Dr. House, I Need A Differential Diagnosis

Zach was in bed with Eric and I this morning. Eric got up to take a shower. This is what followed:

Zach: Mom, I'm going to get in Dad's spot and be Dad.

Me: Ok.

Zach: Hi! I'm Dad, but you can call me Eric if you want to.

Me: Hi Eric! Where are our children?

Zach: Colson is at school, and Ava is watching TV downstairs.

Me: Oh. Where is Zachary?

Zach: Oh, he's dead.

Me: Oh no! How did he die!

Zach: Well, he pooped A LOT, and then he died...



Wouldn't this word be a loverly place if people really could die from dropping a huge load of crap?

Farewell, Cruel World

I will be in Albuquerque for a few days.

Hope I break a leg, physically, not metaphorically, so that maybe the judges will take pity on me and give me sympathy points.

Enjoy your break from my thought provoking, migraine inducing, and completely self-indulgent posts.

(I like using a serial comma, it's old fashioned............)

Death Becomes Me

I'll never understand the normal person's attitude towards funerals.

For me, a funeral is a special, personal moment for the deceased's CLOSE circle.

When someone attends a funeral for a casual acquaintance, I just don't get it. Usually those people say they are going to "support" a friend, who was close to the deceased.

Personally, I can't imagine thinking I'm that important. I can't imagine that someone who just lost a loved one, is going to be suddenly comforted when I walk into that room, except maybe for, again, people who are in my close circle.

I say, if you don't know the deceased big time, get out. Send a card or some flowers, stop by with a casserole later in the week, but stay out of the funeral. To me, it's DISrespectful to show up at a funeral for someone other than the deceased; to think that you're so important that somehow the atmosphere of grief is going to lift because you show up.

If you're not torn up with grief over the death, you shouldn't be there. If your life isn't changed in any way because of the death of that person, don't bother going. If you can sit there and just say in your mind, "aww, I feel badly for the family", GET OUT!


But trust me, I realize I'm very likely the ONLY person in the world who feels this way. I know that people who need people are the luckiest people in the world.

Just know that at my funeral, there will be a bouncer at the door asking personal questions about me to each person who wants to come in. And if you don't know the answers, you ain't getting in.

So start studying, people....

I'm Going To Sock It To 'Em...............

Good grief, it's like Laugh-in in my upstairs hallway early in the morning...

Each child opening their door and calling out a punchline or an insult, then slamming their door shut.


It's not so funny at 5:30am..........

Have Your Cake And Wear It Too

I was at my local Weis this morning, and as I left, I checked out the community events bulletin board.

There was a sign posted; one of the local groups, a church or a charity organization, had posted a flyer for an "Old Fashion Bake Sale".

Now, I'm going to assume they don't mean that they're selling cakes while wearing Members Only jackets, or cookies decorated with huge shoulder pads, or pies stuffed with knee length wool swim dresses...


Although, knowing this town, it probably WILL be an Old Fashion Bake Sale, just not intentionally....

It's Good To Be King

It's great to know that you're being heard and understood by your children.

My son Colson staunchly believes that everything and everyone exists to make his life better and easier. I find myself saying to him on a regular basis, "Colson, NO ONE CARES about what you want, and it is NOT all about you!".

So yesterday, I told Colson to do his homework, which involved cutting and pasting. There was a glue stick upstairs at Ava's desk. I told him to go up to Ava's desk and do his homework up there. He said no, he would bring the glue stick down and do his homework at the table (extrovert). I said no, I want the glue stick to stay where it belongs, not be carried all over the house.

So he looks at me with his eyebrows furrowed and says "Mom, it's not all about YOU!!!".

Good effort, Cole! In a regular debate, you would have just scored a point.

Unfortunately for you, in this case, me being the parent, you being the child, it IS all about me.

Sorry about your luck............



But at least now I know he gets what I've been saying for so long. He can't play the ignorant card anymore. Not sure that was his goal.

Explore the Book, 1 and 2 Chronicles

1 and 2 Chronicles, Explore the Book with Bob Lewis, Thursday nights at Christ's Church of the Valley.

I'll Love You On One Condition..

Um, hello people, there is no such thing as unconditional love between humans.

All human love comes with conditions.

