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About Me:
Hello, I'm Rob, a homeschooling dad of nine. I enjoy learning with my children, as we teach them. Homeschooling is a constant adventure, I only wish that I had the opportunities that my children have... I am a Software Engineer by trade, but long for the day when I can run a full-time family business with my wife and children. Please pray for God's wisdom for me and my family in this matter.
Rob
Happy New Year
2007 is here... WOW! I can still remember when our oldest was born in 1991. It seems like it was just yesterday, where does the time go?
Although I have lived in the South for the past 18+ years, I had never enjoyed a traditional Southern New Year's day meal (that's black-eyed peas and greens for you who aren't in the know...). The sound of the two kind of made me want to run for the door! At the insistence of my wife, however, this year we embarked upon our first journey into the traditional meal for New Year's day.
A trip to the local Winn Dixie brought us home with the necessities; collard greens, dried black-eyed peas, pork ribs, and the rest of the fixins. A cheap meal, under $10 for 10 people is hard to beat. After Mama scoured the internet for different ways of preparing both the peas and the greens, I was off to the kitchen. When all was said and done, my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire meal (yes, even the greens!), while the kids trailed behind with a thumbs-up for the peas and pork, whilst turning their noses up at the greens. A little salt, pepper and sweet hot sauce put the finishing touches on the meal, and really brought it all together. To complete the meal, our oldest son whipped up a batch of the best sugar cookies that we've ever had. The real kicker -- the recipe came from the side of the bag of sugar!
We made it sucessfully through our first true Southern New Year's day meal, and enjoyed ourselves along the way.
Civil War Encampment, etc.
My wife and I have been talking about getting started in a Civil War re-enactment group in our area. We have done some research on-line about the types of clothing folks wore, the types of guns they used, and have found out all kinds of really neat stuff. We both were raised in the northern U.S., so consequently, were taught history of the Civil War from that perspective. We want to give our children as real an education as we can, and we schedule hands-on activities and field-trips as much as we can (my wife schedules them, I drive the bus...). Anyway, in our quest to educate our children about the Civil War (or the War of Northern Agression as it's called by some Southerners), my wife suggested that we attend, and possibly start participating in Civil War re-enactments. I thought "Hmm, I get to wear neat old clothes and fire a gun huh? I'M IN!!!"
So this past Saturday, there was a re-enactment of the Battle at Horse Landing, in Palatka, FL. We had contacted the head of a local re-enactment group, and had gotten some preliminary information about this hobby-of-sorts. The kids all love to dress up in period clothing, so they were all excited when we mentioned that we might start participating in these. So we loaded up the Big White Whale (15-passenger sometimes running Ford van), and headed out, right on time (which means we left about 2-3 hours later than my wife wanted to!). After getting stuck in extra heavy traffic due to a Florida Gators' football game and a wreck, we arrived a little before the battle started.
We had seen small scale re-enactments before, but this was nothing at all like those. There were tens of men on each side, and a little make-shift village that was to be burned during the battle. There were Calvary, cannons, and all sorts of different weapons being used by both sides. It was truly an awesome sight to behold. They even went so far as to bury small explosive charges to simulate the impact of the cannon-balls! The battle itself raged on for about an hour or so, although the men must have had bad aim, for very few men died in such close fighting quarters ;).
After the battle, we went to look through the various tents where folks sell period correct clothing, weapons, and various tourist fodder. The kids were very excited, and of course wanted one of everything. We took a few business cards from some folks whose work we were impressed with, in hopes of possibly purchasing some clothing from them later.
Come back later for more details about the rest of the afternoon and evening!!!
Leg update, etc.
This past weekend, I was having a lot of pain in my leg after I twisted it slightly while painting (DOH!) Someone needs to tell my wife that I need some time off from my chores to let my leg heal!!! I went back to the Dr. on Monday to make sure that everything was still OK. The cast felt loose, and I was not sure what degree of pain was "normal" for a broken/casted leg. He looked at the cast and said it was fine. I asked him about the pain, and in a typical doctor reply said "You have a broken leg, it's gonna' hurt!". Thanks for the sympathy Doc...
Although the pain is uncomfortable, I have to admit that the Lord seems to be using this broken leg for good. It is so easy for us to go through our daily grind, taking ever so much for granted. Something as simple as getting out of bed without pain shooting into my leg would have never entered my mind 2 weeks ago. Now, it is a reality every morning. A simple walk from the van to the house is now a chore. I actually used one of the little scooter things at Target last night when we went shopping, how desparate is that?
However, enough whining, I was going somewhere with this discussion. Although I am experiencing pain, God has used this in many ways in my life. Physical health is easy to take for granted until you don't have it. Even more easy to take for granted though, is the health of our family and spousal relationships. It is those closest to us that we so often take for granted the most. How many times do we treat our loved ones worse than we treat our co-workers? I have come to realize that I have taken my dear wife and children for granted much too much.
