Children and Sports

My youngest has played soccer already and this is her first season of softball. She was so excited for the first practice. She had a great time and her teammates seemed to have a lot of fun as well.

At this young age this is what sports is suppose to be all about, having fun.

I see too many parents getting so caught up in pushing their children into sports. Don't get me wrong, encouraging and supporting your child are good, however pushing them into something because you feel that the child NEEDS to be participating is not good.

We need to just let our children play these games and have fun. They will let us know if they wish to continue to play the sport. At that point continued encouragement and support is our job.

My two cents.

Sleep Apnea

I woke to a very scary feeling just a little while ago.

I laid down with my 5 year old daughter so that she could fall asleep. I woke a few hours later with the feeling that I was gasping for air and struggling to breath. I was scared to death about what had happened and scared about what could have happened had I really stopped breathing.

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea approximately 8 years ago. In the past, when I have fallen asleep, I have been told that I would momentarily stop breathing. Well tonight I totally experienced it. I am still shaking thinking about it. My chest hurts and I am afraid to lay back down to try to go to sleep, I know I will wear my mask for sure.

I will make sure from now on to wear my mask, but tonight will be in the back of mind.

Just When I Thought ...

Just when I thought things were going to go a particular way, suddenly things changed and hopefully for the better.

I was already to begin training for a new career that was stopped due to a minor issue, not really anything I did at all. However just when that door shut there are possibilities that I can continue this but in a different way that will provide me with many more options.

Right now I am having to fill out paperwork and wait, hopefully that wait will not be long. There are other things that I have filled out paperwork that I have to wait on. Waiting on things are tough for me because I need to stay on top of these requests so that I am not lost in the system.

I came home yesterday very positive at the possibility of more opportunities in this pursuit of a new career.

Expecting more answers from God.

As I Grow Older (More Mature)

As I grow older so many things in my life have changed. Some changes were for the good, but some changes were for the not so good. In all I have learned many lessons. Am I going to make the right decisions moving forward, I doubt it, but I can do the best I can do and keep my eyes focused on God.

One of the many blessings in my life has been being a Dad. As a teenager I would never even had a thought of having children, but I met a very special woman who changed my mind. This woman would later become my wife. With her we brought two children into our family. At the time I did not fully appreciate the blessing that the children were to my life, but as many lessons in life I have grown to see that those children were suppose to be in my life.

Today I consider all three of my children to be my most valued possessions, I really don't know what I would do without them. As I have taught them many things through the years they have also taught me. At this time all three of my children are at different stages in life and do my best to be the Dad each of them needs at those stages. My children are a 14 year old girl, a 13 year old son, and a 5 year old girl.

In these current days and the days to come there have been and will be many changes in my life thus causing changes in their lives. I hope they understand that everything I do is focused around giving them the best.

A Proud Dad

I am so proud of my son Josh and his efforts in playing football for the Saints in the Optimist football league here in Conway.

The Saints finished in first place in their conference and have received a first round bye. They will play a playoff game on Thursday and then should they win the Super Bowl on Tuesday.

GO SAINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Horrible Incident at a Local College Campus

Late Sunday night there was a shooting on the Campus of UCA, the University of Central Arkansas. The cause of the shooting is still unknown, but there were 2 men killed and a third treated and released at a local hospital.
Stories about the incident are located on the following news web sites.

• The Log Cabin Democrat
• UCA Web Site
• KTHV Television in Little Rock
• KARK Television in Little Rock
• KATV Television in Little Rock

This has been a terrible thing for the City of Conway as well as UCA Students.

I would ask you to keep the families of these victims as well as the students of UCA in your thoughts and prayers.

Life

Life is a challenge, to say the least. It does not comes easy to some and not as easy to others. They say that through the trials in our lives we become stronger. Also, as we go through these trials in life and succeed we become more and more resilient.
I would have to say that my life has been such a challenge. Some days I want to give up and other days I press forward. That pressing forward is the resilient part in me. I am proud to say that I have not chosen drugs or alcohol as a means of escape from these trials.
My inspiration for pressing forward through these trials the fact that I know I have three children that depend on their Dad to be there for them. That is what keeps me moving forward.

