a visit from ellie.

ellie came and had a sleep over at our house last week, here is a little glimpse of what we did.

you have to start things off right with popcorn and chocolate milk... as everyone knows.



after a failed attempt i showed ellie how to "throw" popcorn in the air and then catch it with your mouth. her version was much better and has virtually a 100% success rate...





then it was off to the water area in one of the parks here in valley. she had some fun i'd say, or a lot of fun.







then afterward we had some dinner and she had a bath, and then to bed. the next morning we went and got some donuts and played a little and home she went.

when we got back from leekers with our donuts anne was waiting at the door and asked, "what took you so long?" i replied back, "with little people normal activities take a little longer... i'm discovering."

we love ellie.

blogluxe awards

Jess and Joel's blog has been nominated as one of the most inspiring blogs of 2009 at socialluxe. I think you should vote for them! Click on this button and it will take you there!!



You can vote once a day per person until July 6. So tell all your friends!

The goal of the blogluxe awards is just to encourage recognition amongst peers, but it is another GREAT way to share Cora's story and the love of Christ. Thank you all!

happy birthday.

my mom turned 50 years old yesterday! i'm a little late getting this post up. but it has been a little chordic. a little bit of chaos mixed with some order.

the 50th is a big one so we secretly made plans to spend the weekend with mom. so we waited for their movie to get out.



















then after a short wait we surprised her! and here is her reaction.

faith.

"truth is, sometimes we have authority to stop things with our faith, but sometimes our faith helps us go through things we cannot stop."
-religiously transmitted diseases [finding a cure when faith doesn't feel right]

i like that, makes faith more real to me. we act in faith everyday, trusting it is the best way to live, trusting our risen Savior has shown us how to act and live, but that some things just happen, really bad things, and we still have a faith that enables us to get through. after all, Jesus, a man full of the perfect faith endured the cross.

happy late easter!

Jesus has risen! He has risen indeed!

rockin' worship roadshow.

spent good friday evening in a little different fashion this year. mercyme came through town so a few of the youth group kids and myself went to check them out. the line was very long when we got their. like an hour before the doors opened.
having the large line indicated a packed out house. and it was... completely sold out and the kansas coliseum is no small arena some say around 11,000+ on hand for the event. i enjoyed the afters, i have their cd, they were actually a surprise band to show up, because the other band's lead singer had a baby... so no concerting for the new mom i guess [adison road].

i didn't get a picture of tenth avenue north, but they played before jeremy camp, and i really like their stuff. jeremy camp did a good job, and even gave a mini sermon type thing.

and then mercyme was up and rocked out. their lead singer bart has an amazing voice. and i found out that he is quite humorous also. he had good comic relief at the beginning of one of the more upbeat/dancing songs... went something like this: "i grew up southern baptist... so dancing was a sin... but... if everyone danced then it was choreography... which is a beautiful thing. so... during this next song make sure you are dancing because if you don't you'll cause someone else to sin..." i found that extremely funny, being as how i'm around the "don't move cause its sin crowd" once in awhile.

good evening, and through out the evening all the bands spoke to the importance of the evening and the sacrifice of Jesus. had a good time and worshipped through song really well.

love.

love is a misunderstood word. i don't understand it completely. and i'm finding i struggle with it. but here is something that slapped me in the face and encouraged me.

insight from a book i'm reading.

patience is how love reacts, to trying situations, in order to minimize negative behaviors.

kindness is how love acts, in trying situations, in order to maximize positive behaviors, and trump negative outcomes.

patience is love's reaction. kindness is love's action.
patience is more of attitude or a state of being, and kindness is what we do or our doings.



all this is in 1 Corinthians 13, but some times all the memorable wording in that passage doesn't help on the "try this at home" endeavor.

so i'm gonna try this one out... i do this every once in awhile [patience and kindness], but somehow i know the "every once in awhile" mentality Jesus wants to change into a permanent reality [especially in the heated moments of day to day living].

week in review.

what are your goals? [blank stare...]

okay, so there is a funny story behind that opening line. i'll share briefly, we have a friend involved in a big brother, big sister program and one of the program officers came to his house to ask him some questions, and that was one of them, and i guess she asked it [what are your goals?], and he had nothing. and our friends wife was telling this story to us through tears as she was laughing, she was just tickled that her husband couldn't think of one goal to say... not even one! and instead he and the officer sat in what i'm guessing to be some awkward silence.

i was right with my friend.

i also would probably have been caught of guard, or i would have made them up on the spot... after a very long pause of course, making it terribly obvious i was just making them up. you know, good goals that everyone should have...

there are several questions like that, questions that you know you should have answers to, because the question is very important, but if you think about it, you really haven't formed any answers.

but that story was just a side story to what i've been learning. this week i made a schedule of my day, so i would be more productive and procrastinate less. to be slightly more disciplined than i have been in previous weeks. and it has been good. next week i need to start the exercise routine.

but the bottom line lesson i've learned through various means of learning [scripture, friends, family, ministry, books...] is i need to learn to lead my heart, and not necessary follow my heart. the world says follow your heart, but if you are not leading it then someone else is, or something else is. jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart can be a deceitful thing, and it will pursue that which feels right at the moment.

i guess i want to make sure and clear this "lead your heart rather than follow it" thing a little. i actually want God to lead me, as the psalmist says "create in me a pure heart, o Lord" but a very practical idea to letting this happen is i have to be willing to lead my heart to let God do His thing. by following my heart i mean following my desires whatever they might be at any given time, which usually aren't all that in line with God's way. i'm not saying i have to sacrifice the desires i have, because some are good desires, i just need to lead my heart to make sure and eliminate the negative desires.