Would you still love your husband if he beat you to a bloody pulp every night? Would you still love your wife if she slept with a different man every Saturday night? Would you still love your teenaged son if he stabbed your baby daughter in a fit of rage? Would you still love your mother if she abandoned you and refused to acknowledge your existence?

Maybe you would, maybe you wouldn't, but every human has their personal breaking points. Mine might not be the same as yours, but we all have them.

Don't throw that term around anymore....it's a pretty little notion, but you can't really mean it.

Take Me To Your Leader...Nanu Nanu

It seems like Christians get hung up when they start applying humanity to God.

As Mr. Tumnus says to Lucy Pevensie, in regards to Aslan, "He's not a tame lion, you know...". That line is repeated a few times through the Chronicles of Narnia, whenever anyone tried to speak for Aslan, and assume they knew what he would do.

You have to remember that God is NOTHING that we can understand. NOTHING that we can know. NOTHING like us. All we can know are the little drops of information that He's left us in the Bible. And that ain't much to go on.

You cannot apply Webster's to God. You cannot apply human emotions or human thought to God. You cannot apply time as we know it to God.

So the minute you say "I don't think God would want yadda yadda", or "I can't imagine God would yadda yadda", or "I'm sure God thinks yadda yadda", you're already starting off on the wrong foot.

You CAN'T imagine what God, or how God, or why God. You're incapable of it. So don't even try.

Don't you know your Catechism? God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being. Do you think you know anything about being that??!?!?

What would Jesus do? You can't know! You're not a perfect human. So you can't think perfectly. So you don't have the capability to answer that question. Only another perfect human can answer that.

You can ask What Does The Bible Say Jesus Would Do? But YOU can't presume to know on your own what Jesus would do. (I'm going to make W.D.T.B.S.J.W.D bracelets...think they'll catch on?)

Think of God as an alien, from another solar system. If there are beings living on other planets, we can't even begin to imagine how they would look, how they would think, what their actions would be, what their language would be. We can speculate, but that's it.

This is where faith comes in.



He's not a tame God, you know....



(on a side note, funny story...the first time my mother saw one of those "Live Strong" bracelets, it was on the wrist of a waiter at a restaurant. She says "What is that around your wrist, a flea collar??" I died laughing................)

On My Honor, I Will Try.....blah blah blah

So the other day, my niece Brooke said she needed my advice about something.

She was torn between something she felt like she SHOULD do, and something she wanted to do. Brooke is one of those people who have boundless energy for acts of kindness and good deeds. I, on the other hand....

Her Girl Scouts sash would have to be 10 miles long, to hold all of her badges. Her schedule of good deed doing wears me out just hearing about it. She could never do another kind thing for the rest of her life and still have more points than the rest of us.

So I'm sure you can guess what my advice was....

The conversation ended with:

Brooke: I knew you'd tell me being nice isn't worth it! That's why I decided to ask you!



Ah, it's good to know I'm leaving a legacy.................

Ninja Jane

My daughter is a ninja.

I will describe her ninja powers in more detail in future posts, but one of her ninja-like skills is her amazing power of deduction. She rarely asks questions, but never think for a second that she isn't hearing and seeing everything, and using that information to form answers and opinions in her brain.

An example:

The other night, I was fixing dinner for the kids. They were having a discussion about who was in charge of the family. Colson was saying that both Eric and I were in charge of the house. Ava was saying no, Mom is the most in charge.

I asked her why she thought that.

Then she says, with a tone in her voice that says duh!, "Mom, remember that time that Zachary was in your room with you and Daddy, and Zachary threw the Bop-It, and you said to Daddy "You need to spank his hand""?

Wow.......

To a ninja, that's all the information you need, I guess. The balance of power was described for her in that 5 second exchange.



Sorry darling, I had no idea that a ninja was outside our door that day, taking notes in her mind for future use.

Oh Say Can You See...any dust bunnies under my couch???

(or as SubEWL so wittily put it, "Jose Can You See".....damn him for thinking of it before I did)

How do I buy American?

I make my kids clean the house, instead of hiring an illegal Hispanic.

Go America!

Any Given Sunday

My husband was the first man I ever met, outside of my father and brothers, who talked about sports in an intelligent way.

