I thank the Lord for spell check. I’ve never been a great speller, I don’t know if I should blame my homeschool education, my brain malfunctions, or just a lack of effort on my part. But whatever the reason I can’t spell worth beans. In our electronic age it hasn’t really been much of a problem either. I managed just fine through my bachelors degree without needed to spell correctly (thank you again Microsoft Word), but it’s at this point in my life that I’m being reminded on a nearly daily basis how poor my spelling really is.

You see, when your kids get to a certain age they begin to understand everything that you say. If I comment to my wife during dinner “Oh, you should run to the store and get some ice cream for after the kids go to bed” the kids will them comment with “I want ice cream too!” So you start to do what nearly all parents never want to do. You start to spell things out. “Mmm, honey you know what sounds good? I-c-e c-r-e-a-m.” This way the kids are either forced to live in ignorance or forced to learn to spell (both of which are valuable options). But here’s how things usually work at my house…

I say, “Mmm, you know what sounds good right now? C-h-o-c-o-l-a-t c-h-i-p c-o-o-k-e-s”

Or sometimes Jess says “Hey maybe we should take the kids down to the c-h-i-l-d-r-e-n-s m-u-s-e-u-m later” and I’m like “what? can you spell that slower? You want to take them to the…ch…OH! I get it! Yeah that would be a great idea!”

I feel like an idiot…maybe I am.

Last week we were able to be around our good friends from Canada Aaron and Amy. It was great. Except that Aarons an english snob. No, he’s not from England, but he’s one of those people who correct your english if you use the wrong tense or something. Aaron, if you’re reading this I want you to know with all my heart that I won’t let you leave your church planting work in Canada to plant a church down here in Washington with us unless you stop. And i mean that.

So with that said, to all of you who correct spelling and grammar in an instant messaging conversation or in a text message…shame on you. Its over betwen us.