Worship Wednesday 06-29-11

Through this song, I am reminded that my worship is about my life and my response to who God is within my life. My prayer is that he will truly be everything to me.

Statements by Keller: God, Love, and Snoring!

I confess that this has been a really hard week for me emotionally. I find it interesting how kids can pick up on things. The last night, I was tucking Keller into bed and here is what he said to me.

Keller: "Daddy, I know you are sad...but I just wanted to say I am proud of you!"
Me: "Your proud of me? But I didn't do anything!"
Keller: "Yes you did daddy!"
Me: "OK! Well tell me what did I do?"
Keller: "I am proud of you because you love me just like God loves me...and that's a lot of love!"
Me:"Your right buddy! I do love you a lot"
Keller: "And you are funny and silly and you snore!"
Me:"What does snoring have to do with me loving you?"
Keller: "I don't know. You snore a lot and so you can't stay in my room for the slumber party...so you can leave now."

I am choosing to hold on to the part of the conversation about love and God...not about the snoring!

RG

Parenthood 2.0: Trading Places

So this has been an interesting week...for many reasons. But it has been a pleasure to spend the past four days as Mr. Mom...or #domesticdad if you are following me on twitter.
My wife was offered a job at the local high school to work in their main office for their final week of office hours before summer. It was a great opportunity and I was happy to have a little one on one time with the Gage kids! In my mind I thought how hard could it be right?....WRONG!
It was actually a busy week! It was Keller's first time at attending Vacation Bible School. So it was a matter of finding the right rhythm to the day! There were some sweet moments with Kerrington, but I discovered something about myself. I am not the multi-tasker that I thought I was! Or maybe I am not a good multi-tasker when it comes to the needs and plans of the kids! The schedule of a stay-at-home parent is detailed, accurate, precise and well executed! Even better, there is room for adjustments for kid's temperament, naps, potty accidents and so on!
AND DON"T GET ME STARTED ON THE HOUSE DUTIES!!!!!!!
I must confess that it was a sad experience to spend so much time cleaning the kitchen and dishes, loading the dishwasher and so forth...only to go and start another load of laundry and when you walk back into that once beautiful kitchen there are new dishes, and spells on the floor and a trail of food crumbs because it was time for a snack! And then there is the laundry...there are no words in the universe to describe how disappointing that process can be! IT JUST KEEPS COMING!

But here came the most humbling experience for me. I was picking Keller up from bible school and I had to enter into the church's main sanctuary! One of the volunteers informed me that he was in the restroom and would be right out! As I am standing there, I hear this lady whispering to her friend about me. "Oh, he must be new at this parenting thing...I would never let my baby not have any shoes." EXCUSE ME!!! Did she really say that out loud?! Of course the inner Madea was getting fired up...so I decided to turn around and face these "ladies" and let them know that they were totally out of touch. With the pivot of my foot, two things happened. First, i noticed the lady was holding a baby not much older then Kerrington...WITHOUT SHOES!!!! Yes, you read that correctly! The child did not have on shoes and she was trying to talk about my baby not having her shoes....it was just.....sorry got off track. The second, as I turned, Keller ran out of the bathroom and saw me and decided to run to me. As he gave me a really big, nice hug, somehow he ended up pulling my gym shorts down! And there I was, standing there with a baby on my hip, a child on my leg, and my shorts somewhere in between but not where they should! If you ever wanted to see a black man blush...this would be the moment! But I overcame this obstacle...I pulled myself together and pulled my shorts up and continued with the rest of our day! As we got in the van, the three of us were having a great laugh about the whole. Although I think Kerrington was laughing because she could...or she had gas.
The rest of the day and week continued and I somehow managed to survive!

I never thought of myself as one of those "husbands" who doesn't understand what their wives go through in raising kids and doing all that they do. But after these four days, I am deeply aware of what goes on in her life and it has made me all the more grateful for who she is and what she does for our family! So to all you stay at home parents, know that you are loved and supported. You may not hear it enough, but we are grateful! And to my wife, You are the best! You are the hardest working person in this family! You are loved by your children and adored by your husband!

RG

Worship Wednesday

Here is our latest edition of our web series! Hope you can take a moment in the middle of your work day and worship the One that knows you by name.