Most guys I knew, when asked about sports, their response would include something like "the (insert favorite team name) ROCK, and the (insert least favorite team name) SUUUUUUCK!". And the bouncer in my head would immediately call security to usher the speaker out through the back alley door.

Eric, on the other hand, when asked about sports, would give articulate answers as to what he liked about said sport, and what aspects of the game intrigued him.

When I decided in year 1 of our marriage to show a little interest in football, he actually explained how the game worked. And his explanation didn't include crushing beer cans on his forehead or shouting "KILL THEM!!!". Because he did such a great job of explaining the ins and outs of the game, I became somewhat interested. He took one team, the Eagles, and gave me some history of the team; history of the choices that the coaches had made, the history of the city of Philadelphia in relation to the Eagles, the history of each of the current players, the history of the stadiums, etc. Knowing all of that made watching an Eagles game suddenly interesting to me.

He spoke nothing like the sportscasters, who have a tendency to use words like "trickeration" and phrases like "From the waist down, he's got the biggest legs I've ever seen on a running back".

Now, I will say, the forehead-beer-crushers are very entertaining. When Eric took me to my first Eagles game, and the guy sitting in front of me got punched in the face because he farted, I thought I was in heaven. When I started making fun of the drunk guy sitting next to me who wanted to high five me after every touchdown, and Eric nervously whispered in my ear "PLEASE be quiet, I don't want to get into a fight", I knew I was in for a grand evening!

But none of those guys would have ever gotten me interested in football to begin with. So I would never have had the opportunity to experience the hilarious ignorance that is the "700 level" Eagles fans.

So thank you my darling, for not being a traditional jock, but instead an eloquent connoisseur of the pigskin. You have expanded my mind.




DALLAS SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS!!!!!!!!!

Explore the Book, 1 and 2 Kings

Explore the Book, with Bob Lewis, on 1st and 2nd Kings.

For more on Bob Lewis, visit www.BL3T.com

Eminent Domain = Imminent Homelessness

http://www.helpoutyourneighbor.com/

I Say Throw Him In A Pot With Rice And Spicy Sausage

I took Ava and Zach on a little field trip today, to the Perkiomen Creek, to hunt for little critters and have one of the naturalists from the Green Lane Nature Center describe what we caught.

Okay, first of all, you have to know that the term "Naturalist" cracks me up. If that is your job title, and you can say it with a straight face, just know that in my head I'm wetting my pants. When I hear naturalist, I'm going to assume that you are a nudist. In fact, I'm going to hope that you are a nudist, because at least then you'd be entertaining to me.

Today, there were two of them, a man and a woman. The woman was wearing an "ERACISM, true freedom only comes when you free your mind" tee-shirt and talking about yoga (big surprise, right??), and they were both wearing Jesus shoes.

The kids ended up catching a lot of crayfish. There were probably 15 of them in this little tub of water. The two naturalists had a conversation that I overheard, while the kids were still in the water. This is how it went:

Naturalist #1: Oh wow, this one looks like it's having a little trouble. See how it's left claw isn't moving as fast as it's right one?

Naturalist #2: Yes, I do see that. Maybe trauma of some sort?

Naturalist #1: Yes, probably neurological damage. Come on, little guy...

Naturalist #2: What should we do with that one? He certainly isn't going to heal in this little tub.

Naturalist #1: Well, we could throw him back into the water to die, so that some fish can find him and gobble him up, and the circle of life could continue.

Naturalist #2: Yes, that's a good idea. We certainly don't want to watch him die.


First of all, I wanted to say "Do you realize you just said "circle of life" with a straight face....?"

But what I couldn't figure out, how traumatising can it be to watch a crayfish die? What happens, does it start convulsing and clutching it's neck with it's little claws? Do it's eyes bug out and stare at you with a look of despair? Do it's claws start tapping out HELP ME in morse code??

I think it just stops moving.

We certainly don't want to see that. Nightmares might abound. You might never recover. Ava might end up on some psychologists couch saying "I don't know, I just can't get over seeing that crayfish just stop moving, when I was 5..."

In The Words Of Bob Lewis, Been Thinking...

The Large Hadron Collider is this millennium's Tower of Babel.

