Category Archives: Parenting

Posted on

Piercing the veil to our hearts

I love to read, but so often, I read and read and read but nothing sinks in, nothing stills my heart, nothing pierces soul.  Last night these words pierced my veil.  If only I was willing to allow God to tear down my veil how free, how joy filled, how wonderful marriage, friendship, fatherhood CAN be if we allow Him in….if we allow our wife and our closest friend(s) in to see our true heart and soul.
“What but the presence of a veil in our hearts? a veil not taken away as the first veil was, but which remains there still shutting out the light and hiding the face of God from us. It is the veil of our fleshly fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated. It is the close-woven veil of the self-life which we have never truly acknowledged, of which we have been secretly ashamed, and which for these reasons we have never brought to the judgment of the cross. It is not too mysterious, this opaque veil, nor is it hard to identify. We have but to look in our own hearts and we shall see it there, sewn and patched and repaired it may be, but there nevertheless, an enemy to our lives and an effective block to our spiritual progress.

Self is the opaque veil that hides the Face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction…There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Saviour passed when He suffered…

Let us remember: when we talk of the rending of the veil we are speaking in a figure, and the thought of it is poetical, almost pleasant; but in actuality there is nothing pleasant about it. In human experience that veil is made of living spiritual tissue; it is composed of the sentient, quivering stuff of which our whole beings consist, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed. To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and death no death at all. It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free. Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life in hope ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified.

There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the Presence of the living God.

Lord, how excellent are Thy ways, and how devious and dark are the ways of man. Show us how to die, that we may rise again to newness of life. Rend the veil of our self-life from the top down as Thou didst rend the veil of the Temple. We would draw near in full assurance of faith.”–Pursuit of God by Tozer

Posted on

How David Beats Goliah: HARD Work, Listening, & Great Coaching

I have thoroughly enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell’s writing.  I recommend all 3 of his books: Tipping Point, Blink, & Outliers.  He also has a website which contains much of his articles/writing.  I found this very interesting and, at times, inspiring article about Basketball, hard work, coaching, and life.

Let us know your thoughts.

Posted on

Brown Widow Spiders

Who knew? We found a brown widow spider on the outside of our garage door AND we found one at our kids school!  So they are definitely out and about.  Be aware that when your kids are ‘hunting’ the huge orb spiders that come out in October every year that they could run into one of these.  Has anyone else seen these? brown-widow(link to article from Emegency Medicine Journal)

Posted on

Age old wisdom from Junior Guards

At the end of summer Junior Guards Banquet, the Junior Guard Instructors picked a boy and girl that they felt exemplified being a Junior Guard.  EVERY single one of the instructors said 1 of 3 things about each of these boys and girls.  These boys and girls showed 1 of 3 things that made them stand out among their peers:

  1. They were ENTHUSIASTIC.
  2. They were ALWAYS SMILING.
  3. They ALWAYS said THANK YOU.

Too simple? No. That is ALL it takes!

Posted on

What I wish I learned in the 6th grade

I had the pleasure of teaching my son’s entire 6th grade class.  I have volunteered to teach every year on medical topics.  This year I taught on the scientific method, logical argumentation, inference, metaphysics, and a few pearls of wisdom. Click on the yellow tab at the bottom of this post to listen to the teaching time and the GREAT questions that the kids asked.

Please share your thoughts.

Posted on

Mother’s Day Advice on Parenting

Uberlumen has been lacking parenting content.  This is a lecture from a panel of mom’s on mother’s day.  They have incredible wisdom and insights into parenting.  Here are a few points:

  • Thankfulness is the password into God’s presence
  • Our family of origin has SO MUCH influence on who we become
  • Christ can heal our family of origin wounds
  • Our marriages shape our children’s character

Please share with us your thoughts and learnings after you listen to these amazing women share their lives and parenting wisdom.

Posted on

Best Kids Games: Ticket to Ride

The game of the trip this year was: Ticket to Ride!  I have listed some of the GREAT kids games and it is one of them, but this year we learned Ticket to Ride and my 12 year old and 6 year old LOVE it.  In fact, there is a Ticket to Ride European version that has some tweaks to it that make it just as fun as the original.  This is a great family, thinking, strategy game for kids 8 and up.

