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Welcome to Kidologist.com (formerly PastorKarl.com), where Karl Bastian, nicknamed the "Kidologist" by his family for being a 'big kid' and founder of Kidology.org, posts his thoughts and adventures. GET POSTS BY E-MAIL: Subscribe To Kidologist.com

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Boy Meets Girl

Luke has taken his first step into a larger world... no, not of the Force... of Girls. :) Recently we had a family over from our church whose daughter is one of Luke's favoriate friends. Though we may have to keep a closer eye on them now....

BOY MEETS GIRL

Sitting together on the couch. How cute.

Luke's got an idea...

She is so lovely, and she adores the attention!

Whoa! He wasn't expecting THAT!

But he doesn't seem to mind either!

Ooooo, what was that? a kiss?

And no, these pictures were not posed, we were just taking pictures and letting them play, though someone may have said "give a kiss." I cant' wait to show these at Luke's wedding someday! I think Luke is already fulfilling Romans 16:16, I Cor. 16:20, II Cor. 13:12, I Thess. 5:26, and I Peter 5:14!

JUST FULFILLNG SCRIPTURE
Reminds me of the young Bible College boy who was taking a girl he fancied on her first date, and the girl's father, who happened to be a preacher, asked him as they were about to go out the door, "What are your intentions with my daughter, young man?" To which the boy replied, "Just to fulfill scripture, Sir." The preacher asked, "And which scripture exactly would you be planning to fulfill?" To which the young boy replied, "Romans 12:9, Sir." The preacher then asked, "Refresh my memory, Son, what verse is that?" The boy quoted from memory, "Sir, it says, 'Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.' and I think your daughter is very good."

Thursday, April 12, 2007

If April Showers, Bring May Flowers

If April Showers,
Bring May Flowers

What does April Snow Bring?


the view out my window!

the Easter Bunny is confused! THIS is Spring?

Mysterious Patterns Appear in the Drive Way

So much for Global Warming!
(or a relaxing swing in the back yard)

WARNING: POLITICAL SOAP BOX
By the way, if you don't know what Global Warming is, it is simply a paranoid scare tactic to raise money and increase political power by those who will do anything to get power. You probably don't know why they only use climate data from 1975 to present? Because from 1940 to 1974 the world was cooling and the political kooks at that time where using a Global Cooling scare ("The Next Ice Age is Here!) to raise money and try to gain political power. Bet you didn't know that Congress was having special sessions on Global Cooling in the 70's. Nope. Because that would be an Inconvenient Truth! :) (Want the truth, watch this documentary from the UK that debunks this American obsession) An even more "Inconvenient Truth", (or stinky truth) reported by our own government agriculture agency, is that US cattle flatulence (big word so kids don't know) accounts for over 70% of all "green house gases;" far more than anything man made ever could. So before you avoid that aerosol can, or exhale (also a green house gas!) kill a cow instead and save the world!

VIDEO UPDATE: The link above is updated, but if it changes, you can find it by searching for The Global Warming Swindle.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Easter Bunny Secret Identity Revealed!

Sara, Luke, and Karl - Easter 2007

Easter 2006 was a day that was very significant in our little family. While we took Luke into our home on April 1st last year, it was on Easter Sunday one year ago that we met with the birth mother and she made her final decision to give him to us. And then the legal adoption process began. Since that process ended in December, we've been enjoying our life as a little family at the beginning of this Adventure called Parenting!

See how he has grown! Here is last Easter:

Karl, Luke, and Sara - Easter 2006

Now he is a cool little dude who can crawl, climb stairs, and stuff Cherioes down the heating vents!

Ready for Church on Easter Sunday!

A man comfortable in front of a camera!

And then the Easter Bunny arrived! Oh, how embarrassing, er, I mean, exciting!

Yes, that is me, dressed as the Easter Bunny. (blush) But in my defense, it was not my idea! My older sister handed me the costume just minutes before the family Easter Egg Hunt and says, "put it on" and what's a dad to do? Let pride get in the way? So I put it on for the children.

Luke finds his first Easter Egg!

Somebunny Gets Bunny Ears from a Bunny!