20 Questions With Zach

Zachary had his three year checkup last week. During checkups, the doctors ask "developmental" questions. For this appointment, one of the sections was questions that the child had to give an answer to. For instance "What do you do when you're cold?" "What do you do when you're hungry?".

Well, Zachary LOVED this concept. He made me continue the "game" long after the doctor's appointment was over. In the car on the way home, he would ask "do another one, Mom!". After he would answer, he would ask "Is that the correct answer, Mom?".

So I was making up questions for him. Here are some of my favorite responses:


Me: "What do you do when there is no food in your house?" (assuming he'd say go to the grocery store)

Zach: "DIE!"


Me: "What do you do when you don't have any money?"

Zach: "Steal some!"


Me: "What do you do if Mommy and Daddy fall down and die?"

Zach: "Play football on the playstation all by myself for awhile, and then you will come alive later!"


I love that kid.............

The Other Sister

This was one of my favorite tributes. It's not my favorite because it's written by my best friend, but it's another reason WHY Melissa is my best friend....who else could be my best friend but someone who writes like this??!?


I have to admit that substantial analysis paralysis set in when I contemplated what to say about Bob and Jan. Where do I start? What do I focus on? I decided to follow my son Gavin's lead. After one of the first times that our son Gavin (then about 4 years old) spent time with Bob and Jan in the same setting, he asked the following on the way home from the back seat of the car: "Hey Mom, you know that man with the white beard that always hugs me really hard? And that lady with the white hair who always smiles at me a long time? . . . . . They go together, right?"

What I believe he picked up on is what I admire and honor most about Bob and Jan. They are TOGETHER. Together in the sense that they compliment each other in a way and to a degree that I have never witnessed before or since . .. .(wait, is there a "before" with people that have known you since you were born???) Anyway, that "togetherness", "connectedness" and learned compatibility are all things that I have come to value so very much through their example. I can see why God designed marriage the way He did when I think about the way Bob and Jan bring out the best in one another.

I think about how they hold each other accountable without judgement. (who knows if Mr. Lewis would have frostbite due to exposure from his scantily clad West Chester Pike runs without Mrs. Lewis saying "enough is enough") How they honor each other's individuality and temperaments (Mr. Lewis respected Mrs. Lewis' tardy though stylish second verse of second hymn entrance every Sunday). They just seem to "get" one another. It is astounding to me that two people with such rich personalities and convictions have found a way to not only be married for 50 years, but to be TOGETHER that long, too. That is beautiful to me.

Melissa Tabasso

Are You Sick Of Bob And Jan Yet??

Things that remind me of Jan:

A snazzy purse,
Seeing a child standing in a parking place while the mom maneuvers the car around to be able to put her vehicle in that spot,
A car stuck on top of a curb stop which can't go either forwards or backwards
A mother controlling her rowdy child, while in a store, without attracting attention,
Having coffee out.
Talking temperaments
Not losing control of situations.
Flashy shoes,
American Idol,
Laughing a lot,
Competitions
Bingo


Things that remind me of Bob:
Cleaning bathrooms, I heard lots of stories about you and your boys cleaning bathrooms. In fact it made such an impression on me that I sometimes pick up a couple of paper towels and tidy up a bit.
Scripture memory,
The way that you make hard things so easy to understand in your teaching.
Keeping tuf and tender.

Happy Anniversary!
Marge Crumby

What I love most about your mom is her commitment to being who she really is. She doesn't try to meet other's expectations or fit into any role, but is quite happy being herself. By her example, I learned not to apologize for who I am or to live according to what others wanted or needed me to be. I remember she said (many years ago when I was in my early twenties, trying to please parents, 3 children, in-laws, husband and all the people at church), "I realize that I can never please everyone....so I just please myself." Glory hallelujah! This is what we all need to hear. "Thank you, Jan, for this marvelous message and for living the life so uniquely your own. I believe it is what makes you one of the most interesting people I have ever known. We need more phenomenal women like you in the world."


Much Love!
Sharon Martin


Dear Bob and Jan,
Congratulations! As you celebrate what God has done in and through your lives over the years please know how grateful I am to have been a part of your life and family. My year living with you, which begun at Duck Pond Road was a great year. If it were not for being a part of your family, I probably would not have gone to the Philippines, attended Law School, married Cynthia, had 6 children, run for office, been elected, and now be at Prison Fellowship. In short, it was a life changing experience. It marked me forever in very positive ways.

