It turned out that I was only dreaming when I saw the tarantula. In my waking, I kicked into protect and destroy mode and never bothered to check my assumptions. Unfortunately, I stayed up all night – shifting between moments of embarrassment and wondering if there was a real tarantula that ran away. Connie laughed herself to sleep and remains entertained at my mistake.

PS – I would have included a picture of the sock but it smells of wasp spray and had to be destroyed.

Psalm 3:5 (nlt) “I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me.”

God watches over His kids, not only when we sleep, but also with every waking moment of our lives with a love that can never be matched. I can only imagine that He too admires His imprint, and is ever so pleased that we belong to Him. What an awesome Father we have…

We as believers in Jesus Christ, have a tremendous responsibility given to us when the Lord blesses us with a child. He entrusts us with the responsibility to raise up our children in the knowledge of God. In Mark 10 we read of an encounter Jesus had with children.

Mark 10:13-16 HCSB Some people were bringing little children to Him so He might touch them, but His disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me.  Don’t stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ I assure you:  Whoever does not welcome   the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ After taking them in His arms, He laid His hands on them and blessed them.

Even to the casual observer, it’s obvious the gospel writers placed particular importance on Jesus’ attitude toward children. When everyone wanted to keep the children from Jesus, he invited them in and had some rather harsh words for those who hindered them. But do we also observe that not only did he delight in them, they seemed to delight in him. As parents we must make room for that. I believe the greatest thing we can deposit in the life of our kids is an endearing view of God.  Affirm how very precious, life changing and beautiful it is to walk through life with a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is the best way to establish the right foundation, one built upon Jesus Christ.

For me, it was quite an honor to share this special time with them. I know that both Sophia and Isaac are going to grow up and do great things for God.

Here are 8 career lessons from John Tarbell:

1. Seek out a mentor — possibly someone who was involved in your hiring process. Learn what to expect two or three years ahead and prepare for it.

2. Assume the behavior and habits of the people at the next level, and you will demonstrate that you can get there.

3. Whatever you do, be sure your involvement and actions’ ethics and results will look honorable and wise if they appear in the right hand column of the Wall Street Journal’s front page. They just might.

4. ”Try to find out what you’re good at, and have a passion for, and get someone to pay you for doing it” — advice I was given early on, and it has always proved to be the path for success and, just as importantly, happiness.

5. The first job is rarely anything but a start. Do the best you can, try to work with people you like and admire, and hope for the best. In your lifetime, you may change jobs, if not your career path, many times.

6. Avoid bosses who promise promotions and advancement but who take credit for your work. They won’t fulfill their promises to you.

7. Save for a rainy day and always be able to support yourself. You can lose everything in a flash, and scenarios of financial adversity do present themselves in life, even to the best prepared.

8. Avoid speculative ventures. If making money were easy, everyone would be wealthy. If someone can’t answer all your questions and ”what ifs,” there’s something wrong.

It got me to thinking about what I was struggling with lately? I guess it’s ok to “cheat” and ask God to weigh in on the matter. He might just help me too!

So, I got up this morning and for the pure entertainment of seeing my kids squirm, I decided to practice my dancing moves.  The responses were interesting today.

Jon said, “Dad – please, the last time you tried popping and locking you popped and locked your back. ”  Of course, the only one I can turn to for a supportive comment was Connie who said, “Your dance steps were the main reason I married you,” but I did detect a bit of sarcasm in her voice. In my humble evaluation, I thought the dance moves were pretty good given the difficult audience.

Truth is, in life there comes a time when it seems we just stop dancing. What is dancing? It is simply an outward expression of an inward experience. Not just talking about the fox-trot or samba, I’m talking about the way we live. God wants us to live out loud what He is doing within us. It’s the life He has invited us to enjoy.

What has caused you to stop dancing? Not literally, but in a figurative sense. Have you stopped taking the time to have fun, regardless of whose watching, and just enjoy the moment? Caught up in the business of work, careers, raising kids, it’s easy to forget that God has given us this urge to move and laugh. God wants us to experience joy in our moments because He is always in the moment.

You will never wake up and find God in a bad mood. Life in Him is always a dance. Freeing, exhilarating, and carefree; not always so very cautious and careful. So maybe today hasn’t started off the way you planned it. Rewind the tape, bring God into the picture, and dance just as if no one was watching.

dance as though no one is watching you,

love as though you have never been hurt before,

sing as though no one can hear you,

live as though heaven is on earth.  –unknown

Ecclesiastes 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; King James

P.S. Look for me on the next season of Dancing with the Stars… unless of course, they are intimidated by my moves!