It's-a Mario Party 10! Wahoo!

You might be wondering why I was away from blogging for so long. If you're a regular visitor, you might remember that I go on hiatus every January (December, too), due to the enormous time and effort that it takes to plan our son's birthday parties. Here is what we did last year.

Well, since Kylen loves video games so much, and Mario in particular, we thought it would be great fun to have a Mario-themed party. We bought LOTS of Nintendo paraphanalia, decorated the walls of our unfinished basement to look like the classic Super Mario Brothers games, and I even created a PC program, to keep track of the kids' scores, during the party games. Here are some pictures, to give you an idea of what it was like. Enjoy!

What do you get when you cross a computer nerd with a video game character? You got it! That's me, as Luigi, Mario's skittish taller brother. I'm sitting in a corner of our basement, operating the scorekeeping program I wrote. A projector displayed the status on a handmade screen.

Here is what much of our basement looked like. The walls were decorated with rolls of plastic tablecovers and computer printouts of Nintendo characters. Hey, when the images you find on the internet are 2000x3000, even a full-size print on an inkjet looks professional!

The Chain Chomp on the left side of your screen is a 3-foot Big-Uns ball, covered with two yard trash bags. The teeth and eyes were cut out of printer sticker sheets. I also recorded some dog barks on a CD and hid the player behind the Chomp, for added realism.

In the back, you can see a Sandbag, which is, in fact, a real punching bag that we've had for years, covered in a large sheet of white craft foam.

This picture really does NOT do the cake enough justice. Although we joked that we had made it, our co-op's lead organizer made it for us. Isn't she talented??? She has her own cake-decorating business, so if you live in the Inland Northwest, we HIGHLY recommend her!

The original post had a YouTube video, but Farrah reminded me that some parents are really sensitive about how visible they are on the internet, so I took it down. If you were at the party and would like to see the video, please e-mail me.

Leave It or Clean It?

This post has been edited from its original version

Sorry I've been absent for a while, dear friends! I've been really busy with yardwork and trying to launch a new business venture, while still working full-time at my current job. More on that later....

We found out this week that someone in our family has announced that he's gay. It wasn't much of a surprise, but what was especially hard to take was the way that he did it. Since his birthday was in June, he made his birthday party a "coming out" party and even attended a "pride" parade. He was raised in a very religious home and most of the relatives are still very religious, so let's just say it didn't sit well with most of the family.

It is certainly sad to see anyone struggle with sin, but it's even sadder when one has surrendered to it and, in this case, convinced himself that homosexuality is a socially and morally acceptable "lifestyle". But what is even worse is promoting it and encouraging others to accept it and maybe even try it themselves. This is what really, REALLY irks me about the "gay rights movement". Not only do they seek acceptance, but they want to shove it down everyone's throats. (Some accuse evangelicals of the same thing, but that's a topic for another post.)

I've been thinking how we should act around him. He lives far away and we only see him once or twice a year, but the question is a valid one. He already knows where we stand, so beating him over the head with scripture and exhorting him to repent is probably out of the question. On the one hand, we are to show everyone love, so that we can be a positive influence on them. But on the other hand, we are to "put away from among yourselves that wicked person" (1 Cor. 5:13b), who has turned from the faith, so that he will not be a bad influence to those around us, especially our children and those weak in the faith.

In my daily reading this week, I came across a great quote from Jesus: "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold" (Mattew 24:12). This is a very poignant scripture, for the gay community and their allies push their agenda under the guise of love. They say that they want the right to express their love for each other, "marry" the one they love, and receive love from the rest of us who disagree with them. But sin is sin, no matter how many people refuse to accept that fact, and sin will drive love out of people and replace it with lust. I know this to be true, from my own experience.

I was watching a Christian speaker on video recently, and he made a great point. He said that if he were Satan, he would focus all his energy on undermining families. And that's exactly what this world is doing. Marriage has become meaningless and even to be avoided. Relationships have been trivialized. Sex had become the ultimate goal of dating. The entertainment and news industry bombards us with unwholesome material. Sin, in all its forms, is what ultimately destroys families. The question is, how should the family deal with sin among its members? And this extends to the broader question of how should the Church deal with sin among its members? These are certainly questions worth exploring in future posts.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my rambles. I don't usually express my views so strongly, but I truly felt I needed to get this off my chest.

Return of the Blogger

Quick update

WOW!!! Hard to believe that it's been more than a month since my last post. Every year, my wife reminds me that December and January are our busiest months, and I always seem to forget. To give you an idea of just how busy we've been, not only have I not done any blogging in over a month, but I also haven't played any basketball, either, which is my favorite sport.

The busiest time for us is actually after New Year's, when we prepare an elaborate birthday party for our son. Every year, I say, "Hon, let's go simple this time, shall we?" And every year, we end up putting up a big production! LOL! This year, it was Star Wars, a favorite of ours. I spent an entire week (including a couple all-nighters!), preparing a DVD invitation, in which we captured some scenes from the original trilogy and did our own voice-overs. It was a blast, and I cannot wait for our next project! Click here for more details, on my wife's blog.

What's even more amazing, is that during this hiatus, two more "followers" have added themselves to my blog!!! I just want to reassure you all that this blog is an integral part of my ministry, and I am excited to continue posting interesting entries and fellowshipping with all of you.

I have a couple posts in mind, as well as the long-awaited continuation to my current Frequently Asked Friday series on love and sin. Stay tuned!