I have some fabulous memories of our times together. Here is a random strand -- waxing that blasted slate kitchen floor, running till I puked, trying to read and run at the same time, eating Amy’s pancakes for breakfast, using leftover pancakes for sandwiches at lunch as I tried to be the maintenance man for Racquet club apartments, destroying more things at Racquet Club apartments than I fixed, changing Suzanne’s diaper while eating a peanut butter sandwich – a feat that held me in good stead later with my own children, working one night at the Nav office when a couple crashed through the doors fighting one another(there was good police response in West Chester as I recall), Jan’s serene nature in the midst of occasional utter chaos, Eric’s love affair with high school academics, Bob’s annoying capacity to actually remember what he reads, Bob trying to get Stevie to eat on his terms, Stevie trying to eat on his own terms, doing laundry, doing laundry, doing laundry, Tony and Vinnie, Stevie sitting in the middle of the floor on his first day at the house, great meals together, POWDERED MILK! (By the way I have tried to introduce the delights of powdered milk to my family on more than one occasion – I would have had more success getting them to eat ferret on a stick!, great times in the word, a sense of being loved, a sense of profound gratitude that endures to this day!

Thanks for being faithful to your friends, your family and to one another. Dare I say the best is yet to come?

Love,
Mark Earley


Dear, dear Jan,

What a great friend and mentor you were to me during those great years we spent in Virginia and Texas together so very long ago. You taught me how to really love my children and how to enjoy them in the process of teaching and training them. Our children were so close together I never took the time to really enjoy them. What a difference it made in my parenting style and in my attitude toward them. My goal as a mother was more on performance rather than on relationship in those days before I met you. This was also true in the way I sought to disciple other women. Thank you so much for teaching me these vital lessons in the early days of our discipling ministery with The Navigators. Thank you for so deeply impacting my life. I am sure my children and grandchildren would thank you as well for these vital lessons you taught me.

Also, I will never forget your love and friendship you displayed to me when you took the time to come to my house and teach me how to make a jumper dress for my daughter Melanie when she was five years old. I think you invested several days in doing this for me over the course of several weeks. To me that was the sign of a true friend! With much love and gratitude,
Mary Lou Duke

Leaving A Legacy Sounds Tiring...

Dear Bob and Jan,
Congratulations on your 50th wedding anniversary! You both seem far too young for that milestone. God certainly has blessed you both through your children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren. Plus, there were many many more that you “raised”!

In 1967-1968 you graciously brought me into your home while Eric, Amy and Andrew were very young. I was your first “teenager”. I had no where else to live. How can I ever express my deep gratitude to the Lord for both of you. I know it wasn’t easy – it was a challenge – having me there, but you made me part of your family that year and I will always be so grateful.

Thank you for being towers of strength to the Lord for me and others, so many others through the years. I feel so honored that God allowed me to be in your home that year. How very gracious of the Lord to give me Godly examples during such a vulnerable time in my life. Your living examples of Godliness paved a pattern for me to follow.

As Paul states in Phillipians 1, “Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.”
May God continue to bless you and your dear family as you faithfully follow Christ and lead others to Him.
Love, Leonore and Harvey Friez


Dear Suzanne,
Your Dad and I worked together in the pro-life rescue movement; I have often shared jail cells with him. Beyond that, he showed great courage in taking a leadership position in pro-life rescue, at a time when many others, who should have joined him, ducked out. I am well aware he suffered because of his activities on behalf of our unborn brothers and sisters. Truly, he is one of the pro-life movement’s heros. I would add that he is my personal hero; I admire and respect him immensely. God bless Bob and Jan on their 50th. Ad multos annos!
Joesph Wall


Dear Bob and Jan,
Congratulations! Fifty years of faithful covenant unity is sure a great testimony of God’s faithfulness to a lost world. Your lives of dedicated service has obviously been paid back, multiplied by God.

