Time flies by...

[youtube id="F2bk_9T482g"]As my family and I drove home from a parade in the town next to ours, I was flooded with childhood memories from when my mom and dad took my sister and I to parades in our hometown.  I love how my dad really did the little things that meant so much to me.  As I reflect on these things, my father is 86 years old and lives in assisted living near my sister nine hours away from me.  He is Parkinson's Disease and is slipping daily both literally and figuratively.   My mom went home (to Heaven) in March of 2011 and I cannot believe how time flies by.

I posted this video from the movie UP as my family and I watched the end of this movie right before bedtime for the girls.  I YouTube'd the video and found the beginning of their relationship until the end.  There is a great secular book called, Tuesday's with Maurie, and there is a line from the book that says, "Death ends and life but not a friendship".  That is so true both in the secular world and in the spiritual world.  There is so much of my parents good in me that I cannot even begin to count the blessings.  Of course, there are things that I wished that I could have had throughout my childhood that I didn't and things that I wished that I could have avoided and didn't - the pain that came with it but wasn't prepared spiritually by my dad (he wasn't a Christian at those times).

I think when we treat each day as a gift rather than a burden we can begin to move toward a posture of gratitude and respect for the One who gives it to us each and every day.   Life is a gift and our breaths are numbered by the Creator who knows when each of us have an appointment to die.  There are simple truths in life that no matter what we do cannot be avoided - death and taxes and the Judgement of God.  With all this being said, time flies by.  1 Peter 3:7, "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace."  James 4:14, "Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are  a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."

I remember when I was a boy there was a lady friend who was very affluent and she took kindly to me and my education.  Her nickname was Miss Lee (that is what all the kids called her when she was a teacher).  She was also an antique dealer who was doing work for my parents and she made me promise that I would finish college and also pursue my Masters Degree (which I did) and in turn of this promise she ended up gifting me my room with some collectibles that she gave to me free of charge.  My wife and I to this day use that Clerk's Desk in our family room.  Miss Lee said one thing very provocative to me, "Dante, make the best use of your time, because when you blink, you will be my age."  I always took that comment at a glance, but the older I get, the taller my children become and the gray in my hair are constant reminders of her truth.

What does this mean for our legacy dads?  What is this post saying to you?  For me, it is simple, there are things that have been slapping me upside the head this week that have become almost comical in my life and it is forcing me to practice what I preach on this blog.

For Starters:

I will...

• ...play more with my children
• ...read more with my children
• ...read more with my wife (more devotions and conversations)
• ...be more active in leading both physically and spiritually
• ...make the best use of my time through work, chores, playtime and rest

I will not...

• ...surrender time to my IPAD or Desktop or Computer
• ...waste time for lazy pleasure
• ...settle for mediocrity
• ...turn away from God by wasting my time

When I think of how fast things are moving by me, I can choose to be a reactive parent or a proactive parent, husband and leader of my family.  The only regret that I want on my tombstone is that my loved ones say that they wish more people would have gotten to know the influence I had in their lives.  The more people that could have looked a my life and instead of seeing me - they see the love of Jesus.

For me and my house, we choose to serve the Lord with all of our time, talent and treasure!!!

What is your choice today?

Blessings,

Dante

A time for everything

Ecclesiastes 3New International Version (NIV)

A Time for Everything

3 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:  2     a time to be born and a time to die,  a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3     a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4     a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,     a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6     a time to search and a time to give up,  a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7     a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8     a time to love and a time to hate,  a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.  15 Whatever is has already been,     and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.[b] 16 And I saw something else under the sun:  In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there.  17 I said to myself,  “God will bring into judgment     both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity,     a time to judge every deed.”

18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[c]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

-----

Some things that we can learn from the wisest man that the world has ever seen - Solomon:

• God does not change
• No matter how much we desire, God's plans may differ from our plans (and usually do)
• The world will never make sense until the Lord returns
• We need to find contentment
• His timing is perfect
• Above all, we need to fear the Lord

What are some of your thoughts?

Dante

Stewardship of Time - Managment

My friends would consider me very organized and on the ball.  They would say that I am either very anal retentive and or OC (and not the D - obsessive and compulsive).  The way that people have described me to others are either you will take him (really love him) or you won't -there is no in between.  I can say that God has matured me in many ways, from an aging father and deceased mother to a husband and father of 3 beautiful kids to a flourishing ministry and work life.  He has humbled me in maturity with the responsibility that He has trusted me in.  Sometimes I wake up and take inventory and cannot believe that I get to live this life.One of my biggest stresses are "to-do lists".  Without them, I would be lost, with them I can sometimes be overwhelmed (what about you?).  The problem with these lists is that I sometimes make them an idol (meaning I cannot disconnect my brain from these lists and thereby I sort of let them rule my mind):

Colossians 4:5 (ESV) 5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.

