Parenting as a Christian Single Dad

Are you guilty of constantly revisiting the past? I know I can have my moments where revisiting the past becomes an issue. I mean it is okay to remember and learn from past mistakes but is it our mistakes that define us or what we learn from them. I hope because of some of the mistakes that I have made that I have become a better person, however when I revisit only to condemn myself or put myself in a negative light I am hurting myself. I don’t have to keep revisiting the shame of my past because God’s grace, His sacrifice on the cross, has freed me from this. Why is it that the Creator of all things can forgive me yet I can’t forgive myself? Forgiveness equals Freedom! I long for this freedom and the peace and joy that comes with it. When I don’t forgive myself I will revisit the shame of my past and I will continue to live in bondage preventing God to fully utilize me. When we learn from our mistakes, which we all make, and we set our eyes on the future rather than the past w...

Really not much to mention here except the fact that I love fall but this year has been crazy. So far it seems we are going from summer to luke warm back to summer. Somehow the trees know that fall is here but I just don't feel it. We are going from a beautiful week where playing outside was a must to it could snow down here in Boise Idaho . Snow is winter and I don't think I am quite ready for that. Especially since I have not gotten the sprinklers blown out yet. Thank God for all wonderful seasons.

Over the years people have come in and out of my life and at times I wonder where they went… Did I do something to drive them away, did they get bored with me or could it be that the task they were sent to do has been completed and it was time for them to move on? I have learned that God looks at the big picture when I am incapable of even fathoming the big picture. Even though God did not plan for my marriage to fail He foresaw it and planned for it. Ultimately I was supposed to learn something and become more Christ-like from the experience. Maybe I was supposed to learn something about other people, maybe something about me, or both. I am leaning towards both, I hope that God will use what I have gone through to help others, that is if I allow it. Sometimes I really need to put myself out there and I am not good at stepping outside of my comfort zone. But I have noticed that God is bringing people to me that are in a lot of pain and instead of me helping them they seem to be h...

I am amazed at how powerful some of the letters in the bible are. Right now at church we are going through Philipians and we aren't halfway through and I have been touched every sermon. I am no stranger to being self-centered and since Madalyn has been in my life I have been able to understand what it means to put others first, to take care of their needs before my own. I know it is easy to want to take care of family needs but I have seen this overflowing to other parts of my life. I know I am always going to be a work in progress and I want to teach Madalyn how good it feels to help others. God is really taking this time to touch my heart. Isn't it weird how you can learn new things each time you read a book in the bible, even if it is for the 50th time? God is good!

I don’t know how things are going where you folks live but here in Boise it seems that when anyone sneezes they run off to the hospital freaking out about having the swine flu. Granted some might but all they are doing is exposing everyone else that is around them. I think on one recent weekend we had over 200 people hit the emergency room clogging it up creating a huge mess. Its still the flu so really what can the doctor do about it? I agree we need to be careful but we don’t need to over react and live in fear. As for me and Madalyn I just try and use common sense and make sure we both are washing our hands and using sanitizer. The point of this post pertains to an article I recently read about “Where Germs Hide.” I thought it was pretty interesting and makes complete sense. So where do germs hide? 1. Grocery Store – shopping carts and seat buckets are the worst but you also have to look out for the conveyer belt at check out. 2. The Playground – face it kids are messing an...

You know I used to laugh at folks when their kids were always asking questions and I really never gave it much thought… that is until recently. OMG!!! Will it ever stop? :-) I am trying my best to answer the whys and the why to the answer and the why to that but I don’t think I can handle too much more. As I sit here and write this I am cracking myself up but last night I wanted to pull my hair out. I know it is part of growing up but I do hope I survive because I sure feel stupid for not being able to answer the elusive WHY.

Recently I was contacted by Michele Elena Bondi the author of Your Personal Apostolate : Accepting and Sharing the Love of God and she offered to share her book with me. She is a single mom who has a genuine love for God. Her book is organized in a manner that it makes it easy to apply to my personal life. There is a short chapter detailing a quality of God and how He is working in our lives, meeting us where we are at. She then adds a section on she relates that lesson in her life upon which she ends with some questions for the reader and a short prayer. I have not finished the book yet but I like it. The chapters are straight to the point and perfect for someone trying to fit in some reading while hangin out with their child. Last night I finished the section on Love and I told Madalyn that I really felt loved when she cuddled with me the way she was doing. I asked her what I did that made her feel loved. Well earlier she wanted a chocolate bar and I said NO so of course she said...

Every now and again someone wants to know about starting their own website and I have to tell them that it is pretty darn easy. Now of course this depends on its use but when I started my Christian Divorce Recovery site I thought I might be getting in over my head but it actually worked out okay. Starting an ecommerce site I don't have a clue. Starting a website can have a lot advantages and be used for different things. There are tools such as blogger (this site) that are free if you want to dink around a bit but if you are going to take the plunge long-term you may consider buying a domain and getting a webhost provider like Hostgator that offers Free Domain With $6.95 Hosting Package . Most webhosting companies have the tools to build a site and get it online. So if you are interested you may want to give it a shot. It is very affordable and I find it to be fun - most of the time.