If any of you know my wife, you will know that she is a bit on the quirky side. She has "slight obsessive compulsive behaviors" (in her words), which translates to "she makes Monk look like a slob" in my words! Throughout our marriage, I have been very frustrated with her for her over-attention to detail. I have taken her perfectionism for granted, and viewed it sometimes as a curse. In the last several days, as I have been less able to move about, I have been doing a lot more thinking. I shudder to think of what our house would look like if we both had the standards that I have. Not that I am a slob, but it is the little details that, if not dealt with on a regular basis, turn a somewhat untidy house into a dump. I have also seen a lot more that I need to pay attention to in my children. Tonight, at my wife's request, I read a bed-time story to the little girls. I used to do this almost every night, but I couldn't tell you when the last time before tonight was (much to my shame). It is so easy to get caught up in our schedules, and forget or push aside these little ones. They grow up so fast that it seems sinful to let these precious times slip away so quickly and carelessly.
All in all, I'm glad that I broke my leg. God has used it in many ways, and is still working on and in me. I don't enjoy the pain, but the spiritual benefits that I am reaping from having to trust God more are great. The ability to think more about others instead of just myself has changed me somehow -- for the better I believe. I pray that God will make these changes permanent in my life, so that I don't fall back into my old ways of taking those that I love for granted.
Rob
God's Hand in my life
Hello again, its been forever since I've blogged, so here I go... We've had more excitement in the family. We've recently moved to a house that is about 1.5 hours away from my job. To drive our van to and from work would cost me between $500 and $600 a month depending on gas prices. Obviously, this was not an option. I looked around for affordable, fuel efficient cars that we could reasonably afford, and found none. I needed to find something that I could use to get me back and forth cheaply, that was in decent shape and that would be reliable. A car could not be found, so I looked at other options.
After thinking for a little while, I decided to get a motorcycle. I had ridden one about 12 years ago, and grew up on dirt-bikes, so it was a logical conclusion to come to. After an agreement with my wife to get life insurance in case of an accident, I was on a mission. I scoured the local want-ads, looked on eBay, and checked the local motorcycle shops. There was not much available for what I wanted to spend (about $1500). I searched for about a month, and found a 1993 Suzuki GS500 for sale in the Tampa Craigslist online for $800. It needed some carb work, tires and some other miscellaneous pieces and parts to make it road-worthy, but other than that, it seemed sound.
I enquired at work from other motorcycle riders for a shop to have it fixed. A co-worker recommended a shop over by the beach (one that I knew of). I called them, and they said that they could help me out. I dropped the motorcycle off and told him what I wanted done. I expected that the repairs would take about 2 weeks.
I kept in touch with the shop, but the repairs seemed to drag on and on. There was problem after problem getting parts (the rear-tire took 3 weeks to get in). When all was said and done, it took about 5-6 weeks to get the motorcycle ready for the commute. This past Saturday (the 7th) my motorcycle was finally ready. I was so excited, and REALLY needed to realize the gas savings that would be achieved by riding the motorcycle. I rented a trailer from Home Depot and picked it up. The kids and I were so excited to finally have it home.
Shortly after getting home, I took it off the trailer for the first time. I figured that I'd take it for a short ride to see how it ran after the repairs. I put a helmet and jacket on, and went on my way. I rode through the neighborhood, and out to the main road to see how it accelerated on the highway. I brought it up to speed then slowed down to turn around and come back home. I was turning into the median turn-around to make a u-turn, and was almost to a stop (5 mph or so) when it happened -- I hit some gravel while braking, the front wheel slipped out, and the bike (with me on it) went down. At that speed I was not too concerned, and got up off of the ground, a bit bruised, but seemingly un-scathed. When I stood down on my left foot, the pain shot out from my ankle. Apparently as the bike came down, it hit the back of my heel, and popped it pretty hard. My pride seemed hurt more than anything else, so I climbed back onto the motorcycle, started it back up, and headed for home. There was some minor scuffing on the clutch lever and left hand-grip, but other than that, the bike seemed fine.
The first time that I tried to shift, I realized that something was wrong -- not with the motorcycle, but with my ankle. Pain shot out as I tried to bend it to shift into second gear, so I moved my whole leg to shift instead. I made it home, and quietly put the motorcycle in the garage.
I came inside and examined myself for the first time. I had a few scrapes on my left knee, and my ankle looked like there was a golf ball sticking out of it. Any twisting of my leg or foot brought with it extreme discomfort. A sprained ankle is what I figured I was dealing with, so I tried to move on with the day. I told my kids first what had happened, then I told my wife (oh she was pleased NOT!). She lectured me about how dangerous motorcycles were, and I humbly agreed.
