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About Haven Caylor-Brown

http://havensideals.com

Haven Caylor-Brown has an Educational Doctorate in Instructional Leadership. He is a husband and the father of twins, Carter and Ammon. He has taught for over 26 years: From kindergarten to graduate school. His other degrees include Education Specialist in Curriculum and Instruction, a Master of Education in Social Studies Education, and Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Studies Education. Carter, Ammon, and Haven are featured in Pyle & Karinch’s Find out anything from anyone, anytime (Career, 2014) for his parenting strategies in questioning children for information, and he is also featured in Scenic Scenes: A collection of Chattanooga’s arts and literature (Over the Counter Productions, 2013) with two short stories regarding parenting. Haven is also the author of Christmas Hawk (Xlibris, 2015) a delightful story about a Red-tailed hawk and the special role she plays during the yuletide season.

Posts by Haven Caylor-Brown

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The Last Supper: Holy Week

. Holidays, Jesus Christ Follower . , , , , , ,

Last Supper/communion/Eucharist

Matthew 26: 17-29; Mark 14: 12-25; Luke 22:7-19; John 13 & 14

Jesus instituted communion the night before his crucifixion, and it is has been a part of Christian worship ever since. I have met several, wonderful Jewish people, and one Holy Week in the future, I hope and pray Carter, Ammon, Sean, I can sit and partake of one and think of Jesus and the 12 Apostles eating in fellowship. Passover Seder

Being a Christian/a follower of Jesus Christ and partaking of the bread that represents his body on the cross and sipping the fruit of the vine that represents his blood that was shed for me and all the billions of people on the earth for the remission of our sins is what puts my heart and soul in “communion” with all the billions of saints who are partaking of the Lord’s supper with me. That is a powerful component of Christian worship

I know everyone doesn’t take communion every Sunday, and I kinda wish we would like the Christians of the New Testament (all it takes is a little research of first century Christian worship to understand they took it every Sunday), but in the scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. However, it’s a part of worship in remembering the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. The next time you partake of the Lord’s supper, think of all the billions of Christians you are communing with as well. It’s a pretty awesome thought.

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Jesus Washes Feet: Holy Week

. Jesus Christ Follower . , , , ,

John 13: 3-30

If you knew you would be dead in the next 24 hours, would you take time to wash your friends and family’s feet? Wouldn’t that be a bizarre act? Well, that is one thing Jesus did KNOWING he was going to die. Jesus wanted the 12 disciples to know that he did not think he was any better than they. He was their master yet he wanted to serve them. The serving wasn’t to stop there but to continue with them serving others.

I’ve often thought of Jesus washing dirty, stinking, calloused feet of his friends. Here is the son of God that came down from heaven and all of its glory sitting on the floor of an upper room in some home in Jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago, humbly and gently washing 12 burly men’s feet.

During the Holy Week, the main idea is that Jesus was crucified and while being crucified took on the sins of the world. However, we sometimes skip over the fact that the one of the last things he taught just hours before his death was to love and serve others.

To answer my own opening question, I’m not sure how and where I would fit serving others in, but, yes, I would serve others in fullest capacity I could in those last hours. However, I can do it HERE and NOW without waiting….that is what Jesus wants us to place in our hearts and act upon immediately. Have a blessed day, friends.

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Palm Sunday

. Holidays . , , , ,

Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11: 1-11, Luke 19:29-42, & John 12: 12-19

Jesus was a human who experienced times of elation just like us. How many times have we had the thought, “It can’t get any better than this?” buuuuuuuuuuuut, we know it is fleeting and cannot always be this way. Our lives are not this way.

It is important to first mention that all four of the Gospels write of this event.  Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem must have been quite a sight to behold. The clamor, the hubbub about the Messiah/Hosanna, and the spiritual excitement of the King of Jews entering Jerusalem to “reign forever” must have been a glorious moment. It was a fulfillment of prophets from Zechariah (9:9): Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, and riding on an ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass. The people even lay palm branches on the street like a red carpet for their king.  What deserved pomp and circumstance for Jesus yet what physical and mournful tragedy awaited our Lord!

