The case of the stolen camera

We recently found our lost digital camera. It was under Adriana's bed and was left on draining the batteries. The following seven pictures stored on it's SD card indicate who the perpetrator might have been.

Exhibit A - this is taken in our utility room. Note the height at which this was taken. Hard to imagine the one taking the picture is taller than two feet.


Exhibit B - Myles revealed this looked like his 'monster guy' (his 6-armed stuffed alien buddy)

Can you see the smile?

Exhibit C - this picture is not included because it is too gross. It is an inside view of kitty's bathroom

Exhibit D - not sure what this is but Myles pointed out some numbers in it.

Exhibit E & F - the most condemning evidence are these two pictures. No one else in the family has these little hands.




Exhibit G - hard to tell but you can see the carpet below through what appears to be fingers.

Can you tell who this mystery photographer is?

The week in pictures

Thought it was time to post some pictures of the eventful week.

We took a walk at the English Landing Park on Sunday. Gorgeous warm day in November! Aimee and Adriana joined us but elected not to appear in the pictures!

On Monday, Conrad Mbewe spoke at State Street for the Bible Study. His VISA situation working out was an answer to prayer, as was his stirring Christ-centered message from ... Ecclesiastes 1! Over a hundred employees in the US and Canada got to meet Conrad via video-conference.

Here he is chopping it up with Rich Casebolt about church-planting. Rich, having spent the last six years in Thailand, would later speak to the BSG on Thursday.

This week I received my John MacArthur ESV study Bible. If you are not on GTY's mailing list, you missed out! Sign up and you will get a monthly offer for a free CD or other resource. This generous ministry often gives copies of MacArthur's books!

Aimee started her once a week job at Mom's Day Out (daycare). Myles was excited to meet new friends and sport his new Spiderman lunchbox; pictured with his typical arsenal of gestures!

Not without it's challenges, the week also produced this new hairdo. While he came out acting as if nothing had happened we soon learned he had found the razor and played barber to the tune of a giant chunk out of his already short hair! Here is the mugshot.

Great week, though. A friend gave me the book Radical by David Platt and I can't wait to read it. Having heard some of the sermons it was based on, I look forward to reading this call to examine 'the American Dream' in light of Scripture and the radical demands of Christ.

Extra Biblical Literature on Halloween Candy

Here are some recently discovered writings on the proper dividing of the spoils for Halloween candy (posted on this blog). Certainly not inspired, but quite humorous (compare to Leviticus)...

From the Book of Davidicus

3 Of the spoils of your wandering, you shall devote a tenth of the firstfruits to your father. But take heed that you devote what has chocolate, so that he shall be pleased with what he receives.

4 Of the Reese's®, you shall devote them all, likewise the Snickers®. But take heed, lest you try to test your father and give him Skittles® instead of M&Ms®, and thereby incur his disfavor.

5 Of the Pixi Stix®, and the Sweet Tarts®, and the Kandy Korn®, you shall give him no part, for they are an abomination unto him. But of the Nestle Crunch® and Krackel®, you shall give him a portion, as a peace offering.

6 Lest you grumble because of the nuts in the flesh of your spoils, you may offer the bars that contain them unto your father. Mr. Goodbar® is favored, as are the Peanut M&Ms®. Almond Joy® hath nuts, Mounds® don't.

7 You shall reserve the choicest fruits: the special darks, and the truffles, for an offering to your mother, who bore you, who brought you to life. And it is under her rule as to when you are able to eat the remainder.

8 And on the day of cleansing, the last day, all the bags shall be opened, and I shall say unto you, "How on earth did we get so many Tootsie Rolls®?" And all that remains will be cast into the bin.

9 And if any acceptable offerings are found that have been left to rot, or get that white crusty stuff on the chocolate, I shall say to you, "How is it that you have hidden this from my eyes, and have not even eaten it?" And your father shall not be pleased with you.

HT: Joel

Happy 13th Birthday Adriana!

Adriana turns 13 today from Mike Bonham on Vimeo.

Praying for Myles

Working from home affords some priceless moments. Here is an example:

Myles: You wanna pray about me?
Me: Sure. (Myles runs off) Where are you going?
Myles: To my room.
Me. I thought I was going to pray for you.
Myles: Pray about me by yourself!

Snow Day 2009

Thought this should go on the blog for posterity. We will enjoy looking back on this in years to come.

What is so great about a simple Saturday?

