A parent's responsibility...

...is first and foremost the formation of their children. Not how nice their clothes are, not how nice of a car they drive, not how expensive their toys are. While nice clothes and a nice car and expensive toys are all good things to try and provide, it is disproportionate to treat having those items as the essential mission of a good parent.

The formation of a child's character, the education of their minds, and the sanctity of their souls are the most important things a parent has to be concerned with.

In this vein, please check out this short article by Peter Bauer, which I found via the ever-helpful Catholic Dads online.

I find more and more parents, including those who attend church weekly, introducing their children to contraceptives because they’ve decided it’s an easier battle to teach their kids to sin without consequence then to not sin at all.

Our jobs as parents is to know the faith, live the faith, lead by example and teach that faith to our children. We are tasked, by Jesus himself, to protect our children from sin, to be the guardians of their innocence.

Yes, our kids will have to live in this real, broken world and our job is to do our best to prepare them for it. Yes, we should help them to be successful financially, scholastically and socially. However, our first and primary responsibility is to prepare them spiritually for the battle for their souls that awaits them.

Special News

Sometime over the weekend, I got my 22nd follower, named Gabriella. First of all, welcome, Gabriella, and thank you to you and everyone else who spends a few minutes of their time reading here.

Secondly, it was one of those "little gifts" to see her name pop up there, as we celebrated my daughter's first birthday over the weekend with friends and family. At her party, we announced that on Sweetie-Pie Baby Girl's actual birthday a few days earlier, we found out that she is no longer the youngest of our little gaggle, but by God's grace, this year will bring about the debut of the Johnson Five.

And we had already decided that if this is a girl, her name would be Gabriella.

House offer was rejected

We bid on a house last week but I just heard from the seller. They're not accepting our offer, but are going to list it with a realtor and try to get their imaginary number. Good luck to them!

So now, we wait until our place sells and find another house that doesn't need half as much work. St. Joseph, pray for us.

Sincere condolences

...to the family of Kevin Archbold. and to my sister-in-law's family for the loss of their father David.

May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Angel Band
by the Stanley Brothers

My latest sun is sinking fast
My race is nearly run
My longest trials now are past
My triumph has begun

Chorus
Oh come angel band
Come and around me stand
Bear me away on your snow white wings
To my immortal home
Bear me away on you snow white wings
To my immortal home

Oh bear my longing soul to him
Who bled and died for me
Whose blood now cleanses from all sins
And brings me victory

[chorus]

I know I'm near the holy ranks
Of friends and kindred dear
I brush the dew on Jordan's banks
The crossing must be near

I've almost gained my heavenly home
My spirit loudly sings
The holy ones, behold they come
I hear the noise of wings

No-fault divorce

I've decided to do some research on no-fault divorce. Last month I posted about a gay-marriage advocate who mockingly attempted to get a ban on divorce enacted in California.

As I said then, the sad part of his idea, namely, that if heterosexuals want to "dictate" the rules for marriage, they'd better be prepared to follow through on it, is that most people saw his point to "stick it" to the heterosexuals and didn't really take the idea seriously. However, I think that he stumbled upon precisely the crux of the matter. Gay marriage will not be the death of the institution of marriage; no-fault divorce already dealt a terrible blow. "Gay marriage" is a misnomer and a contradiction of terms; no-fault divorce, enshrined in law, and having disastrous effects in culture and in the nature of the family, is truly a destructive force.

This needs to come into the public discussion, as it is clear to me that the emperor has no clothes. Once I know more about the subject, I'd like to start initiating discussion on this topic, both here and elsewhere. I'll start off now with the easiest entry possible: the Wikipedia entry on no-fault divorce.

I'd love any feedback I can get. Thanks!

...And in other family stuff news...

...I will soon be starting a part-time tutoring job a few nights a week, funded by the No Child Left Behind Act. Helping out the failing public school system, helping out kids, helping out my family budget, hey, it's a good thing...

It was either that, or wait for one of those "green" jobs everyone is talking about.

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crickets chirping

I've been bugging St. Joseph...

...for a bigger sardine can. Two adults, three boys, one baby girl and a cat are kind of cramped in 912 ft^2 of living space. We put an offer on a house last week and are waiting to hear back. The seller thinks it's worth twice what it actually is (and twice what we bid on it) despite the fact that it reminds me of a movie with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long. So we'll see what happens. If this is the house God has picked for us, I'll get back to you with good news. If this is not the house He has for us, well, we'll keep bugging St. Joseph.

"How-DEE! I'm just so proud to be here!"

Well, I haven't been mentioned in a poem before; except, of course, for that one about me and a motorcycle, but I never did like that one. Thanks to LarryD for the Christmas wishes!

Christmas wishes to all of you as well, though Christmas is half over (though not completely, as some would think). Being married to a starving church musician doesn't make for a quiet, simple holiday schedule, so we caught up on sleep and celebrated Christmas with some of our extended and adopted family on Saturday.

I know I haven't been here much, and I hope to chime in more soon. Work's been busy, I've been searching for and just was hired for a part-time tutoring job, we're trying to sell our home and buy another one with little money of our own, and we've had two feet of snow and a few family sicknesses thrown in just for fun! I know, that's supposed to be some sort of excuse for not blogging everyday? pssh, whatever!

God bless!

Time management

Last week I was complaining and whining like Luke Skywalker about how I feel like I'm going nowhere. Rob K made a good point that it might be an opportunity to discern if God wants me to do something differently.

It's a point well taken and one that I had been pondering. I was assessing not just blogging, but how I've been spending much of my time. And it hasn't been good lately.

I work for a small company that is pretty casual about guidelines. As long as the work gets done, there's a lot of leeway. So if I get to work at 7:00, great. If I get there at 9:00, fine. If I have errands to run on the way in, even later is acceptable. Nobody hounds me about it. It just means I stay later.

The problem with such permissiveness is that it's ripe for cultivating bad habits. And getting to work later had become a bad habit for me, one that was affecting other areas of life. Especially considering my 45 minute commute, I'd get out of work later, missing the kids, or I'd get out at the normal time to help my wife with something-or-other and end up with a shortened payday. And at a period of time when I'm also keeping an eye out for a part-time job that fits my schedule, this is not helpful. In general, I've been experiencing diminishing returns and general frustration. And there's nobody to blame but me.

I need to set a deadline for myself. Otherwise, the snooze button is my best friend. After all, without a firm time to be somewhere, what's another few minutes of blissful sleep?

God's solution to my problem was obvious.

I've been enjoying a better use of my days. Today I was out of the house before wifey was up, had a full day at work, came home, and made dinner for the kids and me (mom is out tonight). We brushed teeth, got Frac his medicine, read two library books, and sang extra night prayer songs (and a Star Wars theme)--both at the kids' request. And all of that because I had the best start to the day that there is.

7:00 Mass 1/2 mile from work.

I'll need you, Dad

Thanks to Rick at Catholic Dads for posting this earlier.

And if you read this, say a prayer for me to be a better Catholic dad. Thanks.

Family reunion

Pepere et Memere (Philias and Yvonne, circa 1930?)

Toute la famille (circa 1950)

All the brothers and sisters, same order, 2009

...and with their spouses

Many (though not all) of the first cousins

The family with the best T-shirts there

Many of the second- (or third-) cousins

Memere's sister Diana (oldest relative) with my sweetie-pie baby-girl (youngest)