Unfortunately, I don't get out too often with just the guys.  For some reason, we never seem to take the time to plan something.  Tonight was different.  An idea last night turned into going to the late show of Avatar at Hamilton Town Center tonight.  After about 48 ounces of Mountain Dew, I'm still unwinding.

The original idea was to see it in IMAX 3D, but it was mostly sold out except for some single seats.  We even got to the theater about 25 minutes ahead of time.  Plan B had to kick in, so we opted for the 10pm showing on the normal screen in 3D.  I loved it.  I'll spare you my thoughts about the movie because there are plenty of great reviews out there.

Some of the night's highlights:

• Hanging out with good friends.
• Eating most of a big barrel of popcorn.
• Drinking way too much Mountain Dew.
• Great conversations before and after the movie.

The one downside?  Tonight made me feel old.  Not that I stayed up late, or that there were lots of high school kids at the theater.  No, it's nothing that valid.  It's the fact that I just popped a couple Tums, so I hopefully won't wake up in the morning with a sore gut from all the popcorn and Dew!

Good Night All!

[image by jetalone]

I love what kids say sometimes. Many times I leave a conversation with a little kid either scratching my head or laughing.  Seriously, I wonder how kids come up with the things they think about.

Recently, I was getting ready for the day and my 3 year old, Caleb, comes in and gets this really sad look on this face.  At first I wonder if he's getting ready to tell me that his brother hit him. Or, maybe he's setting me up to ask for some chocolate.   Turns out, I was able to use the conversation as a good teaching moment.

Here's how our conversation went:

Caleb:  "Dad, I don't want to go to kevin."

Me: "What?" <puzzled look on my face>

Caleb:  "I don't want to go to kevin."

Me: "What?" <again, I'm slow. I'm thinking "who's kevin?">

Caleb: "I don't want to go to kevin. I want to stay here."

Me: "You mean heaven?"

Caleb: "Yeah, I don't want to go to kevin."

Me: "It's heaven. h-h-h-h-heaven."

Caleb: "I don't want to go to h-h-h-kevin."

Me: "Why not buddy?"

Caleb: "I want to stay here at our house with you and mommy."

Me: "I don't want you to go to heaven right now either. But, someday you'll get to go to heaven."

Caleb: "But I don't want to go to heaven." <he got it right this time>

Me: "But God lives in heaven. Someday, you'll go to heaven to live with God forever because you love Jesus. But not right now. God has too many plans for your life and too many things He wants to do through you before He brings you to heaven.  We never know when God is going to want us to go to heaven, but we can live each day trying to help God in our world and telling others about God."

Caleb: "I like that daddy. I'm glad I don't have to go to kevin today!  Dad, can I watch a movie?"

Later that night, Holli says to me: "Guess what Caleb said to me today: 'Mommy, I don't want to go to kevin.'"  Here we go again...

Have you had a funny conversation with a little kid recently? Share your story and post a comment below.   

   

I don't know about you, but for me, life just seems so busy.   The pulls of work, family, ministry, passions and friends really keep a person jumping.   Not to mention the social media craze that we (yes, you know who you are) engage in on a daily basis.   That's enough to cause your brain to melt-down and send you into convulsive shocks.

But there is a way out.  Isn't there?   Please tell me you've found a way out.   How are you dealing with the constant stream of "stuff" that distracts your life?   How are you living your life with the most intention as possible?

For me, I intentionally slow down.  That was the whole purpose of the 30 Day Slow Down Challenge.  It was supposed to be a time to unplug a little and re-engage with people and God and the Bible.

How did you end up doing on your 30 Day Challenge?  Did you make it?   Did you stop part of the way through?   If you made it, congratulations!   Personally, it was a very difficult thing for me to do.  It took a lot of discipline to write and rest.    If you didn't take the challenge or stopped part of the way through, why not start today?   Pick up where you left off, or just start over.   The truths and principles found in Proverbs are timeless.  You could read them every day and get new insight each day.

Thanks for joining me on this 30 Day journey.   Let's take another one together sometime soon!

[image by EAWB]