Dancing With The Stars, Season 6

Congratulations to Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas in winning this season's Crystal Ball Trophy.

Kristi had tough competition from Jason Taylor, and his partner Edyta Sliwinska as well as Cristian de la Fuente and his partner Cheryl Burke.

I liked the top 3 couples, but I guess I was rooting for Cristian de la Fuente and his partner Cheryl Burke the most because of the injury Cristian suffered and continued to dance through the injury to finished third.

Dancing With The Stars is a great show because it has brought attention to the art of ballroom dancing. If you have not watched the show I urge you to.

America's Newest Idol

After a long fought season, David Cook has been named the American Idol for season 7.

It was a tough battle and at the end of the day both Davids won.

I can't wait for David Cook's CD to come out.

Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives

I want to plug this show. It is an awesome show on the Food Network.

The host, Guy Fieri, is an original and perfect for this show. Guy takes the viewers to out of the way places that serve real home-cooked meals. It is kind of like the best-of-the-best food places.

I recommend the show very much. Check it out at Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives.

In some bright news for all Sabers fans, the front office did not let Thomas Vanek slip off to Edmonton, they matched Edmonton's offer to Vanek making young Thomas a very rich man. Vanek will only make about 10 times his salary from the 2006-2007 season. Not a bad raise, huh? But Buffalo needed to keep him to ensure they could put some sort of team on the ice next season.

In other news Buffalo signed ex-Penguin goalie Jocelyn Thibault as Ryan Miller's back up next season. This is an up grade from Ty Conklin as Conklin was a free agent this off season any way.

The NY Rangers are in the Picture

This picture has to be a welcome site to all NY Ranger fans. Add these two guys to the team that barely lost to the Buffalo Sabers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and now the Rangers may be the team to beat.

I am guessing that someone in the front office in NY told them to go out and buy the best players they could.

Another Battle for the city of Buffalo

Well, I almost had to know it, but the Buffalo Sabers, after having the best record in the NHL this past season and making it to the Eastern Conference finals, have suffered two sever blows to their team.

As this article points out, co-captains Chris Drury and Daniel Briere left Buffalo on the first day of free agencies for the NY Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers respectively.

Now anyone who follows sports knows that Buffalo is by no means a large market city, thus they do not have the money that the team from Philadelphia and New York have to spend on players.

Buffalo has always built a great farm system and developed players to play with a team mentality. Which by the way hockey is, a team sport.

I hope that the Sabers management have a way of trying to make up for these losses, if not I don't see the Sabers back in the playoff contending for the Eastern Conference Crown.

Good Call for a Local Arkansan

Today there is so much hype from the world of sports, mainly about the money the players make and the trouble they get themselves into.

I, for one, would like to see more positive stories about the players, but I guess the negative stories are the ones that sell.

Here is a great story about Derek Fisher formally of the Utah Jazz on his decision not to come back to basketball, but rather stay with his sick daughter.

Derek played at a small college here in central Arkansas, University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers and helped them win championships. He is a team player and great person. I wish there was more players in ALL sports out there like him.

Thoughts on Ten ways to fix the NHL

A response to Ten ways to fix the NHL

I found this article through my daily RSS feeds from Fox Sports.com.

I really enjoy hockey, but I do believe that there are some things that can be done to make the game more appealing to non-hockey people.

Two areas from the story that I totally agree with are getting the game back on ESPN or ESPN2 as well as marketing the players.

Chime in with your comments.

Your highlight

What is the highlight of your day? This was a question posed to me by my wife yesterday.

It took me a second to think about it, but then I said, the early mornings when I am up with a cup of coffee and no one else is awake yet.

She went on to tell me about the many points of her day that are highlights; picking up our baby from the babysitter's, turning off work and turning on time for our children, and getting our children in bed to spend time with me.

At this point I felt very selfish. My favorite time of the day was by myself, how selfish is that?

This morning I was reminded of just how many more highlights to my day I really have.

Getting our baby out of her crib when she wakes up in the morning. Sharing my cereal with our baby. Hugging each one of our children to let them know I love them and care about them.

There are many days when I get into a rut and feel sorry for myself and all the adversity I have faced in my life. But while I have faced all that adversity I have made it through it and Thank God, because He has made me a better person for it.

