Random thoughts thread

[Stokdgs]

I`m tired of forcing my nine-year-old son to go to church every Sunday morning. He strongly dislikes going, but my wife insists on it. She attends but I don`t.

He has been professionally diagnosed and is a poster child for ADHD. I agree with forcing him to go to school five days a week, but I`m about to go to war with my wife and extended family over forcing my son to attend every Sunday.

If my son attends church, I want it to be because he wants to.

I`m literally surrounded by Southern Baptists.

Mi Hermano Jaddie !

Happy New Year to you and yours !!

I read your post a few times, and I feel that it would be really challenging to have any 8-9 year-old child to sit quietly and reverently, for the usual 1-hour Church Service anyway.. They are just too "wiggly" at times..

What we did with our 2 daughters and what I have seen all Parents in my Church do, is bring lots of things that are "quiet" for the little ones to play with during that hour, and that seems to help a lot.

And if the child gets too antsy, then it is time to take him/her out of the Service and walk around awhile, do something to burn the energy down a bit, get a drink, go to the bathroom, and make it more of a let`s take a break time, than making the child feel bad for just "being a child in Church"...

What will eventually rub off on your Son will be the most important things that you will be amazed at hearing from him when he grows up and remembers his childhood - to me, that is way, way, more important than all the Church that is well intended but forced on children..

And, you and your family could perhaps take a day a week and have a little family home evening together, where everyone participates, and there might be a little song, ( I still remember singing "Jesus Loves Me"), a little lesson from you or your Sweetheart, about a story from the Bible or a Sunday School Class Teaching Manual, put in your own words, tailored to the attention span, etc..

That alone would work in ways that you will be so surprised to hear much, much, later, when they are all grown up, and you guys are sitting together, and they start to remember and tell you about those wonderful, beautiful, oftentimes spiritual, moments together..

There will be a time, I believe, when your boy will be all past that stage and he will be so glad that you did what you did to help him get to know about God and His Son, Jesus the Christ, Jaddie !

You and your Sweetheart just need to as I like to say, "Invite all your children, all the family, to come to the table", and go gently, lovingly, and with much love and patience, forward at whatever the pace will be..

It is not supposed to be a race, it is supposed to be a lifelong-eternal-progression-forward on that road to back where we came from....

I think often, about how our Father in Heaven has to work with the big imperfect, ME !!! He must be very, very, frustrated at times.. But He never, ever, gives up on Me, as He never, ever, gives up on ALL Humankind...

There is a famous picture of our Savior, standing at a door knocking on it, remember that picture ?
The Scripture reference is Revelation 3:20 I believe.. "I stand at the door and knock".....

Notice in the picture that there is NO door handle on the door - I, You, We, have to Open the Door from the Inside and let Him in... He will never, ever, come in uninvited, He loves us that much...

Love you guys, thank you so much for all that you do for your sweet family, and all that you have done for us over all these decades even..

Dan F

[Jaddie]

Dear Dan & Friends

With the utmost respect for your beliefs, I concede that I`m a nonbeliever. I don`t want to raise my son without exposing him to spirituality, but that can be done without the Sunday morning fight. And it is a nasty one that involves threats, punishment, and tears.

My son has been going to church for about four or five years mostly every Sunday. He was in a youth program that met once a week (Awanas) and eventually decided to stop attending after the close of a session. My in-laws asked me to force him to continue, saying it was important, but I countered with the fact that we force him to go to school five days a week, on four of which he has to come home and do homework. They held their ground and I held mine.

My son has ADHD. He feels caged when he knows we expect him to be quiet and still for an hour, especially without his ADHD medication. (We don`t give it to him until after lunch on Sundays because it kills his appetite.)

I seldom have complete confidence in a course of action, but I decided that I`d continue to force Max to go to church every Sunday (he doesn`t have to go when his grandparents are out of town) until his tenth birthday (in August). Then it`ll be up to him whether or not he attends, except for two occasions per year. I excepted the two occasions to accommodate his grandparents` probable desire for him to attend an Easter and Christmas service.

This was a unilateral decision. I told my wife that was my decision and that`s the way it was going to be. I don`t ever do that.

I will continue to encourage my son to be open-minded when it comes to religion and tell him the truth, which is that I believe people who are spiritual have a leg up on those of us who aren`t. Spiritual people have a very strong resource to lean on during hard and uncertain times.

Max doesn`t even know that I`m atheist. To him I always say nice things about church and churchgoers. My preference is that he find strength in something greater than himself and all of humankind, but I don`t believe I can force that on him. He`s too much like his old man for that.

[House of Wax]

Alien. Real or not? Debatable.

Watch the show "Unacknowledged" on Netflix and let`s talk hehe

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[jrock645]

Alien. Real or not? Debatable.

I watch ancient aliens regularly. I think it’s 99% nonsense but I find it to be entertaining and interesting conjecture. Bottom line is there is no proof either way. I find it hard to believe that out of all the planets in the supposedly infinite universe, we’re alone. So I choose to believe in the possibility of aliens. What that really looks like- actual intelligent beings similar to or more advanced than ourselves, or amoeba-I have no clue. But I just find it hard to believe there’s nothing but gas and dust out there. Seems like an awful waste of space.

