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I posted pictures from our vacation last week. You can view them online here.
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In an attempt to create memories and connection between dads and daughters, we held a Dad and Daughter Date night tonight for the girls in our youth group. 19 dads and daughters came over for ice cream, games and friendship. Bethany put the whole thing together and ran it while I had the responsibility of trying to put Kent to sleep (emphasis on “try”).

When I did make it downstairs, I found myself playing Pretty Pretty Princess (you’re welcome, Laura) and an epic game of Jenga. We completed 35 rows with 1 on row 36. I’m not sure how that stacks up to regular games of Jenga, but according to Hasbro’s site, the record is 40 2/3.

Thanks to everybody who made it out. It’s great to see dads and daughters spending time together. Our hope is that these times open lines of communication and appreciation for each other.

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A couple of weeks ago, one of ladies at church gave me a book to read, telling me that her grandchildren really got a lot out of it. I wasn’t looking for another trendy Christian bookstore feel-good bestseller to read, so I was hesitant to start. Many books for teens that I’ve seen are cheesy, offer little substance and have cool “youthy” words like “xtreme” in their titles. Fortunately, I gave it a shot and ended up finishing it tonight. It’s called Do Hard Things, by twin brothers Alex and Brett Harris.

The brothers argue that teenagers rise to the expectations placed upon them. The problem, however, is that society doesn’t expect anything from them (other than going to school, perhaps finding a part-time job and goofing off), and therefore they don’t accomplish much. To solve this problem, the authors invite the reader to join the “Rebelution” of teenagers who do hard things, exceed society’s expectations and end up changing the world.

It’s definitely a book geared for teens, though I did find it engaging, encouraging and inspiring. It’s a fairly quick read and the brothers do a great job building their case and then outlining ways to respond.

It’s not a perfect book, but I do recommend it. In fact, I find the message to be so compelling and important to students, that I’m going to start a two-week series on it in our youth service next week.

Before we get to the “go and buy this book” link, let me throw out a heads up. I debated whether or not to even mention this, but my observant youth pastor friends will likely make the connection here, so I’d better say it. The authors of this book are the brothers of Joshua Harris who wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I don’t hear much about his book anymore, but back in the day there were a lot of polarizing views on that book. To be honest, I wasn’t a fan. I was a bit leery of reading Do Hard Things, because of the connection. I just didn’t want invest time into a book that I didn’t think would be relevant to teens and realistically offer something for them. Fortunately those fears were alleviated. I mention this connection and my hesitation, not to bash the dating book, but to highlight the fact that I found Do Hard Things to be an excellent book for teens. I’d hate for someone not to read it because of a preconceived (and unfair) idea about an unrelated book.

Do yourself (or the teenagers in your life) a favor and pick up a copy.

Oh, one more thing. Chuck Norris wrote the forward. How sweet is that?

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We got back from the Wisconsin Dells today (I’ll post pictures in the next couple of days). We were gone for two and a half days and I’m completely wiped out. We had a great time. I love getting away with Bethany and the boys, but I definitely wouldn’t describe it as relaxing. Parker’s old enough to entertain himself, but Kent…well let’s just say he adds “spice” to the vacation experience.

I’m starting to realize something about myself. The last couple of times I’ve been away from home overnight, I’ve had an increasingly hard time getting a good night’s rest. Last night in the hotel I tossed and turned. I felt like I was up all night. I think it’s the pillows. I never thought I’d say this, but I think I might have to bring my pillows with me. Is that weird? There’s nothing special about my pillows. In fact, they’re crazy old. I’ve been using them for at least 8 years. But for whatever reason, I just can’t get comfortable with the hotel pillows.

Maybe it’s because I turned 30 this year….oh well, at least I’m back home with my pillows.

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It happens to everybody. You’re running late, and when you get to your car, you find the windows fogged up. If they were frosted, you could grab your scrapper and clean of the ice. This, however, is different. It’s some sort of strange temperature thing and to solve the problem you’re going to need to wait ten minutes for your car to warm up.

But, as I said, you’re late.

So what do you do? You go ahead and leave hoping that windows will defog before you run into your neighbors garbage can or run over that strange neighborhood cat that always seems to be lurking around.

I’ll admit, I’ve done this, but last Saturday I fell victim to this seemingly innocent, yet defiant act.

Around 7:40am I was traveling north on 80th Ave. when a guy in a red Pontiac Firebird pulled out in front of me. He pulled up to his stop sign (I had none), stopped for several seconds (as if he was waiting for me to pass) and then just pulled out in front of me. Fortunately, my lightning fast reflexes kicked into gear and I immediately laid on my horn (priority #1) and then swerved and slammed on the brakes. As I was moving to safety, I realized that I couldn’t see into Mr. Speedracer’s windows. Yep, they were all fogged up.

He forgot one of the most important rules of driving with foggy windows: Role Them Down. After all, being able to see is one of the slightly essential aspects of driving.
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