If you will, imagine all the Gospels from their beginnings to this point being like a roller coaster that chugs up a hill: Palm Sunday is the top/pinnacle of the hill. For Jesus, his physical life creeks over the top, then begins to plummet. In five days, Jesus the future Christ would be humiliated, beaten, and killed on a cross a criminal…to the world a crash at the bottom of the hill. However, it wasn’t the end, but the beginning of our assuredness of eternal life though Jesus Christ.

Enjoy Palm Sunday and get ready to walk Holy Week with Jesus anew.

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God-loving Hearts

. Family . , , , ,
My Singing Angels

My Singing Angels

Proverbs 22:6
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

My greatest and most profound gift from God my Creator has been Carter and Ammon. I know Sean is their father too, but I take their love and knowledge of God and Jesus Christ personally because it’s my responsibility. I cannot help it.

Ammon and Carter each have said several things the past couple of weeks that help me know I’ve begun okay.

Several mornings before St. Patrick’s day, I was in the kitchen getting Carter and Ammon’s breakfast ready with them still in bed. I knew they were stirring, but suddenly I could hear Ammon singing. I walked into their room, sat down on the bed and said, “Good morning, sweet heart! What are you singing?”

With her eyes still shut, she sang, “O be careful little eyes what you see. There’s a Father up above. And He’s looking down in love. So, be careful little eyes what you see.” She had kept her eyes shut so she didn’t see the tears in my eyes as I said, “What a beautiful way to start the day, Ammon. Thank you!” I was ecstatic and grateful that she started the day with God in her heart.

Several weeks ago right after school, Carter, Ammon, and I were out playing in our yard. They had spent time riding their bicycles, and Ammon decided to get off and head to the swing set. In an animated and protective voice, Carter bellows to his sister, “I will help you to ‘play park’ (our swing set) to protect you!”, and he dismounted from his bicycle.

I proclaimed to Carter, “How sweet of you to protect your sister.” Carter said, “That’s why God put me here at this house. To protect Ammon, Daddy H, and Daddy S.” As Carter and his sister headed toward play park, I couldn’t help but wipe away a tear and pray, “Thank you God for my children.”

Okay, folks, enough “misty-eyes” here. LOL Please enjoy our last singings from church. I apologize for the “Red start” to “Christ Arose”. I have no idea what happened.

“Christ Arose”

“Praise Him”

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St. Patrick’s Day 2013

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St. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin, Ireland: June 13, 2011

I’ve always enjoyed all the “wearing of the green” and the leprechauns on St. Patrick’s Day. However, it wasn’t until our day in Dublin, Ireland June of 2011, that I felt a “spiritual conncetion” with Saint Patrick.  I had even read several times yet without absorbing much history of Saint Patrick to really know his story.

St. Patrick

He had been taken from  homeland in Wales (Great Britain) to be a slave in Ireland. He was approximately 16, and by his early 20s he had made it back to Wales. He then became a minister and returned to Ireland.

He writes that he “baptized thousands of people”. He ordained priests to lead the new Christian communities. He converted wealthy women, some of whom became nuns in the face of family opposition. He also dealt with the sons of kings, converting them too.

Carter, Nana, Haven, & Ammon (admiring the vaulted ceilings)
June 13, 2011: St. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin, Ireland

My favorite building in Dublin, Ireland was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It had such a warmth and “spirit” about it. It wasn’t like other cathedrals I have been in where it was like a museum instead of a place of worship. St. Patrick’s work was filled with love and giving, and his spirit seems to permeate his cathedral.

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Ammon Moment: Shevelev Meets “Monster High”

. Family . , , , ,
"Thumbs up" to Photography

“Thumbs up” to Photography

“In every truly exceptional portrait there is evidence of an intellectual-emotional passage between the photographer and the subject, and often also between the subject and his or her animate and/or inanimate environment.” (Shevelev, 1989)

Cleo, Laguna,Draculora,Clawdeen, Ghoulia, Frankie, & Operetta

Cleo, Laguna,Draculora,Clawdeen, Ghoulia, Frankie, & Operetta

Ammon has become quite the photographer lately. Her “Monster High” girls (all daughters of famous monsters who just so happen to attend high school together) have become her #1 toys since her first Monster High doll for her birthday. She even used her allowance money (scrubbing toilets, making her bed, folding clothes) to buy Cleo, the mummy’s daughter.