I thought I'd devote a blog to the great day the Lord gave last Saturday (8/8/09).

Morning Ride
Got up early and rode my bike to church to set up hymns/Scripture slides (it's my month to put these up on the screen during the worship service). This was my first major bike ride (>1 mi) and while I didn't know how far it was, thought it would be fun to give it a try. The hills were more than I expected but it a cool morning and the wind was on my back.

I laughed to myself when a 'serious' cycler passed me like I was a statue. He had a sweet ride and sported the bright spandex w/built-in seat cushion. I kidded myself that I could have hung with him ... if I was in shape ... or if I hadn't eaten a half pound of chocolate donut gems.


Encouraging Friends
Halfway into the ride my buddy Amol called my cell, giving a nice excuse to pull off the road and chat while I caught my breath. I often marvel how God gave me this friendship with a Christian brother from India who now lives in New Jersey. I met Amol through the Bible Study group at work, and have been so blessed to watch God's hand work in this brother in his experiences, and the people God sends to him. Plus, his voice sounds like Ravi Zacharias (being from India), especially when he quotes C.S. Lewis.


When I got to the church I found it locked. I figured as much, but didn't care. I had brought some reading and finished off my donuts while I waited for the worship team to arrive for their practice.

Within minutes, though, Mike and Rita Sanders showed up. They were there to work on the grounds. So Mike and I chatted while I set up the slides for the Sunday service. Didn't take long before I had to stop and give Mike my full attention. We chopped it up about ministry opportunities, evangelism, and Paul Washer (one sermon in particular). Mike's passion for Christ is contagious and it left me full of joy!

Soon I was back on the bike and headed back. I live in Spring Hill, KS and never noticed it before, but it aint called Spring HILL because it's in a valley! Seems like I was constantly laboring up hills against the wind. The sun was hot and as I stood to pedal I could see ants on the street passing with ease. Later we measured the distance: 8.7 miles. Real bikers do this in their sleep, but I was struggling!

Running Errands
After a shower, the Bonhams ventured out of the A/C for some errands. We enjoy shopping at Sams on Saturdays for the samples and their hot dog combo for buck-fifty is tough to beat! This is the only shopping I enjoy, and I honestly do enjoy it!

We hit several other places along the way but the kids were well behaved and we enjoyed checking off our 'to-do's'.

At 4 pm we rewarded the kids with some pool time in town. The cheap admission (Spring Hill) was great and there were few people there at an hour before closing time.

Grandma and Granddad came over for dinner and the ladies prepared a delicious shrimp pasta with amazing rolls and salad!

The worn-out kids happily went to sleep without a fight and Aimee and I got to enjoy some quiet time and a movie before calling it a day.

I can't say this was a perfect day, or one that will make any difference in history. But I thank God for this Saturday, and for days like this. Every breath we're given is a gift from God. We deserve death, but are blessed like this! Thinking about the Gospel makes simple Saturdays like this even sweeter!

Dunk Contest

Honey, I Shrunk the Lake of Fire! and other random thoughts ...

No, the Lord hasn't taken me home, just been busy! Here are a few things to check out ...

Dan Phillips responds to N.T. Wright's heretical teaching on hell (i.e. that it's not a literal place of eternal torment) by asking some probing, Biblical questions. N.T. Wright is very popular, so this is timely and needed.

On a related note, Aimee and I led the 1st thru 3rd graders in worship during church Sunday. Our curriculum is Desiring God's children's church curriculum, The ABC's of God. Last week was "R" is for Righteous. This week, "W" is for Wrath. That's right. The wrath of God (Rom 1:18, Nahum 1:6, Gen 19:24-28, Psalm 18:7-8). Talk about preaching the whole counsel of God! Did we 'shrink' away from this? I don't think so. Funny thing is the kids completely understand this concept! One sharp boy, Ethan, could recount almost every detail of the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. They get it. They haven't been diluted by years of soft, one-sided preaching (i.e. Warren, Osteen).

Andy Naselli has put together an incredible wealth of resources of the published works of D.A. Carson. Shrinking Carsons brain by 1/25th of its size would result in my intelligence on a good day! If you're a Carson fan and missed Justin Taylor's post a few weeks back, enjoy ...

http://andynaselli.com/theology/d-a-carson-publications

Finally, a picture.

Not too long ago one of Myles's croc's ended up going through the dryer. Now one shoe is about 3 sizes smaller than the other one. No worries, though, he already outgrew the unshrunk one!

