March 6, 2010 - Tempe, Arizona

Today was pretty quiet. The big outing for the kids after their home school time this morning was to the pet store with their Opa to pick up some new fish for his fish tank.

Bible time this morning was a review of the first six commandments and a discussion about the seventh - do not steal. This one was a bit more relevant to the lil' darlin's than yesterday's very brief treatment of the sixth commandment (do not commit adultery). As they were reciting the commandments from memory this morning, Alec stumbled a bit with the sixth commandment, and it came out more like you will not admit adultery which, truth be told, seems to be a maxim too many people seem to feel more comfortable with than the original Hebrew version.

But stealing hits more to home. Mika is a curious little thing, and she often prefers to indulge her curiosity about things when nobody else is around. Much easier than trying to get permission to investigate. She and Caedmon have a very good relationship, but each of them feels quite excited to tell on the other when the time seems right. So we were able to talk quite a bit about stealing today and the kids were able to relate very well to the topic. As with all the commandments thus far, we repeated it together a few times, Alec & Mika both wrote it out with the other six, and then we ended with another run through out loud of all seven we've covered so far. I'm impressed with their memories, and am looking forward to further teaching.

We were up to cook tonight - and we went with one of our favorites - chicken tikka with coconut saffron basmati rice, a salad, and pita bread and naan bread from Trader Joe's. Always a hit. This time we marinated & grilled up an entire 10-pound bag of chicken breasts so that there would be lots left over to slice up tomorrow for lunch with the cousins.

For the first time in quite a while, I don't have to stay up tonight finishing a sermon. I can get up in the morning and ride to church with my family. I can sit with them, and help police the youngsters. It's a strange feeling, but a good one as well. The strangeness will be augmented by the fact that we'll be worshiping at the church that I grew up in when my family moved to the Tempe-Mesa area in 1978 - Gethsemane Lutheran Church. This is where I was confirmed and where I worshiped until I went off to college and got involved with the pretty freaky folks over at the student ministry near ASU. My mom taught in the preschool there for 20 years or more. It will be fun to see if I can find my old Confirmation photo to show my kids. I'm sure nothing is the same as it used to be, but it will be interesting to see it again.