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Massacre In Uzbekistan

July 31, 2012, by Zack 3 comments

In 2005, I packed a bag and moved to the other side of the world for what was supposed to be 2 years.

After 10 1/2 months, I was kicked out of the country, along with the rest of my team.

7 years after the fact, there is a new documentary that explains why:

Lighten Up, Dad

May 23, 2012, by Zack No comments yet

At lunch today, I stumbled across this article by Kevin Deyoung about parenting.

He hits the nail right on the head:

I was listening to this bit about children from Brian Regan and around the 1:35 mark he tells the story about his son flinging around half-eaten spaghetti from his mouth and watching the sauce splatter across the room. Regan explained that he made a mistake as a parent because he stopped him: “Hey man, knock that off. Can’t you see the paint on the walls is more important than the joy in your heart?!” At that last line the audience burst into loud laughter and applause.

I know, I know, it’s a stand-up routine and a not a sermon. Let’s not take it too seriously. But the audience resonated with the line–and so do many of us I imagine–because there is something uncomfortably and refreshingly insightful about the joke.

I find that I do this most with J out on the soccer field…

“Looking For A Woman Like You”

March 5, 2012, by Zack 3 comments

I’ve been on a country music kick lately, and I found a new song that I like a lot.

Every so often, Steph will ask me questions like, “What do you think you would be doing right now if you had never met me?”

The married men reading this will understand that it’s a totally loaded question.

In all honesty, if I had never met my wife, then some things would probably be better on the surface:

I’d probably have better stuff, get out on my mountain bike more, keep up with sports better, and have a little more traveling under my belt.

Dancing In The Minefields

January 3, 2012, by Zack No comments yet

You probably noticed that we didn’t spent as much time posting to “TheRieslands” in 2011.

There are lots of reasons for that – most notably the ones who run around our house in Disney movie-themed pajamas every night.

We also spent a good amount of time working on Stephanie’s photography business.

But the new year is always a fun time to reflect on what a year has taught me, and share that with you, for whatever it’s worth. So, you might actually see a few posts from me over the next few days. They are likely to be hyper-introspective and even soppy, so… consider yourself warned.

Today, I’m sharing one of my favorite songs of 2011.

It wasn’t new in 2011, and it may or may not be familiar to you.

The song is Dancing In The Minefields by Andrew Peterson.

I’ve actually been enjoying this song, along with most of Andrew Peterson’s, for years now.

But this year, for whatever reason, it seemed especially profound and inspiring to me.

The lyrics are pretty straightforward and probably not too much of a stretch for most folks (hear the song and read the lyrics below): life is full of landmines…