After going over the accident in my mind several times, I concluded that it should not have happened. I had not screwed up badly, I was not going too fast, and there was NOT that much gravel there, only a few little patches. This is when it hit me -- this was no accident, but the hand of God showing me how foolish I was being by riding the motorcycle. I have 10 people that rely on me solely for their provision. Yes, I had gotten life insurance, but my kids still need a dad, and my wife needs a husband. The Holy Spirit really struck me with this realization, and I realized that I needed to sell the motorcycle. I informed my wife, and she was both glad and upset.
On the one hand, she was glad that I wouldn't be riding the motorcycle, as she was very concerned about the dangers associated with them. On the other hand however, she was upset because we had spent so much time and money to get the motorcycle ready to ride. I had made up my mind to sell the motorcycle, and that was a very difficult decision indeed.
Sunday morning brought the normal before-church chaos, and we finally got on the road and to church VERY late. After the service, people were giving testimonies, etc. and I went forward. I asked for forgiveness for not listening to the council of the pastor and other men in the church who cautioned me about the safety of a motorcycle. I shared my experience with the church, and also expressed my belief that the Holy Spirit had used this incident to show me that I didn't need to ride the motorcycle. I told the church that I planned to sell the motorcycle as soon as I could. I also begged for their prayers for another form of transportation for me. In all of my infinite wisdom, I had put all of my proverbial eggs in this 2-wheeled basket which had promptly dumped them in the middle of the road, and now had no means by which to get affordably and reliably back and forth to work. I was truly without any idea how I would manage. I knew that I didn't have enough money in our bank account to provide gas for the van for the week, and now I couldn't even drive the car that I'd borrowed for the last month and a half because it was a manual shift. God would have to work a miracle to get me to work. I stood in front of the church in tears, humbled and clueless as to what to do. The pastor and the men of the church came up and prayed for me and for our vehicle situation.
At the end of the service, one of the members came up and asked me what I was doing after church. I told him that I needed to stop at the grocery store, and then I was going home. He told me to stop by his house. I didn't know exactly what he had in mind, but he seemed certain that I needed to go to his house, so I followed him and his family to their home.
When we got to the house, he came over and told me that he had been given a 12-passenger van just that week, so their minivan was not being used. He had planned to let his oldest daughter drive it, but felt that God wanted him to let us use it. I thanked him heartily, and praised God for his goodness to us in answering prayer so quickly! Juan went into the house to get the keys in order to get a few things out of the van. When he came back out, he handed me thesigned title to the van. I was confused and asked him why he had handed me the title. He indicated that God had told him to GIVE the van to me -- I was floored to say the least.
I had made plans; buy a motorcycle to ride to work. God had showed me that His plans were different than mine -- first by allowing me to fall and hurt my leg, then, after humbling me and bringing me to a place where I could not help myself, providing me with a van, out of the blue. We do serve a Great and Mighty God!!! Praise him for his goodness to me.
Juan and his family followed us to our home with the minivan and their new van, dropped it off and went on their way. I came in and told my wife of the happenings, as she hadn't felt well and had stayed home from church. She too was in a state of dis-belief at God's provision for us.
Monday brought me to the doctor where an X-ray revealed a nice clean break in my left fibula, just above the ankle. Six weeks in a walking cast was my sentence. The doc said that I was very fortunate, that most people that have a motorcycle fall on them end up with a compound fracture that requires major reconstructive surgery. I felt truly blessed that God had used a broken leg to bring me closer to him. I remember a story where a shepherd broke the leg of a wandering lamb, then carried him to make him totally rely on and trust the shepherd. I feel that God did this with me. I had made a bad decision, and was straying from God's will for me, so he literally allowed my leg to be broken, which in turn layed to waste all of my plans. It broke my pride and self assurance, and left me totally helpless. It was then that God was able to pour out his blessings upon me.
I praise him for His goodness to me even when I don't deserve it. He is so good to me, so kind and merciful. I am amazed at his provision for me and my family, and humbled at his might. It is a great God that we serve, and it is nice to get a reminder of that -- even if it takes a broken leg to get my attention.
Rob
We've moved!
Greetings anyone that might be out there! I got an email that unused blogs would be deleted, so I thought "There's a good reason to start up this blog that my wife made for me!" We have just finished up a horrendous move that took over six weeks to complete. God was good to us through it though, allowing us to get all of our security deposit back from the old house, and help us through the hiccups of getting into a new one. I now have a drive of over an hour (1:10 to 1:45 depending on traffic) to and from work each day. It is tough, but I've used this time well, spending it in thought and prayer. We just got missed by Hurricane Ernesto, and we're still experiencing some rain from it. I thank God that this has been a boring hurricane season here in the Tampa Bay area! Have a great day, and come back to visit soon, I'll try to keep this going and bring up some interesting stuff from our recent trials and tribulations. Rob
Just testing
Just testing
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