A Nack And A Narnoon

There are a lot of things from the early years of my life with children that I realize now are slowly fading in my memory. So, I have decided that this would be a great place to keep those things recorded.

This afternoon, as I walked by the couch where Isaac was watching a movie with Cheryl and Julia, he asked for a snack. This reminded me of a little game we used to play. He would ask for something, and I would turn his request into a request to be tickled - a regular occurring around here.

When he was 3 or 4, he would ask, "Papa, can I have a snack and a cartoon?"

I would answer, "A Nak and a Narnoon? Sure!" I would pounce on him for a round of tickles.

His reply amidst the giggles was, "No, a SNack and a CArToon!"

I usually relented after a bit saying "OOOOh, I thought you said a Nak and a Narnoon - which means to be tickled! Sorry, I must've mis-heard you."

We had a lot of laughs this way. He was always a good sport and was today, too. This is definitely something that I do not want to forget!

Overheard at the Landes House

After a particularly good s'more, my son Isaac announced, "This is GROT!" Not being up to speed on this new evaluative term.

Cheryl inquired, "What is 'grot'?"

Isaac's eyes never left the s'more, and, without missing a beat, he explained, "It's better than great. It's GROT!" He smiled. We laughed hard.

Overheard at the Landes House

It has been a while since I did an "Overheard..." post, but this certainly warranted it!

Mondays are grill night around here since the purchase of my new gas grill. Tonight the menu was Chicken Shishkabobs. Isaac was protesting, and, to extend him an olive branch, I suggested that we to a "kids grill night" next week. He asked what that meant. I explained, "We'll find something fun to grill that you guys will like to eat!"

His response: "How're you gonna put a cake on the grill?!"

A Son! ... and the Father's Love

Papa and Caleb

I am a proud Papa again. Tonight I held Caleb and looked into his eyes. Just five days old and I have yet another vein of pure love to share with another child. It is funny, now, to consider the questions that came to mind before parenthood like "How can I find enough love for each new child?" Laughable from this position.

Children teach you much about love. They teach you that love is the strongest purest of emotions. You find that love motivates all manner of action and behavior. Love reveals its nature even in the most intense of anger; love is often at the heart of it. The love of a father is like this.

As a believer and father, love teaches me even more deeply about my Heavenly Father - God the Father, the origin and sustainer of creation, the origin and sustainer of love. When I realized with the birth of my second child the boundless nature of love, I saw God. I knew the moment I held Julia, our 2nd, and now again with Caleb that I could love a hundred more children equally. Love as God authored it is not a commodity, not a volume that is ever expended. It is not even like a muscle that can be worn out. It is a position and a decision.

We can see this more easily in the love of a new-born because they offer little in return. They come to us totally dependent without even the faintest concern for what they may reciprocate with. When we choose to love them, we take our position in relationship to them. From that oint forward, we approach them from that position of love regardless of what we bring. Grace, discipline, reward - whatever it is, it comes from love.

To consider the love of God in this light is humbling. He has chosen to approach us with His love - His easily boundless love. His grace comes from his love. His discipline and reward come from His love. While we are weak and imperfect and prone to failures - even the failure to love, God is perfect. His love never fails. It rather serves to drive out fear and founds our position in him.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear...
- (1Jo 4:18a NASB)

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"
- (Rom 8:15 NASB)

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.

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."

We're Expecting! ... SHE is pregnant!

Yeah! After a lot of prayer and waiting, we are finally expecting our third child! That is right - ready or not, the world is getting one more Landes! And right up front I want to be clear that I said "we're expecting" not "we're pregnant"! I don't know how common it is for couples to say "we're pregnant," but I have accidentally uttered that and been immediately assaulted by both women and men standing within earshot not to mention my pregnant wife.

I don't know if there is not just a little pent up bitterness here, but the general thrust of the attacks was to let me know in no uncertain terms that SHE is pregnant and I am just, well ... along for the ride, so to speak.

If you want to, pray for Cheryl and the baby's health and my careful tongue! That way we'll all get through this is good shape!

