Great Weekends - A Perspective

It has now been over 3 years since I have coached debate. I coached for 5 years at Smithson Valley HS and it was an amazing time of life in a lot of ways. I married, we had a child, I was completely new to debate and was having my first real successful go at the teaching career thing. My first 3 years of teaching were difficult to say the least. In the midst of all the change, though, coaching brought late evenings and many long weekends.

My normal routine involved staying late most days to hold practices. I came home around 6:30 or 7 on a regular basis and later when needed. At home I still had papers to grade and lessons to prepare. Weekends were the domain of debate tournaments and despite my sincere belief that this was a great activity for any student to engage in, I dreaded the time they took. Even as a nominally active team (many teams competed far more often than we did) we were still on the road 1 out of just about every 3 weekends. And that wears on you. Being gone until 2am Friday and Staturday nights was just no fun.

When I left coaching to take the job that led to what I do now, webmastering at Judson ISD. I was excited to say the least. But, I had no idea what I was really getting. In our married life, I had always been a coach. We always just dealt with the time away. Looking back I remember it felt normal at some level, but normal was tough. I frequently called Cheryl around lunch on a tournament Saturday and would long to just be at home. "I wish I could be there with you, baby."

Fast forward to today. Like most working guys I put in 40 hours a week - more if needed. But, at the end of the day, I usually turn of the office lights, pick up my car keys and walk out the door. And weekends, those are mine. All of them. We have enjoyed travel to see family, camping trips and a host of other activities that were either forgone completely or enjoyed at the cost of a precious weekend at home.

Today, I got up - took care of some home maintenance. Played legos with my son. Took a nap and am now enjoying a quiet afternoon. I do not know how much others would appreciate the pace, but I think that I will forever have a slightly different (and better) attitude given my experiences in the past! Now off to hang with the family.

Getting Our Fins On Straight

From Model Rocket Fin Guide

So here is the predicament: How do you let your 5 year old be involved in the construction of their own model rocket without having it turn out unflyable? Isaac and I have had a blast with model rockets, but I am adamant that he be involved in the construction. This sometimes leads to a trade-off between his involvement and the "fly-ability " of the rocket. It is one thing if the stickers don't go on straight but quite another if the fins don't!

This got me to thinking of how I can set him up to be able to do the fins himself but still have a chance at this rocket flying in a straight line. The answer was a home-made rocket fin alignment guide. I'm pretty proud of the idea. It is limited in that it doesn't deal with the angles or spacing of the fins, but it does provide a flat surface for the fins to lie on and slide up to the rocket body. This is something more within the ability of a 5 year to do successfully.

Here is the basic idea. I cut a 45° angle bevel down the side of 2 boards. When the boards are placed facing one another, they create a "channel" in which the body of the rock can lay. This necessarily lines up the two boards with the body tube. I cut one board 4" short of the other so that its inside face makes a flat area along the side of the rocket body. Lay the fin on this surface and it is necessarily in line with the body. All that is left is to put glue on the edge of the fin, lay it down and slide it up to the rocket. Isaac can be much more involved now - we both love that!

Download a 3D model of it from the 3D Warehouse for Google SketchUp.

Here are some pics...

His Heavenly Father's Son

Today - this day Isaac confessed Christ. My son professed to me his trust in Jesus. Today I am as sure as an earthly father can be that my son has come to know his Heavenly Father and placed his trust not on his own merit but on the merit of Christ who died to set us free. My son. His son.

I've played this day out in my head a thousand times. I've wondered what would bring it about. I've wondered if I would even be there to witness. And, at some level I've had a degree of discomfort about it, too. Discomfort at wondering how I would know it is real. My greatest fear, honestly, was that i would go to pick him up from sunday school or a kids camp and they would tell me he had accepted Christ.

My fear came not from selfishly wanting to be there, but more so from the frequent stories I've heard and even witnessed where well-intentioned leaders impersonally offer a "sinner's prayer" and declare whomever raises their hand a new believer. My fear was born of the numerous testimonies that I've heard from believers who have lived a life of hollow religiosity after being swept up in an emotional night at summer camp.

My fears, today though, were relieved. Isaac and I went to the garage this AM to eat peanuts and watch the sun come up (our standing Saturday AM tradition). We piddled and eventually moved to the workbench to work on his model rocket. At a quiet point, he asked me, "Papa, can we talk about God?"

I turned around casually, but he had my full attention. "Sure, so what have you learned about God lately?" Isaac answered that God can bring a dead person back to life. He also noted that Jesus had come back to life. I asked if he knew why Jesus had died, and he knew it was to save us from our sin. At this point I realized that Isaac understood the basic tenets of the gospel, but did he believe? I began to explain that Christ offered to cover our sins asking only that we trust in his sacrifice over our own good deeds, but he stopped me. In his own words, he said, "I trust in Jesus, I just haven't told anyone yet." It was at that moment that my hesitancy to urge him into anything that he wasn't sincere about disappeared. We went immediately to tell Mama about it. We all rejoiced together, and then we prayed to thank God for this wonderful gift.

Isaac will deepen his understanding of God and his faith will grow, but by the grace of God he will forever be a child of The King.

Mat 19:14 NIV - Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."