So we took the time to use the trip to Six Flags that someone anonymously gave to us on our second anniversary in Mulberry Grove. The trip to the park wasn't too bad aside from a five-mile slowdown for overpass construction.

We arrived sometime after the park opened and were blessed with prepaid "preferred" parking. We found a nice spot in row 5!

There are plenty of kid-friendly rides at Six Flags, so we rode and we walked and we walked and we rode. The kiddos seemed to enjoy the water-themed rides the most. We even met some cartoon characters and super heroes. In the "Bugs Bunny" area we found rides that the children could enjoy while the Blushing Bride and I stood outside the fence and watched. This, btw, is as much fun as a roller coaster.

Our gift package included tickets for things called "Daffy's Delight" and "Tweety Tweets". Before departure we searched the website but found nothing to explain these items. So when we got to Six Flags we spent our first twenty minutes waiting at the Guest Relations window. The Host who took my question finally came back with the answers I needed to give me confidence to proceed: "Daffy's Delight" is a funnel cake and a medium soda, and "Tweety Tweets" is a giant pretzel and a medium soda.

Mid-afternoon we decided to indulge in our treasure and found the eating establishment in "Bugs Bunny" Land. "We don't have Tweety Tweets here," they said. "Try Calico's Chicken." So the Bride and little ones stayed at the Character Cafe to get the funnel cake, and Puddin' N Pie and I went to search for the pretzel and bring it back. "We don't even know what that is," was the response at Calico's, "try Colonel Cobb's right around the corner." At Colonel Cobb's we saw the pretzels, but they didn't know anything about "Tweety Tweets" either. Back at the Character Cafe, I asked again explaining that the front gate had told me it was a pretzel--"Oh, we don't have pretzels here, but just across the railroad tracks is the Treehouse. Just tell them what it is and they should serve you." I left the whole family this time to enjoy the already procured snack items and proceeded across the tracks to the Treehouse. Pretzels were there but the boy in the snack shack knew nothing about "Tweety Tweets". "Sorry," was the best he could do.

Back at the Character, I sat down with the fam and sipped a drink-ade while examining my coupon. It was labeled "Tweety Tweets" with a confirmation number and "Six Flags St. Louis" printed clearly on the front (along with the price paid plus tax). The reverse side of the ticket had all the small print which included "No Refunds - No Rainchecks" among other things. So the idea of just getting a refund was out. Our anonymous friends had paid the money though, so we didn't want to waste it. At the counter, I tried to see if we could apply the money spent to something they did have. "Wait," he said, "our food service supervisor is right there." I showed her the coupon and immediately we went back to the Treehouse where I was awarded a giant pretzel and medium Pibb (like Dr Pepper only not-so-much). The explanation as to why know one knew what Tweety Tweets meant: "We do have a coupon for 'Tweety Tweets' but it doesn't look like the plain gift ticket that you have."

But finding the elusive "Tweety Tweets" was not the best part of the day. That came when we were back at home having family devotional time. When Bubba prayed it was along this line, "Thank you for the Batman cape. Thank you that I met Green Lantern and Wonder Woman and Batman. Thank you that I saw Shaggy and Scooby." And then he proceeded to go on to thank God for the family. And this is from the one who usually says grace even at bedtime prayers.

My point--we should be like children thanking God for even the simplest of things: a day out with the family, searching for hidden treasure, meeting superheroes along the way.

Have a great day, my friends.

In recent months I heard the hue and cry of home schoolers around the Internet. Their complaint: Subway sandwich stores were discriminating against the home schooled children of our nation. The point of contention was an essay contest which could garner massive athletic and playground equipment prizes for the his or her school. The problem, home schooled students were explicitly excluded from the contest base.

I noted all kinds of suggestions as to why this exclusion was made in the contest rules, and also noted the responses by home school parents galore.

Subway has re-instituted the contest and included everyone who is a citizen of the USA and of school age. The only exclusions seem to be people who are part of the Subway franchise system, Scholastic (the other major sponsor) and the subsidiaries. Those kinds of exclusions that keep people from tampering with the results. You can read the rules disclaimer for the new version of the contest here.

