More adventures of Jim and Max

Sunday night Max and I were home alone while Natasha ran some errands. I was watching a football game and Max was jumping in his jumper when Natasha left...as she left she said "I think he may be dirtying his diaper". I decided to wait a few minutes so I didn't get a surprise on the changing table...mistake #1. The game got exciting and Max was enjoying the jumping so more than a few minutes passed...mistake #2. After some jumping Max slowed down so I decided to lay him down under his toys...mistake #3. He wasn't interested in his toys and began fussing so I decided he was tired and took him into his room to lay him down for a nap...mistake #4. As soon as I laid him down he began crying and after ten minutes of crying I returned to see what was the matter. When I picked him up he began laughing and smiling...I figured he wasn't sleepy and wanted to play...mistake #5. So back to his toys. I laid down next to him and we began playing with the things that dangle in front of his face. Thats when I remembered the diaper that I was going to change 30 minutes ago. I scooped him up and brought him to the changing table to discover what 5 mistakes will get you...2 more of them.

As I carefully began removing clothing I could see the downfall of Huggies...they don't "hug" in the back. The poo was not contained and had migrated up his back almost all the way to his ears. Did I mention he hadn't had a bowel movement in a few days? The last item I removed was his shirt which is even more difficult when its coated in poo. This is where mistakes #6 and #7 happened. I had one hand holding a poo covered shirt and the other hand holding up Max who was standing on his changing table. Now when you are holding two poo covered items there isn't much else you can do. I decided to aim for the trash can with the shirt...which made it, but as I released that perfect throw Max began slipping out of the other hand which caused me to grab him by both hands in the poo. My reaction made him giggle and laugh. As he stood back up I stood there wondering what do I do now? I am covered up to my elbows and Max was covered up to his ears in poo. Not many options run through your head when you are in this position. I was debating kitchen sink or bathtub...thats when the Max fountain went off pretty much hitting me square in the chest. Then it was off to the kitchen sink where I grabbed the hand held sprayer to begin powerwashing him off.

Those are the adventures of Jim and Max and we are loving every minute of it.

Max rode a Mule

Wednesday night is man night around the Versluys house. Natasha teaches 2 classes at Aquinas College on Wednesday nights so that leaves Max and me to discover the world. I know, he is only 4 months old so everything isn't always what most would consider "manly"...for example Wednesday night is usually bath night, not a lot of manliness in bubbles, rubber ducks, and paisly colored wash cloths. Max does do his best to inject manliness into bath time with a well timed fountain...the kind that requires an extra rinse.

We've gone for walks to look at the sky, we've hiked around our farm to look at trees and sneak up on deer, and last night Max got to ride on a Mule. I am not sure who had more fun, him or me listening to him giggle and laugh. We parked under a huge Shagbark Hickory tree and talked...yeah, it was more me talking and him smiling at me. I love these times and look forward to many more to come.

Sitting under that tree with Max got me thinking about my family. My parents lost their son when he was only 6 years old. This all happened before my time so I've got no memory of, didn't experience it, and never could really comprehend it. Sitting under that tree with Max got me thinking about what my sisters, parents and specifically what my dad went through in that loss. Sitting there with Max gave me a much deeper understanding of what it was that they lost.




These are actually the words of my wife, about an entirely different situation, but they speak so deeply into what I felt last night as I thought about the loss of my brother: "nothing angers me more than knowing that we live in a fallen world and that the brokenness we experience here is so far from the richness of our design in the image of our Creator". Her words are such a harmony to the verses in Ephesians that I've been memorizing so that they are apart of me: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Deer watching with Max

Tonight Max and I went for a walk at our tree farm. With cool temperatures it was a beautiful night with a gorgeous sunset. Max snuck up on his first deer...with some help from dad.

The first picture is of the two deer we walked up on. Never thought I could do that with a four month old strapped to my back.

Max was very good. He loves to be outside; looking around at the trees and sky. The last few pictures are of when we got back to the barn and my truck...an evening of sneaking up on deer tires the best of them out, even Max.

Max is all set to come help Dad drive the bobcats, loaders, and big trucks this fall now that he has his own pair of Carhart's...thanks to the Salvation Army.

Bath Time

I used "Auntie" Angie's technique to get Max to smile for Natasha and the camera. It's a technique that requires a lot of arm and leg movement along with noices and facial expressions I'd rather not do in public...so don't expect to see me demo that one for you.

Bibles

I picked up a new Bible for myself yesterday. It was more of a replacement one. I like having a a small one that I can put in my back pocket, slide under my arm rest in my truck, or stuff in my lunch box. It's a replacement because I already have one...but its in sorry shape. Years of use and abuse have been not kind to it. I've had to tape it back together on more than one occasion and I have used multiple types of tape. Most recently I had to break out the Gorilla Glue...which if you haven't used is the best glue in the world, it holds everything together. Back to my Bible, despite all the glue and tape some pages are beginning to come loose and I was afraid it wouldn't stand up to another day of use in my world of reading.

I'm on vacation this week so my week has been filled with a lot of going here and there. Well yesterday, between going here and there, I found myself near Baker Book House. I had already visited many other bookstores in the past month but none had "the Bible". I saw a lot of other Bible's, in fact, I never realized how many Bible's there are out there. New International Version, American Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, New American Standard Version, New Living Translation, The Message, New Life Version, King James Version, New King James Version, and those don't include all of them for different lifestyles; Children's Bible, Young Kid's Bible, Middle Schooler's Bible, Young Teen Bible, Teen Bible, Girl's Bible, Boy's Bible, Young Adult Bible, Women's Bible, Men's Bible, Backpacker's Bible, Sportsman's Bible, Hiker's Bible, Golfer's Bible, and that is just a few of what I found while looking for "the Bible".

Well yesterday I found "the Bible". When I saw "her" I knew "she" was the one. "She" is a beauty...she is a NIV compact with Black Bonded Leather (no idea what bonded leather means). Wait, that's not all "she" is also a thinline which means "she" is less than 1" thick. Oh yeah "she" is all that.

Now that I have my new Bible I am left in a bit of a quandary. What do I do with my old Bible? I mean you don't just go throwing Bible's away...do you. Are you supposed to burn it like a worn out flag? Do you send it through a paper shredder? Used book sale? Shallow grave?

I decided to google "disposal of a bible" in hopes of getting some direction...I did not anticipate 1,715,000 results in 0.15 seconds. That is a lot of reading to figure out how to properly dispose of a Bible...how come no one ever speaks on proper Bible disposal? Now there is a sermon title...feel free to use it if you like. After some reading in my google search it looks like burning and burial are the two most common methods. Burning being the favored method, they recommend a large fire that is plenty hot to consume all the pages. A man most have thought that one up...I am all for things dealing with fire. The pyro in me just smiled...many stories I have to tell Max, after he is 21.