[512detail]

I say good morning to my neighbors with a cold start from my 6.1 with headers and no cats.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[House of Wax]

Going to Harbor Freight makes me understand what my wife feels like when she goes to Target

[Accumulator]

I say good morning to my neighbors with a cold start from my 6.1 with headers and no cats.

Wonder if that [ticks] them off as much as our neighbors [tick] us off...utterly different schedules, they seriously interfere with our sleep. I tell Accumulatorette that it`s just Karma being a [female dog] because of all the times I did such stuff back in the day

I watch ancient aliens regularly. I think it’s 99% nonsense but I find it to be entertaining and interesting conjecture...

Same here.

Going to Harbor Freight makes me understand what my wife feels like when she goes to Target

At least your wife *goes* to Target rather than letting you "just take care of that"

I got a pair of polypropylene utility carts at HF last week (pre-coupon expiration) to further expedite my nutty carwashes.

[House of Wax]

At least your wife *goes* to Target rather than letting you "just take care of that"

I got a pair of polypropylene utility carts at HF last week (pre-coupon expiration) to further expedite my nutty carwashes.

True, bit that can be dangerous for the family pocketbook hehe.

I just love Harbor Freight for all the random stuff they have and to pick up some of those random tools you won`t use much and don`t want to spend a boatload of money on


Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Accumulator]

I make it a challenge to *never* pay full price at HF, waiting until whatever I need has a good coupon Sometimes I need something yesterday, but not too often.

[512detail]

Last night I went to our Monthly Tower Of The Americas car show. I was rummaging around in my trunk when a man and his wife approached me and immediately asked, "Is this car ceramic coated and polished? It really stands out!"

"Yes, and a few kitchen sinks from Germany." Was my reply



Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Nutbread]

It was so cold this morning I looked down and thought I had two belly buttons.

[Stokdgs]

Dear Dan & Friends

With the utmost respect for your beliefs, I concede that I`m a nonbeliever. I don`t want to raise my son without exposing him to spirituality, but that can be done without the Sunday morning fight. And it is a nasty one that involves threats, punishment, and tears.

My son has been going to church for about four or five years mostly every Sunday. He was in a youth program that met once a week (Awanas) and eventually decided to stop attending after the close of a session. My in-laws asked me to force him to continue, saying it was important, but I countered with the fact that we force him to go to school five days a week, on four of which he has to come home and do homework. They held their ground and I held mine.

My son has ADHD. He feels caged when he knows we expect him to be quiet and still for an hour, especially without his ADHD medication. (We don`t give it to him until after lunch on Sundays because it kills his appetite.)

I seldom have complete confidence in a course of action, but I decided that I`d continue to force Max to go to church every Sunday (he doesn`t have to go when his grandparents are out of town) until his tenth birthday (in August). Then it`ll be up to him whether or not he attends, except for two occasions per year. I excepted the two occasions to accommodate his grandparents` probable desire for him to attend an Easter and Christmas service.

This was a unilateral decision. I told my wife that was my decision and that`s the way it was going to be. I don`t ever do that.

I will continue to encourage my son to be open-minded when it comes to religion and tell him the truth, which is that I believe people who are spiritual have a leg up on those of us who aren`t. Spiritual people have a very strong resource to lean on during hard and uncertain times.

Max doesn`t even know that I`m atheist. To him I always say nice things about church and churchgoers. My preference is that he find strength in something greater than himself and all of humankind, but I don`t believe I can force that on him. He`s too much like his old man for that.

Mi Hermano Jaddie,
Thanks for your post, I really feel for what you are going through with the In-Laws..

We all know they mean the best for you and your family, but sometimes, they may need to just love you guys even more and support you...

I commend you for doing all that you feel in your heart of hearts for your son now..

It is more than obvious what a great man you are Jaddie; for sure your Sweetheart is the greatest too, and your family - the BEST !
I would love to have you guys as neighbors..

I look at the lovely picture of you two and can see that the bond of love you have is stronger than anything else and that alone will help keep your family together, which is what we should all be striving to do every day..

We have all gone through a lot of things over these decades, my good friend, and there will always be a hearty welcome and a big hug from any of us when we meet..

Love you guys !
Dan F

[Accumulator]

Mi Hermano Jaddie,...

I commend you for doing all that you feel in your heart of hearts for your son now..

And I want to commend *you* for posting that, made a nice impression upon me given that you`re, uhm... on the other side of the Theism fence.

[Nizmo]

I say good morning to my neighbors with a cold start from my 6.1 with headers and no cats.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Hahah, I do that with the GTI. Even stock cold start is ridiculous, rumbling and popping. My neighbor beside me just shakes his head. My other neighbor complains, guess the turbo whistle annoys him from what I understand. They`re gonna be in for a rude awakening (literally) when it gets the new turbo downpipe...

[lxjeremy]

Hahah, I do that with the GTI. Even stock cold start is ridiculous, rumbling and popping. My neighbor beside me just shakes his head. My other neighbor complains, guess the turbo whistle annoys him from what I understand. They`re gonna be in for a rude awakening (literally) when it gets the new turbo downpipe...

VWs are also known for an incredible sounding two-step. Just putting that out there.