GENDADS

Keeping my word: Short.  This is our new Blog plan.  Short vignettes that illustrate the theme of Generational Fathering.  Two generations of fathers, the elder partnering with the younger busy professional who is passionate about his fathering but is in the prime of his professional life to provide for the family  These will be little stoires to enourage young fathers and older retreads to share the duties and the joys of “fathering to the end,” and “finishing well” in the arena of life that counts more than fame, riches, and low handicaps at the retiree tournament as a proper fulfillment of God’s assignment, never rescineed, to serve Him by being a father.

Matt’s away on a remote job.  Tuesday is for our Rite of Passage kid, Colton.  Morning Bible study.  We could skip; great excuse.  Or “we” the team dads, could carry on. So we did; I did.  It’s not plowing through Samuel watching the complimentary lives of David and Jonathan, that’s so hard.   It’s the Hootenany Pancakes.  Grandpa ain’t so great on that one.  I tried for animal-shaped pancakes; “Com’on Popi, that was when we were kids.”  He grimmaced bravely over his first bites, the rest remained untouched.                                                                                   

Failed Hootenanny’s Means Breakfast Out

So, Colton has a pre-study assignment.  Matt, by phone, told me mine.  We dig in.  Basically, it’s the same expected questions.  It’s the answers that count; Colton’s answers since he’s the man in training.  We came up with this one, the highlight answer of the morning.  I Samuel 20-25.  So what influence did best friends have on each other?  Dedicating their lives to each other.  And it wasn’t just for them, it became a valorous bond that affected the entire Kingdom of Israel.  Even later when they were married and had families, they stuck together.  We know their comradeship carried into their  family lives; their renegade kids like Solomon and Absolom were always challenging their fathers.  “I guess we don’t see it exactly in the Bible, Popi, but you KNOW they had to have some serious discussions, maybe even tears about those kids and probably their many wives, too.” 

['Twer conceive very differently, this Father's Day announcement with the too-cute-by-half  bugling noise.  I got humbled.  My faithful blog mechanizm said it did, but it didn't.  Send you a notice, that is. Two weeks later, working with the email designer, and over my head with other things, I am trying again to send this your way.  WHY (be so bull-headed)?  That's just me.  AND, this is as important an announcement now as it was then.

If you've faithfully tortured your way this far in my whiney intro, you deserve the short version, "TA-Ta--Taaa!" etc. aside.   I took some time to add some old (and new) friends to the subscriber’s list because of the new journey ahead.  If I misjudged your potential interest in following my SHORT Gendads posts as part of writing the book of my head and heart so long delayed, shoot me an "unsubscribe" note at gary@gendads.com. Would love to have you stay onboard with the hope some of you will add examples of generationally significant fathering and maybe even agree to an interview.]  

Two Princeses, Horses, and a Goat

We’re back to the delayed original:  Bugling…might be reveille, the military wake up call. Could be my favorite sound in the wild, a wapiti, a bull Elk announcing his presence and, well, his really serious intentions. Really big announcements come with bugling. All of which brings me to this TA-Ta-TAAAAAaaaa!!

That’s me announcing a pivotal event in my life appropriate to FATHER’S DAY.
You see, I got me an editor. And I got me a request from a well-known publisher, too. Think it’s about time the Generational Fathering myth becomes a book?

GENDADs (.com) is about to become what it was originally intended.  Matt, co-author and soninlaw, had wanted this space to be more bloggy instead of a rare intonation from ancient cowboy-philosopher-poet.

Here’s what you’ll be getting from GenDad’s now.  First is “short.”  Revolutionary, eh?  Still provokative, or maybe just a prodding.  Frequent due to the new function.

While I dig deep and do the hard work of the book, and it should take some considerable time, I’ll be less in touch with my “tribe”. But as I finished talking with Matt on the cell in his travels from Denver, this idea struck me.  Hard.

Talking with Matt, I was walking to the arena with 9-(cum 18)-year-old Brooke to keep a promise to train her in the round pen on her horse, Holly.  Dad, the equine master, has been gone.  I am filling in.  This is the essence of Generational Fathering…”co-fathering,” maybe, “partner-fathering.”   Maybe “complementary fathering” is more apt.  Matt is full-up with Deep Rivers Family Ranch and his therapy practice like most dads this age at the crux of their careers.  Six children complicate things.  Alas, “Popi” rides up on a white stallion, white hat, and a golden heart and a deep desire to build and leave a godly legacy.

So?