Psalm 90:12 (ESV) 12 So teach us to number our days  that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Why do we worry about what gets done and doesn't get done?  Why do we let that become an idol in my life?  How can we change my thought process into less of my time and making more intentional things in my life be about God's timing?  Proverbs 16:9 (ESV) The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.  It is easy for any of us to get lost in translation and so much harder when we try to cope by worldly standards - our problem (we do not belong to the world for we were bought with a price).  Therefore,

Step 1:  Change our logic?

• We are not our own, we were bought with a price.  Therefore, I am not my own god (small "g") instead I am a child of God.  Therefore my time no longer belongs to me - it's HIS!

Step 2: What matters most?

• Prioritize our lives (God, Family, Work/Church and Friends)

Step 3: Prioritize what matters most:

• Are we building relationship with God or just knowledge of Him?  He wants more for us then to just know Him - He wants our friendship
• Are we serving God with our Time, Talent and Treasure (don't worry about talent and treasure, yet, we have to get the time part going in the right direction)

Step 4:  Don't sweat the big things (Mathew 6 on worry), instead focus a one degree change on tackling the little stuff

• This allows us not to be overwhelmed
• This gives us some value in that you are accomplishing some things
• The Bigger Things that are on our list seem to get small once the little stuff starts getting accomplished

Step 5:  Prayer continually

• This Step should really be wrapped in between and woven throughout all previous steps and steps to come
• This Step should be our guide for God's will and not our own

Step 6:  Find accountability

• Join a men's group
• Join a Bible believing Bible study
• Find brothers who can help
• Confess to our brothers and first and foremost to the Lord

Step 7:  Take inventory on the changes made

• Is it making a difference
• How are others around us reacting
• Is God moving in our life

Colossians 3:15-16

English Standard Version (ESV)

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms

and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Have a blessed day,Dante

S P R I N K L E D

Hebrews 10:22 (NIV) 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.1 Thessalonians 4:1-11 (NIV) Living to Please God:  " 4 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living.   Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.  3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.[b] The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.   9 Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,"

-----

Clearly we all need to be SPRINKLED WITH GOD'S LOVE AND TRUTH AS FOLLOWS:

S - Set your minds on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God

P - Put away the earthly things that turn your love from Him

R - Rid yourselves of those things that turn you away (get rid of the fruitless things)

I - In Christ

N - not what we do, but Christ in us through His Spirit

K - through his knowledge through his word and the kindness that he gives us to do to others as we would have done to us

L - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly

E - Every Christian should clothe ourselves with God's Fruit (Read Galatians 5)

D - In whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all for Jesus

Be blessed,

Dante

Why not sex before marriage (nor outside of marriage) part 1

[youtube id="9K1M5mNEe8s"]1 Corinthians 7

New International Version (NIV)

Concerning Married Life

7 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Pure Religion instead of men's traditions...

John 5:30-47New International Version (NIV)

30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Testimonies About Jesus

31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.  33 “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.  36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study[a] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.  41 “I do not accept glory from human beings, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God[b]?  45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

Where did Moses write about Jesus?

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

New International Version (NIV)

The Prophet

14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”

17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”

21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.

-----

To give you some background on the Scripture in John Chapter 5, we read that Jesus just healed a man who was a beggar who was crippled and could not walk.  Jesus healed him on the Sabbath and told him to pick up his mat and walk.  The religiuous leaders of the time were angered that someone healed a man on a Sabbath.  How dare this healed man carry anything on the Sabbath.  They later found it was Jesus who healed this man and then they wanted to destroy him.  Let's think about that for a moment:  Jesus healed a man, told him to get up and walk and carry his mat and what he said to do - HAPPENED.

The Author of Life was before man and was saying to them - don't let religion get in the way of the truth.  Jesus is the truth.  Jesus is the way.  No man can come to the Father (God) but through Jesus.

I agree with Lance on his previous post, Religion is the problem.  We let tradition and practice get in the way Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  We let our insecurities and pride and anger and search for significance and lust in the way of true faith.  Jesus said to these leaders that they search the scriptures daily (a lot of these leaders even memorized books of the Bible.  In their very own brand of religion, they missed the one and only true Messiah.

What are you holding to?  Are you missing the very one who calls us to be his?  We should listen to God's Son as He is the way, the truth and the life.  Moses had so much to saw about this man:

• Jesus is represented as the Passover Lamb (why we need the perfect Lamb)
• Jesus testified that He is the bread of life (Moses prayed for Manna)
• Jesus is the Living Water (Moses struck the Rock for water)
• Jesus is the prophet that Moses spoke about

From Genesis to Revelation please don't misunderstand that Jesus is the reason, the way and the only truth we should believe to be saved.  Religion will not,  could not nor ever will replace Him.

Be a true disciple,

Dante

Men are having a hard time being men....