I first met Bob in the early 70’s through Larry Heppes, who Bob was discipling. Hearing about Bob and watching his life of dedication to service, bible study, scripture memory, meditation in the word, encouragement of young believers greatly influenced me. God put a zeal for evangelism in me and a love for discipleship. As for me and my family we are still, in a large measure because of you, serving the Lord as our major thrust in life.
We give you a great WELL DONE God’s good and faithful servants.
We love you both
Jack and Nancy Daggett


Dear Bob and Jan,
My memories are fond, and the time I spent with your family was a happy and rewarding one.
I still remember lots of cups of coffee with Bob, and his great generosity toward me in the work of the ministry. He took time to talk to me, and let me “drive” often enough to get me feet under me. His version of wisdom was always something pithy, a saying or a hand gesture that reinforced a guiding principle (like “prior preparation prevents poor performance” or the three-stage hand movement describing three levels of “having your people” --- from the closed fist which grips them, to the open hand on which they rest of their own accord, to the upside down hand where they have to cling tightly to stay onboard!

And as for Jan, I will never forget “creating” that little musical number we pieced together from show tunes, about the whole life experience of a couple from courtship (“I am sixteen going on seventeen”) to marriage (“ease on down the road”) to children (“It’s a hard knock life” and “little girls”) to sometime in the middle years (I think it was a tune from My Fair Lady, but I forget which one?) to the wishfulness for more (my big number “If I were a rich man”) and finally to the wistful look backward (“Sunrise, sunset”). We made quite a couple, Jan and I!

I wish I could be with you all for the big celebration. I am sure more memories would come flooding back, and we would all laugh and cry.
Be assured that we love you, and wish the very best for you by the grace of God.
Still yours,
Craig and Betsy

Congratulations, Bob and Jan - what a huge milestone! I'm so sorry I can't be there for the party to celebrate with you - I can't think of another 50th anniversary party I'd rather be a part of than yours. Bob, you have taught me so much... I think I refer to you at least once a day on average, sharing some truth that you have imparted to me. I am so thankful that the Lord placed me in Prison Fellowship and allowed me to have you as my supervisor and then to continue working with you for a few more years. You have really revolutionized my theology and my understanding of a life that pleases the Lord.

As Graham and I (hopefully) start a family soon, I feel so much better prepared for marriage, parenting, involvement in the church, etc. than I was when I first met you. I hope that by the time I'm your age and having a 50 year anniversary party with Graham that I will be able to look back and have positively influenced even half of the lives you have. Thank you for your patience, teaching, guidance and love over the last few years. And Jan, thank you for sharing him with so many others to do all of this discipleship work and for keeping him in line and healthy along the way! I have really enjoyed getting to meet you and spend a little bit of time with you and seeing what an incredible woman you are. Only a strong, beautiful, wonderful woman could walk through life with Bob. God bless you both as you continue into the next 50 years of your marriage :)

Katie Clark

My Parents Are Better Than Your Parents, Nanny Nanny Poo Poo

Here are some excerpts from a few of the great tributes that people from around the globe sent to my parents:


Dear Bob and Jan,

Congratulations on 50 years of modeling what God intended for marriage. Jan and I often discuss the many things we learned from you both when we were single and after we married in 1974. The time I spent living in your home and in Bible study with Bob and the time Jan spent in Bible study with Jan have had a profound, life-changing impact. Many principles for daily living were taught, but even more was caught from your example. Over the years we have taken the principles you provided for our relationship and for child-rearing, filtered them through our own experience, and used them in teaching opportunities with many couples. Right now, one of our greatest joys is actively interacting with young married couples in the same place in their lives where we were when we moved to the East Coast to be around you. Plus is it exciting to see God working through our children to raise our grandchildren with many of the same principles we learned from you.
Mike and Jan Skipper



Dear Suzanne, many and happy are our memories of Bob and Jan. 'So glad you're hosting a well deserved celebration. I'm sure one which will be recounted by many is Jan on a diet eating the entire German chocolate cake (to hide the evidence) while Bob was flying missions over Cuba. And your dad kindly risked his life on numerous occasions teaching me to fly-by God's grace we're both still here to remember.

Probably the most important and outstanding characteristic of both Bob and Jan which comes to mind is their singlemindedness of purpose in life. The Scripture that comes to mind when thinking of the is Col. 3:23,"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men". Hopefully your time together will be characterized by laughter, tears, fond memories and a spirit of hope and joy for the time you continue to serve the Lord together in days to come.
Skip and Buzzie Gray


As a former Marine it was a joy to have another Marine, Bob, on my team.