so that leads me back to the goals question, what are your goals? or another way of putting it, how are you going to lead your heart? good question. working on it.

progress.

i've kinda been keeping track of how much my hand is improving with photos, but haven't done a great job. but here are two.








making some slow progress. doc/physical therapist said i'll see small improvement over the next year. and should be back to normal in a year.

the scar!

so the last peek at my arm left several with uneasy stomachs... :0)

but that was a photo right after the splints came off and had all the nasty that builds up after 4 weeks of no washing... i'm healing. praise God! and learning some patience. sorta...



and i'm wearing the ring again!

sweet guitar.

well not healed, but i can play guitar when in the tuning of open E. for those guitar people out there that is EAEEBE tune D string up to E and G string down to E. played worship tonight on the guitar for the first time, and then messed around on the guitar and created a song, undone... pretty basic, but man, that taylor can sing! love playing it. thanks again uncle lance... your officially helping the recovery process... i need to be making a fist, no where near that but... workin' on it.

a few scenes.

just a few scenes from around our place. i'm trying out this photography thing. i'm not claiming to know anything, i'm just trying to capture beauty when i see it. plus, we are finishing up our taxes [woot, woot] and these were taken during me blowing off some steam. it was some good therapy, hard to hold on to anger when your looking for beauty. sounds like a spiritual lesson... a dicipline even, eh?

i like black and white pictures.

a quick thought.

*psalm 119:25-32*
I am laid low in the dust;
preserve my life according to your word.
I recounted my ways and you answered me;
teach me your decrees.
Let me understand the teaching of your precepts;
then I will meditate on your wonders.
My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
Keep me from deceitful ways;
be gracious to me through your law.
I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws.
I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD;
do not let me be put to shame.
I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.

reading a devotional streams through the desert. has a lot to say about the desert times in life, and lessons on seeing the river or getting to the river through those times.

these are a few of my thoughts prompted by it and scripture today thought i'd share.

terrible things happen & trial occurs; and we are to learn through them. i think some people take trials & difficulties without the perspective of teaching & learning & growth & depth. no matter what the situation there is always something of good to be learned however big or small the lesson is.

without that perspective many go through hardship with the outlook of, "well this thing that happened is terrible, i hope it doesn't happen again..." and nothing is learned, but as the story goes, trouble comes again. not one eternal treasure of teaching inside and through these "various trials" is to be had.

but i believe no one will learn the good teaching inside difficulty without a dependent trust in our Heavenly Father. blessed be His NAME.

i used to be a person who didn't see these lesson(s) in trials & hardship but rather just let them happen to me, not taking an initiative to trust God & see His great teaching in such times, no matter how hard or easy they might be. Dependence upon God is a difficult concept to live to begin with, but even more so to those refuse such a perspective.

the day.

meet the ellies. they like ice cream, and so do their faces. we had a delicious meal of food at mcdonalds on cora's birthday. and then the kids got some ice cream, it was a joy to see them really enjoy their ice cream.

this is harrison. he is finally warming up to me a little. he has a great smile and pretty silly little kid. you should have seen him and his brother play with balloons... we taught them a few things, like popping them.

this is henry, harrison's older bro. he is very entertaining also.

ellie g, or ellie sue as we call her... she is very talkative and active... she had the ice cream all over her face when she was done... just awesome.

and ellie b, or ellie renee. i was messing with different things in iphoto on this one, and i lost the orignal color... but i like this one for some reason... ellie is... well very active, but great kid. she always makes me laugh every time i see her.


on a very difficult day these little ones helped to lighten the mood, which i'm thankful for. it was a beautiful day... don't know what else i can say other than we wish little cora was here too.

guys only gammer's den.

had a good time last friday night. i did a "gammer's den" which means playing video games all night, but i made it into a lock-in of sorts and then had "sessions" discussing biblical manhood.

it is my impression that in our culture the "teen" years are used as an excuse by many young folks for rebellious behavior and disrespect. these years are just "suffered" through by parents and those in authority positions... hoping the adolescents will "grow" out of the kid. i'm positive this isn't biblical.

adolescents is a very american idea in side of human growth & development. while i agree that there does seem to be a time period between being a "boy" and being a "man," i don't think it is a time where, "all hell breaks loose" should be accepted.

instead i think it would do much good to understand this time period as a "maturing into manhood" time frame. the kid is a maturing man. this then puts some more responsibility on how one acts and overall behavior. and this places deep significance on spirtual growth. the man of God should act and behave in a godly way, so too should a "maturing man."

here is clip of getting the pop for our fuel through the night.

talk about lucky.

last night we had a delicious dinner, for me it started with snacking on some peanut butter girl scout cookies.



the we had this stir fry from the bag which i can't remember the brand name but it is becoming my favorite, at least from the bag, nothing can really beat a home made stir fry, but this one would be a good competitor.



i'm very thankful for many things, especially with everything that has gone on around us. but i'm very thankful, for anne. she is really a great wife, friend, and support. i'm very blessed. i heard it once that this word "blessed" might be better captured in our modern day speech as "lucky". not lucky in the random, fortunate, ironic sense, but in the sense of i've received something on purpose, with reason, and good. the idea that that life is so good and i didn't ask for it, but i've been given it anyhow.



she loves when i take pictures of her... haha.
she really has made my life blessed, talk about lucky.