[vimeo id="63220741"] 

"Men are having a hard time being men...first of all you have all the addictions:  The pornography, the gambling, the alcohol, cocaine, the food - all that...you also have all the brokenness and so on....", by John Eldredge.  What do you do with all this evidence for men.  It all falls back to the deep wound that men incur or have had happened to them when they are younger.  What needs to happen here, is that we need to heal the heart of man.  We need to have men in the word everyday and praying every day so that the Holy Spirit will do His work in us.

CRISIS - YOU NEED TO HEAL THE HEART OF MEN - by John Eldredge

Proverbs talks about this:

Proverbs 20:5

English Standard Version (ESV)

The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.

----

This past Friday, I got home from a long work week and finished some afternoon reports, work around the house and was just taking a moment to spend on my IPAD when my son came and asked me if he and I could watch the move Courageous.  I told him that I would be there in ten minutes to watch with him.  Ten minutes later, my wife stopped acting like a wife and became my proverbial mother and politely reminded me of my manhood and father responsibilities:  To be a legacy dad, I have to get in the game.  I got up and sat next to him on the couch and watched the entire movie with just him and I.  There was a lot of biblical truth and so forth in this movie.  As a matter of point, Lance and I joke about there resolution and believe that they took a lot of that from www.legacydad.com (okay, so we all agree - we stand on the Word of God).

The most awesome part of me getting "out of the boat" and engaged with my son is that I could have missed this ever so important conversation about faith and value and legacy with my 10 year old son if I would have continued to put myself first.  I would have missed the opportunity of showing my son that he is first and he and his two sisters are the forefront of my spiritual assignment and mission field given to me by God.  Not only do I have to be leader of my house, I have to be actively involved in the every day process.

After the kids were tucked in bed and my wife was working on some projects, I finished my Saturday morning "Facilitator Lead" to talk with men.  I had asked our senior pastor over years of pastoring/counseling what he thought were the top three things that men struggle with, he said, "Significance, Lust and Anger".  On Saturday, we covered the following bible verses:  Ephesians 2:1-3, Proverbs 6:16-19, 12:1, 15:3, 28:13-14; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and Psalms 139:23-24.

And then we read Hebrews 12:1-15, James 5:19-20.

I asked the following questions:

1. What do we struggle with the most?
2. Why do we do the same thing over and over again (the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result each time).
3. Why do we try to be god-like (selfish, bitter and idolatry)?
4. Why do we settle for mediocrity in life, marriage and happiness (things that hold us back: pornography, hate, lust, anger, addicitions)?
5. What is your sin?

In the beginning of our men's ministry on Saturday morning, we have worship, then we have large group (what i discussed above) and then from 7:10 to roughly 8am we break into small groups and for 30 minutes discuss the topic and pointed questions and then we pray and confess and carry each other's burdens.  This is a huge relational ministry and I love seeing the fruit that God is giving it.  Our secret, we open the word, we worship together, we pray together and we share life together - and the Holy Spirit does the rest - AMEN!

So after watching the movie, Courageous, with my son on Friday and after leading Men of Faith on Saturday, I confessed these things in my small group:

• I am lazy and slothful (downright selfish at times) and I need to step it up
• I am the leader of my house (I need to act like it more)
• I married my wife and my best friend (not my mom) so I need to stop putting her in that situation to act like my mom
• I set the tone for the family and the direction (if I get engaged they will respond)
• I need this Men of Faith and accountability partners to keep me honest, humble and growing toward being God's disciple
• I need to be the Legacy Dad (round the clock)

If I am serious the my spiritual role as Elder, Men's Ministry Leader and so on, then I will have to be intentional with my family, my church, my community and my work.  If I am striving to be the man that God wants me to be, then I will take His Word seriously all the time and build relationship with the Holy Trinity.

I am a disciple, I am a man of faith and I am a legacy dad!

Esse quam videri!

Blessings,

Dante

Remember the Alamo

Battle Summary:

During the early days of the Texas Revolution, a Texan force under Stephen F. Austin encircled the Mexican garrison in the town of San Antonio de Béxar. On December 11, 1835, after an eight-week siege, Austin's men were able to compel General Martín Perfecto de Cos to surrender. Occupying the town, the defenders were paroled and sent back to Mexico. The fall of Cos' command eliminated the last major Mexican force in Texas. Returning to friendly territory, Cos provided his superior, General Antonio López de Santa Anna, with information about the uprising in Texas.

Establishing his headquarters at San Luis Potosí, Santa Anna began assembling an army of 6,000 with the goal of marching north and putting down the revolt in Texas. In early 1836, after adding 20 guns to his command, he began marching north through Saltillo and Coahuila. To the north in San Antonio, Texan forces were fortifying the Misión San Antonio de Valero, also known as the Alamo. Possessing a large enclosed courtyard, the Alamo had first been occupied by Cos' men during siege of the town the previous fall. Initially manned by about 100 volunteers, the mission's garrison grew as January passed.