FYI - I plan to resume the Cross-Centered Life quotes soon. It's been a crazy couple of weeks!

Super Mayhem!

Can you guess the giant who lurks in the background of this gruesome scene, the one giving Mr Incredible and Buzz Lightyear all the trouble they can handle?

That's right, it's this guy!

'Real life' Superheroes?

Click here to see a news story about a Cincinnati vigilante that thinks he's a real-life superhero. He's apparently seen one too many old Batman and Robin episodes.

There are a lot of these guys popping up, and of course they now have a website: The World Superhero Registry.

I can only hope Myles one day aspires to take the law into his own hands and rid the neighborhood of bad guys. Here he is with his 'Clark Kent' jacket ...

Lady Lucy - Kids4Truth's newest Multi-media Dynamation

What is a multi-media dynamation?!? You have to see for yourself. If you have not seen these creative animated ... things, you are missing out! The following is from the Kids4Truth, explaining the 'origins' (no pun intended) of their newest dynamation ...

This past February 12th, the Kids 4 Truth team spent Charles Darwin’s birthday putting the finishing touches on our newest dynamation! Lady Lucy

In the 150 years since Charles Darwin's Origin of Species was published, his theories about the origin of mankind have greatly influenced not only the scientific world but all of society, as well. While Darwin's “Special Theory” (sometimes called “Microevolution”) was largely correct, his “General Theory” that all life shares a single common ancestor is unverifiable and goes against much of the available scientific evidence we have. As such, Darwinism has become a philosophy, a worldview in its own right, almost a religion, and not a scientific theory.

Kids 4 Truth’s new dynamation “Lady Lucy” challenges the Darwinian worldview with more questions it cannot answer and demonstrates the ultimate emptiness of this erroneous philosophy. We hope Christians will be exhorted by “Lady Lucy” to stand strong on the authority of the Scriptures which have proven themselves to be the very Word of the Creator to mankind, the pinnacle of His Creation. On the other hand, we hope Darwinists will be challenged to consider what their authority really is (and what Darwin's authority really was) – the fallible word of a man.

Kids4Truth is a fun and fascinating website to visit with your kids, especially if you want to help to influence them with a Biblical worldview! I also enjoy reading Bob's blog! Bob Roberts is the president of Kids4Truth

Thankful for Adriana!

I saved this post for Thanksgiving, because God has given our family much to praise and thank Him for, in sparing our daughter, Adriana (11), on Sunday.

She had a violent, life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to some mixed nuts, despite no previous reactions to peanuts/tree nuts before this. Very quickly, Adriana had hives all over her body, face, tongue and throat (which quickly swelled up affecting her breathing.) She could have died.

In fact, had she been with us in Spring Hill (15 minutes from the nearest hospital) she might not have made it to Olathe. By God's grace she was at Grandma's house in Paola (which has a hospital in town.) We now have an Epi-Pen so that she can be injected to stop an allergic reaction, giving us time to get her to the hospital.

Adriana is fine now, but coping with a life without nuts (no pecan pie!) until we can see an allergist in December to determine exactly what she's allergic to.

We're obviously very thankful we still have our little girl!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall pictures

Just wanted to share a few fall pictures.

First, a couple of pics of Myles enjoying the KC Pumpkin Patch. He's got some older buddies (the House boys) who he loves to hang out with. Here he is with one joyfully running to the next attraction.



You have to enlarge this one and notice the complete joy on his face as he goes down the slide!


Perhaps the caption for this one should read. "Granddad and Myles have heart-to-heart talk after Myles knocks out soccer kid." (this is NOT what happened, just kind of looked like it)

A couple weeks ago, Aimee painted our living room walls as high as she could, then I finished up with a friend's scaffolding and ladders (thanks Mark!) to get those really high walls!


We are getting our house ready to sell and painting was a huge step that is now out of the way!

Finally, our dear friend Deb shot some family pics at the OP Arboretum. It was a beautiful day and the pics came out great!

Some refrigerator art...

Sophia colored a couple of neat pictures this month, so I thought I'd share. This first one is of me and Sophia in front of our house.

This one is a picture of the building I work in.

I love how Sophia chose to draw my friend-Tony-when she drew my work. She must have heard me talking about him, because I don't think she's met him in person. So I guess you could say that this is a visual representation (through my 7-yr-old's eyes) of what I have said about Tony. I think she did a fantastic job, looks just like him!

