Hmmmm... an update....

So you want an update?
Hmmm...
Not sure what to update you on....
I know that Youth Bible School just started today, here in NC...Which is cool because I know that my little sister has been looking forward to this week for a very long time. Lol.
Well, let's just say that my life has been very full as of the last 4 months... since we have 2 young people living in our house, it's just been short of stressful.
When you let youth in your house, to live with you, to become part of your family, your life, your schedule, you take the risk of exposing your family to whatever baggage they bring with them.
But it's a chance to see them grow up.
A chance to see them thru a storm in their life.
A chance to walk alongside them in everyday life.
A chance to be an influence in their life.
No, it's not always easy. You expose your family to possible hurts.
But I think that this is one of the things that Jesus meant when He said,
"Don't store up for yourselves treasures here on earth.....Store your treasures in heaven..."
Man, hope there's interest.
Later.

I love Christmas.
Not just the buying of gifts and the suspense of it all, but the whole mall thing...the traffic...

Listen with me for a moment.

I hear sleigh bells ringing, children laughing, people caroling, Christmas music playing in every store...
I see blinking Christmas lights, decorated homes with beautiful trees and the gifts under them, tinsel and mistletoe and garlands...

...and then the scene changes.

Children are screaming, heels dug in as they pull with all their little might in the opposite direction of their parents, parents yelling at the cashiers because they feel like they got cheated out of the sale price that really was meant for the table that was on the other side of the isle, cashiers staring daggers at each other and everyone who walks into their store because it's all their faults that they feel the way they do, policeman running thru the mall as they chase the guy who shoplifted because he don't have the money because he been spending it all on illegal drugs throughout the year, brakes are screeching and horns are blaring because people don't understand the rules of the road, and potentially never will understand that you yield when the sign says yield, and charge in front of others, sirens are wailing as the ambulance and fire truck race down the road because a Christmas tree started on fire because neighbors were trying to outdo each other in how bright they could make their tree and house, people yelling and cussing and screaming at each other....

Man, I love Christmas.

Some random pics....

Behold....the update so long promised has finally arrived.
View....
Comment......
Enjoy.

I know, I know...

I know, I know...I really do need to update. And I am in the process of doing just that. After I go to WalMart to dowload some pics onto a CD so that I can download them onto here.
In the meantime,,,I'll be back...
Right after this.....
......

Food for Thought

Habakkuk’s Election Advise

Elections means somebody loses. A gloomy feeling comes to those whose favorite candidate lost. Habakkuk was a prophet for God

around 612 B.C. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah and Zephaniah. He was troubled with what he saw coming to Judah. Babylon was

becoming the dominant power and Judah would soon feel Babylon’s destructive force. Habakkuk brought his questions and concerns directly

to God. He received answers from God and responded with a prayer of faith. His short letter in the Old Testament shows that God is still in

control of the world despite the apparent triumph of evil.

If you are depressed and disappointed with the election, maybe the words of Habakkuk are appropriate.

“I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound;

decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled.

Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will rejoice in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

he enables me to go on the heights.

Habakkuk 3:16-19. NIV

How about a little paraphrasing around the election?

Although my preferred candidate did not win, and the winner does not embrace the sanctity of human life,

supports abortion rights, and equal rights and benefits for same sex marriages,

although my taxes may increase, and I may be fined for helping an illegal immigrant, and he

appoints very liberal judges to the court, yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength,

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go to the heights.

And do not forget that the Sovereign Lord has promised that Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of Lords will come again,

“and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation”. Heb. 9:28

Until then, let us be His faithful ambassadors.

Simon Schrock

(Adapted from Simon Schrock, Choice Books President)