So, I will be writing (and Matt commenting) as layers of our tightly wrapped lives unfold into stories illustrating our convictions supporting this bold new dimension of fathering in an increasingly fatherless world.  I can take short vignettes out of our lives to keep the stories fresh here in GenDads.  It’s a good way to demonstrate what “complementary fathering” looks like in the canvas of our lives.  I’ve noted four in my pocket pad since wrote this.  Our hope?  Give you on either side of the father/grandfather role some food for thought.

If I am committed to writing three hours a day (many of you are so glad to hear, at last, “FOCUS!”) I can add a short piece, blog style, every few days.   They’ll be way shorter than this transition statement. I use Hootsuite, so some of you will get a Twitter alert, others Facebook, and a bunch of my Deep Rivers Family Ranch connections in Linked In will be able to peek at the progress of our book and of our lives.

Oh, some of you know about the advanced stage of you-know-what and the chemotherapy routine I’m balancing with a “normal” full life.  It’s a motivator.  It’s about time I multi-task despite my wife’s 48 years of doubt.  Dual primary tasks is a good thing.  Leaving a legacy for multiple generations to follow and concentrating on the book as the premier project of this finish-well leg of the journey means no stinkin chemo is going to thwart God’s assignment.

Thanks, alas, for sticking with this last long blog.  Any comments to encourage or re-direct let me know the admin rework worked.

No, I’m not dying.  Well, yes, I am, but so are you.  I mean my cancer is there, but so am I; healthy, strong, no affects other than the entertaining issues from the femine hormones (prone to hug, spending extra time in Khols, hot flashes).  Still, there is this thing about the path of life.  I, of course, think in terms of “The Trail.’   Many a trail on the back of Toffee (who preceeded me last year into Horse Heaven), many a ride along rich and challenging sections with Matt.  We peel off and head down our own trails, always within shouting distance, always following the Wild Goose, always ready to reign strong and ride hard over to the other’s call.

Along the trail are the cairns (rocks stacked in such a way as to guide the next rider, invaluable when maps, trail markers, and overgrown trails cloud the journey).  We follow some, we leave some.

This is a short post leading to a longer one in my personal blog (this being more a dads and book blog) The Wild Gray Goose.  Before you jump over there ( I recommend you do), I want you to catch a “bottom line” idea.  Saves you all my poetic meanderings.  We ALL need heart–partners.  We need comrades, amigos, saddle mates, partners who will stand beside us for God’s sake and ours.   SEAL Team Six is a TEAM.  And they do their missions in pairs.  I flew with a wingman, never alone in combat.

Life, because of the Fall and subsequent invasions of our lives by the Enemy of Our Souls, is warfare.  We need trusted companions.  The new movie, Act of Valor (active duty SEALs as “actors”), will emboss that on your psyche.  Ephesians 6:12 will take your understand where it ought to go…the battle is in the heavenlies but touches down in our lives sometimes subtly, sometime dramatically.  The battle is not ours, it’s His.  Our heart/life/trail mates are cruicial.

Oh, one note more.  My grandsons (and soon the granddaughters) are being conditioned to the trail ahead and its difficult sections.  Through Matt and I (the team, co-fathering theme again) taking them up to and through a rite of passage; boot camp for those who would ride and fight well…but never alone.  We provide two generations of savvy companionship.  And when I go, Matt and each of them will repeat the cycle; a legacy of preparing for the long ride on life’s trail and the battles and joys thereupon, one cairn followed by another.

And now, you’ll better understand the meaning of my view of the trail in The Wild Gray Goose.

For those being intruded on by hackers, I apologize.  I am hiring a smart blogger to fix the problem.  Please be patient.

FIRST, IT WAS THE LORD’S “STILL, SMALL VOICE”(See comment below).

THEN IT WAS THE DEVIL’S TURN…Or was it?  You probably noticed.  I got hacked.  Messed up my rigid plans for the day.  BUT it got me back into this blog.  I’ve been planning that for over a week.   Or is that spelled, “weak?”  I ‘spect I’m being prodded by the Lord to re-enter the blog world as part of the mission to pick up my book writing.  Been away all summer helping son-in-law start his business. It’s actually a ministry of reaching out to families in chaos by way of equine assisted therapy on Deep Rivers Family Ranch.

At the beginning of the summer I wrote:  SUDDENLY, THE LORD WHISPERED LOUDLY…”Take a break, son.”  He was refering to my time on my blog and social media.  He reminded me He wrote His Book, and now I should write mine.

