Mellow...

Our oldest, Dawson, had his first sleep-over birthday party last night. It was cool for him. We got the sleeping bag, the backpack with his pj's and toothbrush - he was set for the big event. His brother, however, was NOT looking forward to the big event. Even though he got his own new sleeping bag and was going to camp out in Mom and Dad's room, the fact that he wasn't invited really stressed him. Truthfully, it wasn't the invite that bothered him, it was the absence of his best friend and big brother. As we dropped Dawson off at the party, Ethan said he felt like he was going to cry because he missed Dawson.
We tried to quickly get Friday night pizza night back on track by asking Ethan where he wanted to go for pizza. Now we have never gone to the Mellow Mushroom for pizza...making us Towne Lake parental outcasts. While in Chattanooga a last week on winter break, that changed as we enjoyed pizza at the downtown Chattanooga Mellow Mushroom. This primed the pump for a night-at-the-Woodstock Mellow Mushroom. Ethan said this was where he wanted to go for our pizza night tradition. Then he thought a minute. "No. I don't want Dawson to miss our first time at Mellow Mushroom." Sitting in the front seat of the van, I teared up at this very self-less attitude of my middle son. He wanted to wait until we could all go together. So for this week...pizza night is Saturday night @ Mellow Mushroom....with all of the Bragg family present!

Worship This Sunday

Here is what we will be singing in worship this Sunday @ FBC Holly Springs.

Morning Worship
Beautiful One (By the Tree)
No Other Gods (Travis Cottrell)
You Are God Alone (PCD)
Revelation Song (Kari Jobe)

Thrive @ 5
Sing to the King (Passion)
Love the Lord (Lincoln Brewster)
Jesus Messiah (Chris Tomlin)
Surrender (Vineyard)

Hey...our special guest speaker for Thrive @ 5 this Sunday is Danny Singleton from FBC Woodstock. If you are in Cherokee County on Sunday, come to worship and be challenged by this amazing servant of God.

Flashback

Last night I was helping around the house and was putting clean sheets on Dawson and Ethan's beds. Those who know me know that any household or other chore MUST be accompanied by sound...preferably music, but sometimes even preaching will do.

When I am working in the boys' room, I have a couple of musical-chore-time-passing traditions. Rather than actually putting in their CD of kids songs and grooving out, I chose the OTHER tradition. I slowly opened the dresser drawer and had a flash forward as I considered that one day my boys are going to talk about "Daddy's special video tapes he keeps stashed in the back of the drawer". Yes...I keep a couple of videos tucked away in their room. These particular two more or less by accident, but they are there for a reason. The reason is that the only video cassette player in the house is in the boys' room (for all those pre-DVD releases). As to what is on these videos... one is...(gulp, swallow hard...confession is good for the soul...) a Gaither Homecoming video. The other is another video from my past days. A video from the Christian comedian and preacher, Mike Warnke. Many may remember him as the man who was radically saved from his past as a satanist high priest back in the sixties, only to have that story debunked in 1991. Regardless of his story, the teaching in the video was straight-up, rich theology wrapped in great delivery and jab-at-religion humor - my kind of stuff!

It always takes me back a few years when I listen to and watch this video. I go back to my teenage years as a student believer. This time, though, I got carried back a lot further. While I listened, Dawson and Ethan came in from getting their shower and watched and listened with me while they got ready for bed. At one point, they were standing in front of the television, taking in every word that was said and every move that was made. As I watched my boys watching the screen, Ethan (my "mini-me") started mimicking every word and action on the screen. For me, it was a sudden flashback to what I used to do as a child...mimicking the things I enjoyed. It was how I processed so much of what sticks with me to this day.

The truly wonderful thing is that as my boys both watched, listened, and mimicked Mike Warnke, they both were anxious to hear what he was saying. While much of it was over their heads, so many seeds of truth were planted and I am looking forward to the conversations that are coming.