Joel is serious about cleaning

Lately, Joel is very intense about wanting to clean up after himself. It's really great, as I have picked up more toys in the past couple years than I ever thought possible. Last night, after cleaning up all the toys in the basement and putting them neatly away in their bins and on shelves, Joel proclaimed, "This is for display only. All of these toys here, this is only for display." I told him his friends that were coming to play the next day would be sad if they couldn't play with his toys and he said, "Well, we can let them play with the display, but only for tomorrow."

That's Joel's tough guy look

This is Kylie, from two doors down. She frequently helps Jorie out by watching the boys during the day, so Jorie can get things done. Joel and Silas LOVE when Kylie comes over and it is awesome having her live so close.

Mark's Random thoughts of the day: There are two phrases that need to go away. They drive me nuts every time I hear them.

"He needs to get untracked" -- if you've watched sports the past couple years, you've probably heard analysts say this far too often. I am convinced this started from a mistakenly heard "on track". Some moron started saying "untracked" and it somehow caught on and spread like a virus. I understand the logic, they're trying to say he needs to break out of his rut, but then say "rut". Being on track is a GOOD thing, so to get untracked means you're going off the rails, i.e. a BAD thing! Bob Brenley in the Cubs broadcast booth uses this all the time, unfortunately, but I'm sure I'll hear it even more during football season.

"We covet your prayers" -- ugh, this one really bothers me because a lot of people whom I respect actually use it, I guess because they have heard others use it and it's one of those Christian phrases that sounds good. But let's examine the word "covet" for a moment. Here's a listing of every use of "covet" in the Bible:

All verses with covet

Do you notice anything about that list? Every use of "covet" is a BAD thing. It is never used positively. The word, when literally translated, may mean "desire", but it definitely has a negative connotation in Scripture. So when people tell me "we covet your prayers" it sounds to me like they are saying, "We have an unhealthy compulsive desire for you to pray for us." And that just squicks me out.