SO FOR MY VISITORS OVER THE FIRST HALF OF OCTOBER:  This is a perfect place for a static page.  It introduces the book and a bit of our life touched, incredibly, by grace uncommon.  Feel free, however, to leave a comment (tap “comments,” above).]

———————————–

Per the blog header, the focus  of GenDads is pretty clear.  It’s about “generational fathering,” the concept of promoting multiple generations participation in the fathering challenge.  If the goal is “good and godly” children as lights of hope and righteousness in a darkening future, then the father and the father’s father would be a better set of tools to hammer out that sort of legacy.

One thing is obvious.  Like other “obvious” truths, we need reminding: it’s not the quantity (as in two complementing generations) but the quality of both that will assure the quality of the newest and very challenging generation being molded.

See the cute, happy couple? If the photo is 46 years old, does “happy” continue (even if “cute” is long gone)?  It’s a serious question.  The handsome Navy flyboy has wrinkles, white hair, and a protruding belly now.  But it  is the quality of his life–and his  “Happy Couple” marraige–that determines the quality of imprint “Popi” will have on his grandchidren.

This weekend Sunday service forces this issue.  You see, Carolyn (the still “cute” and obviously better half) and I were asked to share our testimony and given the entire message slot.  We would never have guessed (and still are a bit dazed) the overwhelming event that would become.  It was not the 46 years of walking with God together done in 40 minutes, but the entire week it took for us to forge Our Story from memory and pictures.  Tears, smiles, awed silence and shaking our heads in wonder as we reviewed each segment of the journey.

Reviewing our life under the Utterly Gracious Hand of a Loving God has changed us.  Our life forward will be different.  The “Finishing Well” phase of life  (like a race, a poem, a painting, a landscaping project…heck, like anything of worth) depends what’s been invested, hammered, built, tested, sacrificed (etc., etc.,) in early stages.  We were overwhelmed (I mean that; really, we were swept up in the wonder of it) at the amazing and unearned grace of God to have favored us so.  I type through tears even now.

This could be a very long post.  Or it could stop here.  Or maybe I should hit the “pause” tab for now.  I think over the next couple of days, with writing Generational Fathering highest on my priority list, I’ll take time on GenDads to share the highlights of that journey.  WHY?  Back to the “quality” thing in leaving a legacy imprint on my generations to follow. The quality of God’s grace is never in question.  How we appropriated it–that alone a mystery of unmetited grace–is the essence of how my life (amplified by my still-cute better half) will imprint these six grandchildren I so dearly love.

AND YOU?  HOW WILL THE WORK OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE UP ‘TIL NOW IMPACT YOUR LIFE ONWARD..AND THOSE HE GIVES YOU TO LEAD, INCLUDING THE GENERATIONS TO FOLLOW FORWARD?

FIRST, IT WAS THE LORD’S “STILL, SMALL VOICE“(See comment below).

THEN IT WAS THE DEVIL’S TURN…Or was it?  You probably noticed.  I got hacked.  Messed up my rigid plans for the day.  BUT it got me back into this blog.  I’ve been planning that for over a week.   Or is that spelled, “weak?”  I ‘spect I’m being prodded by the Lord to re-enter the blog world as part of the mission to pick up my book writing.  Been away all summer helping son-in-law start his business. It’s actually a ministry of reaching out to families in chaos by way of equine assisted therapy on Deep Rivers Family Ranch.

SUDDENLY, THE LORD WHISPERED LOUDLY…”Take a break, son.”  He was refering to my time on my blog and social media.  He reminded me He wrote His Book, and now I should write mine.

SO FOR MY VISITORS OVER THE FIRST HALF OF OCTOBER:  This is a perfect place for a static page.  It introduces the book and a bit of our life touched, incredibly, by grace uncommon.  Feel free, however, to leave a comment (tap “comments,” above).]

———————————–

Per the blog header, the focus  of GenDads is pretty clear.  It’s about “generational fathering,” the concept of promoting multiple generations participation in the fathering challenge.  If the goal is “good and godly” children as lights of hope and righteousness in a darkening future, then the father and the father’s father would be a better set of tools to hammer out that sort of legacy.

One thing is obvious.  Like other “obvious” truths, we need reminding: it’s not the quantity (as in two complementing generations) but the quality of both that will assure the quality of the newest and very challenging generation being molded.

