Les Miserables

Last night, Leanne and I celebrated our 12th anniversary by seeing Les Miserables at the Walnut Street Theater. We were not disappointed. The WST put on an unbelievable production of the musical which is based on the novel by Victor Hugo.

I was reminded again of the mercy and grace that is there for us. For those of you who aren’t familiar, the story is about a thief, Jean Valjean, who is granted mercy by a bishop. The rest of his life is spent trying to repay his debt of mercy to those around him while at the same time running from Javert, the police inspector. In the end, Jean Valjean is able to grant mercy to Javert. It really is a remarkable story and an incredible musical. (It’s in Philly until August 3rd – if you’re interested.)

Here’s a small glimpse of the funny side that happens in the middle of this wonderful story:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFPsEwV38Q0&hl=en&fs=1]Until the next post, I’ll be singing Les Mis songs to myself…

Painting with a Purpose

Today, I am finishing up the final touches on Isaac’s new spy room. I started the project last weekend, and I’m finally finishing it today after a busy week of work and Kids Camp. Painting Isaac’s room was the reward that followed a two week challenge to conquer one of his fears. Isaac has been afraid of going to bed. While this may seem fairly typical for most boys his age, we had reasons to be concerned based on various factors which I won’t go into now. At any rate, we spoke with a good friend of ours (Mohab Hanna) who is a child psychiatrist, and he recommended that we try to reward Isaac for overcoming his fears.

I’ll be honest, I had my questions as to whether or not this would work. Isaac had been coming out of his room almost nightly for the past several months – concerned that the doors were locked, that we were still awake, that Iso was okay, etc. I just wasn’t sure that this would work. We started it off by rewarding him with a play date with one of his buddies for passing the first two nights. After this, we waited a whole two weeks to award the paint project. Remarkably, he made it!

It’s been more than a week since the challenge finished, and Isaac has been doing a great job! We’re really proud that he is facing and overcoming his fears. Now it’s Hannah’s turn. Obviously, she would like her room painted also, so here’s her challenge. She has to go without biting her fingernails for three weeks, and I’ll be at it again.

The painting can be a lot of work, but it’s worth it to see the kids overcoming big challenges in their own lives.

Until the next post, I’ll be removing painter’s tape from the walls and paint from my hands…

Kids Camp Big Top

Stretch – Full Circle Highlight Video

I feel like I’ve been pretty busy lately… oh, I have been. Well, here’s a highlight video from last week’s Stretch event that I was talking about. I think it provides a pretty good glimpse as to why you didn’t want to miss this event as a student or volunteer.

Until the next post…

2nd Chances

If you needed another example to show that God is the God of second chances, you should have been watching Monday night’s All-Star game Home Run Derby at Yankees Stadium. The last batter of the first round was Texas Rangers RBI leader Josh Hamilton. Josh has an interesting story to tell. He appeared to have it all going when he was drafted number one by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays a few years ago. With a number one draft choice usually comes a nice contract and signing bonus. Well, Josh quickly disappeared from the baseball seen when his addictions to alcohol, heroine, and other drugs took over. He literally was gone from baseball for three years. Typically, this would spell the end to any one’s professional sports career. Interestingly enough, it didn’t mean the end for Josh. Somewhere along the road, he connected with God. He found accountability, and he cleaned up his life. And Monday night, Josh was the star of the Home Run Derby after he nailed 28 home runs in the first round.

Now, I’m not saying that God’s going to turn you into a star baseball player if you follow Him. However, I’m convinced that there is nothing you could ever do that would make God love you less. If you’re far from Him, He’s still there for you.

Stretch – Night One Reflection

Last night was the first night of Stretch, and it was incredible! I truly had a blast interacting with the 200+ middle school students who came to the first night, the large number of volunteers that helped pull this thing off, and the parents who arrived to pick up their students. I also enjoyed participating in the games along with the kids – especially on the hoops court. One game station that I didn’t try yet is what I like to call the Puke Machine II (see my previous post from last year) – I think it might be called the tumbler. The challenge is out there…. If Jeff Whitebread can get Bob Lewis and Sean Healy to go on it, then I’ll go on it with them and Jeff.

At any rate, I especially enjoyed the chance to sit in on most of the program that took place in the middle of the night. It kicked off with Chosen, a great hip hop team. And it ended with a great message by Travis Crim. Travis Crim used Psalm 139 to talk about how God knows everything about us. Here’s the passage he used:

1 You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

I’m excited (while exhausted) to see how things will go tonight.

Until the next post, I’ll be stretching some more…

Stretch – Full Circle

Here’s how the description reads on our church’s website:

Until the next post, I’ll be stretching…

Dutch Oven Cooking

While we were on vacation to Wisconsin, I utilized my new found dutch oven cooking skills. My family was pretty impressed especially considering my specialties when I left the house in my early twenties were microwave hot dogs and macaroni and cheese from a box.

It really was a blast to cook for my family. One evening, I cooked white chicken chili and cornbread. And for one of our breakfasts, I cooked breakfast sausage souffle and sticky buns. Finally, our last night at the camp ground, I managed to stack the dutch ovens three high to cook three delicious pizzas. Here are some pictures to show off the final products.

Until the next post, I’ll be thinking about what to cook next in my dutch ovens…

Stretched and Stretching – Looking Back and Looking Forward

One year ago today, I started this blog. So far it’s been quite a ride. Here’s how it started 184 posts ago…

Well, this is the start of it all… I’ve been contemplating doing the blog thing for some time. You might be wondering where the “Stretched” thing comes from. For starters, when I was in high school at Rancocas Valley Regional High School, I was short – 5’6″ to start my junior year. Since then, I’ve grown to almost 6’6″. Many of my friends started calling me Stretch. On a more recent basis, I often feel “stretched” by all the things going on around me – career, marriage, parenting, church, running, reading, friendships, extended family, relationship with God, etc. (in no particular order). My hope is that this blog will provide an opportunity to express some of my “stretch marks” and to possibly hear your thoughts as well. So here we go….

When I look back at all the posts and comments since the start, I believe the blog has served this purpose. Here are some of the highlights: vacation to DC, Supernanny parenting group, Kids Camp and Stretch 2008, the Perelman building, several movies, Elizabeth’s adoption, vacation to Dallas, blog spotlights, book reviews, vacation to Wisconsin, and personal wrestlings.

From my tallies, I’ve had nearly 3600 visits to the blog from 34 countries and from 47 states in the United States. It’s all pretty amazing.

So where do I go from here? Great question. I think it just continues. I’m quite confident that I will continue to be stretched in the coming year. So get ready, I’m sure I’ll have more stretch marks to share.

Until the next post, I’ll be stretching…

Sonic