Jason Reynolds Life and Times

EU Banning Toys Instead of Focusing on the Important Stuff

// October 10th, 2011 // No Comments » // Environment, Family, Family Values, Government, Learning, Parenting

I would say that the EU is putting more time on child toy oversight than they are on Social and Immigration Issues. Will American follow in the way it is beginning to regulate consumers and businesses?

“All teddie bears meant for children under the age of three will now have to be fully washable because EU regulators are concerned that dirty cuddly toys could spread disease and infection.”

Why an A is NOT Good Enough

// March 31st, 2011 // No Comments » // Entertainment, Family Values, Leadership, Learning

This is a moving piece from a high school orchestra wherein the conductor talks through and demonstrates that teaching our kids to pass tests and be “good enough” is unacceptable.

5 Ways to Bless Your Children Daily

// May 4th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Family, Family Values, Parenting, Personal, Relationships

This week while listening to a Family Life radio show in the car, I was struck again by how fast little girls grow up. With three of my own, and having never had sisters, at times I worry I am doing this dad thing wrong. Is it self-doubt, the lack of a manual, or the very real tension between family time and providing for these daughters that makes me shudder at times with “what-ifs”?

Psalms 23 House

// January 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // Christianity, Community, Environment, Family, Family Values, Government

I wasn’t involved with the Psalms 23 House myself, but my church was one of the collaborators in the project indirectly through Urban Youth Impact. Watch this video to see a homegrown “Extreme Home Makeover”. Much of what is interesting is toward the end, so check it out.

Each Year I Go Into the Woods

// December 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // Family Values, Health, Hunting, Outdoors, Relationships, Writing

Each Year I Go Into the Woods

A Poem, Quatrain, Ballad or something of the sort by: Jason Reynolds

Each year I go into the woods;
I tell others it is to hunt those deer!
The truth: it is to put my feet where grandfather stood
Find my soul and wrestle my fear.

Sitting on the ground, trying not to be found,
Melting into the solemn autumn, white flag on a big buck’s bottom,
Singular concentration trying not to blink wrong, the birds sing their song;
About the time the crickets cease, the sun’s arising and so is the peace.