doug gamble » family

Memories

doug — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 19:26:57 +0000

A friend texted me as we were leaving for our getaway, “Be safe, stay dry, and make a memory.” Funny how the first two we automatically always do. The last is rarely thought of ahead of time. In fact, sometimes when you want to make a memory it rarely goes right. It’s like trying to take that perfect photo of small kids. Almost impossible and is a miracle if you actually capture a good one. Like the ones below:

And then we tried again but then sometimes the older kid makes it hard…

And then your wife says, why don’t you let me take the picture:

But when you place yourself in an environment where you can relax and have fun, the moments that turn into memories just happen naturally.

These photos were taken at Elephant Rocks State Park. A favorite place for my family. We have tons of great memories from there. Lots of climbing, joking about the Elephant’s “crack” and a great view at the top! Here are some more photos from our visit to Elephant Rocks.

Adventure

doug — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 01:25:47 +0000

I love this photo that I took on a recent vacation. We had the opportunity to head down to southeast Missouri for a little REST and RELAXATION. For me both rest and relaxation is best served with a little ADVENTURE.

Adventure is a value for our family. Even as I type this I don’t know that it is something we have specifically said to our kids. It is just apparent in who we are and how we like to have fun. And it is one of the things my wife and I could see waning in our kids recently.

Busyness and electronic distractions were consuming us. So when we we had the opportunity to revisit a getaway spot we enjoyed 4 years ago, we took it!

Sun, fun, family, outdoors…the right combination for a great vacation.

By the way the photo was taken at Johnson’s Shut-ins State Park and we stayed at Koinania Valley Ranch Family Resort. I recommend both highly!

Raising a boy into a man

doug — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:00:37 +0000

3 years ago several friends and I covenanted together to help each other raise our sons into men. Having seen a lot of boys in men’s bodies over the years, we realized that a boy becoming a man just doesn’t happen automatically. So we decided that a part of the process would be celebrating specific age milestones with our boys. The first age milestone is 13. This year 3 of our boys turned 13.

At 13 we give the boys a compass with a definition of manhood engraved on it. The idea is that just as a compass helps point you in the right direction, so the manhood definition helps point our boys in the right direction of what it means to be a man.

Robert Lewis in his book Raising a Modern Day Knight has been extremely influential and helpful.

Lydia’s First Week

doug — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:03:43 +0000

Baptizing Miss Daisy

doug — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:01:49 +0000

One of the greatest joys of being a dad was baptizing my son. Today, I got to baptize my daughter Daisy. I have watched Daisy’s faith grow over the 8 years of her life and especially over the last year as we have talked about her decision for accepting Christ into her life. This was not a decision Daisy took lightly but considered it with child-like faith and adult-like seriousness. The best attribute of Daisy is her compassionate heart that I know God will use to make a difference in this world.

Introducing Lydia Faith

doug — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:32:23 +0000

It's a baby!

doug — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:00:10 +0000

I’ve been waiting to break the news on here until we told everyone we really needed to tell in person. It’s official I’m going to be a father of 5!

Wow!

I’ve never really pictured myself as a father of 5 but was always open to it. Then again before I even had one I never really pictured myself as a father.

It’s been such a remarkable thing for my family since we found out even though it’s only been a short time. The very news of a new baby has somehow drawn us closer. It’s led to conversations that we needed to have but just hadn’t. And it’s reminded me of how much I really love my children.

This will probably sound weird but I have loved ALL my children more with each child that I have had. I’ve heard people say that they didn’t want any more children because they didn’t think they would have the ability to love them as much. Honestly that is a load of bunk. My experience is that my CAPACITY to love has grown with more children.

AND

I love my children BETTER. I’ve always loved my kids. But I feel like I love my oldest two better now that I have 4 and now 5. In the early days my focus was so much on work and OTHER things. Not that I don’t struggle with that at times, but it is more natural for me to focus on my kids first, placing them in the priority spot God intended.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. – Psalm 127-3-5

My family's fast from media

doug — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:33:27 +0000

The first full week in January my wife and I felt convicted that our family should fast from media. For us that meant specifically comuter, TV and video games when using them for things not associated with work or school. Through the Christmas break we saw how easy it was for all of us to flip on the TV or the Wii instead of doing something together. Now we have had a lot of family fun with the Wii but a lot of our media intake was individual.

So we took 5 days partaked of none of it.

It was a great experience as we talked our kids through it. Our focus we said should be on Jesus always. Video games and TV are fun but shouldn’t be a distraction from Jesus. And they had become so.

It honestly was not as tough for them or us as we anticipated. I saw great things happen…

…my oldest son who’s 12 initiate playing with his younger sisters…

…attitudes of the oldest two change almost overnight to be more respectful and fun…

…desire by all my kids to be together, play together and have fun together…

…my own natural response at the end of the day become to read instead of catching up on a show.

It truly was a great experience. We have since waded back into use of all things entertainment. However, we have put some better limitations on our kids use of it.

As for me I’ve decided that no TV during the week is a good thing. It will focus my time more on things that matter. Practically speaking that just means instead of watching TV after 9pm (only time I really do anyway during the week) I will read or interact with my son.

Christmas 2009

doug — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 22:28:57 +0000

Some pics from today and last night.

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more about “Christmas 2009“, posted with vodpod

A truly great Sunday

doug — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:45:40 +0000

Today was one of those days I can truly say was amazing. While I’m sure you are not interested in my day, my point in even talking about it is just to say how thankful I am to have a day like this:

In the morning I got to do what I am most passionate about, preach God’s Word.
In the afternoon I took a nap. Sunday naps are the best.
In the evening, after a wedgie fest with the kids we finally put up our Christmas tree.
Then we sat down to watch Extreme Makeover. That is such a great show for families to watch together. They always choose these families who are trying to make a difference. More times then not they are Christians. And then the level of blessings the bestow on the families is amazing. Daisy asked us tonight if Ty was a Christian. We told her we didn’t know but it seemed like he certainly believed in God at least and wanted to help people. That’s why I love watching the show with them.

It was a good day.