Perhaps this is something like when we try to talk about Christ and demonstrate 'Christ-likeness' in how we live life. We want to paint an accurate picture of who He is because He is so significant in our lives! I want people to "ooh and ahh" when I hold up Christ-as our pastor pointed out in today's fantastic sermon. I am doing my best to describe His majesty and indescribable, unsearchable ways, yet my best efforts are so basic and elementary! However we have the best set of paintbrushes available! Nothing can better inform our speech about Christ than God's Word:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Rom 11:33-36)

The Blessing of a Taste of Tragedy

I'm rejoicing right now, praising God for His mercy! If only for a few minutes, I thought I had lost my boy (for other scary moments click here and here)!

I was cleaning our deck and preparing the wood to be stained. As I worked away, Aimee told me she was taking the kids swimming. I thought she mentioned that Myles (2) was to finish his nap, so I hurried to finish the job so I could be there to wake him up (otherwise he would sleep all day … then party all night!)

It just so happens that today is the day Myles promoted up to a "big-boy-bed", so we took out his crib and put in the new one. Nap time was a challenge as he was not taking to the new bed as we had hoped. Finally he settled in for a good nap. He plays hard, so he loves a good nap just like his old man!

After I cleaned up my tools and showered to clean off all the caustic chemicals, I peeked my head in Myles’ room. He wasn't there. Only his diaper and shorts lay in his bed. At first I rolled my eyes and started looking in Myles's typical hiding spots. Maybe he went off to hide then fell asleep somewhere. I quickly became alarmed, though, when he didn't answer my call. I would have expected a giggle if he were hiding or "up to no good". It wasn't long before I had searched the entire house top to bottom. As I called Aimee's cell phone, I planned the next steps ... check with the neighbors working outside ... call 911 ... jump in my car to begin the search.

When Aimee picked up, she assured me that Myles was safe and with her at the pool. What a relief! I literally was so overwhelmed that I could barely talk, crying from relief that my horrifying fears did not come true. The "what-if" thought that many parents try to avoid, because it's just too awful, was for a brief moment a reality. What if he had run off and gotten outside, or had been abducted while I showered! What if I would never see him again?

I'm finding it difficult to return to normalcy. I have a new appreciation for the gift of my children! This "taste of tragedy" was enough to get me to thinking about spiritual things. Do I appreciate the gift of my salvation as I should?

When I come across something in God's Word that causes me to reflect on my salvation, the holiness of God, the gravity of my sin and what it cost to reconcile me to a holy God, I come away more appreciative and grateful for His sacrifice! Without Christ, without His life, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection, there would be no salvation! This is, as the author of Hebrews calls “such a great salvation (Heb 2:3)”.

I am absolutely wicked and deserving of hell, due to offending an infinitely holy God! If Jesus had not born the wrath of God that I deserved and suffered the punishment for MY sin, I would be bound for eternal destruction. And even now, if the Son of God were to lift His restraining hand of grace, I would instantly follow my sinful desires to my own destruction. But praise God, Jesus holds everything together and He is faithful to complete me in my progress toward becoming more like Him (Rom 8:29).

Today, I am more thankful for my son, Myles. Having caught a glimpse of the anguish of life without him. I have a deeper appreciation of what a delight he is.

Likewise, I am thankful for my salvation. When I read a passage like Isaiah 6 and come face to face with the burning holiness of the Almighty and my corresponding unworthiness, I am glad that I'm right with the LORD through the blood of Christ.

Without Christ there would be no hope. "If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Cor 15:19)" My past was empty without Him, and my future will be not only full, but overflowing with everlasting joy in His presence!

To God alone be the glory!

Happy Mother's Day 2008

I'm thankful that our kids have such a good mom, my beautiful wife, Aimee!

Adriana, 11 in June, wrote this piece about her mom, so I thought I'd share on this very special day in which we honor our moms.

Need of a Mother
All through out my life I would complain. I felt as if I had too much to do and nobody to help me. I was very angry at my mom and angry with God. I was living a selfish life of sin.
Then something unexpected happened. In the middle of the night my dad woke me up and told me I had to babysit my two year old brother and seven year old sister while my dad took my mom to the emergency room.
After a while my grandparents came and took us to their house, Praise God!
But I was still thinking about Mom.
It had been a whole week and she still wasn’t back.
Her being in the hospital made me realize how much I need a mom to help with school, cleaning, making dinner, and loving and raising her kids.
I was also thinking about how God gave me a mom that is perfect for me and my siblings. God was in control in this event in my life and still is. I felt horrible about the way I had acted before, and it was wrong. Through God’s grace He forgave me, and my mom got home soon after that!
I will never forget God’s grace shown in this event. I love my mom.

