Growin' Up Gregory

Recently, the 1964 movie, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, has faced criticism for promoting bullying, talking down from parents, and being unfriendly.  Here are my thoughts on that...and more. 1.  This movie is a Christmas classic.  If you like it, good.  If you don't fine.  It's a over 50 years old and if it offends you, it's not the problem, your perspective (or overly sensitive feelings) are.  To add to this, if you're offended just now by something that has been around for 50 - 100 years, someone has gotten in your head.  That object hasn't just changed to become offensive. 2.  Why are you focusing on Rudolph being picked on for having a different nose?  Guess what, kids are mean, and adults can be meaner.  Why aren't we focusing on Rudolph shrugging off the criticism of his peers, ignoring the negative talk from his coach, and not letting the discipline of his parents (more on that next) turn him into a victim?  He was an o...

How's your faith?  I'm willing to bet that if most of us are truly honest, our faith is often times "iffy" at best.  We make statements like: -  God, if you'll give me a child, I promise I'll dedicate him/her to you. -  God, if you give me good job or a raise, I'll be more generous with my giving. -  God, if you give me a prominent position, I'll talk about you more with people. And while we've all probably made "deals" like these with God before, they are not how our faith should operate.  God listens, but He doesn't negotiate.  I believe that He hears our prayers and that He is compassionate to our concerns and our hearts, but I also know that ultimately His will will be done. Rather than having if, or iffy, faith, perhaps we should focus on having EVEN IF faith: -  Will you trust God EVEN IF your child becomes deathly ill, develops some severe condition, or worse dies?  Will you still trust His purposes for that child in y...

I have made many mistakes in my life.  I have gotten a lot of things wrong, missed opportunities, missed chances, made bad choices, and done harmful and hurtful things.  But tonight, I saw fruit of at least something I'm getting right in this life. Each night, when I take Thomas to bed, we read a short Bible story and then after lights out we say our prayers.  I usually say the "first one" where I pray a typical adult prayer thanking God for what He's given us and asking Him to be with those we love.  And then Thomas will finish it up by saying his "second one" which will have a familiar ring to many: "Now I lay me down to sleep.  I pray the Lord my soul to keep.  If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." But tonight he told me that he had a different one.  I'm slightly fearful at this point given his mouth sometimes but at least no one in public will hear it lol.  He then proceeds to talk to God.  Let that...

My children (and my wife but this is about the kids) mean more to me than anyone else on this planet.  For many of us, children are our greatest investment, our greatest accomplishment, our greatest challenge, and our greatest hope for the future.  But sadly not all parents feel that way. SCENARIO #1 If I took my 3 year old son to NASCAR Driving Experience and snuck him without the officials there knowing, without paying his fee, and without registering him and put him a car driving in excess of 100 MPH and had a wreck injuring or killing him, who would you blame?  Would it be the officials fault who had warned of the dangers of bringing someone so small along, who had no knowledge or documentation that he was even there?  No.  It would be my fault because I was the one who put my child in a dangerous situation.   Ultimately, a child's safety falls on their parents or guardians.  My wife and I asked others and did our research about daycares...

How many of us who either have, or have raised, small children, remember those early morning walks through the house.  The sun hasn't risen yet and there are still no lights on.  You're tip-toeing through the house because you want to enjoy a few minutes of silence and hopefully a cup of coffee before your tornado of a toddler wakes up.  Then as you round the corner to enter the kitchen it happens - you step on something that feels at the time like broken glass on top of hot coals with jagged metal stuck in there somehow as well.  In all reality it's probably a leggo or some other small toy, but man that hurts! I think that happens to us in real life as well.  Even when we are in the safety of God's will, trusting His guidance, following His path, just like walking through the general safety of our own homes - sometimes we step on a stone.  Perhaps there is a trial that we didn't see coming, or we didn't want to face.  Sometimes we are reluctant to a...

To my Son and Daughter , I can make you go to school, But I can't make you get an education. I can make you go to practice, But I can't make you an all-star. I can make you go to church, But I can't make you go to heaven. I can teach you how to be an adult, But I can't make you a real man/woman. You see, I can do my best to teach you everything I know, to show you everything you will need to know, and to give you all the opportunity you will ever need to be successful. But there comes a point as you get older that you have to begin use the things your Mother and I give you. You have to choose to study, choose to work hard, choose to accept Christ, choose to mature. We made you a human being, You must choose to become the individual God has called you to be. (1 Corinthians 7:17)

As many of you know, I work in banking.  Not investment banking, I primarily deal with various loan types to individuals and businesses.  But I do have a pretty solid understanding of interest rates, markets, and long and short term costs and returns.  That being said, my expertise in the area of investing consists of checking my quarterly 401k statement to make sure that it has more money now than it did three months ago.  If you want investment advice, I can give you some names of people I trust and are knowledgeable, just not mine. A month or so ago the cryptocurrency market was going wild.  Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies were all the rage, and there are some people who made tons of money on it...assuming they sold at the right time.  And there are others who will stubbornly ride out this most recent drop off in order to be able to tell all their friends they were "geniuses" for holding on to the crypto investment. But this post isn't abo...

In Acts 16, when Paul and Silas were wrongfully imprisoned they began praying and singing hymns while in prison.  Then an earthquake shook the prison so that all the doors came open and the shackles came off the prisoners.  This was the perfect opportunity for them to escape.  But they remained along with all the other prisoners.  This had such an impact on the prison guard that he asked the men, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  Their answer is the simplest, yet most important foundation to coming to salvation.  They told the guard, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."  That was it.  There was no understanding of creation, comprehension of the Trinity, divinity training, or theology required for salvation.  The ONLY requirement was and is to place your faith and hope in Jesus Christ. If you are saved, you likely remember the feeling of peace in your life that came in those moments.  And you un...

Tonight, after a long, busy, hectic week, we all went to bed out of routine and a little later than normal.  Britt put Aubree down and Thomas was watching a cartoon until it went off.  Then he joined me in the recliner while I was watching some crime show.  That's when something special happened. I put Thomas to bed each night and we lay down and fall asleep together.  But tonight, for the first time in I don't know how long, he fell asleep laying in my arms.  I wasn't sure if he was totally out or not until I got up because he just went to sleep so calmly, so relaxed, and so peaceful.  As I made my way to bed, my mind was flooded with thoughts. I began to wonder, when was the last time I took a nap in my parents' arms?  Did either of us know that would be the last time?  How happy were each of us in that moment?  What would we have done differently if we knew?  As parents, we yearn to see our children grow up, be successful, be happy...