A personal update on, well, me...

I've been a bit scarce around here. Business is going really well, and it's hard to make time for blogging. In order to blog regularly right now, I'd need to take time away from less important activities, like spending time with my wife and kids. (Maybe I need to change my priorities.)

I would like to ask for those of you who are praying folks to drop a line or two to God for me and the family. You may remember that a few weeks ago, I preached at a small local church. it was the first time I had preached anywhere in a while.

Well, it went pretty smoothly. No one threw anything, or heckled me. Now, they've asked me to come back and preach for the next four Sundays, and teach their Wednesday night Bible study.

I don't really feel nervous about the whole thing, at least not yet. But I do want to be a blessing to them while I'm there. So I'm asking for prayer in a couple of areas. First, pray that I would be able to preach and teach God's love, without the baggage that sometimes comes in a traditional church setting. Second, pray for my family. It will be a little hard to be away from the people we usually fellowship with on Sunday. (We're seeing them at different times, but it isn't the same.)

Anyway, that's my update. You may now resume your normal activities...

The people I hang out with...

I don't know who your close, personal friends are. But for me, living in the hotbed of celebrity that is southern California, famous people are just part of my life. I can't tell you how often movie stars and famous musicians stop by the house to enjoy grape soda and ping pong. Well, a few days ago, it was Duff McKagan, former bass guitar player for Guns N Roses. Here we are together:



OK. Duff wasn't actually at my house. He was at a seminar I went to, presented by a client of mine. Has some amazing stories to tell from being on the road with GNR, as you might have guessed. Now, in addition to playing in the band Velvet Revolver, he's a family man. Plus he writes a syndicated column on finance.

Now, I'll let you go back to your hum-drum lives. I think I just heard Brad and Angelina at the door, they're bringing their kids over for a playdate...

I'm (sorta) back!

I know the nation has been waiting with baited breath for me to begin posting regularly. (Although the nation has been remarkably silent on the issue. I guess the nation has been suffering quietly.) I've been working on a huge project that has taken up a lot of my time. I hope to return to blogging with a white-hot intensity in the near future.

When I do, of course, I will delight and amaze you with heavy doses of kid pics, along with liberal sprinklings of half-truth, innuendo, and outright slander.

I'm sure you can hardly wait...

We are easily amused...

The Mighty Mrs. J is on vacation this week. We're going to take advantage and go to the San Diego Zoo tomorrow. That means the J van has to be washed. Since I'm far too lazy to wash it myself, Little MacGyver, Toddler Houdini and I took it to the drive-thru car wash this afternoon.

It's always an adventure there. Toddler Houdini is a little afraid; the other kids think it's the best ride outside of Disneyland. But when TH gets into the experience, she really enjoys it.

Here's TH after I've convinced that there are no monsters outside the car:




















And here's Little MacGyver, enjoying one of his favorites snacks during the car wash. The snack? A big slice of raw onion. I know, it makes me a little sick, too...

All new episodes coming soon!!!

In response to my friend Cap's post about my whereabouts the last week or so, there are 2 simple reasons why I haven't been around. (They are not nearly so interesting as Cap's reason, but that's the way it goes.)

Reason 1: I've been swamped with a work project that sapped most of my time and energy for several days.

Reason 2: I caught a nasty virus last week that I had trouble getting rid of. The doctor called it the Huckabee virus. He said it comes on strong, then fades quickly because it has no true core. Then it tries to take out more conservative organisms. Its ultimate goal is to become vice-virus on the ticket with a really pernicious liberal virus from Arizona. But I think I'm over it now. I just hope it doesn't become an epidemic.

Back shortly with more fun and hilarity...

More thoughts on God's promises...

I've been thinking a lot about the quote I put up here yesterday. I've been especially captured by the fact that God essentially puts His reputation as God on the line when He makes a promise to us. When the Bible says, "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus," that's God declaring as a fact what He will accomplish in each of His children.

What does all this mean for us? Well, the handsome and talented Joel over at Grace Roots talked about one result: namely, we have no room for boasting. It's all God's work from beginning to end, and He will accomplish what He sets out to do.

Still more to come...

Random thought I had while watching "One Hit Wonders" on VH1...

How did a gifted lyricist like Edie Brickell end up marrying a talentless hack like Paul Simon? I mean, doesn't she scoff at his feeble attempts to write, while she comes up with brilliance like this:

Philosophy, is the talk on a cereal box
Religion, is a smile on a dog
I'm not aware of too many things
I know what I know if you know what I mean

It makes me want to cry, every time I hear it...

Are stay-at-home dads happy?

Am I happy being a stay-at-home dad? I thought I was. Then I saw that this blog had been linked to in another blog. The topic at that other blog? (Yes, there are other blogs. I know, shocking!) How unhappy the marriage of the blogger is with her stay-at-home husband. It got me thinking about my whole situation.

You probably should know that I tend toward being slightly dramatic. When I see a commercial for some new medication on TV, I always imagine that I have the ailment the medicine is supposed to cure. Even though, as the Mighty Mrs. J has often pointed out, it would be very hard for me to be suffering from the traumatic effects of menopause. So, I started thining that maybe I wasn't happy after all. I wondered, am I really happy?

Answer? Yeah, I really am happy with where I am right now. And not just because I have a writing business I operate from our house. (The blogger woman suggested that the only happy SAHD's are ones who work also.) In fact, I came up with a list of reasons why I'm happy to be a SAHD:

1. I have a profound impact on my children's lives. Much more than I would if I was at an office 10 or 12 hours a day.
2. I have a terrific wife who realizes that marriage is a partnership where both of us have to give up things to make the family work. I give up some of my self-identity by not working outside, and she gives up some of her time with our kids.
   
3. We get to show our kids that families comes in all shapes, sizes, and configurations. I hope our 3 musketeers grow up to know that they aren't bound by what society says is normal.
4. I get the challenge of doing kid stuff, and working to run a small business on short amounts of time and money.
5. We see every day just how good God is to us. He provides in miraculous ways, even when we don't understand how He's doing it.

Will this arrangement last forever? I have no idea. If the writing business takes off like I think it will, then maybe both of us can stay at home full time. That would be ideal.

By the way, if you want to read the blog that prompted this post, here it is. I gotta warn you. If you go there and find something you don't like, don't blame me. I don't vouch for anything there. Or anything here, for that matter.

And just to prove how deliriously happy we are, here's a picture of us. Try
to ignor that I look all doped up (more than usual). This pic just goes to prove the old saying, the couple that takes cheesy pictures together, stays together.