Father’s Day is today. Made me think of my favorite dad resource. Happy Father’s Day to you dad’s out there.

When we had Zeke a friend here at the Summit, John Posey, gave me what is fastly becoming my favorite book. Gonn & Hal Iggulden’s The Dangerous Book for Boys is a blast. let me read you some of the chapter titles…

Essential Gear / The Greatest Paper Airplane in the World / The five knots every boy should know (I learned them last night!) / Making a Bow and Arrow / Navajo Code Talker’s Dictionary / Making a Paper Hat, Boat and Water Bomb…

I could go on. Bottom line, if you are a parent of a boy, you will find this to be a fun manual for creating a life of adventure for your son.

Im spending the day with my family today. One thing I am learning: Even when you love what you do for a living, you still need time away from it. And it is hard for me to pull away, but sooo good every time I do. You should see me right now. Im kicked back in an old fold out nylon captain’s chair (the ones made famous by youth soccer fields across america) in my front yard under the shade of a tree. My lady is reading a book and my little boy is playing with whatever he can roll to (no crawling for big Zeke). I’m reading Moral Darwinism and learning about the history of evolutionary thought and also working on my gardening skills. Pepper & cucumber plants. My first try and so far I count it a success (ie they are still alive). Friday night is also bath night for Zeke. As you can see, he enjoys it (this picture was put up here with Zeke’s permission). Anyways, just wanted to brag on my favorite small group a little and encourage you to build rest into your routine. God took a rest on day 7 to enjoy all he created, I think he was on to something. Thanks God.

When I became a parent 7.75 months ago, I was thrust into a quite challenging world where sleep is not a necessity but a luxury. In these almost 8 months my wife and I have not slept for more than 3 hours in a row (with the exception of 3 glorious nights around month 5). I tell you that to tell you we have been in a constant state of research & experimenting to find the right “fix” to get our little guy snoozing.

Well, just the other day Courtney stumbled onto a chapter of a children’s health book, written by a Doctor, who provided a cure in the following words

“There is no worthwhile immediate treatment your doctor can provide that you cannot provide yourself…give whiskey by mouth which will help the child sleep (give 10 drops of whiskey to a small baby and up to one-half teaspoon to a larger one. the dose can be repeated in one hour and once more in another hour if needed.)”

Im not sure how I missed this idea! Tonight when Zeke gets up, I will bring him downstairs where I have Jack Daniels shots lined up across the counter. We will each pound one, and head back to bed. May have to put his in his bottle, but I bet he will get it down ok. He’s chunky so Im sure he can hold his liquor. And if it doesnt work the first time, round 2 will follow just 60 minutes later.

No this is not a flashback to some college frat party game, its parenting advice on pg.150 of the book im reading (which I will leave nameless because im pretty sure I didnt do the whole thing justice by picking out this one specific peice of advice).

Ok, so my son is a tank. Im talking 17lbs at 3.5 months. For those of you who know baby weight, that is…healthy. He is also quite Jolly and has rosy cheeks. All that to say, below is a picture of what Chris Cringle looked like at 3.5 months old. (Please ignore the fact that I look like Ive been up all night…likely I look like that because I had been up all night)

Im a proud pappa and this is what those guys do. They brag about their son to anyone who will listen. So here you go. Actually not to sound too cheesy but God gets all of the glory for this little guy surviving pregnancy and delivery. He not only had the cord wrapped around his neck when he was delivered, he also had tied a knot (yes on his own) in that cord which often will lead to death for the baby. Praise be to God this little guy is healthy and active. For you men out there, he has a strong stream (changing diapers is a steep learning curve) so everything is ok.

Zeke exchanging gang symbols with Dad

yea everything is a little big for him right now

If I knew how to use Twitter, this would probably a tweet on that. Instead, its just a quick word to all of you who have been praying for Courtney and I since Friday morning when we headed to the hospital. They told us it would be probably 1 or 2 in the morning before Zeke would be born, meaning about 16 hours of labor. He was born at 6:48 pm after just 3 hours of labor because Courtney is a champ. Ezekiel Jones Shelton (6 lbs 13 oz 19″) is here! pictures to come. Pray for Courtney though, the trauma of the delivery has left her in pain that percacet just cant help. She hasnt slept yet and it doesnt look like she will tonight (its 1:30 am). Pray for endurance for the sheltons over the next 24 hours!! Oh, zeke is sleeping like a…baby. so thats good.

Also, if you are a small group leader you should check out a new site recently launched for small group leaders called the Small Group Exchange . I hope its going to be a pretty good, interactive site for us to learn from the experience of other small group ministries.