See the cute, happy couple? If the photo is 46 years old, does “happy” continue (even if “cute” is long gone)?  It’s a serious question.  The handsome Navy flyboy has wrinkles, white hair, and a protruding belly now.  But it  is the quality of his life–and his  “Happy Couple” marraige–that determines the quality of imprint “Popi” will have on his grandchidren.

This weekend Sunday service forces this issue.  You see, Carolyn (the still “cute” and obviously better half) and I were asked to share our testimony and given the entire message slot.  We would never have guessed (and still are a bit dazed) the overwhelming event that would become.  It was not the 46 years of walking with God together done in 40 minutes, but the entire week it took for us to forge Our Story from memory and pictures.  Tears, smiles, awed silence and shaking our heads in wonder as we reviewed each segment of the journey.

Reviewing our life under the Utterly Gracious Hand of a Loving God has changed us.  Our life forward will be different.  The “Finishing Well” phase of life  (like a race, a poem, a painting, a landscaping project…heck, like anything of worth) depends what’s been invested, hammered, built, tested, sacrificed (etc., etc.,) in early stages.  We were overwhelmed (I mean that; really, we were swept up in the wonder of it) at the amazing and unearned grace of God to have favored us so.  I type through tears even now.

This could be a very long post.  Or it could stop here.  Or maybe I should hit the “pause” tab for now.  I think over the next couple of days, with writing Generational Fathering highest on my priority list, I’ll take time on GenDads to share the highlights of that journey.  WHY?  Back to the “quality” thing in leaving a legacy imprint on my generations to follow. The quality of God’s grace is never in question.  How we appropriated it–that alone a mystery of unmetited grace–is the essence of how my life (amplified by my still-cute better half) will imprint these six grandchildren I so dearly love.

AND YOU?  HOW WILL THE WORK OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE UP ’TIL NOW IMPACT YOUR LIFE ONWARD..AND THOSE HE GIVES YOU TO LEAD, INCLUDING THE GENERATIONS TO FOLLOW FORWARD?

Really, REALLY hard to get this post out. For all the right reasons. If I said “tears” or “thumping heart,” would it make sense? It does to me. And if you’ve been reading or take a few moments now to catch up on the last four or so posts, you’ll get it. It’s about Dads and Sons. Period. See, I’m a dad, sometimes “grand,” sometimes not. Now uncommonly humbled as the observer-participant of my oldest grandson’s Year of, then Week of, then Rite of PASSAGE.

I owe you fans who’ve been so encouraging (and demanding) that I post details of the night in the Big Log Lodge. Mostly you want to know what was said to Taylor and what his response was and how he responded to the questions posed in his wilderness quest.

I will. Soon (this is called a “teaser” in the promo business).

THIS IS THE WOMAN-TO-BE WHO SINGS TO GOD, AND EVERY SONG IS AN ORIGINAL.

We boys rediscoverd this the day before the Big Log Lodge nite. Brooke, somewhere between 8 and 16 years of age, had a tea party. Busy dad, distracted grandfather, harried brother all had to attend. It’s all in the power of the sly roll of the eyes, the hands on the hips. Where did she learn that?! Two neighborhood mothers, a few neighbor girls arrived for tea, cocoa, and crumpets of sorts, and they were all dressed up.

Oh, did I tell you we SERVED? Get the picture? Get the drift? Get the future portended?

Cute, but there’s a sobering summary. Dad is her dad, too. She will marry the man who is most like him. How Matt treats her mother and the other girls is the man who sets the standards and the expectations. How “Popi” treats “Nani” fingures in, too. “Comlementary fathering” is our theme. We both play a role. With today’s longevities, I’ll be there to take part in her Country Cotillion or however it is that her mother and father take her across the threshold of being a captivating woman of modesty, purity, grace, and maturity in Christ.

So, men, this is the sidetrack with purpose. As fathers we model manhood to our girls. If you see that ideal man you may already be praying for as gentle, humble, wise, serving, and mature in the Lord, you’d better be living that model before her…NOW.

THEY DO WHAT THEY SEE: Are you modeling strenth, humility and godliness for her future husband?

If you missed yesterday’s post sending Taylor off into his solo wilderness quest, go back an catch it.  It’s short.  Sets the stage.

WHAT A SYMBOL ! BOY STRUGGLES TO EMERGE AS A MAN.  IT’S A THING OF BEAUTY.  WELCOME TO THE SUNSHINE OF GROWING AS A MAN OF GOD’S CREATION, TAYLOR.

