Here’s the story as reported on Fox News:  4 Charged In Gang Rape, Beating of Girl After Homecoming Dance

It seems that criminal activity gets worse all the time but crimes like these have happened for years.  In today’s world, however, they get much more media attention and they strike closer to my heart as I have kids of my own.  What a tragedy.  Things like this should never happen to anyone.  Combine the twisted minds of a few teens, alcohol, and no supervision and you have a sin filled mess.  I am reminded of the last verse in the book of Judges “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.”  People are sinful and when they act out of a wicked heart I should not be surprised.  When left to our own devices we all choose some level of sin and it is only the grace of God which saves us.  I must realize that in my own humanity I am no better than the criminals but the good news is that we all have a Savior in Jesus Christ who died to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If you are a parent reading this, I would encourage all of us to do everything we can to protect our children.  Go the extra mile when you drop your kids off and when you pick them up.  Be overly cautious.  Keep the lines of communication open between you.  Spend time with your kids when they are young so that you will have input into their lives when they are older.  Monitor what they watch.  Train them in the ways of the Lord.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:  Fathers, get off the couch and train your sons to treat women with respect and love, to work hard, to help others, to love the Lord, and to be protectors of righteousness in the world around them.  Unfortunately, too many fathers are selfish and have abandoned the family.  They have allowed the world to raise their sons and through their example have trained their sons to do whatever will bring them the most pleasure at the most convenient moment.  Please fathers, take a moment and call your kids, text your kids, email your kids, go home early to your kids, and do whatever it takes to save them from the world which will chew them up and destroy them.

Here’s the video:

I was listening to many different sports hosts on this play and the discussion on “luck” was interesting to me.  Is there such a thing as “luck”?  Is it just “lucky” that something like this happens for the win?  Certainly all sports wins can’t just be “lucky”.  In a football game there are hundreds of plays and any number of those plays could alter the course of the entire game.  I often hear people say when their team loses, “The other team just got “lucky”.  Really?  Can the whole game be brought down to just that?  And then I see a video like the one above and I think, “You gotta be kidding me.  What are the sheer odds of that happening?  How in the world can that happen especially when a football often doesn’t bounce “true” off of an object?”  Maybe there are times when we are just in the right place at the right time and we need to make the most of the opportunity that presents itself to us.

I will try to remember all of the adventures I was able to have with my family this past summer and will blog on those in the coming months.  This one, however, sticks out in my mind because I was so proud of Noah & Luke.

Living in south Reno we have a great view of Mt. Rose.  One day in early spring I was walking with the boys and Luke pointed at Mt. Rose and said, “That’s a really big mountain”.  Noah said, “That’s mountain rose”.  I said, “Would you boys like to hike to the top of that mountain with daddy?”  Noah & Luke:  “YES!”

So, I waited for the snow to melt, we packed up plenty of water and snacks and grabbed Uncle Tim to boot.  We drove to the pass at the top (near the Meadows) and parked where the trail starts.

I had remembered doing this hike as a youth pastor and thinking, “If Junior High girls can do this hike then certainly my 6 & 5 year olds can do it.”  Then I saw the sign:  2,000 ft. of elevation gain (approx.) and over 10 miles round trip.  At that point I figured that we would just make it part of the way, that I wouldn’t pressure them, but we would still have fun.

The boys proved me wrong.  They not only made it to the top, but we actually passed some groups towards the end.  I knew they could make it and I am so proud of them especially when Luke fell and smashed his finger pretty good.  Here’s a short video I took with my Flip Video:

I admit that I stole this from my good friend Dave.  You can see his witty and insightful blog here:  http://www.uglyevangelical.blogspot.com/

As for the video, I’m not sure what David Hasselhoff was thinking.  This would have been a career ender for many, many great singers.  It’s a good thing he has KIT to fall back on.

Well, I’ve been out of the blogging world for a while.  I suppose this is due to a few reasons:

1.  Facebook.  Wow, that thing is addicting and easy to post and keep up with.  It’s also exciting to see what is happening in other people’s lives.  If you want, you can become my friend here:  www.facebook.com/dawsonlange

2.  Continuing to plant & grow Coram Deo (www.cdreno.org) has taken lots of time and will continue to take lots of time.  But, it is a blessing to be a part of and I love it.

3.  Lots of outdoor projects & adventures (more info to come in future blogs).

4.  Life has been really crazy because of this little man:

Caleb has proven to be a challenging child.  It’s not his attitude or anything else that he can really be responsible for.  It’s mostly his skin and allergies.  The poor little guy has had severe eczema, asthma, and is allergic to most things.  That, in turn, has caused mom and dad to work extra hard to care for him.  Tonight, as I was snuggling with him and kissing his head I thought, “I don’t think I ever cuddled this much with any of the other kids nor kissed them so much.”  Caleb is truly a joy to have around and he has taught me much.  I wouldn’t trade him for the world and I would give anything to just make him feel better.

The good news is that lately his skin has been shaping up though he is still allergic to many foods.  To watch him sit and itch until he bleeds is heart breaking.  We have found some relief for his skin by doing this:  Bleach Baths For Eczema.

But, over the past few months I have lots of thoughts to share and I wouldn’t want the world to miss out on the best part of this blog:  The things my children say.

Keep checking in!

Well, it’s been a while since I last blogged.  I suppose everybody needs a break and leaving for vacation was wonderful.  But, I couldn’t pass up this discussion from the backseat the other day:

Noah & Luke:  “Daddy, why are we wasting so much time?”

Me:  “Well, before we go to church Daddy had to work on his sermon a little.  Do you know what a sermon is?”

Noah:  “No.”

Luke:  “No.”

Me:  “Do you know what Daddy does?”

Noah:  “You talk.”

Luke:  “I don’t kow.”

Me:  “Daddy is a pastor.”

Noah:  “Just like the Pope.”

Luke:  “Yah!”

Noah:  “There are three people in charge:  Dawson, the Pope, and Jesus.”

<long pause>

Luke:  “And Mommy.”

The other night I was tucking Noah into bed.  He said that there were things he could not do because he was not allowed.  I figured I would give him a hard time:

Me:  “Well, I can do whatever I want because I’m big.”

Noah:  “No you can’t.  Your not bigger than God.”

Me:  “I’m not bigger than God but I can do whatever I want.”

Noah:  “You can do whatever you want?”

Me:  “Sure.”

Noah:  <thinking hard and I knew that he was trying to come up with the worst possible rule breaking thing that he knew I couldn’t do>  “Well, you aren’t aloud to jump on the couch and you really can’t eat chocolate chips out of the refrigerator.”

Me:  “You’re right, none of us would dare do that.”

The other day Noah and I were talking and then he changed the subject:

Noah:  “Daddy, do you wanna know about girls?”

Me:  <to myself> “Oh Lord, please help me.”

Noah:  “If they are really mean and rude to you it means they like you.”

Overall the NBA All Star Game was as good as an all star game can be.  I thought that it was competetive, fun to watch, and had a number of great plays.  It got old by the last 4-6 minutes (some could argue the 4th quarter) but hey, it’s an all star game.  If you know me, you know that I’m a huge Lakers fan and a huge Shaq fan.  So, Shaq and the Jabbawockeez was just great to see.

Oh, and then there was this.  Take that Dwight Howard.  Meet the real Superman.

Noah did a project in school where they had to write a sentence on what they would do if they were president.

He said, “As President I will make money for my country.”  I thought it was odd for him to say that so I asked him what he meant.

Noah:  “Dad, if I could make more money for my country, then I could give it away to poor people and they would have food.”