God invades the dark places of our world with his light, reflected by us. There is always hope when we arrive!
How To Be A Christian Without Being A Jerk
Faith in real life
Grandpa Diary #32
Mom
Dear Kaylee,
I am on my way to the airport. I am visiting my mommy and daddy in Minnesota. We saw them in July, but I need to see them again. It is really hard for my mommy to remember me at all. I am hoping when she sees me and hugs me, a part of her brain will click into a thought that says,
“I know this guy. He’s my little boy. My Dudey.”
Your great-grandma always called me, “Dudey.” or “Dude,” or “Dudeblatz.”
I have no idea how we came up with that last one!
You know I have about 12 names I call you. The one I use the most is Kaylee Q.” Or just, “Q.”
I don’t know why I call you this, Kaylee Q, but it just fits!
Love,
Grandpa
Grandpa Diary #31
Dear Kaylee,
Well, you are four months old today. Happy four months! You must be eating quite a bit because you now weigh twice what you weighed at birth. You are just about 15 pounds, which is about the weight of my bowling ball. So, you know what’s coming…
Kaylee, my little bowling ball!
Grandma gave me a picture frame for two pictures and one of them is you doing your best imitation of Katy Perry singing, “Roar!”
Katy Perry is one of the most popular singers in the world right now. She started out as a Christian gospel singer. Her dad is a pastor just like Grandpa. I have her first album with songs about faith and Jesus. She wrote every song on that album herself. Even as a teenager, she had an amazing voice.
Here is how you can compare yourself to Grandpa. When I was your age, the most popular singer was also a Christian who sang faith songs, but he too is much more famous for his other work. His name is Elvis Presley. “Heartbreak Hotel” was the #1 song when I was born.
You are already a wonderful singer. I love to listen to the songs you come up with your primordial singing. I know you will grow up to be a beautiful singer because your mommy is one, and the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Or I should say…
The bowling ball!
Love,
Grandpa
The God Who Always Brings It…
God working through his people is what makes the world different. Did you think the Civil Rights movement was about government? Think again…
Grandpa Diary #30
Dear Kaylee,
Why is it so easy for you to smile? This always happens. All we have to do is smile first. We make eye contact with you, wait a bit, and then there it is: Bright smile.
We can learn from this. The urge to smile that we have doesn’t go away when you get older. It is still there. We might be able to resist it, but not for long. You see Kaylee, when you make eye contact and smile at most people, even if they are strangers, they will smile back. It’s just how we are designed by God.
You have a wonderful tool that God uses to bring joy to your mommy and daddy. And, because God has unlimited love, there is more than enough joy to go around. Your mommy is a math teacher, so she will explain to you God’s math. It starts with infinite love. Infinite joy.
So, the more love you give away, the more love you receive. The more joy that you share with others, the more joy you receive. You can’t outgive God. Always more than you need so you can overflow with what he is giving you.
Keep smiling Kaylee- you are making the world around you different.
Love,
Grandpa
Grandpa Diary #29
Dear Kaylee,
Happy Halloween! You are our little pumpkin and you are visiting your mommy’s school today so her students can see you in your ballerina pumpkin 1st Halloween costume. Your mommy is dressed like Amy (Dr. Fowler) from “The Big Bang Theory.” You’ll have to look that one up when you get older…
Lucky Nana is bringing you to lunch with her friends and then taking you over to the school. You did visit me today, so you could trick or treat with the preschool kids at our parade, so I didn’t get too jealous.
Kaylee, make sure mommy reads “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” to you. It is one of her favorite Halloween memories.
My favorite part of Halloween today was, of course, kissing you on the cheeks over a dozen times. This is like taking vitamins and your cheeks are my daily allotment. So, no matter what candy I eat today, you will still be the sweetest treat!
Love,
Grandpa
God and Memory Loss
When we are faced with battles in our lives, why do we seem to suffer from memory loss? We forget all the amazing ways God has blessed us.
Listen to how God cures this….
History of Human Worship
An overview of humankind and the supernatural from prehistoric times to today.
God’s Economy
With God we receive more than we need to reflect Him by pouring out
even more for the sake of others.The manna events of the Book of Exodus and how they directly impact
our thinking today.
Grandpa #28
Dear Kaylee,
Here’s more Halloween memories from Grandpa.
The first thing my brothers and I had to do was carve pumpkins. I don’t remember where our pumpkins came from, but because we lived in a city that was close to farms in Wisconsin, I suppose the local farms supplied them. My daddy, your great-grandpa would carve a pumpkin, too, and it was always silly, rather than scary.
I would also go trick or treating with your uncles. We knew everyone in our neighborhood and so we would go out by ourselves, while your great grandma and grandpa would stay home and hand out candy. My dad would always hand out full size candy bars because he wanted the kids to get something real good! After a few years trick or treating, you learn who has the best stuff.
We would get some things you probably won’t get when you go trick or treating. Apples, popcorn balls, and maybe even five pennies taped together with Scotch tape. I guess those people didn’t like candy, but I think it is more likely they ran out and so they improvised!
We would use pillow cases for the candy and they would hold a lot. Because your uncles are brothers, we would fight sometimes. This was especially fun when you would hit each other with pillow cases full of candy. Your Uncle David is the strongest, and so when I was swinging at him I wish I had all apples in my pillow case!
Your mommy didn’t fight with your uncles, though. She was always tougher than they were until they got older, and then they liked her too much by then to fight, though she could still punch them good if she needed to!
Another thing that happened on Halloween is that older kids would try to scare you. They would hide and jump out from behind a bush or a tree. They would be ghosts or monsters or something else scary. This didn’t work for us Hanson boys, however.
You see, Kaylee, our daddy and grandpa were funeral directors. We grew up seeing dead people at our grandpa’s house because he lived over the funeral home.
So, when you’re used to seeing dead people at your grandpa’s house, some kid with a wolfman mask who jumps at you from behind a bush might surprise you, but he sure isn’t going to scare you!
No one will scare you when you go trick or treating because your daddy will be with you and he is a strong man who doesn’t even need a pillow case full or apples!
Love,
Grandpa
