This morning as my son ran out the door to school he asked me to pray with him.

Today I restored a bike that had been thrown out for my son. God provided me with something I wished he could have but could not afford.

Today I shuttled the kids to and from school. Today I played with them in the morning and in the evening.

It was a rainy, cool morning then a sunny, warm afternoon.

This evening I got to go to a meeting. I never got to share but the things people shared and the fellowship I experienced lifted my spirits immensely. Afterwards I did not feel guilty as I sometimes do. Instead I felt like I truly accepted and appreciated the idea that God intended me to show some humility and just to listen tonight.

Later I watched a debate about religion between Christopher Hitchens and Alister McGrath. My faith is taking a great leap forward.

Thanks be to God.

Last night was up late picking up some bulk items.

Early this morning I woke up at about 3 am from a nightmare that my youngest daughter was trapped in a crevice and she was crying out for me but her face was covered by her blankets and her cries were muffled. I woke up startled but was relieved that it was just a dream.

I never did get back to sleep after that and I went ahead and got out of bed at about 4:30 and did some cleaning and reading. I went ahead and ate so that I might sleep. as I was sitting at the table I began hearing occasional cries from one of the children. this is not unusual and they weren't consistent enough for me to check on anyone. Then just as I was about to go to sleep I heard them again this time a little louder. I jumped up to check on them thinking it was my youngest son. He looked uncomfortable so I tucked him in but then I heard the muffled cries from my daughter's room. I darted in there and found my youngest daughter with her leg stuck in an awkward place between the headboard and the wall.

I went back to sleep and had a hard time getting going all morning. Although now that I think about it I did have a very focused prayer time. I found out that my wife would be home because the lady she babysits for was home sick and didn't need her. I never was able to figure out what I should be doing.

In he afternoon I got very busy cleaning a free picnic table I got and then on fixing up a BMX bike for my son. I felt like I was being selfish because I did not help my wife with any of the kid drop-off/pickups or baths. I also felt bad because we weren't able to for to the treatment center across town and speak per our invitation. I hated this but there was nothing we could do as my son had a therapy appointment late in the day. I did get to have a long talk with a guy who is new in sobriety. Now that I think about it I remember a recent conviction that my role is to do one on one work in the trenches rather than speaking engagements in the spotlight. If I truly believe that pleasing God is more important than personal acclaim then I should get just as much of a sense of constructive accomplishment.

Thanks be to God.

This morning in cleanup and preparation for breakfast I had to pray to be a joyful giver. Also this morning I had to pray for a peaceful heart over whether or not we made it to church on time and whether or not we were prepared for the birthday party for the kids. I had to pray to be joyful about my duty to have this party.

I am grateful that God blessed me a with a well focused prayer experience this morning.

I thought this morning about setting up a practice of taking men to step 3 and then providing them with the alternate course of working with another to get through the 3 inventories before step 5.

It has been a very busy day. I had a lot of cleaning to do this morning, then a big breakfast and then a baseball game. At the end of the game I kinda made a mistake and was repeatedly remorseful about it for some time later. I had to work hard to let God help me see that there are a lot of things more important and a lot of things I did right.

This evening I got to talk to a sponsee.

My wife worked all day and I had to take care of the kids. I am exhausted. I realized that I needed to spend some time with my younger son practicing baseball this evening.

Thanks be to God.

This morning I felt very busy but all I did was attend the children and keep up the housecleaning. Now that I think about it I did do a special project of putting out the bulky pickup junk.

I didn't get to speak to anyone in recovery today but I did get and return a call from a sponsee.

This evening my son had baseball practice.

Thanks be to God.

This evening I got to go to a meeting and pick up a 6 year sobriety keytag. I got to see and talk to some of my friends. I heard about a guy who has cancer.

On the way home I heard a story about a man who ran to a collapsed school after an earthquake and dug through the rubble for his 8 year old son. Many people told him it was hopeless and tried to stop him but he kept digging because he made a promise to always come and get hum. When I got home I was grateful to hug my son.

Thanks be to God.

Last night as I was reviewing my day, my wife walked in an interrupted me. My focused got lost and I couldn't go on. I had to resist getting irritated and allow her some latitude.

Yesterday I heard that a friend of mind started his new career that he went to college for. I have to admit that I felt some remorse at my lack of similar accomplishment. My wife helped me see that I have been working on raising a family and that this is the ultimate constructive and rewarding pursuit.

My wife and I have an ongoing disagreement about my son riding his bike home from school. I think he needs to take on that responsibility and she doesn't. I realized today that I got too excited about this too soon and that in my enthusiasm I failed to consider that this needs to be implemented incrementally. In our disagreement I realized that I must not try to manage her feelings about this but just be willing to own my perspective and let her manage her decision.

Today I was motivated to use and manage my electronic calendar. I felt strongly that this is a life changing practice.

This morning I thought alot about how to do the personal inventory. I had a period of clarity in which I realized that the resentment, fear, and sex, inventories should all be the same format with slightly different questions.

When I picked up my oldest son his friends were locked out of their house so they had to stay at ours. At the same time my nephew came to our house as we are helping to pick him up from school now. All of the kids were doing there homework and they overwhelmed me with requests for help. I am grateful for the academic level that my son and nephew are at.

Tonight I tried to go to a meeting but found that the surrounding neighborhood has implemented a no parking zone for blocks around. After driving around for a considerable time I found the only option to be a specific parking lot designated for this a few blocks away near a greenbelt that is a hobo hangout. As I started to get out of my truck I saw my wife's purse in the back seat. I didn't go to the meeting.

I had to resist being resentful, thanks be to God for His help.