Ah, to be a "Christian"

I was watching the new NBC show by Conan O'Brien and his ex-sidekick Andy. Andy is the star and you can download the pilot for free on i-tunes. In the pilot, there is a great joke made in passing. Andy's just started his own CPA firm and has moved into a store front in a plaza with other stores. One of the other stars of the show, who owns the video store with no customers, be-friends him and is showing him around the plaza. He says, "Don't park in front of the Christian book store. They'll tow you."

Ah, to be "one of those Christians".

My eldest daughter has a friend over this last week. The friend brings with her some of her CD's for them to maybe listen to. On the car ride to our house, after picking up her friend, Meg looks through the CD's and says, "I don't know any of these but I'm pretty sure that my mom isn't going to let me listen to this one." (It's a Brittany Spears CD with her half-naked on the cover. Also remember that these girls are 9.) The friend says, "Oh, its okay, she's a Christian." To which my daughter replies, "Just because she says she is a Christian doesn't make her one. Lot's of people say that and it doesn't make it so. If we never act like a Jesus and claim that we are Christians, it doesn't make it true."

Later my daughter received a huge hug from me.

"Crappage"

We are trying to help our kids think about the words they use (I know, "why the departure for your children Brian?"). Anyway, Isaiah has been saying "crap" lately to refer to things he doesn't like. Carol has told him to stop saying that word. So the other day she asked him to get some trash from downstairs and bring it up. He referred to it as "crappage". Carol asked, "what did you just say." "Crappage, mom. I did not say crap." We believe this to be a combination of "crap" and "garbage".

While I'll admit I should be a bit embarrassed or something, there is no doubt a bit of pride in his creativity of language at such an early age. It is true that I will someday probably regret my joy at this moment, but for now that's a bunch of crappage.

Crepes and Ice storms

Mark Scandrette has a great recipe for crepes on his blog! Thanks for sharing Mark!!! We used it this morning with our family... and then for lunch (cuz we had a lot of batter left over with only a half batch). It's an icy day here in KC with more sleet, snow and ice schedule over the duration of the weekend. We've run our errands (no - not panic filled toilet paper and milk buying) and so we're in for the rest of the day probably.



Quite a busy week for us. NYC had its adult registration deadline this week so we were flooded again with calls, emails, etc. It's all good though because we are glad to throw a really large week long party! While I definitely feel the clock ticking, I'm also getting more and more excited for the event, to see students and to just be in God's presence with that many friends.



We also had a little bug hit a couple of our kids for a day this past week. Couple that with some other family things and we've been scrambling this week. It's nice to lay low for a bit today with everyone.



We are also looking forward to Josh coming for a visit next week. Aubrey just had their baby and they are proud parents having a great and Godly time. While we would have LOVED to see Aubrey and Cadence, we also understand not wanting to travel much that soon. Hey Josh, quick point of reference... you (and all of us guys) look a lot better holding that baby than without:-)

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Merry Christmas!!! 2.0

We in the Hull house are doing well! We are all healthy and well. Here are some things we have been doing to prepare for Christmas:

- Went to Christmas Eve service tonight at The Well! Then, of course, had to stay for the "sugar rush" hour of hanging out and eating goodies!
- Lit our advent candles
- Been reading through bits of the Christmas story through a cool calendar/mini-book/ornament thing we have (you pull the appropriate mini-book out and read it together and then someone hangs it on the tree as an ornament). This is WAY cool for use with the kids!
- Talking about the Christmas story over meals
- Shared what things we were glad we have been able to give this year (i.e. able to share our time serving, able to give the gift of hospitality, etc)

Here are our plans for Christmas day:
- Sleep in!! (yeah right, but I thought I'd attempt it!)
- Share the Christmas story together
- Share gifts
- Play (kids) and sleep (parents)
- Have some friends over for Christmas dinner! (Ham, cheesy potato casserole, fresh made bread, pies, yes!)
- Thank God for another great day and for Jesus!

Merry Christmas!

It's been a wild and wooly couple of weeks here in O-town, Kansas. First and most important is my wife's recent post with pics of our family! Since I know a good portion of you squatters out there (squatters = people who come and see but don't comment, which is fine) stop by only to see if there are any pics or stories of my fabulous children, you'll love these.

But in other news, the small project I'm working on - Nazarene Youth Confernce - Water Fire Wind -had the final week of its initial registration. We had almost 3000 registrations last week alone! This is good, but also means a lot of phone calls, emails, etc. So my office and I have been a tad busy. I do want and need to praise God ofr his faithfulness to us. In the times when I doubted He brought me the Holy Spirit (who often speaks through my wife!) to bring peace and hope.

Our family, including me (see above paragraph for context), has been battling some flu bug that includes fever and vomit. But we have survived and come out stronger!

We are now focusing all of our possible efforts on anticipating as a family the coming Christ. We are trying to "make the way straight" of our hearts for Christ's coming, removing obstacles and anticipating the good he brings. For Advent we have been using this calendar that has very small books in it. Each day leading up to Christmas we remove one of the books and read its portion of the Christmas story and then hang it on the tree. Our family LOVES this small ritual each day!

One final thing... my wife's name is Carol, as in Christmas Carol, because her birthday is Dec. 23rd! We are looking forward to that celebration too. You could drop her a birthday note on her blog!