St. Liam

Liam busted out with a little theology today. We were sitting at the kitchen table is when and I asked him what he learned in school today. He said" sin is when you kill a lamb". I laughed and asked him what else he knows about sin, " he said when you have sin in your heart you don't go to heaven with God" and " when you don't have sin in your heart, you don't go to heaven either". I told him that is when you do go to heaven. Soon, Katie came over and I asked him to repeat his knowledge of sin. Katie gave him a good definition, " Sin is when you do something that God doesn't want you to do, when you sin you say I'm sorry, and God forgives you." We asked him to try it.Then, knowing that he can't have pop, Liam sipped the straw from my Subway beverage, and said, " Sorry, God." We laughed and told him that he couldn't just do what he wants then ask for forgiveness, when he wants to do something he knows he shouldn't, he should tell himself, no. So, he went for my pop again, and before I could shield him, he said no. He proceeded to pretend to be tempted and deny himself about five times. Pretty funny, I realize that I can't just expect Liam to pick up concepts about God or morals only from his Baptist preschool, or from Sunday School, we are the ones that should be molding his spirtual life and understanding first, this is an awesome task, difficult when I may be childlike in my own pursuit of God, but necessary nonethless. Thanks Liam for you theological pursuits and insights.

Happy V-Day

I love when majorly famous people fall. The saying goes, "pride before the fall". John Mayer and Kanye West exemplify that saying.It serves as a reminder of how human we are. And while it is great to see those guys get their just desserts, it also serves as a reminder to me that while I am not a famous a hole musician, I too am an a hole a lot of the times. My self centered attitude is not far off from those dudes, and it takes saying something things stupid, or many things stupid, to realize how much you hurt people and to be really able to listen to them about how your actions and attitude affects them, without getting defensive.

So I want to put it out there that that time came this today, I just finished fighting, then talking to Katie, and came to realize how much I need to work getting over myself and really putting her and the kids as a priority. Katie just puts so much of herself into Liam and Ava, and managing our families' life , and I mean I just don't get it; and I get ticked off when she asks me to take out the trash, pick up laundry, spend to talking to her about her day, or get off my butt and do something, and I'm wrong. I need to reject my passivity for the sake of my family and my relationship with Katie. So here is my love letter to for all to see, I recognize what I need to do to get our lives on track for this season in our life and I commit to doing it.

Food and Liquor

Our block club has been diversifying its interests, the winter slows a lot of the craziness in the neighborhood, so rather than tackling problems, we've kinda taken the opportunity to build into developing relationships with residents on Karlov and Kedvale, to the west of us, meeting politicians that represent our block, and by getting to know business owners along North Avenue and Pulaski. Dave initially became friendly with the of Don Carlos restaurant while working the polls last week. That bloomed into a conversation that included ideas for opening a high end wine and specialty beer shop next door to the bar,that will offer panini's, imported cigars, food, and a lottery machine. The owner wanted to meet with the community about the idea. So, Dave, being the organizer that he is, gave an invitation to the man to come to our block club meeting last night.

Dave also fliered the three blocks to get people to come to the meeting. We did get one person from Kedvale, and multiple people from our block. Dave led the meeting by encouraging the man to detail his plans, show his approval letters from the alderman, and chamber of commerce, as well as to give details about committing to hire local unemployed people and youth, especially from our block. The audience peppered the man with concerns that ranged from keeping the place clean, to our concerns about another liquor store in our area, to actually scrapping the plan in an effort to provide space for a head start program. He seemed intent on his plan to open the store within six months. Dave gave the man our unequivocal support, but I said we needed to thin about it. Generally, the owner left with a petition signed by all that support the project, and a general sense of agreement from the block club that we want to support local business, we as an entity will not get in the way of a liquor store, although most rather have a day care, so as long as we can keep him accountable to his agreements and that we will have enough of a relationship with him to approach him if the business begins to have an adverse effecton our community. All this to say, it was a good meeting, the beginnings of a respected community organization, albeit a little scrappy one that has its hands in the happenings of our neighborhood. Thanks for your work Dave.