My Car is Old

My 2000 Toyota Corrola is old. How old. Some years back the steering wheel grip began falling off, the smooth rubber covering deteriating. For a birthday gift, Shannon bought me a new steering wheel cover (she did get me other birthday gifts besides that). I used the cover but eventually that top of the cover, the part where my hands are typically at, began to deteriate. So I took off the cover and rotated it 180 degrees so the smooth bottom half was now at the top.

Today, I noticed the former bottom, now top part of the steering wheel cover is deteriating. I have had my car long enough to work through 3 different layers of protective steering wheel cover. So what will I do?

Go buy another steering wheel cover. They cost like $10 bucks at Target. A new car is thousands of dollars. I forgot to mention the car is and always has been paid for.

My Regular 6-Week Post

Since I am averaging a post every 6 weeks or so, I am obligated to write something here. Nothing much has gone on. Just bought a house. Like to see it? If I could find my camera after the move, I would take some pictures and show you. Shannon may have it, but since she is currently on her way back from CentriKid camp, I can't ask her. But it is a really pretty home. Come by sometime. Just not in the next week or two as we still have boxes everywhere. But by mid-August, it will be more hospitable.

Jacob Preschool Graduation

Summer is here. Not officially of course, but the practical reality reveal all the key signs. Children are out of school being the most prominent. My son is still in his Goddard preschool in Franklin, but they had their "graduation" ceremony last week. It was suprisingly touching. They sang a little song that included lyrics that were essentially "goodbye preschool hello kindergarten" which made Shannon choke up a bit thinking of the suddenness of our little boy being an official kindergartener.

Here are a few photos taken at graduation along with some candids of the kids taken at home the day of. The thumbnails are random from the particular album but select one and it will take you the photo gallery to see all of them.

[zenphotopress album=148 sort=random number=10]

These Girls are Different

As I have mentioned, Ava is starting to potty train. Generally, I put her on the potty first thing in the morning. In our past attempts, the body fluid in question very easily makes it way into the toilet. Yesterday, for some reason, it began going in directions other than the toilet. I certainly have had plenty of practice helping Jacob "direct" his potty action, but I was at a lost here. First, It surprised me and along with having a book in my hand (Ava always asks me to read to her on the potty; like father, like daughter) I was slow to react. But more challenging, I did not know how to make it "change direction." I tried to push down, but there is really nothing to push. Ava just looked at me with this bizarre look on her face; probably the same look I had on my face. Then she started crying because I had to put the book down and perform clean-up. More troubling from my side is that I am not sure what to do differently if it happens again. Girls are just different.

I know this is borderline of "too much information", but I wanted to share. Have a good weekend.

Paradox About Hearing God: Hearing God by Dallas Willard (Recap)

My favorite author is Dallas Willard, and his books on the spiritual life and God's Kingdom have made a tremendous impact on my life. His first work in this theme is "Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God". Knowing "God's will" is a huge desire in Christian circles but one that is confusing to most believers. While it is not the same as prayer, seeking a deeper relationship with God is of the same vein, and why I am interested in writing about it.

I definitely recommend anyone to read it. Like all of Dr. Willard's books, it has a bit of a scholarly tone, but that does not mean a difficult read. Willard often sets the table so to speak in lining up points to prove or disprove a point. Thus, it requires a bit of concentration, but I find that far better than just tossing a glib (even if it is true) spiritual statement without the background to understand and apply it fully.

This is not so much a review but a recap. I will go through each chapter and discuss some key points from those sections, hopefully to encourage you to read it and assist in understanding it. Any page references are off of the paperback book I currently have checked out from my church's library. My personal hardback copy is backed away in some boxes awaiting the move to our home.

The preface is just a few pages long and gives a basic introduction into the book. The key point made here is Willard's emphasis that "hearing God is but one dimension of a richly interactive relationship, and obtaining guidance is but one facet of hearing God" (pg. 10). This is important to remember that even if you perfectly understood God's direct guidance to your life that it would not perfectly equate faithfulness to Christ's call or the highest calling of your spiritual life. People may often state that just want to know "God's will for their life" but even knowing that does not fully get you where you need to be.

Chapter 1 is "A Paradox About Hearing God", and the paradox is this: we have widespread testimony and belief within the Christian church that God does "speak" and "lead" us but the Christian church is filled, probably mostly filled, with committed believers who have pervasive and painful uncertainty as to exactly how to hear and recognize God's voice.

It is this paradox which Willard is focused on unpacking. Before leaving this chapter and starting the process of understanding and deciphering this paradox, he does give 3 general problem areas people encountering in trying to hear from God. They are summarized below but he of course goes into greater detail for each in the book, starting on pg. 26.

1.Wrong priority on the forms of God's communication and ignoring the variety of means God can communicate with us.
2.Wrong motives for wanting to hear from God (e.g. seeking God's voice solely for securing their own safety and comfort).
3.Misconceptions about God's nature and intent, especially with respect to expecting hyper-level of detail and control in the "guidance".

Flood of 2010

The flood of 2010 that ravaged Nashville affected our new home build. The home, in the community of Riverwall on the Harpeth, was a riverside lot on the aforementioned Harpeth River. It was nearly complete, and we were hoping to close by end of May. According to our neighbors, we got about 4 ft of water in the home. Here is a link to pictures of the day after with the builders going through and gutting the bottom floor. You can look at them individually or choose the slideshow option on the left. We meet with the builders on Monday to talk about next steps.

Mother's Date and Lucy Kate

Among my busy life and natural disasters, another excuse for not updating my blog is I have been having problems getting my picture album software to work. It is working now, and I hope it will stay that way.

My first niece, Lucy Kate Hagerman, came into the world last week on my birthday, May 6. Here are pictures of her and rest of extended Meadors' family on Mother's day.

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