He’s due back in a couple of hours.  With Dad who (unbeknown to “T”) rode his horse in about a mile away for his own quest…and a watchful eye via hunting binoculars.  The four sibling covered their eldest brother in prayer at bedtime.  Now are quite anxious for his return.  As it should be, a young man emerging from childhood, has been made a big deal.  Oh, and TODAY IS TAYLOR’S 13TH  BIRTHDAY.

Last night, through the night, and refReshed all morning long is my PEB prayer. You’ll have to buy the book that will someday be finished to get the entirety of prayers for your family. Let’s just say the “Protection” prayer was prominent. Bears are coming out of hibernation in these here parts. The point of the quest was the “Enablement”. Matt is practicing Proverbs 22:6 in pointing him in the direction God created him for. The “Blessing” is reigning as we reflect on Taylor’s growth this year.

There, that’s your sermon for the day. Now, how would YOU answer the questions we posed for him to work out overnight?
WHAT IS MY CALLING—What did God design me for? What are my strengths, my special abilities, my life desires?
WHAT IS MY PURPOSE IN LIFE? What do I want to be remembered for?
WHAT DO I NEED TO BE A COMPETENT MAN
WHAT DO I NEED TO BE A TRUE MAN OF GOD—are there issues, problems, struggles, sin, to deal with? Are there gifts and interests that need to be developed? What and who can help me develop these best?
WHO IS JESUS CHRIST TO ME TODAY, REALLY?
IN FOUR SENTENCES OR LESS, WHO IS TAYLOR PETTIT?
IN FOUR SENTENCES OR LESS, WHO WOULD TAYLOR PETTIT LIKE TO BE IN THE YEAR 2031,
IN FOUR SENTENCES OR LESS, MY IDEAL LIFE IN 2031 WILL LOOK THIS

[noto bono: Legacy Dad is a companion blog to GenDads which three of us author. Per previous post we thought it was time to actually meet. That event authenticated the very chapter I was writing for Generational Fathering . Fathering is not the trail and error solo parenting venture we have made into the default standard. It's a team sport, and victory is a long way down the trail. Best we NOT do this alone. Fathering is NOT a game. Too much at stake for the lives of our legacy, our children and grandchildren. Here is a Legacy Dad post after the bonding weekend]

WHAT BETTER THAN THREE HORSES, THREE CIGARS, AND THREE DAD DUDES PASSIONATE OVER THEIR LEGACY.
What an immense pleasure to actually meet up with and embrace my two partners of Legacy Dad. There is an uplifting irony in this. For all the questionable dynamics of the two-dimensional world as seen through the eyes of pre-Internet generations, our blog, Tweets, and FB did a very old fashioned thing; it brought us together. Three lives across a wide spectrum of age, geography, and professions would not have otherwise met. My life would be slightly less rich if we’d not made the original cyber connection. And, it would be a lot less rich if we’d not met on the beach cottage in SoCal.

I think our meeting breathes something important into the lives of fathers today; our own and our dad pals on GenDad and Legacy Dad. Fathering is best done NOT alone. It’s a team sport. Since it’s not about us but about our children, our legacy, pulling out all the stops is the right approach. That includes connecting with other dads. Not so much for the “How To’s” but for the encouragement, for the discussion of bedrock principles, for just not feeling alone and overwhelmed by marriage, work, and parenting.

I’m a grandfather, so my take-away is different. I see the value of elder fathers imprint on current child-raisers. That’s where Generational Fathering (my book in progress) is going. Then there is value of seeing and feeling the joys and conflicts of fully engaged young dads. Refreshing and instructional; I’ve gained insights I can pass along to my own and other young fathers who seek me out.

DAD, MOM(including single’s looking for a dad for their children) ARE YOU WILLING TO SEEK OUT A FATHERING CONNECTION TO MAKE THESE SHORT AND PRECARIOUS PARENTING YEARS GO BETTER?

Intrigued you, didn’t it, that title?  I wrote a Legacy Dad post this morning which had  its roots in the chapter of Generational Fathering I am currently writing (at www.generationalfathering.com if you are curious).  We’re meeting for the weekend at the beach cottages of Camp Pendleton (Yes, Marines do go to the beach without combat gear).  Thought you’d like to read and ponder the “why”.  I’ll keep you, as they say in the blogosphere, “posted.”
-=-=-=-=-
[This morning at www.legacydad.com]
Did you know Legacy Dad is actually Legacy DadS? Lance started us out; he’s the main man. But there’s Dante and Gary. Our profiles span the imagination. One’s a professional warrior of the serious kind. Another is a commodities trader or something. The other is a retired cowboy. Really. Two fathers and a grandfather. Oregon, California, Illinois. We don’t sport “diversity” bumper stickers; we ARE diversity.

