Might For Right! Justin's Karate Tournament

Dave sez,

Here is a recap of Justin's performance this past Sunday at the National Karate Team Championships & Intramural competitions.

He was partnered with another boy, named Anthony, from his class for the Shee Young Bo form. Anthony was sick all last week, so the boys worked separately, and then on Sunday, the put the final touches on their Bo form, before stepping in front of the judges.

Here is the video of their performance:

Here is the score they got:

 

Justin sparred after the Bo exhibition. Here is the video of his first match:                         

                        

He won his first match, but not his second match. One of his instructors, Mr. Rasinski said that he should have won. But, Justin and the class he was in were waiting a half hour before their matches, and that waiting seemed to get inside Justin's head and by the second match he was a little nervous, he told me.

Here's the video from the second match:                                   

                          

The official, seen in black, called another official over to watch Justin. The official, Mr. Boone, who knows Mr. Rasinski, complimented Justin on his "slick moves". Maybe he saw how nervous Justin was. Before handing out the awards, he complimented Justin again. We had a chance to talk after the matches were over and he kept complimenting Justin.

If he was doing it for my benefit, I am grateful. I am so proud of my boy!

Here's the video of the awards:                        

                         

Third place for Shee Young Bo form and sparring. That's not bad. We are so proud of our boy!

The One About The First Star Wars...And Other Neat Stuff...

Dave sez,

Hi! We're Cathy and Dave. As seen on ABC 6 News KAAL-TV with anchor Laura Lee. We moved to Rochester ten years ago; and, after being married for fourteen years, Cathy thought it was time I stopped procrastinating and started thinking about our family legacy. We started a fertility program, and she was diagnosed with cancer. We were lucky not to lose her, but our options changed. We spent nearly seven years trying to adopt before Justin found us...

We're trying to get the boys to understand that it is not ALWAYS playtime. What parent doesn't have THAT challenge?! It's not easy, because these guys are enjoying their freedom. Give an inch...

So, Cathy had a thought. After church this passed Sunday, she gave Justin instructions on what he and Ethan were supposed to do. Then WE went to the store. While we were gone they were supposed to get the job done. When we got home, and I came in to open the garage door, they were sitting watching television.

"Popi!" Justin jumped up out of his chair. He told me what he had done and what Ethan had done. "I put my hand IN the toilet and I cleaned it." What parent wouldn't be proud to hear THAT walking in the door?

When Cathy pulled the car in the garage, I told her it was white glove inspection time...except on the toilet bowl.

We're going to make this more of a routine. We have plans for this Saturday and Sunday. Justin has a karate tournament, where he will be showing off his form with his staff, and sparring. We got a nice breather, and the job got done.

While we were out, we found a pretty inexpensive copy of The Last Starfighter. A sci-fi movie from the mid-'80's starring Robert Preston. Cathy and I kept expecting him to break into verse when there was "trouble with a capital 'T' - and that rhymes with 'P' - and that stands for 'POOL'!"

I'd been trying for almost a year now to get Justin interested in either Star Trek or Star Wars. The Clone Wars animated series on Cartoon Network is totally different from the Star Wars films. Especially the GOOD Star Wars films. You know what I mean.

Justin really got into The Last Starfighter. Now, we'll be looking for Flight of the Navigator, but that's another story.

We thought we would give Star Wars a try, since it was the "boom" movie, inspiring so many other movies after it.

Every time we watch a movie, Justin has a million questions. Every one of them can be answered by, "Stop asking questions and WATCH the movie!" Why is he doing that? What's gonna happen next? How come -? "Stop asking questions and WATCH the movie!" Is he gonna -? But if - ?

At the end of The Last Starfighter, like every movie, Justin asks, Is there gonna be another one? I think there's gonna be another one! There should be another one - because that was a really good movie.

Sorry, Mr. Ebert, you can draw a complete diagram on why one movie is four stars and another is only two, but my boys KNOW a good movie when they see one.

Justin made it through the original Star Wars with extra, unnecessary CGI heavy footage with eyes as big as saucers. I even grabbed my vintage Land Speeder and showed it to him. He thought it was pretty cool. He even tried rolling it across the dining room floor.

I made him repeat after me, "Han shot first."