Posted on

House of Speed Grand Opening

The Grand Opening for House of Speed in Orange County is this Sunday, Dec. 7 from 2-4 at Mariners Christian school.   Kids can watch if they don’t want to participate.  Don Beebe the founder and ex pro football player will be there.  He is a great speaker and person.  Please tell anyone you know that you think might have an interest in this to attend Sunday.  Have them register at website houseofspeed.com

any questions?? email Denny:denny.spruce@houseofspeed.com

Mariners christian School is at:

300 Fischer Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Telephone 714.437.1700

Posted on

Men’s Topic #8: Superhero’s

I had an ‘aha’ moment several weeks ago.  Most of the successful men that I know are superheros.  Yes men of steel.  These men are able to detach in a moment’s notice, disengage from wives and family, and ‘puff up’ and plow through any situation.

These men come from wounded back grounds.  Family of origin nightmares.  A distant father and an overbearing mother.  At least one of their parents is inevitably an alcoholic or worse.  At a VERY early age these men hide behind perfection.  When the drunk mom and the distant dad become too much, they amp up and shut off ANY emotions from the outside world and OVER achieve, over and over again.

Over and over again, I hear the same story–abandoned by dad and living with a crazy mom who must spend all her energy raising the prodigal younger brother so the eldest son emerges to save the day: captain of the football, track, AND wrestling team….and did I mention validictorian?  abandoned by a distant dad and living with a drunk mom too spent to supervise the youngest and last kid in the house so this son rises up to MVP of the water polo team, etc.  SAME story different details!

When these men grow up it is no surprise that they live Thoreau’s ‘quiet lives of desperation’ sealed off from any emotions from any chance of intimacy and deep meaningful relationships.

I was amazed by listening to the author of “The Shack” (a MUST read) who described himselft as just such a man hiding his baggage-his “shack”, as he called it, behind him while he hid his true brokenness from the world by perfectionism.

Please enjoy this presentation regarding so many men’s hidden secret: They are superhero’s.

Posted on

MARRIAGE TIPS & RESOURCES

Marriage is hard work, but it is worth the effort.

If you are having a hard time with your marriage:

1. Don’t give up! Studies show that divorce can be truly devastating to you, your spouse, and especially your kids.1 2

2. Get professional help!  Don’t try and work through your issues on

your own. Read these books, go to marriage retreats, and get into

consistent marriage counseling.

3. Set down healthy patterns! Find or read about good patterns and then follow them.

 

RESOURCES:

MARRIAGE TOP 10 ‘TIPS’

 

BOOKS TO READ:

1. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

2. His Needs, Her Needs by Willard F. Hartley

3. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John M. Gottman

4. Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires,The Respect He Desperately Needsby Emerson Eggerichs

5. Night Light: A Devotional for Couples by the Dobson’s

 

As always, PLEASE share with us your insights and comments below.

Posted on

House of Speed Training for our kids

A Christian brother of mine that lives in my neighborhood has started a new adventure.  He was my youngest son’s AYSO soccer coach so I know that he is truly AMAZING with kids.  I hope and pray that his new adventure continues to grow and prosper.  Here is an email about what House of Speed is all about and the layout of each training session.  Questions? Call Denny!  Denny Spruce at 949.706.7035-office or 949.500.0015-cell or denny.spruce@houseofspeed.com

Here is the flow of each session:

  • Character Discussion- This includes scripture, references, and/or discussions about what it is and how it looks.
  • Dynamic Range of Motion (DROM)- These exercises not only get the kids warmed up safely, they also train the muscles to get into the proper position for optimal speed, agility, and explosiveness. 
  • Skip Drills- These exercises emphasize getting the right body parts in the right positions and applying force to through those positions.  They need the muscle memory to make this happen with each step and without thinking.
  • Work-out Drills- These routines are used to train and develop specific muscles and movements.  This may include ladder drills to core strengthening to resistance training.
  • Play- Just what it sounds like, but they getting to use what they learn.
  • Prayer- Closing prayer

We videotaped the group running during the first session and we will video new members each week.  In the next week or so we will video everyone again.  We will then show them elite athletes, their first run, and their second run and give feedback.

