Lucipher

Underestimating your enemy whether in combat or competition is always disastrous. It's a lot safer to overestimate your enemy's abilities, but I can't say I've ever done that. Unfortunately, many Christians and fringe believers have relegated Lucipher to the Darth Maul type figure from our childhood, when in reality he's a master of his craft and there is no beating him one on one. The Charlie Daniels song "Devil Went Down to Georgia" makes great folklore, but that's all it is. The real ending to that song would end with the fiddler smoldering in fire and brimstone.

My understanding of the devil has changed over the last few years. I would credit 4 influences: The book "Seeing the Unseen", the movie "Devil's Advocate", the movie "The Usual Suspects" and personal experience.

In the words of Chip Ingram, "I'm not saying I see a demon behind every bush", but I am definitely more aware of satanic forces at work in the world. I've often viewed myself as falling victim only to my own sinful nature or just a victim of coincidences, but I now view my life and everyone's lives differently with the understanding that spiritual forces are at war all of our souls. I'm not saying I give myself a free pass, just that there is much more to temptation than a little voice of a felt puppet on one shoulder. If you don't realize that then listen to the last line from the Usual Suspects.

If that doesn't make sense to you then puruse through Devil's Advocate. It's a horrible movie with lots of disgusting stuff that you need to fast forward through, but it depicts Satan's schemes very well, especially the last scene.

The interesting thing is that overcoming Satan ultimately is not a matter of trying harder, but much prayer. Just look at how Jesus did it.

My Brown Eyed Girl

No earthly thing is as fulfilling as family when done right. No family thing is as fulfilling as marriage when done right. No marriage is always done right. No thing done right is easy. Any right thing done enough gets easier. Anything right thing that gets easy can be taken for granted. I hope I don't take my brown eyed girl for granted....

Honey, you are a rock, upon which I stand
And I come here to talk. I think you understand....
Brown eyes, yeah the spotlight shines upon you
And how could anybody deny you?

I came here with a load and it feels so much lighter now I've met you
And honey you should know that I could never go on without you.

Brown eyes... Brown eyes...

Honey you are the sea upon which I float
And I come here to talk. I think you should know...
Brown eyes, your're the one that I wanted to find.
And anyone who tries to deny you, must be out of their mind.

Because I came here with a load, and it feels so much lighter now I've met you
And honey you should know that I could never go on without you.

Brown eyes... Brown eyes...

Not What I Ordered

I came home today, hoping to have a nice relaxing evening. I had hoped the family would all go to Rosa's for Taco Tuesday, chill out, gorge on chicken tacos, and come home, get some paperwork done, and get to bed early. Somehow I didn't get what I ordered.

Jack's friend is sleeping over (more hyper than Jack). Ethan's friend is sleeping over (a little more mellow than Ethan, thankfully). The little girl across the street came over to play all afternoon (her parents apparently like her to be home slightly after dark, thankfully). The yard desperately needed edging (did that), and Susan needed to go to Wal-Mart (don't count on her coming home soon). It's funny how children in closed quarters have voices two octaves higher and 100 decibels louder.

This isn't what I ordered. Thankfully, our kids have good friends. They're outgoing. Parents feel comfortable leaving their children with us. Our kids play are usually inclusive to all ages and have no known communicable diseases.

Unfortunately, Wal-Mart is open 24 hours. Gotta go, something broke.

Who Says White Men Can't Dance?

Growing up in the heyday of SNL, The Blues Brothers were/still are pretty cool. I love the song "I'm a Soul Man." Its a frequent favorite on my iPod. Some day I hope Ethan and Jack will learn the routine to "Soul Man" and pull the whole thing off together. It would be so much fun to watch. We could put on the record, ham it up, and kick it back Cosby Show style. Man, I love those Huxtables. Some dad's hope to see their kids hit one out of the park or sink the game winning shot. Me, I want my kids to wear black suits, ties, hats, Ray Bans and choreograph. Call me weird. Susan, loves all those teeny bopper dance scenes where everyone miraculously puts all their cliques aside and dance in perfect harmony to the theme song, despite never having practiced once together. Me, I prefer the more heavyset, yet surprisingly agile Chris Farley type meets James Brown. Who says white men can't dance?

So what's your song that gets your groove going? I'd have to say: Carwash, Get Up (James Brown), Small Town (John Mellencamp), Ants Marching (I know I've heard it so many times, and Dave Matthews probably hates playing it, but it's so good), I've Got the World on A String (Sinatra), Hooked on A Feeling (Blue Suede), My Doorbell (The White Stripes), and about anything Pat Green or Third Day.

A Family Affair

Hey- It's Susan. I am now obsessed with blogging and have decided to create a page for Donald. Let's see if this works... and let's see if he actually uses it.