Climbing Buddy

I have enjoyed rock climbing since trying it out in college. I can't say I have ever been just a real hard core climber, but it is fun and I try to get out when I can. Since having kids, the amount of opportunities has dropped a bit, but I still get out now and then. This week I got to hit the crags with a new partner... Isaac!

That is right! My 4-year-old did some climbing with me at Enchanted Rock! Cheryl and I took the kids to the Park this week for a little day trip, and we decided to take our gear and maybe do a little climbing ourselves while the kids climbed around on the rocks.

We found a spot to set up and I dropped the ropes while Isaac watched. He was enthralled. I got on the rock to climb and again he was all eyes. I thought it would be fun to teach him a little about it and let him try it a bit, so I asked him if he wanted to climb. "YEAH!" Since he doesn't have a harness (yet!), I used some extra webbing to make him a "swiss seat" and we clipped him in!

Once on belay, Cheryl and I helped him to look for footholds and handholds, and he started climbing like a champ. I didn't know if the heights would bother him, but he never complained. He let us know when He was ready to come down and we belayed him down like he'd been doing it all along (well, almost!). He even got the hang of standing out against the rock while being lowered ... maybe I'll teach him how to rappel!

Here are some photos from our trip (Isaac's climbing pics are in the middle):

Overheard at Our House

At dinner Cheryl wanted to showcase some of the progress Isaac was making in his math studies. She explained to me that he was doing great and had even been solving some simple problems. At this point she turns to Isaac who is now beaming and in an increasingly silly mood.

Cheryl: Ok, what is 1 plus 3?

Isaac: (without hesitation) ... Addition!

A Pretty Good Day

It is a great thing to have a good day. I must say that I've had some great days but the good days are different. To keep them separate, let me explain. A Great Day is the type of day that includes some experience that you've never had. Climbing a mountain for the first would be a great day for me. Skydiving was an especially great day! Good days are different though. Good days are the ones where the actual activities may be mundane, the events uneventful, but the whole thing just works. It's like the gears of the universe all mesh just right and life goes smoothly.

Today was a good day: We slept in a bit, got donuts together, did a little work around the house and put up some Christmas lights, napped and even wrapped presents after the kids went down.

Looking back at the day, I find that family is a part of all that made the day (and any other for that matter) a good day. And, that is what a good day does. When one of those comes along, it shows what we really value down at the practical end of life - the day in, day out values that really make up who we are. I'm pretty happy to realize how much joy my wife and kiddos bring me. This was a pretty good day

Go Fish, Isaac!

Cheryl is off to see her sister Karen, and enjoy a couple of days celebrating her birthday. That leaves Isaac, Julia and I home alone for the weekend. While the cat is away...! The kids and I headed out right behind her to pick up a pizza, bring it home and have a little "Game Night". Isaac finished eating a little earlier so he and I decide to play a "grown-up" - that means one of the games from the hall closet (where we keep the games that are just a bit over their head).

Isaac is pretty solid with number recognition, so what game would be better with that skill - GO FISH! He did great - even won! we did have to work a bit on the concepts, though. He didn't get at first that when I called for a card that he had, that was not something to get excited about and cheered for me when I did! So, I returned the favor - it was an exceedingly cordial game! He also needed help fanning his cards but beyond that, he picked up the game quickly. We had a blast! Julia even had fun watching for us while she ate! What a night!

My Little Rocketman

Isaac as you you may know has been on a bit of a "space" kick lately. He has his books about space. He's got a growing collection of space theme lego-creations. He's even got some nifty "WALL-E" sheets (by the way - great movie!). I really dug space as a kid, too, so what better hobby to introduce my son to? Model Rockets!

I dropped by WalMart and for the low, low price of $20 we got a starter kit complete with launch pad, launch controller, 3 engines and - can you believe it? - 2 Rockets! Yes. The thought "Great! One for me and one for him!" did cross my mind, but only for a moment. Of course they are both for him ... my 4 year old. um...