Legends of the game

I ran into this interesting article that talks about Roger Clemens' recent contract signing and the antics of Brett Farve concerning his team not signing Randy Moss. The article is titled Clemens Farve -- Puppet Masters, written by Brad Locke.

clipped from www.onenewsnow.com To recap: Clemens, performing his annual rite of spring, took his sweet time in signing with a team that was willing to grossly overpay him. This year, the Yankees were the drooling idiots, giving the Racket -- I mean, Rocket -- a one-year deal for $28,000,022 (the last two digits match his uniform number; nice bit of vanity there). That's more than $1 million per start; oh yes, he'll be ready to go sometime next month, at his convenience. As for Favre, he is continuing to wear out his welcome in Green Bay. His magic is long gone, never to return, and all he can do is fuss about not getting Randy Moss on his team. He may never retire. He reluctantly agreed to bless the Packers with his presence at an upcoming mini-camp. They expect a free pass because of their seniority and Hall of Fame credentials. It's an easy notion to buy into, that of self-indulgence being justified by one's years of sacrifice or service.

Family Discussions

I know, as a father of 6, that starting discussions on important issues can be difficult.
Here are some key things that I found that may help when having discussions with your children.
As always, I am not "preaching", I am trying to help not only someone who reads this, but myself as well.

With the below "clipped" comments, here are some questions that may help you engage your family and crack open the door to discernment:

• What is it about this form of entertainment that attracts you? Why do you like this particular style/genre/show more than others?
• Why do you listen or watch? (If it’s simply because friends do, ask, “Why do your friends listen to or watch it?”)
• How does this form of entertainment make you feel?
• Do the themes reflect reality? Do they reflect truth? If they reflect reality do they also gloss over evil?
• How do the messages conveyed compare with the values you’ve been taught here at home, or in church?
• Do you think these messages have any effect on how close you feel to your family, friends or God? Why or why not?
• Would you feel comfortable if Jesus sat here listening to or watching this with you? (See Matt. 28:20) Do you think He’d care? What do you think He’d say about this particular entertainment title?
• Does this entertainment have an opinion of God? What is it?
• What would happen if you imitated the lifestyles and choices of the characters in these songs or this program?
• Is there inappropriate entertainment? Where would you draw the line? Where does scripture draw the line? Are they the same?
• How does it make you feel to know that, by purchasing a CD, going to a movie or watching a TV show, etc., you are supporting the morals and ideas that it’s promoting?
• What are the major, minor and subtle messages being conveyed through this entertainment? Do you agree or disagree with them?
• Do you think some people might take the messages literally? What could that lead to?

clipped from www.pluggedinonline.com Be a good listener. listening is not the same as agreeing. It is a demonstration of respect for another person’s feelings and ideas, not an endorsement of them. Carry on a conversation, not an argument. James 1:19 states, “quick to hear and slow to speak,” we need to set the example. Don’t resort to sarcasm. we tend to reap what we sow. When sarcasm comes back at us from our teens, we probably accuse them of being disrespectful. Don’t use silence as a weapon. the absence of a positive message can sometimes be as damaging as the presence of a negative one. Refuse to be patronizing. Deal constructively with anger. Anger can be verbally expressed with respect when it’s aimed at specific behavior or the issue in question. “We need to honor God in our home” will get you further than “Are you blind? Choose battles carefully. As your child moves through and out of the teen years, “rules” should be slowly giving way to “advice.”

What's Up with The Ford Motor Company?

I subscribe to American Family Association's Action Alert Email. They have been keeping me updated on Ford Motor Company's pro-homosexual sponsorship on network television. In a 12-week monitoring project by American Family Association, Ford Motor Company was the top pro-homosexual sponsor on network television. If you would like to see the criteria used during this project click here.

To me it is disturbing when this type of lifestyle is forced on the American Public by always having a homosexual character in every television show and movie.

Neither I nor my family agree with this lifestyle and we do not want this lifestyle shown to our children.

Sports Talk Radio

I enjoy sport talk radio just as much as the next. My favorite lately has been Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio.

It is one thing to talk sports, but it completely another to bash sports figures just for ratings.

I found this article from Brad Locke of OneNewsNow.comwhere Brad talks about how destructive some of this talk can be.