First Deer Hunt and First Buck! Wow!

Back in November Yusef and I went on our first deer hunting trip with a Christ-centered young mens hunting and fishing group called CTO.  I did not have a dad as I grew up so I had never been deer hunting.  But we had a great leader named Kevin from TX to take us out that morning.  We were in the blind before daybreak and Yusef was first up to shoot.  We watched a doe for about an hour and then we saw a big rack just above the brush line.  He followed the doe out into the field and Kevin asked Yusef if he had a good shot.  Yusef said, yes.  Then Kevin made a smooching sound and the big buck stopped to look our way.  Yusef asked, is the safety off?  Kevin said, yes!  He smooched again and Yusef shot!(175 yards just behind the heart)  We waited about an hour and then found this majestic creation of God just in the woods.  It was a great time to be with my son.  I wouldn't have missed it!  I am learning a few lessons from this trip.  1.  We need other godly men to teach our children life lessons.(but be sure you choose people of character)  Kevin led us to pray that morning in the blind and trust God for whatever He would bring our way and he led Yu to thank God for the deer he shot  2.  Young men need something to get up in the am for!  They need something to keep the wonder in their lives.  (Gypsy Smith said he never lost the wonder of what God had done in his life)  3.  Friends are important.  Yu and Jacob had a great time together that day.  4.  I am blessed to get to be a father and I have a great Heavenly Father.  5.  Life is short and making good memories with family is important! 

Boys To Men!

One of the things that has been rewarding to do as a father is to try to be very intentional with my son Yusef in putting characteristics into his life that will serve him well as a man.  For his 11th birthday I took he and 2 other boys on a camping trip.  I set up a scavenger hunt for the boys.  The goal was for them to find 4 gifts that were hidden along the trail, using a compass and directions that I had written prior.  Each gift reflected one face of manhood, king, warrior, lover and friend.  I also asked the boys to memorize the 4 faces and the corresponding characteristic.
The King leads with integrity and the gift was a compass because as a man he will need to lead.
The Warrior fights for what matters most and the gift was 3 arrows that represent the fact that a man should know what is worth fighting for and have courage to to battle.
The Lover shows tender care to those in his life and the gift was a first aid kit because a man should care for others.
The Friend pursues character shaping relationships and the gift was a hatchet because he can use tools to help others in life if he knows how to use them.
I grew up without a dad and I have dealt with the hurt caused by that and now it is only a clean scar because I know that God is a good Father and He will guide me to be a good father, husband and leader as He is! 

I am proud of you Yusef!  I am thankful that God saved you when you were born in Syria and I enjoy seeing His life shine through you!  Dad

Noor Promise: Listening to Your Kids Pray

I just finished 4 seminars at SBTS and most of the learning has been about how to help families learn to disciple their own children. It is a tough task! Stats say that only about 7% of Christian parents do any form of regular Bible reading and prayer with their kids at home. Most think that is the ministers job, dont know how to do it or are simply too busy to take the time at home to disciple their kids.
But the benefits are profound when we take the time and get help to learn how to do spiritual disciplines with our wives and children!
For instance we always read a bio about a courageous and godly person at bedtime w our younger kids and then pray. Recently Noor who is learning how to pray be listening to her brother and sister said to her mom, "Jesus whispers in my ear." Of course Robin asked, "what did he say?" She said, "I am pretty and he loves me." Another time she said the same thing, "Jesus whispers in my ear." Robin asked what did he say, "she said he said he needs my cell phone because his is broken!" Ha.

My point is that we learn alot from our kids about what is going on inside them when they pray with us! You dont have to be a Bible scholar just sit down talk, read the Word and pray with your wife and kids.

What we do with our kids will likely be done by them with their own children one day, so we can affect eternity and future generations by what we do today!

Yusef on Manhood

With all the turmoil in Syria it has brought up again our desire to give thanks to the Father for saving Yusef when he was born pre-mature in Syria in the summer of 2002. His lungs were underdeveloped and he got septicemia and another infection at birth. He labored for life for 2 days and the Father worked thru some friends in another country to get a Red Cross ambulance to take him out of Syria to another country! I was never so glad to hear english than that night as the doctor walked into the front doors of the hospital to help Yusef. God was certainly good to us! On a humorous note Yusef has 3 points on manhood that he has shared with his family over the past few years.
1. Men dont cook! One morning after spending the night with another family he saw uncle dan cooking pancakes for his family and he said, "uncle dan men dont cook."
2. Men dont learn anything from their moms! Another time uncle dan asked Yu what he learned from his mom and he said, "nothing."
3. The talk is important! (which Yusef has only had the beginning part of so far) We were visiting with another family and there was an engaged couple there who was just 2 months away from their marriage and Yu asked, "has he had the talk yet dad."