She has been using her iPad to take photos, but she can use our Canon 35 mm as well. Since she has traveled since she was born, she’s seen and helped me take photos since she was about 3. She’s doing great.

Here is link to a great Website with a title Teach Your Child to Take Good Pictures
http://bit.ly/YL1jkZ

Daddy H’s tips are simple for a preschooler 1)Be ready to help hold the camera to help the preschooler with fine motor skills 2)Be ready to delete (praise the Lord for digital deleting)a LOT of photos, and 3)Praise, praise, praise

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Carter Moment

. Family . , ,

Carter Moment

Journal for the Educated and the Gifted
helps shed some light on early identification of high-ability students, but a Daddy H knows! (hey, 24 years of teaching, Ed. D. in education, being intuitive helps too!)

Exceptional "Ham"!

Exceptional “Ham”!

An exceptional child that can outthink me as a pre-teen or teenager I’m not looking forward to, but my preschool-age exceptional learner son is COOL!

While in Rome, Italy several years ago, a shop owner who fell in love with Carter and Ammon gave us several, small puppet Pinocchios. We’ve used them as Christmas tree ornaments, but one made it to the playroom as a toy. Well, poor Pinocchio has become decapitated, but he is still played with. How you may ask?

After some preschool homeschooling one day this week, I walked into our bonus room/play room, and Carter was walking around with Pinocchio. He asked, “Do you want to see a puppet show?” I said, “Sure!” Carter jumped up on an arm chair and began fiddling with his toe. I was sitting in the floor with his foot almost directly in my face. I questioned, “What are you doing?” In his best and solid, “matter of fact” voice, Carter stated, “It’s a Toe Puppet Show.” He then slipped the loop-threaded decapitated Pinocchio head his big toe and said began a brief puppet show by saying, “Hello, Daddy H! How are you today?” I was amazed!

Decapitated & denosed Pinocchio Toe Puppet

Decapitated & denosed Pinocchio Toe Puppet

Readers especially parents/grandparents (you know you want to brag) and teachers what do you think, and what do you have to share?

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. Holidays . , , ,

Updated Valentine’s Day 2013

Haven Caylor-Brown's avatarHaven's Ideals by Haven Caylor-Brown

In the late 1990s, an article appeared in the Diario de Yucatán (The Yucatan Journal http://bit.ly/12jViAi). It was my favorite newspaper when I lived in the Yucatan in 1994, but I used the electronic version frequently from 1995 to 1999 when I was teaching English as a Second Language. The students I was teaching were all Spanish speaking, so I would use the articles to translate into English. The article that appeared one Valentine’s Day during those years was absolutely spectacular. It covered the three Greek loves: eros (sexual), phileo (brotherly), and agape (self-less).

The lines about eros were not illicit, but very appropriate for that passion a person has for a boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse especially on Valentine’s Day. My students and I appreciated the lines regarding the phileo due to the fact they were all pre-teens or young teens who had absolutely NO USE for eros…

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Ash Wednesday 2013

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Genesis 3:19. “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

ash_wednesday

Luke 9: 23:  “Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Ash Wednesday

How bold Christians must be to wear ashes on their foreheads, and I love, appreciate, and admire those that will today!  By no means does an outward form of appearance show what is in the heart of a person, but it is one of the few times in the year that people in droves of numbers actually show that they are followers of Jesus Christ as they go out and about with an ash cross on their foreheads.

Non-Christians, maybe take a few minutes today to “google” Jesus Christ, or Ash Wednesday. The event isn’t found in the Bible, but it is an event that many use to remember Jesus as a human and his sacrifices. This is the first event in a Christian “season” that leads up to Easter over 40 days from now.

ash_wednesday-1

Christians in Chattanooga, I know the Episcopal, most Methodist, and Presbyterian churches will have Ash Wednesday services: usually morning, noon, and maybe an evening service as well. I do know that Christ Methodist in East Brainerd is having a 7 AM, Noon, and evening service today.