Jesus Freaks

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Dave Burke

The Bible teaches that we are to “make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” There are those who wish that God had been a little more specific and commanded something more like a joyful “melody” instead, but for some reason He didn’t. That was, no doubt, for the best. Had He been more specific, every generation of parents would have used that to justify their distaste for the music of their children’s generation. Come to think of it, parents haven’t really needed the excuse.

Grumbling about the next generation’s music has been a time-honored parental rite for centuries. Read more »

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Man Movies

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Dave Burke

One of the greatest benefits of having children (besides all of that personal fulfillment and propagation of the species stuff…blah, blah, blah), is that you get to play with their toys!

Let’s face it, toys are so much cooler now than when we were kids! It may be popular among parents to bemoan the fact that “toys these days don’t require any imagination”, but if you’re honest you’ll have to admit that given the choice between the generic set of Lincoln Logs from your childhood and a modern day Lego set that assembles to form a 23 inch-long Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer, there’s just no competition.

OK, I never actually bought that set for my boys ($375!? Yikes!), but stick with me here. Read more »

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Birth Order

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Dave Burke

It is a matter of continual amazement to me that three boys brought up under the same parents, in the same atmosphere, in largely the same environment can have such different personalities.

There’s a long-standing debate among scientists and psychologists about whether birth order has anything to do with this.  According to some experts, “First borns scored higher on conservatism, conscientiousness and achievement orientation. Later borns scored higher on rebelliousness, openness, and agreeableness.” Other researchers dispute the claim that birth order has anything at all to do with personality. Read more »

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When Boys Bake

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Dave Burke

(Warning! Includes a recipe!)

One of the things you learn pretty quickly when your house is full of boys is that a lot of things aren’t going to turn out quite like you envisioned them. It’s as if you commissioned a Norman Rockwell painting of a happy, traditional family scene, only to find out that what you got was something from “When Zombies Attack!” It’s not exactly what you were hoping for, but hey, it’s still a Norman Rockwell, right?

Such is Karen’s life.

One Christmas she laid-out all the preparations for our family to decorate sugar cookies together. We had cookies cut in the shapes of Santa, and reindeer, and Christmas trees. There was frosting in green, and white, and red. The kitchen smelled delicious, and we were all gathered around having a wonderful, Norman Rockwell moment.

Until one of Santa’s arms accidentally broke off. Read more »

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Treasure

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Dave Burke

One of the big advantages to moving to Huntsville sixteen years ago was that we were going to be closer to family. After years spent serving with the army in Germany and starting our civilian life in California, it was nice to be back within driving distance of almost all of our family.

On one of the first Thanksgivings after we moved, we headed up to Lexington, Kentucky to celebrate the holiday with most of the “Burke” side of our family. My parents came up from Charleston, S.C. and my sister and her family came up from Atlanta. We joined my cousins and their families there as we all converged on my Aunt Kathy’s house. Even my Burke grandparents were there. It was a rare and special event for a family so used to the nomadic life of the military. So special, in fact, that it became a yearly tradition. Read more »

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