This ordeal happened in February when Aimee was hospitalized for her migraine attacks. She's being treated now by a chiropractor and has seen some very promising results, for which we give God much praise!

Aimee, the girls love you and are delighted to have you as their mother!

Happy Mothers Day!

P.S. To my own mom: if you're reading, love you, thanks for sticking with me despite my "annoying years", ... age 3-20.

Piano Recital

God has blessed our children with some musical talent and an exceptional piano teacher who has been a huge blessing the last two and 1/2 years. She was patient and kind and found creative ways to motivate our daughters! We will miss Amie Neal as she will be going off to college! While we will have to find another piano teacher, Ms. Neal will be impossible to replace!

Here is Sophia's 4/27 piano recital...


Here is Adriana's 4/27 piano recital...


Here is Myles doing his own recital while we waited out a tornado warning in our basement...

Take your Kid to Work Day

I took Adriana (11 yrs-old in June) to work with me on Thursday as part of the "Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work" program.

She got to meet some of my friends, take a few classes (on fitness, nutrition, and our company) , and mostly hang out with Dad and learn about what I do and what some of my co-workers do.

She tells me she had a blast.

For me the most entertaining was introducting Adriana to my friends in various departments (the attorneys, risk and compliance, trade processing, and trust operations) and getting to hear them explain what they do, trying to frame it in terms that a 10-year-old can grasp. They did a great job of giving the high level without "dumbing" it down. My favorite was the answer given by Travis, a project manager, "My job is to get other people to do work so I don't have to, but usually I end up doing their work." Travis was featured in our company newsletter so we got his autograph!

Here is Adriana at my desk. Yes, this is AFTER I straightened it up!

Here is my boss, Andy, seen here going over the "Risk Roadmap" with Adriana. She of course pointed out several gaping holes in the analysis which would cost our company millions!

Since Take Your Kid to Work fell on a Thursday, Adriana and a few other kids got to see what the Bible Study was like. We did our usual lesson, only with more role-playing and story-telling and cookies. Lest I be accused of "contextualization" I will say that the message was the same, it's just that we normally don't eat cookies ... something I intend to CHANGE pronto!

I'm very excited about the Bible Study Group (BSG), and so thankful that we are allowed to have this weekly time for sharing in prayer and encouragement around the Bible. Not only that, but next Thursday (on the National Day of Prayer) we are privileged to welcome Pastor Mike Summers of Countryside to come and share with us from God's Word.

I had to mail some papers so we visited the lower levels of Tower 1.

Here is what our mailroom looks like. As you can see, it's a far cry from the mailroom that appears in one of my favorite movies, Elf. Do you recall the part when Elf says, "This place reminds me of Santa's workshop. Except it smells like mushrooms and everyone looks like they want to hurt me."? It's right before this crazy scene...

With scenes of the movie Elf running through my mind, I just couldn't resist lighting up the elevator buttons like a Christmas tree!

Glad we only have 5 floors.

Needless to say, I wasn't the most productive that day. I even arranged to leave early so we could catch the movie, Expelled. Have I mentioned I like that movie???

Ten things to Teach Your Children

Pulpit online magazine has put together from the wisdom of of the book of Proverbs, ten truths to teach your children.

1. To have a healthy fear of God (1:7; 9:10; 10:27; 14:26-27; 15:16; 16:6; 19:23)

2. To guard their minds (4:23; 23:7)

3. To obey you (1:8; 4:1-4; 6:20-23; 30:17)

4. To carefully select their companions (1:11-18; 2:10-15; 13:20)

5. To control their sinful desires (2:16-19; 5:3-5; 6:23-33; 7:6-27)

6. To enjoy sexual fidelity (5:15-20)

7. To watch their words (4:24; 10:11, 19-21, 32; 12:18, 22; 15:1-2; 16:23; 20:15)

8. To pursue their work (6:6-11; 10:4-5; 22:29)

9. To manage their money (3:9-10; 11:24-26; 19:17; 22:9)

10. To love their neighbors (3:27-29; 25:21-22)

From this 4/17 post on Pulpit Magazine (online).