RG

Worship with Us

As weird as this sounds, I am looking forward to a normal Sunday. Since May we have had several special Sundays including Mother's Day, Father's Day, Graduation Day, Memorial Day, Baby day, and so on. Sometimes, I feel this time of year can become a little out of control, but the important thing is that God is still able to be praised....in the midst of all our pomp!

So here is what we have lined up for worship music this week.

SUNDAY MORNING
Forever
How Great is our God
Made me Glad
Let Your Holy Rain fall Down
Worthy is the Lamb
In Christ Alone

SUNDAY EVENING
This week is Summer Hymn Sing. The last Sunday of the month this summer, we are allowing the congregation to pick their favorite hymns...just like the old day!

Grilling with Gage!

It is no secret that I love Barbecue! I love to eat it...and I love to cook it! My first Father's gift was a Weber Grill and my cooking life has never been the same. Grilling has given me the opportunity to experiment with different foods and flavors; and this weekend was no different. Occasionally, I will post on facebook and twitter some of the things that I am grilling...but I have never received the response that I did with this Father's Day recipe. I even had a gentleman send me his address, in the hopes that I would send him a bottle of the special sauce. Move Over Martha...there's a new cooking Diva in the house!!!!!!! Ok, not really, but here is my recipe for Grilled Pork loin with Cranberry Barbecue Sauce. It's a super easy and quick recipe for the sauce. I know there are other versions out there that take a little more time, which I will also be working on, but for the time being, my family and friends enjoyed the quick version.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups fresh cranberries(I used the Ocean Spray Bagged Cranberries)
1/2 cup Orange Juice
1/2 barbecue Sauce
3 Tbs sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 gallon sized freezer bag

Pork Loin

In a medium pot,combine cranberries, juice, barbecue sauce, and sugar and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes.

Sprinkle salt and pepper on pork loin and place in gallon sized freezer bag.

Place generous amount of cranberry BBQ sauce over pork loin and seal bag(make sure there is not air in the bag.
Set aside at least a 1/2 cup of sauce for garnish.

Massage the pork loin and sauce together for full coating. Let pork loin Marinate at least 45 minutes and up to 3 hours.

Prepare grill (gas or charcoal. For best result, use/create a indirect heat flow in your grill. This will stop the pork loin from cooking to fast and burning the marinade.
Grill meat for 10-12 minutes on each side (depends on the temperature of your grill).

Once grilled, remove pork loin and place on serving dish and cover. Allow at least 5 minutes for grilled pork loin to rest.

Once side dishes are prepared, cut pork loin and drizzle remaining sauce on top of the meat.

***OPTION**** If you would like a smooth texture to your sauce, you can puree sauce in a food processor. Simply follow recipe as written, once sauce is warmed, pour into processor and blend. Return to pot and simmer.

***OPTION*** Cranberries can be switched with blackberries or use 1/2 cup sugar free blackberry preserves.

Happy grilling!

RG

Harnessing the Power of Social Media with Mandisa & NASA

I must confess that I am not the person that would usually enter into contests. But with the internet and now facebook and twitter, I find myself entering all kinds of contests and drawings. It's as if I were tapping into my inner Grandma Gage. She was always buying a lottery ticket or putting her name in for a prize at the local grocery store. "What's the worst thing that could happen...I don't win.", she would tell me. But I just never got into it...until recently!

It is no secret that I am big fan of Zumba! If you have not tried it...you should! It will change your life...and after all, the hips don't lie! Anyway, the local radio station was hosting a drawing to have a Zumba class with Christian Artist Mandisa (who is a favorite in the Gage house).Mandisa and Christian Comedienne Anita Renfroe were coming to the area to do a concert. In fact, it was a Girls Night Out event for the ladies of the church(remember this side note for later in the story) Naturally, I entered my name, and Ashley entered her name as well! In the mean time, I decided that I would use my twitter page to express my joy and excitement about this opportunity to work out with my wife, the radio DJ's, and of course Mandisa. So the days went by and the humorous tweets were flowing! Two weeks before the Zumba Contest, I stumbled across this email about NASA hosting a tweetup for the last Shuttle launch! If you were selected, you would spend two days at the Kennedy Space Center...including the day of the final launch! This news thrilled my science, Star Trek, Star Wars, loving heart! So of course I put my name into the hat...along with 5,000 other people!