Yusef like most men needs to learn that Biblical manhood teaches a young man to not look down on women, use them or give up his God-given place to lead, but rather to be a servant leader, protector and a provider for the women in his life.

Beautiful Girls

The times are changing! Life is like this. All parents say, "enjoy them now because they grow up so fast!" It is strange to see your little girls grow into young women before your eyes, but it does happen. It is amazing to see and watch. My job as a dad is to be sure that I am there loving their mother and leading them day by day. We are reading through Esther with the older girls and it provides us with a great picture of what a dad should be in the life of his daughter. Mordecai (by the way means warrior, men need to be a gentle warrior for the sake of their loved ones) adopted Esther when she was young. He taught her and guided her and she learned that he was good and she obeyed him. When she was taken into the palace of the greatest ruler of the day, Mordecai still came by everyday to see how she was getting along. That is a good consistent dad! I read a quote recently about Jonathan Edwards, the last of the American Puritans. He was a great man, maybe the greatest scholar and thinker that America has ever produced! The quote said, "Edwards read the Bible diligently everyday to his 11 children and prepared them for worship, his own children benefited greatly from his ministry, committing themselves to lives of holiness and service." I want to be like that!

The Time When Kings Go Out To Battle

I am sitting not too far from where we believe that King David sent one of his best men to die in battle. If you know the story you know that the cause for this terrible thing was that the king had taken this man's wife for himself and now she was pregnant. He was caught by the cords of his own sin and had a choice to make. Would he confess and repent or would he cover up. For over a year he covered it up until God sent his prophet and David's friend Nathan to confront the king. It took courage, humility and wisdom to do what Nathan had to do. He confronted the king and David repented but the consequences never left his house. What was the cause of this sliding into sin? How did a man who God said is a man after my own heart get to this place? It is clear in the first verse of the chapter, "At the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab... But David remained at home! He stopped battling against sin, he gave up a responsibility to someone else that was his responsibility to carry. He committed a sin of omission, he did not do what God called him to do! This is an easy sin for us men to commit! We get tired, we get discouraged or we get fed up and so we just quit!! But we cant there is too much at stake! Our wives, kids, friends and future generations will pay the cost for what we do not do that we should have done. We need to go out everyday to do spiritual battle. We need to love, share about Jesus, serve and stay clean. The consequences for not doing this are deadly.

I Will Endure by Robin

I WILL ENDURE

I will endure
September 11, 2001,
God focused the world's attention
on those not yet won.

I will endure
Our young family walked the streets of B-----.
The family must share by bearing His fruit.

I will endure
Upon our arrival in this new land
It was obvious on our own we could not stand.

I will endure
Large tanks, shooting and weekly car bombs.
Holy Spirit, my comforter keep me from the stinch of fear as a mom.

I will endure
Two little ones by our side.
Much like young David did look with Saul's equipment oversized.

I will endure
In a Islamic nursery our little ones stayed
while mother and father studied Arabic all of the day.

I will endure
Sick and dying our newborn laid.
In the Father hands our only son stayed.
Thank you!

I will endure
Our Redeemer and Savior,
we daily prayed
grow our faith, don't let it fade

I will endure
Apart from God our effort was in vain
Residence in country was impossible to obtain

I will endure
Twenty one moves in the last 9 years.
It wasn't easy and there were a lot of tears.

I will endure
House from house we continued to move.
This discomfort I struggled with and wanted to remove.

I will endure
Ahh, Let me pull in all my stuff
You see it was comfort I desired and not for it to be so incredibly tough.

I will endure
Bitterness arose in my tired heart
My child, my child don't carry My part.

I will endure
God, teach us to number our days
What happens next was the biggest surprise of our Middle East stay.

I will endure
In the darkness we laid in our bed
and listened to the sounds of jets and bombs that streamed overhead.

I will endure.
Our Father how would you have us to pray?
"Pray for the Muslim rebel and the Jewish pilot both
alike in their need for My grace."

I will endure
Just when I think I got it all figured out
You take evil and allow joy and grace to flow out.

I will endure
S----, L------, America, Cypress and J----- is this our home?
No my Father, It's in heaven with you before your thrown.

I will endure
Why God? I would sigh...
and His reply,
Child you have need of endurance, my grace I have supplied

I will endure
To God be the glory and to Him I gaze.
I have determined that my life will be an offering of praise.