This is my older sister, the one responsible for the rabbit costume, so of course, when we posed for family pictures, I just had to give her bunny ears!

Last photo of Luke with a clean white shirt on!

As usual, Luke's favorite part of the day was eating. Second only to smearing his food all over the tray!

Grandma not too old for video conferencing!

Luke's Grandma and Grampa joined the gathering via Skype for a bit and got to visit with all their grandkids, and Luke's great grandmother!

Luke kissing an older woman!

Luke has learned to kiss lately and Grandma was happy to recieve many! It was a very nice day of family, and food and relaxed fellowship. Too many black jelly beans later, I need to head to bed!

Easter Bunny Bunch Before Lunch

EASTER THOUGHTS
(since it's not about the bunny!)

I love Easter for many reasons. First of all, it is the holy day that brought hope of new life! It is now also the day our family went from two to three. Both are reasons for joy and optimism.

For Easter my wife gave me a new book by Max Lucado titled, "Every Day Deserves a Chance" and it is so encouraging, I'm only a few chapters into it, but I highly recommend it already. It is a book about chosing hope over despair every day, no matter what you might be facing in life. He starts by pointing out that the familar verse, "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it*" is not just about the good days, like today, it is about EVERY DAY. "This is the day" is TODAY. It is a day the Lord has made, no matter what "Today" might be like or what challenges or trials it may contain, and we are to rejoice "in" it. Not after it, not even through it, or if it goes our way, but in the midst of it, we are to find joy. He ends chapter one with these words:

"The next time you are mired in a bad day, check your outlook with these three questions:

1) What do I feel guilty about?
2) What am I worried about?
3) What am I about?

Reflect on your answer with these reminders:

YESTERDAY.... FORGIVEN.
TOMORROW... SURRENDERED.
TODAY... CLARIFIED.


Jesus' design for a good day makes such sense. His grace erases guilt. His oversight removes fear. His direction removes confusion."

So, go have a good day, on God!
*Psalm 118:24

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

My Adventure with Flat Stanley

It's been a fun two days, I got to hang out with my MLB beat reporter bro, have full access to roam behind the scenes and on the field at a major league ball park, hang with Frank Thomas in person, but BAH... the highlight, was spending a day with Flat Stanley! What?!? You've never heard of Flat Stanley? Well, I'll get back to him...

Major League Grass!

These are my feet on the grass at Comerica Park, home of the almost-world-series-champs Detroit Tigers, the day after their opening day against the Blue Jays, who my little brother covers for MLB.com. (look for his name right on bluejays.com) I drove to Detroit to hang with my bro for a few days and watch him "in action."

Karl and Jordan in the Dug Out

My one day media pass gave me access to the whole park. I entered the stadium via the "tunnel" on the visitor side after passing through the clubhouse. Sorry, but no pictures were allowed in the clubhouse. This was a day off, between opening day and a game today, so the park was empty but there were players there to practice, work out, etc. Among several Blue Jay players I didn't recognize I saw Jim Leyland (tigers manager) getting into an elevator, Justin Verlander (rookie of year last year for the American league) walk by and get into his SUV, Gregg Zaun (blue jays cather) walking around, and got to visit a little with John Gibbons, the Blue Jays manager. Then guess who walked by?

The Big Hurt
One of my little brother's friends

Yup, Frank Thomas! It was very cool to be in the clubhouse and have my little brother say, "Hey, Frank, can I introduce you to my brother?" The Hurt says, "Sure, Jordan." and turns and talks with me. I'll never wash the hand he shook... or wait, I already did at dinner last night! ahhhhhhh. Oh well. I said "hanging out" above as a lead in teaser... that's probably stretchin' the encounter which was less than a minute, but hey, I met Frank Thomas, and the hightlight for me wasn't meeting him, so much, as being introduced to him by my little brother who I at one time taught about baseball! This little kid I used to play catch with now works the MLB.com and introduces me to 18 million dollar players and professional coaches. Makes a big brother proud! The picture above Jordan took and is part of his MLB.com blog Spring Training photo gallery. He is really a good photographer! If the reporting gets old in time, he could switch to being a sports photographer. I'm serious, check out his pics. (for additional online fun, check out this very funny new tv commercial about Frank Thomas on the Blue Jays: download. mp4)