The week of the concert and zumba class had arrived. I had worked hard using twitter as a campaign to get me and Ashley a spot in the class. There was even some response from the radio station. At last, the moment had arrived...and we didn't get the tickets! But here's the good news, because of my humorous tweets, the DJ's offered me two free tickets to the Girls Night Out Concert! Most men would have passed on the chance to go to this all girl event, but you better believe I used it!
A few days after winning the concert tickets, I get a tweet from NASA telling me that they have sent out email confirmations about the tweetup. I didn't really think anything about it. In fact I almost didn't check it out! But when I did, I was thrown in the floor with delight! I, along with 149 other people were selected to attend the tweetup! There are no words to describe how I felt and are feeling!

But the story continues! So I decided to attend the Girls Night Out Concert (because my wife asked me to drive the church van. It was an interesting evening from the get go! I once again decided to take the opportunity to tweet about my experience leading up to the concert...including the fact that I was hoping to keep my man card after the evening was over. Little did I know, Anita Renfroe had planned to use these tweets and pulled me up onto the stage to perform a special rap with her titled "In Da Muthahood." Clearly I do know scream hip-hop, but I was determined to make the most of it!

So it's safe to say that I am on social network overload. I could go on with more details, but after these experiences, it is safe to say that I will be a fan of social media for a long time.

RG

Worship With Us

This Sunday is Father's Day! I hope you are planning something special for your father! How does your church celebrate Father's Day? Does your worship service coordinate with the theme of the day?

Here's our worship songs for our service this week!

SUNDAY AM
Everlasting God
Your Grace is Enough
Praise to the Lord the Almighty
In Your presence Praise
Your Name
All Things are Possible

SUNDAY PM
The Solid Rock
Sing to the King
Glorious One
Shout to the Lord

Praying for you and your congregation as you prepare to celebrate on the Lord's Day!

RG

Worship Wednesday

So I decided to start a new worship resource for anyone who is interested. But I also thought it would be a great way for people to pause in the middle of their busy work day or week and reflect upon who God is in their life. May he be glorified as we lift our hearts to him. Blessings, RG

Summer Fun List 2011

The time is going by entirely to fast. I say this because our son Keller, graduated pre-school at the beginning of May...and he is ready to start Kindergarten! Even though he is ready, I am not sure that his parents are as ready!
In honor of his big accomplishment, I thought it would be a great idea to make this summer extra special. Those that know me well, know that I am a list maker. I have several note pads around the house with ideas and to-do's that come to mind. So in order to pass along my OCD gene to my son, I decided to create a Summer Fun List! It is the Top 10 things (actually 13) that he wanted to do before he starts kindergarten. I wanted to do this list for a couple of reasons. The first, I wanted him to have something to look back on and say "Hey that was a great Summer." Maybe it will inspire a new family tradition. The second, has to do with my own personal need to be active in the lives of my children. Growing up with a single parent did not necessarily provide the opportunity have a summer that was filled with activities and events every week for 3 months. The opportunities I did have I cherish, but I confess I want my children to have a totally different experience.
We will be tracking our success on this blog, facebook and twitter. I hope you will come along on this journey with us! Maybe you will even create a summer fun list for your kids! Of course there are other activities that Keller will be doing that are not included with this list...these are the items that were top priority to him...and yes he did come up with this list, with only a little help from his us.

KELLER'S SUMMER FUN LIST 2011

1. Going to church camp (for the first time)

2. Learn to tie my shoes

3. Make a really big Sand Castle

4. Ride a Bus (public transportation system)

5. Ride a real train

6. Go Bowling

7. Go see a Movie...especially Cars 2

8. Play in the water hose in the front yard.

9. Library Days

10. Go Roller skating

11. Go to the Zoo

12. Always play with my trains

and 13. Summer Trip to Disney World. He actually doesn't know about this last one. It will be a surprise for him at the end of the summer!

Let the Summer begin!!!

RG