In all honesty I've enjoyed this a bit, but my uber-nerdiness cannot compete at all with his genuine exhuberance! He cannot put them down. He runs around the house despite my measured warnings about their fragility.

We had our first launch last Thursday, and the result: We need a bigger field! Isaac loved it - the first one went off without a hitch. It was a larger rocket with a parachute that was easy to follow down to where it landed. The second rocket was a different story. It was considerably smaller with the same size engine as the first. We pushed the button and "Whishhhhhh" - completely out of sight. Uh, houston, we have a problem. Since it went considerably higher it could fall further away ... and it did! We tromped all over the field where we launched it to no avail, until I finally left Isaac with Mama and struck out to cover more ground before the daylight waned! I did find it a good 50 yards beyond the furthest place I thought it could have fallen. Whew! Next time, I'm going to find a bigger field!

Settling Catan

We are hooked! Have you ever heard of this game, "The Settlers of Catan"? If not you really need to experience it. A couple of months back some friends of ours, the Andersons, mentioned that they wanted to have us come over to play "Catan." "Sure" we said in that i've-got-no-idea-what-this-is-about-but-i'll-do-most-anything-to-humor-a-friend kind of way.

A couple of weeks passed and I finally was available on a weekend to hang out with the guys. We headed to Steve's house and started getting ready to play Catan. Now, I'll be honest - this game is a little on the complicated side at first (kind of like Katrina was a 'little' on the rainy side). They started throwing down the game board tiles, little monopoly looking game pieces, 2 decks of card, dice, a 'robber' (hard to explain) and partridge in a pear tree. ...Ok, no partridge but there really were a lot of things to keep up with.

The first game was a little like watch foreign films without subtitles: It was interesting and I knew something significant was happening at times but I was otherwise completely lost. But, that is about what it takes to get the hang of it. Game 2 made more sense and was actually really fun. So much so, in fact that I decided to blow a $25 Amazon gift card I'd been sitting on for over a year and buy it myself.

Cheryl was hooked almost immediately - of course, I 'let' her win that 2nd game, but she is actually pretty good at it. It must be genetic; her sister came down and won the first game she played! We've also played it with the singles group we work with at the church and my aunts and mom. So I'm not sure if we are settling Catan or if Catan is settling us!

Try the game - you'll love it!

Our New Kazeebo!

Yes. If you were wondering a "Kazeebo" is the same as a Gazeebo. Isaac wasn't real clear on the name and the fact that we enjoyed the new name so much didn't help, so it is a "Kazeebo" now! ...And a really cool one at that!

This is the next project as we move (back) into our house. We've got a lot of plans and this one involves taking down the old crazy looking gazeebo(-esque) thing in the backyard and putting up something prettier - maybe something without cheap lattice tacked to 2x4's.

Big thanks to our friends Kyle and Kelly - they had the kit in their garage and passed it along to us. They were happy to have it out of the garage and we are happy to have this step get a big boost in the budget department!

The Women in my Life

I was not the guy in HS that all the girls wanted to date. In fact, I distinctly remember that my brother, Matt, had more success with the girls in my class! (Love ya brother - I'm not bitter!) When I met Cheryl and began falling in love and began realizing that she was the first one that 'got me' (and didn't run), I began the most amazing relationship of my life - the one with my wife. I never could have imagined what this would be like. I knew early on that I was a family man, and really struggled in my mid-20's giving that part of my life to God when all my friends were marrying. But he knew what he was doing and blessed me with Cheryl just as soon as he had done what he needed to get both of us ready for it.

If that blessing wasn't enough, he brought yet another beautiful lady into my life - our daughter, Julia. She is the most beautiful baby girl and as the 'baby' fade and the 'girl' shows, I'm blessed to be witness to her life.

Both of these women have shaped who I am today. They challenge me in different ways to look outside myself. They expose me to their world and invite me to learn to love another for who they are - to love like Christ loves his bride. I can only hope that they know how special they are to me.

