...“Too many men act like boys, and too many boys think ‘if I get married it will make me a man.’ And it never works like that. Boys who get married don’t become men, they ruin women, and sometimes children along with them.”I love this guy's ability to communicate Biblical, reformed, covenant thinking in up-to-date terms.===
...Talking to my friend Kevin McMillan last week about my son who suffers from migraines and my daughter who has some stomach issues. Kevin can relate. Since I've known him as a seminary student moonlighting here at Man in the Mirror, Kevin has bravely fought Crohn's Disease. (Kevin might not say "bravely", but since I never actually saw him cry, I'll call him brave.)
We were talking about a profound statement my son had made after a middle school youth group retreat. For some reason, the retreat theme was 'suffering' - I know, odd for 10-12 year olds. But even though the kid has these migraines that hurt so bad they make him puke his guts out, he told me that some people suffer a lot more than he does. And when he has a migraine, he is thankful that it's not worse. Pretty deep for a 10-year-old (at the time).Kevin made a profound statement, at that point. A great observation:
The greatest pain is the pain in the moment. But the
One who created the moment is greater than the pain.
When you're going through your own pain, it can be so consuming. You might not feel like you can ever survive it. Why? The greatest pain is the pain I am experiencing right now. But, in the midst of that pain, the comfort is that God is the One who created the moment. Peter says that character is produced through suffering. Perhaps part of developing character is learning the lessons from the pain: I will get through this. I am stronger than this struggle. I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me. We can say those things so easily. Perhaps one of the "gifts" of suffering is that it helps us learn to believe them.===photo credit:http://www.flickr.com/photos/missrogue/522823385/
...the first sport climbing series competition in florida for 2009 was this past weekend. the whole family went on the 4 hour drive down - left at 5 am. ugh! the gym - x-treme rock climbing miami - was extremely cool. high walls, roof climbing, even a stalagtite. 
cassidy was awesome. she climbed in the youth female b category and she WON! this picture is actually from the bouldering competition she won last month, but it's a cool picture of her hanging off a climbing wall. you can actually watch her climb at the miami gym here. she makes a scary move at the end that looks like she's going to fall - but she just goes for it and holds on, hanging by one hand.jackson couldn't compete with his arm still in the cast. we go to the orthopedic doc tomorrow to find out if he (a) keeps the current cast, (b) gets a new cast or (c) gets the cast off and starts rehab. obviously, we're hopin' and prayin' for option c.the team aiguille kids - our gym team from aiguille rock climbing center in longwood, fl - entered 8 of the 10 divisions and won 5 of them, taking 1-2-3 in 2 of them. our kids really, really climbed well, especially for the first competition of the season. we're proud of them all. coaching rock climbing is way different than coaching soccer. that's for sure!===
We were talking about a profound statement my son had made after a middle school youth group retreat. For some reason, the retreat theme was 'suffering' - I know, odd for 10-12 year olds. But even though the kid has these migraines that hurt so bad they make him puke his guts out, he told me that some people suffer a lot more than he does. And when he has a migraine, he is thankful that it's not worse. Pretty deep for a 10-year-old (at the time).
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