It’s not going to be easy to post while I’m up here in Connecticut. I have a couple of challenges.

First, these kids require constant attention. I hadn’t forgotten how complete the investment of time is; I’d just forgotten that it is pretty much exclusive of everything else!

The second challenge is relevancy to my blog. I’m not saying that life, gratitude, faith, and passion are not integral to every element of raising children. But what I am saying is that somewhere around 1,500 people read these posts, and I want to be careful not to dominate this space with “family newsletter” style writing.

So I’ll begin with something everyone can use. Pretty much every toy we played with Tuesday was non-electronic. And it wasn’t me steering the kids that way. Fact is, David goes for the wooden blocks, the wooden train set, the wooden puzzles, the heavy plastic animals, and the books as first choice. Then Beks sits around watching, giggling at her brother, and trying to grab whatever he has.

I think my favorite is the set of puzzles on 16 cubes. David dumps them out, picks one of six pictures, completes the 16-piece puzzle by choosing from 96 possibilities, then starts over from scratch.

We also read story books in the rocking chair before bed. Two books of his choice plus one story from the kids’ Bible.

If this world needs anything over the next few decades, it’s going to be future leaders who grow up learning to solve problems, using their imaginations, and trusting in God.

We have two prime candidates in this house. Let’s pray for many more.

– DEREK