Get your school aged children writing about the stories of their own sandwiches.

Sadly, one of my three stories didn't make the cut this time, but congratulations to the winners of the WordClay short story contest.

You can peruse the list of the winners of both the single short story contest and the short story collection contest by clicking here.

Just to let you know, in this day when commitment means nothing, that this lovely couple just celebrated 49 years. Next year we hope to celebrate big with them.

As you can see from this picture from our day at the Northwest Trek, our family vacation to the Washington was not all bad. We spent time together, time with family, and just relaxed for part of the time.

While on vacation in Washington, I've been exposed to culture upon culture. The first part of the culture that's been interesting is the weather. We were warned to bring jackets and wear layers because the highs would only be in the sixties. When we arrived on Thursday we encountered their highest temps to date. We've only made the children wear jackets once.

On Friday we visited Seattle's Pike Place Market. We expected a general market experience akin to the Renicks of Ukraine. We encountered the tourist trap a la Andrevsky's Spoosk located on Andrew's Descent in Kiev. The prices were high and the street was crowded. Puddin N Pie and Bubba both found places to buy expensive souvenirs with some of their "Nana/Poppi" money. Little Bit is saving hers for today's adventure.

Saturday was interesting because my blushing bride's cousin was getting married (thus the timing of the trip). I'd never been to a Celtic wedding before. No, it had nothing to do with basketball, but was rather more of a druid affair. I'm still processing the differences that were thrown at me during the ceremony. Congratulations to the happy couple.

Culture moment, next: I had the opportunity to preach in my father-by-law's pulpit. It was a great experience as he had asked me to preach on missions (including some info about our time in Ukraine). As any good Baptist I chose as my text the Great Commission found in Matthew 28. This particular experience was not nearly so earth-moving as other cultural moments because it is a SBC church. What was really exhilarating was, due to the size of the room, the house was almost packed.

Finally, Blushing Bride and I got to attend the evening service of the Grace Slavic Baptist Church not far from the in-laws' home. Worship drew us back to Ukraine for even just a moment. We understood enough to catch the gist of the sermons (there were only two this time), and sing along with the worship team. My only struggle with the music was that there was a post and a light obscuring about one-quarter of the projection. I was whisked back to worship in a cine theater in Kiev where I found some of the most heartfelt worship times in my sojourn there.

All in all, I think we've had a culturally good time. We're off to visit the Northwest Trek tourist event today.

Time for a pet peeve brought on by excessive blogging. Whenever comparing things it is most appropriate to use the word "than."

Example: "I would rather take a walk than sit around surfing the 'net."

Increasingly, I find my friends and co-bloggers using the word "then" in place of the aforementioned "than."

For those who don't understand, the word "then" is used to show sequence--"I went for a walk then sat around surfing the 'net for an hour."

Please make a note, and make appropriate corrections.

Have a nice day.

I'm visiting my mother- & father-by-law in Washington (the state, not the capitol). We traveled by train--more on that experience when I've had a chance to digest the experience. When I got the chance to check my rss reader (after two days' absence), I learned that my new AuthorTree website was chosen to be the first monthly spotlight at Author TreeHouse.

Now maybe I will get to be famous!

Father's Day was extremely special. The offspring gave me a framed collage of photos of them. Here's one that touches a daddy's heart.
Look for Little Bit on the blogs in years to come.

This week I celebrated my second anniversary as pastor of the church here in the middle USA. I expected the day to go by in its usual uneventful way. Then yesterday, I received a package in the mail. It was addressed to the entire family, but was sent anonymously--addressed to us at the church address with the church address as the return address. No card, no explanation, just a book of poetry inside (by Jeff Foxworthy no less). Taped to the front end papers of the book were a gift card to buy gas and enough tickets to pay for entrance, parking, and snacks at St. Louis' version of Six Flags.

Thanks -- whoever you are!