As he was going to bed, we made plans for The Empire Strikes Back.

When he got home from school, Mom let him call me at work on my cell to ask a question.

Can I go ahead and watch the next one? Oh-kay...but can't you wait until I get home and we watch it together? I want to watch the next one now! Can I, Popi, please? *Sigh* Some days it is harder than others to be a parent. Okay. I walked him through where he could find it on his own. Thank you, Popi! I love you! See you tonight!

When I got home to take him to karate, he told me that he LOVED Return of the Jedi...and The Phantom Menace!

WHAT?! You didn't wait for me to watch the third one, and then you went ahead another movie and watched the fourth one without me?!

GO TO YOUR ROOM, MISTER! YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR LIFE!!!

What I really said was, That's great, buddy, I'm glad you enjoyed them...with out me. And that is how I ended every sentence about the movies!

Justin did have some questions about The Phantom Menace. He was asking who Qui-Gon was, and who Obi-Wan was, and where all the characters he knew were. Where is the Darth Vader? And that was when I found out he had started it, but hadn't finished it. We finished watching it together. As much as I still hated Jar Jar Binks is how loud he and Ethan laughed at the character.

Ethan has been spending most of his time playing video games while we watch the movies. He's enjoying them, but in a, they are on in the background kind of way. I had to make sure that when I showed him my Land Speeder, I made sure it was only for a couple of seconds. He's at the developmental stage where things either go in his mouth or get broken.

I doubt that he will be excited about the collection of Star Wars action figures I still have. Maybe when he's older. Right now, we just savor the moment.

The One With The Big Confession

Dave sez,

I've hesitated to share this until now because of the rule on religion and politics. There is nothing that divides us more than our views and opinions on religion and politics. We're all on our own journey of faith and philosophy. But, so many people have told me and Cathy that our story is an inspiration. So, I'd like to take a second of your time to share this:

About six weeks or so ago we were coming home from church, and I decided to tell the boys what made me angry.

We were talking about the Pastor's message that morning. The Pastor was telling the story of Job. It was right after the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Newtown. We were all looking for answers, and meaning. The Pastor wanted to provide comfort and tackle that hard question, "Why?" If God loves us - Why? Why would a loving God let bad things happen to good people?

He started the message in the first chapter of Job, where God is in his office watching his plan for us all unfold, and one of his district managers, Satan comes in for a one-on-one. Think Michael Scott from The Office walking in to see Morgan Freeman. God pulls out Job's file and starts telling Satan all the things about Job he's proud of. Satan says, Let me stop you right there; and he starts telling God all the faults and shortcomings about Job. God is so confident that Job is loyal, that he says, Okay, let's strip it all down, and unplug it. Satan takes it all away. The kids, the family business, his health - everything. Job's wife thinks she married the wrong guy. His friends are sure he's done something terrible to make God mad at him. The one employee that survives probably doesn't even give two weeks' notice.

The Pastor said that God's "secret wisdom" was to make Job stronger than he was before, and show Satan just how loyal Job was. God was giving Job an opportunity to draw closer.

The Pastor shared a very personal story, about something that had happened to him that made him angry at God. I started squirming in my seat, getting choked up by what he was sharing.

It was his personal story that started me thinking about my own personal story and what I decided to share with the boys in the car on the way home. What made me angry.

I told Justin and Ethan that Mama had been sick. I was angry that Mama had been sick.

What I didn't say to them was, Why would a loving God take away our opportunity to have kids? I wondered what I had done. Why God was mad at me. I was sure that Cathy had never done anything wrong ever.

After seven years of trying to adopt without success, I started to wonder what my purpose was. What God wanted from me, why this was happening to me.

Remember, we're talking about Cathy's cancer diagnosis...

In early December 2010, I talked with this same Pastor who was speaking and asked him to help me.

I will never forget what he told me. He said, "Dave, God wants what you want, as long as it's good for you. as long as it's in your best interest."

So, I went all in, and posted on Facebook, my New Year's Resolution, "I want to be a dad in 2011".

And, Justin found us.

After I told the boys how angry I had been, Justin said, "If Mommy hadn't gotten sick, you wouldn't have had me or Ethan!"

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"...Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do."

James 1: 2 - 8