The love and dedication of Bob and Jan were such a temendous blessing to all of us. I loved to jog but being around Bob just blew most of us away because he jogged twice a day. We all prided ourselves in our Scripture memory and review but I finally had to tell Bob to keep quiet about what he was doing in his review of Scripture verses. Nobody could keep up with him. I have never forgotten that and today at age 75 as I review my Bible Verses and stuggle to keep on top of them I think of Bob Lewis and that gives me a little extra push that I need.
Ron and Joyce York


Bob and Jan,
Congratulations! Hasn't the grace of our God been rich in your lives!
I was pleased to get this information in order to express congratuations and gratitude for the years of help and discipleship you give to me and my family. Father uses so many ways to mature us in Christ and your lives were certainly used by Him at important times in our lives. We remain grateful for all the time and love you gave us. I appreciate your love for the Kingdom of Christ and for His Word. Your zeal to know and memorize God's Word remains an example for me. I continue to remember and use some of your nuggets of wisdom, Bob, such as "See a lot, work on a little!" Or "Tough and Tender." Or "If you think you're ripe, you're rotten; if you think you're green, you're growing." We are still in ministry among the saints, working with young couples, working with young men, preaching the Word and doing evangelism in part because of your example and influence in our lives. I want to thank you for that and I thank our God for the years we had together. May our Lord Jesus Christ continue his hand of blessing, grace and mercy on your lives until we all reach that wonderful eternal Rest.
Sincere, Harry Stoliker

Bob,

For so many years you were an exemplary leader in the pro-life movement in the Philadelphia area. Your strength and guidance in the rescue movement helped bring many people to witness and sacrifice for the defenseless unborn children. You have inspired us and we are so grateful for your wonderful Christian life. To you and your lovely wife, Jan, we honor your commitment to each other through all these years together. May God continue to bless you and your family with health and happiness!

Love, Lori and Frank Cotterall


I will be posting more tributes throughout the next few days.

For most of us, we'll be lucky if we have ONE person who says these kinds of things about us when we're older. My parents have left an extremely long and wide trail of changed lives behind them as they've walked through life.

Tribute From Pattie McHugh

I want to spend a few posts sharing the comments from the many people who sent messages to my parents for their 50th anniversary. Contacting and communicating with some of the people who have played such large roles in my parents' lives was such a great experience for me. I didn't grow up in the Bob-and-Jan-Navigator era, I was only part of the First Baptist Church/Pro-Life era, so meeting people and hearing stories from the Navigator era was really fun.

I always knew about the impact that my parents had on people, but to hear the stories firsthand was so interesting. I didn't talk to one person who had something casual to say about Mom and Dad.

Pattie McHugh didn't get her message in in time for it to be read at the party itself, so I decided to post it here! Mike McHugh worked with Dad in the Navigators, and this lovely tribute is from his wife, Pattie.


In Honor of Bob and Jan Lewis

Dear Family and Friends of this beloved couple,

I regret that circumstances prevented my attendance at Bob and Jan's 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration. Fittingly, I understand it was a lovely, memorable evening. My gratitude for Bob and Jan's godly influence on my husband, Mike, and my life compels me to write this heartfelt, albeit inadequate tribute.

I grew up in a loving, stable family, remarkable in that Dad came from a home broken by divorce and Mom was orphaned at 7 mos. Though churched and godfearing, I did not come to understand the gospel message of salvation from my sin in our Lord Jesus Christ til my late teens.

My first introduction to Bob Lewis was through my future husband. He invited me to hear Bob speak on Deuteronomy at a Virginia Tech bible study in the Navigator home of Warren and Bonnie Bell (where Mike was living at the time). Mr. Lewis made the scriptures come alive that night and, 33 years later, I still remember his words of exhortation. "Do not be like the children of Israel and forget God. Remember, remember, remember His acts of mercy and lovingkindness in your life!" Many conferences and messages came and went and I was privileged to hear Bob share words of wisdom that have benefitted my soul.