For the uninitiated, that is what you call an "eight possum Thursday"

I will admit that I haven't read this

Nor have I seen this

But the last two evenings my Blushing Bride and I have enjoyed this newer (mini series) version of Crichton's thriller. We decided to watch part 1 yesterday and were hooked. Benjamin Bratt puts in a stellar performance as Jeremy Stone (leader of the Wildfire team) that carries the mediocrity of the other members of the Wildfire team (Ricky Shroder still has his best work in Silver Spoons) as well as the lackluster presidential portrayal.

The writing keeps you on the edge of your seat even if the acting doesn't. Go ahead waste four hours with this one. You'll enjoy it.

Congratulations to Rhonda McKnight who commented to enter and win the last copy of Steven Hunt's debut novel Guardian of Light I had to give away. Thanks to all who participated. Keep reading and tell your friends.

I was hesitant about posting this one, but I believe in the power of prayer, so . . .

Tragedy hit the Christian Music world again. In the news this morning, I heard about this.

Please be praying for Steven Curtis Chapman, his wife Mary Beth, and their remaining children. The Chapmans have been pioneers in getting the word out about adopting children and will need all the strength of the Lord to help them as they work through the loss of Maria Sue.

To help you start with your summer reading program, I have a giveaway for you. Last year, my good friend Steven Hunt released his first book, Guardian of Light. I was privileged to get an advanced reading (e) copy to review. Then he set up a book signing in my area and left me a few copies to give away. I still have one more autographed copy, and if you're into free books, here's your chance. I will choose the winner from those who leave a message in the comment section--it's that easy. I will draw the name of the winner from the comment section on May 26 (Memorial Day), and post the winner the following day.

After you win, I request (but do not require) that you consider writing a review of the book for me to post at a later date.

Sign in, make a comment, win a book. What fun to start the summer!

Earlier today I read of the disappearance of Pastor Forrest Pollock and have been checking here periodically during the day.

I would ask my readers to keep Dawn Pollock and the rest of the family in your prayers. I did not know Forrest, but am certainly praying for his family. Pray also for the Bell Shoals Baptist Church of Brandon, FL.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." (Matthew 5:4, ESV)

I just heard the news that Gospel Music icon Dottie Rambo died in a car wreck in southern Missouri yesterday. Dottie was one of the most prolific writers in the world of Christian/Gospel Music. Read the account here.

Our prayers go out to the family and those who knew Dottie.

Here are a few lines from one of her songs (I can still hear my mom singing this one in church):

Amazing Grace, shall always be my song of praise.
For it was grace that brought me liberty,
I do not know, just why He came to love me so.
He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

I shall forever lift mine eyes to Calvary,
To view the cross, where Jesus died for me
How marvelous, His grace that caught my falling soul
He Looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

There's a fun little children's song that has a variety of versions floating around. The song is known as "The Little Green Frog"

When I first learned the song as a teenager it went this way:

"Barump went the little green frog one day
Barump with the little green frog
Barump with the little green frog one day
And his eyes went Bonk!Bonk!"

I later heard it on a children's program while I lived overseas and the following words won the day:

Mmm mmm went the little green frog one day
Mmm mmm went the little green frog
Mmm mmm went the little green frog one day
And we all went mmm mmm ahhh!!

But we know frogs go ladedadeda
ladedadeda ladedadeda
We know frogs go ladedadeda
ladedadeda ladedadeda
They don't go mmm mmm ahh.

(Motions--close eyes, then stick out tongue, then sing "went the little green frog"/at the end of the first part--close eyes, stick out tongue, shake face with tongue out/clap before each "ladedadeda"/last line same as last line of first part)

Here you can communicate to a child that the only time appropriate to stick out your tongue is when singing this song.

And now to the point of the story. Not long ago I was reading with Little Bit (my youngest) who is learning to talk. The book was about colors, and on green there was a big picture of a green frog. I asked how does a frog go? fully expecting 'ribbit, ribbit.' And you guessed it, she said, "ladedadeda."

After all we all know frogs go "ladedadeda."

Or, in the words of Dennis Swanberg, "Hug Yo' Mama!"