What to do for my Dad?

My dad came up to PA from VA today -- the plan was for him to (get this) go 4-wheeling with his brother (my uncle) during the day, and then come over to our place so we could all go out to eat together. Sounds nice, but I'll give you some time to think about part-1 of this plan....

and...

about...

what...

might...

possibly...

go...

awry...

(pausing for you to think)...

If you came up with "Dad gets crushed by 4-wheeler," YOU'RE CORRECT!!!

My 57 year old father flipped the 4-wheeler, and it landed right on top of him. He's now laying, heavily medicated, in an Emergency Room about 2 hours north of me, with 4 broken ribs (2 on each side), a broken clavicle, a separated shoulder, and a punctured lung. I'm not quite sure what to do. Dad's got his truck and 4-wheeler up here at my uncle's place, but he has 2 dogs back at his place down in Virginia (is someone taking care of them?), and he has a job down there (do I have to call someone about his not coming to work?). Other questions include, "How long will he be in the hospital?" "Will he be able to take care of himself after discharge?" and "How do we get him and his vehicles down to Virginia?" He's pretty snowed by the meds right now, so he's not able to answer my questions at this point. I already called off work for tomorrow, as I'm going to have to drive a bit to see him. I'm sitting here feeling like I should jump to action, but I have no clue what to do.

Some prayer would be nice, ok?

Look, the Pope is just creepy.

Ok, at this point I'm pretty much convinced that the Pope can show up in public with a literal "666" stamped on his forehead, in full view, and still no one would get it!

And no, it's not just the creepy picture. It's the fact that the title the Pope bears, Vicar of Christ, is essentially the Latin equivilant of the Greek "AntiChristos," and yet his identity remains hidden. It's the disgusting reality of what the Mass he's pimping really is. It's the fact that he changes times and laws (I like to ask folks who wish me a Merry Christmas, "Who told you it was Christmas?" -- They never seem to have an answer. The correct answer is the Pope), just as predicted; that he sits in the Temple of God as if he is God, just as predicted, and yet...

We just don't get it.

Purple

I am sore today. But that's ok, because I passed my belt testing last night. And by "belt testing," I mean "tortuous ordeal of pain and screaming." My legs shook involuntarily, but I got it done, and am now beginning to sniff at the elusive black belt. Next up, brown belt.

For now though, rest. Rest, and be available more for other things, like family and friends, answering all my hate mail, and trying to figure out what happened to Erica's big ski adventure that just disappeared!

Ouch.... I'm going to wobble to the kitchen and make coffee. I hope nobody attacks me today, cuz I'm too sore to do anything about it!

--edit--

Forgot to mention that the kids graduated to new belt levels too!

(turn the sound down, many will no doubt find the music irritating... though maybe it will PUMP YOU UP? lol.)

Here's Cole busting two boards like they were nothing with a palm-heel strike at belt graduation.

How 'bout Conner drilling "down-block, punch" at his graduation?

And, Calle smashes through one board with a palm-heel strike!

Speaking of Calle, watch her roll this girl in class... they were working on defenses against the "ground and pound" type of attack. My camera putted out just before she broke her partner's guard (see how the girl has her legs wrapped around Calle? That's "the guard."). Calle and her partner are right smack dab in the middle of the room.

Keep practicing, kids.

On Family Worship

From James Fisher's The Shorter Catechism Explained:

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QUESTION 60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

ANSWER: The Sabbath is to be sanctified, by a holy resting on that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

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Q. 25. What is family worship?

A. It is the daily joining of all that are united in a domestic relation, or who are dwelling together in the same house and family, in singing God's praises, Acts 2:47 reading his word, Deut. 6:7, and praying to him, Jer. 10:25.

Q. 26. How do you prove family worship to be a duty daily incumbent upon those who have families?

A. From scripture precept, and from scripture example.

Q. 27. How is family worship evinced from scripture precept?

A. Besides that this commandment enjoins every master of a family to sanctify the Sabbath within his gates, that is, to worship God in his family; there are also other scriptures, inculcating the same thing, by necessary consequence; such as, Eph. 6:18 -- "Praying always, with ALL prayer and supplication;" 1 Tim. 2:8 -- "I will therefore that men pray EVERY WHERE. "If with all prayer, then surely with family prayer; if EVERY WHERE, then certainly in our families.

Q. 28. What are the examples of family worship recorded in scripture for our imitation?

A. Among others, there are the examples of Abraham, Gen. 18:19; of Joshua, chap. 24:15 -- "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord;" of David, 2 Sam. 6:20; or Cornelius, Acts 10:2; and especially the example of our blessed Lord, whom we find singing psalms, Matt. 26:30, and praying with his disciples, who were his family, Luke 9:18.

Q. 29. What should be the subject matter of family catechising?

A. What they have been hearing through the day, together with the principles of our religion, as laid out in the Shorter Catechism, with the helps that are published upon the same, which masters of families ought to use for their assistance in this work.

I do karate because...

It helps me to RELAX!!!!!

Anytime I walk into my karate school, from this time forward, I may be plucked, and told it's time for my test. And I feel like I could just throw up. I mean, I'm a nervous wreck. Nice. I take karate because it helps me relieve stress... lol!

On Reading Books, Good Books, Reading Them Well.

If a man can purchase but very few books, my first advice to him would be, let him purchase the very best. If he cannot spend much, let him spend well. The best will always be the cheapest. Leave mere dilutions and attenuations to those who can afford such luxuries. Do not buy milk and water, but get condensed milk, and put what water you like to it yourself. This age is full of word-spinners, professional book-makers, who hammer a grain of matter so thin that it will cover a five-acre sheet of paper; these men have their uses, as gold-beaters have, but they are of no use to you. Farmers on our coast used to cart wagon-loads of seaweed and put them upon their land; the heaviest part was the water; now they dry the weeds, and save a world of labor and expense. Don't buy thin soup; buy the essence of meat. Get much in little. Prefer books which abound in what Dr. James Hamilton used to call "Bibline," or the essence of books. You require accurate, condensed, reliable, standard books, and should make sure that you get them....

Forego, then, without regret, the many books which, like poor Hodge's razors, of famous memory, "are made to sell," and do sell those who buy them, as well as themselves. Matthew Henry's Commentary having been mentioned, I venture to say that no better investment can be made, by any minister, than that peerless exposition. Get it, if you sell your coat to buy it.

The next rule I shall lay down is, master those books you have. Read them thouroughly. Bathe in them until they saturate you. Read and re-read them, masticate them, and digest them. Let them go into your very self. Peruse a good book several times, and make notes and analyses of it. A student will find that his mental constitution is more affected by one book thoroughly mastered than by twenty books which he has merely skimmed, lapping at them, as the classic proverb puts it "as the dogs drink of Nilus." Little learning and much pride come of hasty reading. Books may be piled on the brain till it cannot work. Some men are disabled from thinking by their putting meditation away for the sake of much reading. They gorge themselves with book-matter, and become mentally dyspeptic.

Books on the brain cause disease. Get the book into the brain, and you will grow.

~~C.H. Spurgeon, To Workers with Slender Apparatus.

Jesse Clip

Goofing around with our new camera -- it takes brief video clips, which is cool.