Though obviously brilliant and well read, he had the ability to impart truth simply. For example, he illustrated that having the mind of Christ is like a rubber band. It stretches to perform a function. Likewise, our mind must focus to perform many tasks. But when the task is complete, our mind should snap back to focus on Him. Another illustration highlighted the danger of entertaining sin in our lives. He used the picture of an arrow. The arrow has a deceptively tiny point of contact but will quickly press in an everwidening gash in our lives if we allow it. Henry Adams observed, " A teacher affects eternity: he can never tell where his influence stops." I thank God for the call upon Bob to teach the word of God in season and out and for the priceless treasures Mike and I and our children have received as a result.

When I ponder how much Jan has given to me through the years (and yes, I write this with tears in my eyes; eyes that now see through life experience that her generous hospitality cost her dearly), I am reminded of IThessalonians 2:8 "Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us." Jan lives out an honest walk with God that has no interest in man-pleasing rules. I consistently find my friendship with Jan refreshing and filled with grace. I have found much joy in my attempts to bless the women God has brought across my path with the same life-giving spirit of grace. Jan opened her home and heart to me and modeled a life that was eager to learn. If Jan recommended a book, I made sure I read it. Jan, I just loaned my worn copy of Marriage To a Difficult Man to an appreciative wife! smile! Seriously, I took to heart her encouragement to study the lives of famous men and their women and to make it a lifelong endeavor to understand the husband God gave me. Jan communicated a sincere interest in me as a whole person and mentored me in countless ways. She was even my boss for a time in a business selling fabulous jewelry where I grew in knowledge and confidence. And we had fun doing it!

Jan's willingness to help me extended to my children. She inspired me to understand my children and discern their gifts and how they were bent. Kara, our oldest, still remembers Mrs. Lewis taking her to Chuckie Cheese to celebrate a "Terrific Tuesday!"
Recently, as I have been challenged by trials, I have been comforted by one of Jan's many insightful life illustrations. She said life is like jugglers at the circus. Young moms with little children are like the jugglers, trying to catch all the plates that are flying at them at a rapid frenzy, trying to keep their cool and not drop those plates! As life moves on and the pace slows a bit(...not completely convinced that the pace is slowing all that much, Jan! ;0 ) the jugglers have heavier plates to bear. Jan's words comfort me that I am in the Lord's will, experiencing life's normal passage.

As Mike and I endeavor to imitate Bob and Jan, insofar they are like Christ, and give our lives to things eternal, we have grown in appreciation for the example they set for us. We know full well that we can never repay them and these few words are incommensurate with their legacy.

We feel privileged indeed to be included in the Lewis circle of friendship.
With love and gratitude,
Pattie

Phonics Is The Devil

Phonics is crap. I will never understand the point.


Once you learn the alphabet, and what sounds each letter makes, why spend so much time going further than that?

From that point, just start sounding words out, in books, and around you. Deal with the exceptions when you come to them. Lord knows there are plenty of them in the f-ed up English language.

You're not going to learn to read until you LEARN TO READ. Put it to use right away. Nothing teaches you to read better than READING. Sitting around doing exercise sheets on the "oi" sound or the "th" sound for a year is such a waste of time. READ!! By the time kids "know how" to read, they're probably so bored out of their minds from all of the "oi" worksheets, and baby stories that are made up of only words with "oi" in them, that they could never imagine that a book could contain an interesting story, so why bother.

You don't have to make learning to read so insanely structured and manic. Human brains were MADE to learn to read and write. Just a casual "hey, th makes the sound th...", is plenty. You don't need to spend 3 weeks doing worksheets on "th". Just have the child read aloud, and when they come to the word "think" you just casually say "see that TH? Th sounds like th...". And you keep going. You'll probably only have to say that 2 or 3 times. Kids have great memories.

Reading teaches you so much more than anything else. Seeing words in context. Seeing how words are spelled. Seeing sentence structure. Critical thinking skills are being used.

When you READ, you not only figure out what a word IS, you see how it is used in context. How it is used in a sentence. You are multi-learning (is that a word? If not, I just created it!).

All of this phonics crap obviously isn't working, when you take the illiteracy rates into account. Maybe we're spending too much time teaching kids HOW to read, and not actually making them READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And why do kids who already know how to read have to take phonics?

Try a little Dick and Jane. Now THERE'S a fantastic way to learn to read.

Keep it simple, stupid.