7 Years Today

Today is our 7th anniversary. Wow! 2 kids, a house and a dog - we are living the dream. Having these years with my wife is more of a blessing than I can even communicate. She is more than half of who I am! The most exciting part is knowing that she is the one for the rest of this journey.

I love you (1st), Babe!

Our Adventurer Reutrns Today!

Isaac and Julia will be home today! Whoopee! I can't wait to 'wrassle' with him and hear all about every tree he climbed and bug he caught - wow, I miss that kid!

Missing the Little Feet

It has now been eleven days that Isaac has been with grandparents. It has been strangely quiet around here! Julia joined him Thursday so the last 2 days have been completely quiet. Odd memories of bachelor-hood and early marriage have floated into my head at times but mostly, I've just missed them!

There are a number of things that the absence of the kiddos permits - sleeping in on a Saturday and going shopping all day, catching a movie and going out to eat. These are all well and good, but there are also things that their absence also prevents - no screams of "Papa" when I open the door after work, no big hugs from tiny arms, noone to read to at night before bed time! (I tried with cheryl, but she didn't want to sit in my lap in the Rocking Chair!)

Don't get me wrong I like to be able to carry on a complete conversation without being interrupted ... or jumped on. But I have come to really enjoy all the things they find so important! I relish their affection and can't wait to have them back. It will be good to hear the little feet around again!

The End of an Era

My Father made the comment as he passed me. "It is the end of an era." He was walking away from the site where I was headed to help my brothers dig a grave for our family dog. Bandit was our companion for 15 years and he passed away during the weekend of our family reunion. He joined us after I left for college, so I only knew him from the summers I came home, but there was everything to like about this dog and nothing to dislike! I will not try to tell the stories my brothers and parents can tell, but I really liked him.

Dad's comment was very true, too. Bandit's time with our family was an era in our family. He came in right about the time that my brothers and I were on our way out of the house. He greeted us in Rosenberg an for the last decade in Arkansas. He saw us return in a variety of vehicles. He greeted our girlfriends and welcomed them into the family when they returned as wives. He even saw us bring home our children. While we were gone, he was a constant companion to my parents and close to a legend as a working dog. Stories of Bandit were just as much a part of the Landes 'lore' from this era as those of us his keepers.

It seems like it is the 'eras' that often make a better definition of our lives than the years. We remember our lives more often in terms of these brackets that we set around time. Maybe that is part of the pain. Bandit's passing pushes us out of a great era and into the next which is unknown. Our Creator God gave us many blessings. There are an infinite number of ways that he gives us joy! I'm thankful to Him for Bandit. And now, when one blessing goes, I'm challenged to trust His providence. But, I know he is faithful! Thank you, Lord, for Bandit.

Family Building

I have been trying to connect with the men's ministry at our church more recently. I was able to attend the men's retreat weekend a month or so ago and this weekend was blessed to be at the men's breakfast on Saturday! Hearty food and even better teaching.

I have been really hearing it from the Lord lately on being busy. I am too busy. It is a way of life for me. But I have admitted it, confessed it and now I'm going about claiming my freedom. In light of that struggle, there was a scripture that I ran across lately that came up this weekend again. It is this:

Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved {even in his} sleep. Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate. Psalms 127

I've been rolling that one around a lot lately and it hits home ... hard. I work hard. I work late. I take on extra projects and duties. I rarely stop to even consider relaxing. I am a work-a-holic in a lot of ways. It is easy to justify this - two kids, single income, etc. but the short of it is that I work so hard that it easily can sap time and energy from my family. The scriptures are clear that we should be industrious (Pr 6:6) and do good work (Col 3:23), but they are even more clear (above) that our work has to honor the Lord in every area.

My work to build a family is far more eternally consequential than any amount of stuff that I do in the workplace. In 100 years (if the Lord taries!), no one will likely remember any of the websites I've built, nor even my name. But, in Christ I can build a legacy of faith. Each generation will have it's own decision to make but the heritage is eternal.

It is the Lord that builds me and mine; it is time for me to stand back and let him.