Also in the next week or so we will start to time them in certain drills and runs.  These times will be posted on the My Speed section of the House of Speed website which you will have access to.  They will be able to chart their progress and be able to compare themselves to other HOS athletes of the same age, gender, etc.  They will also be able to see the national HOS records.  They are pretty impressive. 

Here is a complete summary that should field any other questions:  House of Speed

Enjoy this brief interview with Denny, and as always please leave your comments!


Posted on

Vital Signs of Healing: VALUE-Are You Enough? Lecture

Please enjoy a brief lecture on the Vital Signs of Healing: VALUE asking the age old question are you enough?

There are 4 books that I mention during this lecture:

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen

The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman

The Bible

Posted on

Vital Signs of Healing: VALUE-Are You Enough? Q&A

This is the GREAT discussion time that we had concerning VALUE.  Join us! Share with us YOUR answers and please leave us a comment below.

The Vital Signs of Healing: VALUE handout: vital signs of healing: value

Here is a brief list of YOUR answers to this VITAL question:

What are some ways that we can show our patients that we think that they have value or that we think that they are ‘enough’?

  • put yourself at their level
  • eye contact
  • show kindness and help out even when it is not your patient
  • do a little extra if you see a need
  • getting to know them beyond their chief complaint
  • communicate consistency between the doctor and the nurse
  • not about you
PLEASE share with us YOUR answers by posting a comment below. THANKS for joining us!
Posted on

Vital Signs of Healing: VALUE-Are You Enough? Introduction

Enjoy this brief audio introduction to the curriculum entitled: Vital Signs of Healing.  There are 4 physical vital signs and 4 Vital Signs of Healing: Love, Value, Virtue, and Healing.  This is an introduction to a lecture about the Vital Sign: VALUE.  We had this picture up on the screen for part of our discussions:

Who do YOU most relate to in this picture? And why? Please leave us your insights by adding a comment below.

Posted on

Small Group WISDOM from Mark

Enjoy this WONDERFUL interview with Mark regarding how to lead a small group of teenagers.  In this short interview Mark points out some KEY points:

  1. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!  Mark made it clear to his high schoolers that they were NEVER ALONE! Probably the most important point for a teenager to absorb into their souls.
  2. I WILL BE THERE FOR YOU NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY or DO!  As parents our kids especially our teenagers HAVE TO know that we love them no matter what happens, no matter what their choices.
Posted on

Appropriate movies for tweeners: 11-13 year old kids

As I have mentioned in the past, I continue to struggle to solve the tension between my 11 year old son’s desire to watch all PG 13 movies that his friends get to watch and my concerns about his exposure to unhealthy material.  I have yet to find a reliable list or review source to give me a clear thumbs up or down on movies appropriate for tweeners: 11 to 13 year olds.

The best 2 resources are: plugged in and rotten tomatoes but they still are not always accurate or clear in their recommendations.

Plugged In

Rotten Tomatoes

Kids-in-mind

Anyone have a reliable list or recommendations for good tweener movies?

Posted on

Movie Review: Penelope

A movie with a great message: 1 Samuel 16:7 

Penelope’s mom and society at large look at her pig nose and find her wanting.  Her mom continues to tell her that she is not her nose, but by her actions, shows Penelope that her looks are very important.   The culmunating moment in the movie is when pig nosed Penelope realizes that she likes herself just the way she is despite her mom’s constant emphasis that her outward looks are not a part of her and can be ‘fixed’, and when her pig nose gets ‘fixed’ life will finally be good.

The inward/heart is what is important and we as parents must continue to show our unconditional love and the importance of the heart and not the outward appearance.

Probably a good movie for teens and tweeners.  Does have a scary witch in the beginning casting a curse and a women committing suicide because she feels unloved (brief scene that sets up reason why Penelope has a pig nose-due to a curse).