility of "opening my mouth" for those 2 hours... and every hour.

Friday, April 18, 2008

"I Alone"


I'm not sure how single parents can possible tackle the task of a family alone. Mrs. T has been held captive in Orlando for a sales conference since Wednesday morning. I've been going it alone; Which isn't a bad thing, it's just very difficult. I am handling as well as one could, but I anticipate the return of my lady. If not for any other reason than this: to have an adult conversation.
Peace.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

"Family"

What does family mean to you? Dictionary.com's first definition goes like this: 1.parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not. Well, we dwell together... all 7 of us. Peace.