Daily Archives: May 8, 2009

Only in Oklahoma

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Amy and I just returned from Oklahoma on Wednesday (we had a great time by the way) and thought that we would share a few of our Only in Oklahoma moments.  Ready or not here it is.

Only in Oklahoma:

Pok Chop is a menu item.  Up here in the northwest we call them Pork Chops.

Every shower head I have ever used (of which are not many) I have had to bend way down to wash my hair.  I wonder why they don’t mount them any higher?  A good question I must say.

The toilets, at least in the girl’s bathrooms at the airport, have automatic toilet cover dispensers.  How cool is that?  Now I found this out from a good source – my wife.  She took a picture with her phone and I have still not seen it.  I will have to ask her about it later.

Lastly, they are not overly concerned about another terrorist attack.  My friend who lives in Oklahoma City said that he was recently able to take his son up to the top of the Chase building and nobody said anything to him about his purpose or about the backpack that he was wearing.  Here in Washington – most major companies are practically on lock down.  They are secure areas and it involves a process to get in, and once you do, you have to carry a visitor’s pass and they are going to want to know where you are at all times.  And this from a state (WA) that has never been bombed?  Anyways…just an interesting thought.  Quite possibly Oklahoma is a little more laid back than we are here in the northwest.  Maybe it’s the rain :) .

We loved our time in Oklahoma.  The people and the experience was great.  We especially loved the downtown area of Oklahoma City called Bricktown.

Do you have any Only in Oklahoma experiences?

Obedience and Parenting

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Which is more important to you as a parent, obedience or relationship?  Not that it has to be a case of either/or – but our answer to this question will say a lot about our parenting style and what we perceive our role as parents to be.  Is our intended end to produce children who easily comply and do everything that we want them to or is our intended end to train our children in the way that they should go (Proverbs 22:6).  If we want compliant children it doesn’t take a whole lot of work.  We can just tell them what we want them to be and do and then expect them to do it based on the rules and parameters that we have set up for them.

What happens though when they fail or are unable to live up to what we have set up for them?

If we want something more, like training our children to think, to act, and to respond to life from the right heart attitudes, it takes a lot of work.  It takes working at the relationship and putting ourselves in the place to allow them the freedoms they need to learn while remaining in the same place of our homes.  For this to happen though, we as parents have to be willing to let go more while working with our children to help them develop the right heart motivations.

I want my children to obey, not because they have to, but because they want to – because they want to honor and respect mom and dad and others in authority.  For this to happen though it takes work and time – it takes building a relationship.  It takes allowing greater freedoms while enforcing fewer rules.  When done right…a person doesn’t need a lot of limitations to make right decisions – they just need a lot of love.  May we cultivate these kinds of environments with our children.  They are worth it!