My life with cars

Im a mechanic. I have a home business modifying cylinder heads for high performance and racing. I have always had some sort of "hot rod" to tinker on.

Its all because of my Dad. He spent a lot of time with my brother and I growing up building go karts, riding motorcycles, dune buggies, and snowmobiles. Our family went to motorsports of every imaginable kind for fun.

When my brother was 15, he and Dad bought a 69 mustang mach 1. It ran good, with a 351w and a 4 speed, but it was rusted in all the usual places. I was 12, and helped work on it as much as I could. That car began a string of projects and cars that went beyond building them for our family, to fixing them up as part of our business.

I had the opportunity to work with my dad for 3 years both as an automotive tech, and building high performance cars/hot rods. We became best friends during that time. There are quite a few cars in the Nebraska/South Dakota area that we worked on.

The Irony of it all is that my parents were killed in a car on November 11 last year. For an unknown reason the car crossed the centerline in front of three semi's. The first was able to avoid a collision, the second wasnt. At that moment both of my parents were in the presence of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I will never forget the time spent with my best friend and father.

My current project is my dads 54 ford 2dr sedan. It will be built the way dad envisioned it: A nostialgia drag car! The best part will be when I hand each of my kids a tool and show them how to use them. Then as we are all working, Im going to tell them stories about their Grandpa and Grandma, and how they loved Christ, kids, and cars!

Kids and mud, a great combination

Socially backward???

I love it when people ask me or anyone in my family "so how is school going?", or "what school do your kids attend?". I then proudly tell them about how my wife and I are homeschooling. The reactions go from blank stares to "wow, thats amazing. I could never do that." My favorite response is when people ask me if Im worried about my kids becoming "socially backward". In many ways, I hope this is true. Why would I want my kids to act like all those little lemmings that are worried more about the latest style, or music than their education, or their church, and their relationships with family.
Reality is that stereotypes are always based on some truth. There are some homeschool people that create a ultra sheltered unhealthy environment. The problem isnt homeschooling, it is the way that they are raised in general.
My family is involved in a homeschool group with families in the Seward, NE area. Many of the kids are high school aged. Instead of spending their days in a public school where most of the time is wasted, they are able to do their studies usually half of the day. Then many of them have jobs, or apprenticeships where they are experiencing a true adult "social" environment. Many homeschooled kids graduate from highschool at a younger age than public school kids, and usually their maturity level is advanced along with that. Many people I talk to look at that as a negative!
My oldest is Hannah. She is 8, and is a natural reader, but learns math a little differently. Natalie is 6 and she is a spark plug. She learns in an entirely different way. I would venture to guess that if she were starting public school, she would struggle, and maybe some would recommend treatment for ADD. This isnt the case but a public school just cannot be expected to be able to teach every child properly.
I attended public school by the way, and turned out fine:). If you are comfortable with sending your kids to public school, thats great! Im not. What I ask from people is to not rush to judgement on someone that teaches their kids at home.
I guess thats my rant for today!!
Kurt

First Time For Everything....

I actually enjoy firsts. First steps, first bike, first car, first ticket......:) Okay, I didn't enjoy that first! This happens to be my first attempt at blogging, and it's fun so far!
Sunday afternoon I put up my first do-it-yourself storage shed. Its a 7x11 plastic unit that was really easy to put together and seems sturdy. Today I filled that thing to the brim with lawn equipment and kid equipment. The neat thing was my 6 year old Natalie's enthusiasm. She was really excited about helping me fill the shed. Im sure I could have finished much quicker if I had done it alone, but the blessing would not have been there. How many times do we say "no" to our children because of selfish reasons? I didnt necessarily feel like having a 6yr old getting in my way while I was trying to finish my project before supper. When I come home from work, I dont really feel like chasing the kids and wrestling on the floor. I really dont want to deal with the mess if I let them play in the mud. If we say "no" to these kind of things, life goes on. But in my experience, the benefits of saying yes outweigh the negatives. These are the opportunities God gives us to make a real impact in our children's lives. My wife put note above the kitchen sink that simply says, "It's not about me". How true that is. Dear Lord, help me to realize that life isnt about me. Give me a servant's heart towards my children, my spouse, and whomever I meet today. Let me be be a blessing to the people I meet today. In Jesus' name, Amen