We’re inviting you to peek in on our special occasion. After nearly a year of electronic connectivity, we decided to meet; the flesh and blood kind of meeting where a cigar and a beer and runs on the beach and a couple hours on horseback are our medium. We’re not abandoning the two-dimensional cyberworld, we’re just setting it aside to make our connection more real. We are having a bonding weekend as you read this; we’re meeting to celebrate what we have in common. And there is one bonus issue worth telling you about.

In common is fathering–actually a passion for good and godly fathering. Also that we are serious followers of Christ who makes more indellible our impact in our family and professional lives. And that we value the opportunity to share our experiences, insights, and our hearts with guys (a few gals, too) like you. We sincerely hope you find our thoughts worth processing and applying in your real lives.

The bonus thing is that we are modeling a concept we want you to take seriously. Will you give it some thought? Maybe feed back to us. I’ll call it “companion fathering.” In fact, this very day I was writing the section of my book that talks about it. I’ll spare you chapter four for now. Try this: We dads, especially the younger and newer ones, are immersed to our detriment in the “I can do it myself” syndrome of the independent wild west traditions of America. Good for some things, but not parenting. Grandfather no longer llives in the tent door or the farm just down the road. Where’s the passalong? How does experience–good, bad–get written into the overwhelming task of raising good and godly children when everything, it seesm, is against it. When did heritage and legacy get dropped from family matrix?

True, our fathers may not be nearby, alive, or care all that much. And some dads and inlaw dads would be best left out of the picture, frankly. But by father’s intentionally connecting with other fathers, both peers and “ancient relics” of another generation to learn, encourage, advise, whole new dimensions open up. Where the salty tang of early generational cultures is missing, uncles, in-laws, elders from church, a grandfather just down the street can make the mix of cross-pollination a way more rich life brew.

Yes, the blogosphere can be a big help in working out our legacy, but there is no substitute for abrasos and late-night sessions to add hope, even excitement, to the challenges of building a legacy that will be lived out in our children who will inherit a far darker, more confused, and less happy world than we were handed.

Well, that’s the idea. We’ll tell you how it came out. This here old coot is eager to saddle up. My fathering ain’t done yet; it is an assignment from On High that is never rescinded. Best I make the most of it. Oh, and I’m not alone, either. I, too, am fathered by God.

Post number two on praying for the children of your heart, of your legacy.  Poke back to the last post. I just did, and I like it.  Again.  It’s short.  Sets the tone. Pray for the sons and daughters of your life passionately, often, specifically. AND pray for yourself as the model they see.  They do what they see, you know.

In my hotshot Navy flying days, the “gouge” (yes, it’s spelled right–”gowj”–a Navy insider term) would be whatever the acronym or the phrase or the ditty that was a mental hook used to shortcut to some pretty complex procedures. We even called the crib sheet for our endless book tests, “the gouge”. Ready for the prayer gouge my wife and I use daily for our children and grandchildren?

“P. E. B.” Nail that to the wall of your busy brain. The gouge becomes the routine you don’t even have to think about. Just do it. F.G.T: “flaps, gear, throttle.” Here’s the gouge for praying dads and granddads. Life gets a little busy, distracting. Still, you just gotta do it. FGT. Once, too much going on in the pattern, and didn’t do the gouge. Forgot the “G.” Big woops. Fortunately it was a private plane. No taxpayer dollars were harmed in the making of this life lesson. USE THE GOUGE.

Protection. “Oh, Father, these are dangerous days. Protect (name each one) from physical harm, from the damage the world, their friends, and themselves can bring to their spirits. Protect them from the enemy of their souls who would devour them as a roaring lion.”

Enablement. “Matt and Cari–me, too, Lord–need special grace, patience, insight to ‘raise them up in the way they should go.’ Enable us all to be worthy of being your first choice in shaping their lives to follow you.”

Blessing. “Like your friend, Jabez, dear Father, I ask you bathe (name each) with your blessing. Enlarge the territory of their influence that they will bless others in Your Name, and cause them neither to be harmed nor to harm that the world will be pleased with You through them.”

There it is:  P.E.B. The whole of Psalms 37 is a perfect devotional to reinforce the protection, enablement, and blessing assured to those who follow after God.

AMEN. SELAH. SO BE IT. HALLELUJAH.