Life never slows down

The family is definitely busy! It was nice to stay in this weekend, although we had a great time last Sunday making the trek to Atlanta for a housewarming/superbowl party at my brother and sister-in-law's home. It was nice to have my whole family together for the first time in a couple years - we're talking 20 of us, all in the same home at the same time! Amazing! Anyway, this weekend was all about getting back to the grindstone. I spent most of Saturday recouping from my first week with this class of students and catching up to my studies for my Masters degree program. I also chilled for the first time in a while with Rachel and watched a movie. This week brought another activity into our life - choir and music are once again in full swing in the Sulhoff household! Somehow we are finding ourselves singing with the church choir and occasionally, I'm picking up the guitar for a few songs on Sunday. The kids are starting up gymnastics and our house is getting littered with music and notes for my classes. Overall though, God is good - all the time! This week we will celebrate Valentine's Day and I'm at a loss! Hopefully, I'll think of something . . .

Third Day Grammy

Hot off the press! Third Day wins Grammy for album "Wherever You Are" !!! No surprise from this home, of course - as it really is an amazing production that captures the essence of Christ meeting us when we need Him most. Congratulations to the guys and family of Third Day! This is their third Grammy, a pretty awesome feat for a bunch of guys who met in high school and decided to share their love of God and music with others, no matter how big or small the audience. May His wonders never cease!

Hypocrisy!

I had a dillema this week. I advised a student that it was important for them to learn how to keep themselves accountable for their own actions. It made a lot of sense, until the student asked for an example. At that time, I had a complete mental block. It became a humbling moment of understanding where and how I lack self-discipline. It was not fun to tell the student that I didn't have an example. It wasn't fun being a hypocrite for that moment in time. Well, I spent the week suffering over a good response and on Friday, it came to me. Just after I had counseled this student for not following my directions, Irealized that I had given up the opportunity to go home a little earlier and spend time with my family, in order to explain my disappointment in this students performance. I failed to convey what I wanted such that the student delivered accordingly. In response to my own failure at meeting my own standard, I forced myself to stay later at work and counsel this student. That was a momentary glimpse of what personal accountability is about. It is not about resolutions and keeping them or getting the best grades in school. It is about removing personal privilege in order to right the wrong. It is about serving the standard and others before serving my own wants and desires. I felt bad about not having an example, but I was able to convey this to the student, and I believe it sunk in - in a much more frank, modest manner.

A new career in full motion

Today I had the "Newcomer's Welcome" for my organization. It's OK that I've only been working there since October. There were some folks there who had been on the job since last June. I'm used to getting training after the fact, though. At our first assignment in South Dakota, I went to my job technical training in October, I had been working in that job since July. A year and a half later, I got the actual in-depth training on the specific tasks I had been accomplishing that entire time. Most of my training as a parent has been on the job. Same goes for my faith. Just now, this semester, I'm starting to understand how to really interpret the scriptures which have been the foundation of my salvation as a Christian since I was six. I don't really think it matters when you get trained, though. I think it is more important to stay open-minded to the training and not bitter that you didn't get it in the beginning. Rachel is sewing some curtains for the kids' room and the house is quiet after another long day.

"Buzz Lightyear to th......." grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

We are so easily distracted. Andrew borrowed someone else's "Buzz Lightyear" and barely got a wink during his nap today. Instead I spent the afternoon listening to him punching the buttons on the toy. . . "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!" and laser noises punctuated what would have been a quiet afternoon working on my Masters. Now, I'm blogging about it and a little upset at his lack of obedience. Parenthood is not easy. I can only begin to imagine what God thought when He realized Eve had done the one thing she was not supposed to do. Akiane, the completely amazing and talented 12-yr old artist who has painted works that can compare to the greats, painted an amazing depiction of Eve in the Garden. It showed her in front of what appears to be a bunch of grapes. The fruit is rather the fruit of the tree of good and evil - red and green were the prominent colors of fruit. One of the green fruits shows a tear, where she had taken a bite - and instead of goodness flowing from it, blood came out. This deeply depicts how deceived she and Adam were by the serpent. I wonder if Andrew has been deceived into thinking it's OK to disobey. I wonder if he really understands the err of his ways. But then again, I wonder if I understand the err of my ways when I disobey. Have I really grown more mature or have I just grown older? Unfortunately, the case is probably more the latter than the former. God bless you all!

The Good Shepherd

Too many days since last post. That's OK, though, because only about 3 people have looked at the site since. Although a tad down-trodden, I am not totally depressed by our low site count. But, if you want to make a brother feel better, tell your friends to check out our site in their spare time. I just saw "The Good Shepherd" which I will dub "The Fairly Slow-Developing Movie of Overpaid Actors Projected on a Too-Small Screen at My Local Theater with Crummy Sound". I can just hear the nominations now, "And the winner, for longest movie title of the year is. . . . At any rate, I think Matt Damon actually said about 70 words or less the entire movie and he was way to promiscuous for my liking. I lost a lot of respect for his character, though I'm sure the director had some reason for all of that - I just wanted able to think deep enough for Coppola or DeNiro tonight. Maybe I should have stayed home and watched "Finding Nemo" again. After three weeks of working on my masters, I've decided that it is doable - just very time consuming and sometimes confusing. I love using the online classroom tools though. How great is it that I can watch the lecture anytime I want and take a test anytime during a two-week window??? I certainly wish my profs in college had record, pause, rewind, stop, and most importantly - fast-forward. I haven't used the latter yet with my current professors, as they seem to truly be worth their salt. Until my next spare instant - continue to love your neighbor! You'll love the results!

Welcome Nemo's

1.20.07 Masters degrees are hard! In other news, we picked up two perculas today ("Nemo-fish") and they are happily exploring their new home, our 46-gallon marine aquarium. They are joining the current residents, a blood shrimp who literally jumps out of his skin about once a month, a very shy and colorific rabbitfish, a skittish fairy wrasse, two sand stars, 20 lbs of "live" rock, and a menagerie of other creatures, most of them so small that we can't see them. Unfortunately, our son's personal tank that he got for Christmas, is fishless after an unsuccessful habitation by three Wal-Mart guppies. We'll try again in a little while, after the ammonia and nitrite levels drop to a more acceptable concentration (0 mg/l). The kids are excited about the "Nemo-fish" and we are excited about watching the interaction in the tank over the next few days. Until next time, FISH ON!

Reunion - a beautiful thing

1.16.07 Back in our home, and settled after the pipe was fixed. Even one night away can stir life up a bit. Lately, one word has come to mind a lot - Reunion. Since arriving in Alabama, we have had the privilege of re-uniting with several folks, sometimes even accidentally! Somehow I've been able to reconnect with friends and teachers from High School, College, our first and second assignments as well. That is, of course, not to mention the fact that we have spent considerably more time with family than we had during the years in Alaska. Sometimes you can just feel that God is about to do something different with your life. I feel that way now and I believe that this reunion with so many friends, family, and mentors from days past is preparing us for something great. We'll keep you posted as we try to keep our eyes shut and hearts open to His will.