But like I said, Frank wasn't the highlight... it was Flat Stanley.
Flat Stanley in the Press Box

Many Aunts and Uncles have probably heard of Flat Stanley. I've had many adventures with Flat Stanley from all the various kids and nephews and neices who have mailed him to me. Perhaps you'v been so lucky? Kids mail out his story and him and ask you to take him somewhere, take pictures, and mail back for them to share in class. My latest relative to send me Flat was my nephew Michael in California, so I took Mr. Stanley on this trip with me. (No, I did not ask Frank to pose with Flat Stanley, though the thought did cross my mind, but no pics in the clubhouse anyway.)

As you can see, Flat Stanley was a member of the 1968 World series team...

And has been immortalized in the statues of hall of famers around the park... (That's Flat Stanley with Ty Cobb)

But even still, he is ready and eager to play on the field...

Or just go and pose on the infield grass...

But I'm sorry to say, he came to a sad end, when my brother, getting tired of all my Flat Stanley pictures (many not posted, but being sent to Michael) fed him to the giant Tiger outside the stadium!

It was a great bro hang out time. Truly, the highlight for me wasn't Flat Stanley, or even Frank Thomas, it was getting time with my little brother who I am so proud of. We don't get much hang time these days, but if family is first, sometimes you just have to go to where they are to invest in the relationship, even if you must hang out with them at work. It was a great trip, but I have to get home! Today is Sara's birthday!

You can send her a birthday greeting at sara @ kidology.org (no spaces, those are to prevent email snagging online spam bots!)

Sunday, April 01, 2007

One Year Ago Today

It was one year ago today... a day that came "out of the blue" and changed my life forever, in more ways than I could ever have anticipated... I became a Dad.

My fist Father's Day at Lake Geneva

Being a Dad has been my dream since I was a boy. Why? Well, I had a wonderful Dad, and he was my favorite person in the whole world, and I couldn't wait to get to BE a Dad and be on the other end of the fun... inventing the adventures... creating the laughter... teaching the lessons of life. And while my dad was not perfect, he was real, and that was good enough for me. I hope that I too can be a real follower of Christ for my son, if not a perfect one.

Me with Luke, the day he was Given to me.

If I had been asked a year ago today what changes this little life would bring into my life, I would have never guessed how dramatically my life would change. I thought I could simply add "being a Dad" to an already critically over-loaded life. I was wrong. But I have learned my lesson, and am enjoying a balance in life like never before in nearly two decades of ministry.

Sara with Luke, the day I brought him home and said,
"CAN WE KEEP HIM?!?!?"


Sara has blossomed as a mom. I don't know where she learned all the mom-stuff she suddenly knows! I know she surfs the web and we've got our stacks of parenting periodicals, but those can't explain the instinctive answers she can give me every time this Dad says, "What should I feed him?" or "What's he want now?" or "Why is he doing this?" I'm definitely the "fun" parent, and while I have a nack for getting him to sleep... on just about everything else Sara is the expert. (Not that I don't help! But she is the expert on what he needs throughout the day)

Here we are, as a family, just momments after the adoption was final in court.

It's been an adventurous year! God used this little baby to realign my entire life around my family. And oh the fun we have had along the way. Here are some of the links to the adventures I have posted throughout this past year:
The Bastian Family, ready for another year together.

To celebrate this special day we had some friends over for dinner, and part of their punishment for being our friends was they had to watch a 15 minutes video of pictures of Luke over the past year. A download link of the video (110mb!) is available to any friend or family member who e-mails and asks for the link, rather than post it here for any web surfer who may come along.

Yes, it has been a year of blessing, and a year of profound change, but we follow a God of Tomorrows and a God of Second Chances, and we eagerly look forward to what He has in store for this next year as we follow Him...

I am the man who
has seen affliction...
Yet this I call to mind

and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great
love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The
LORD is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him."
The LORD is good to those
whose hope is in him,

to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

Lamentations 3:1,21-26