The Alamo was again reinforced on February 3, with the arrival of 29 men under Lt. Colonel William Travis. A few days later, the Alamo's commander, Colonel James C. Neill, departed to deal with an illness and left Travis in charge. Travis' ascent to command did not sit well with Jim Bowie, who led the volunteers, and had arrived on January 19. A renowned frontiersman, Bowie argued with Travis over who should lead until it was agreed that the former would command the volunteers and the latter the regulars. Another notable frontiersman arrived on February 8, when Davy Crockett rode into the Alamo with 12 men.

To the surprise of the defenders, Santa Anna's army arrived outside of San Antonio on February 23. Having marched through driving snow and foul weather, Santa Anna reached the town a month sooner than the Texans anticipated. Surrounding the mission, Santa Anna sent a courier requesting the Alamo's surrender. To this Travis responded by firing one of the mission's cannon. Seeing that the Texans planned to resist, Santa Anna laid siege to the mission. The next day, Bowie fell ill and full command passed to Travis. Badly outnumbered, Travis sent out riders asking for reinforcements.

Travis's calls went largely unanswered as the Texans lacked the strength to fight Santa Anna's larger army. As the days passed the Mexicans slowly worked their lines closer to the Alamo, with their artillery reducing the mission's walls. At 1:00 AM, on March 1, 32 men from Gonzales were able to ride through the Mexican lines to join the defenders. With the situation grim, legend states that Travis drew a line in the sand and asked all those willing to stay and fight to step over it. All except one did. At dawn on March 6, Santa Anna's men launched their final attack on the Alamo.

Flying a red flag and playing the El Degüello bugle call, Santa Anna signaled that no quarter would be given to the defenders. Sending 1,400-1,600 men forward in four columns they overwhelmed the Alamo's tiny garrison. One column, led by General Cos, broke through the mission's north wall and poured into the Alamo. It is believed that Travis was killed resisting this breach. As the Mexicans entered the Alamo, brutal hand-to-hand fighting ensued until almost the entire garrison had been killed. Records indicate that seven may have survived the fighting, but were summarily executed by Santa Anna.

---------------

The odds were unbeatable and the men that were defending the Alamo were estimated between 180 to 200 people against an unstoppable force of 6000 Mexican troops.  The outcome was severe and only women and children who were in the church were eventually freed.  The Christian walk is a lot like this.  Our battle cry is Remember the Cross, which was the instrument that saved us from an eternity of punishment for our sins.  Remember Jesus Christ who came, died and rose again for our resurrection.  Remember the love that God has for us that He gave us His only Son - Hallelujah!

If you do not think, as a Christian, that we are at war, then you are kidding yourself.  Ephesians 6, "12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSFWJycQkb0]

What then, if we are really at war, should we just live each day to satisfy ourselves and to let the world move on?  What if, just what if, we really did have an enemy who wanted to destroy us - no surrender, no prisoners to be taken, that this is a battle for our very souls - then what?

2 Timothy 4:1-3

English Standard Version (ESV)

Preach the Word

4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,

1 Peter 3:15

English Standard Version (ESV)

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

What I learned this past week when visiting the Alamo:

• Worrying beyond the point of action causes nothing but stress and worry and inaction
• Trusting a greater sense of urgency (call it valor, integrity, righteousness) listening to that voice that gives us right from wrong - make a stand when you hear that voice
• You cannot measure cost based on what others think you will lose
• Choose this day who you will serve,  as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord
• Never give up, never surrender and trust Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
• Have others around you who you can trust
• In the end, God wins, therefore, we win

On our drive back to the airport, on a Spring Break trip that took us from Chicago to Dallas, to San Antonio, to Austin, back to Dallas and then home to Chicago - my family and I had a chance to talk about the Bible, about our hopes for them when they became adults and how important their choice in faith is to their mom and dad:

Things my wife and I told my kids:

• We choose our friends, our family is forever and we are to love and respect each other
• We want our children to own our faith in Jesus Christ, therefore, I walks have to be real
• We want them to grow up to be independent, confident, and equipped to navigate the daily jaunts of life - we have to live it and model it for them
• We can agree to disagree, but we still have to respect each other
• No matter what society and life tells us, the Word (the Bible) is true and awesome.
• When talking to them about other religions, we told them not to put down other religions, but rather, to challenge others to have a real relationship with Jesus Christ, not to just be a "follower" but instead a Disciple!

The best thing about this trip was the time that my wife and I got to spend with our kids and how we were able to talk about real life issues both in life and our faith through these circumstances.

I am not sure about you, but today I am remembering the cross, Jesus and how much God loves us for what he did for us!

Blessings,

Dante