My family and I went on our 5 week break this weekend, and I found myself without a computer. When I am with out a computer, I am with out a way to get my daily bible reading in. So with that said, I am successfully 24 days behind in my bible in a year goal. A friend and I are trying this, "reading a bible in a year thing", and she made the statement that I love. She said something to the effect of, " If I try to keep on track I am going to get behind and then get discouraged and give up, so I am just going to read and not get discouraged if I am behind." I LOVE IT. I am so far behind at this point and if I try to catch up I would be overwhelmed and not get out what I need. So I am going to just keep swimming and soaking in what God wants me to hear.
With all that said, I was reading today and I saw that in Matthew 5, Jesus is having a small group. Jesus is calling his leaders together and saying, "lets do some deep tissue spiritual messaging here." That is what I feel that I am missing in the lifestyle that my wife and I live. We are in a situation that is isolating. Going to a small group in the evening is challenging b/c you are in a situation that requires all our children to behave and there are 10 of them. The age ranging from 161/2 down to 5. Reading that reminded me that this is something that I do miss and that is something that I need to make a priority in my life.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
A Little Stroll
Yesterday the family and I went for an outside adventure. Any time you take 10 children anywhere, it is and adventure, but this one was a planned adventure. We woke up and told the children we were going on a hike. They were pumped. Even our older children were excited, and that is always a good thing. We got this great idea from our friends who went on Sat., but we could not go, that was our crazy busy day. So the children were out of school, and we said what the heck.
The first place we decided to go was on the NW side of town by oracle and Magee. When we arrived there was not a single place to park. There were even cars double parked,crazy So we moved on. There was a sense of, oh no, now what. Christie and I had been to a place in Catlinia State park before. It was a bit more up Oracle and we had to pay to get in. We decided we could not allow these excited children to be in a car much longer so we did it.
We paid our dues and parked the car. The children were pumped. After about 1/2 mile in to the trail we hit a fork. One sign said, something pools 2.2 miles ahead. We were leery but decided to try it. That's a long way with 10 children. about .7 miles from that fork we hit another fork. Take the high road to the pools or the low road into the canyon. The children decided to go to the cayon.
These children are brilliant! The canyon was filled with water, and steeeeeeep canyon walls. Water falls all around and beauty that would take your breath away. I told all the children, at one spot, "The the first child into this water fall would get 5 dollars." They were not certain I was serious, until I pulled the 5 dollars from my wallet and layed it on the groud. Don't forget we are in January and this water is snow melt. Plus this place that I am asking them to jump into requires swimming once you are in to get to the edge and back out. After about 2 minutes of all the children giggling and looking at each other, you see Jordy flying through the air and Splash! She cam out of the water just as you would imagine a cat, shocked, wet and happy all at the same time. It was great!
We decided that it was time to go after 2 other children (David and Jyneen) decided to follow suit and get really wet. We had a great time and there was minimal teeth gnashing from the wet ones on the way back. It was great!!!
The first place we decided to go was on the NW side of town by oracle and Magee. When we arrived there was not a single place to park. There were even cars double parked,crazy So we moved on. There was a sense of, oh no, now what. Christie and I had been to a place in Catlinia State park before. It was a bit more up Oracle and we had to pay to get in. We decided we could not allow these excited children to be in a car much longer so we did it.
We paid our dues and parked the car. The children were pumped. After about 1/2 mile in to the trail we hit a fork. One sign said, something pools 2.2 miles ahead. We were leery but decided to try it. That's a long way with 10 children. about .7 miles from that fork we hit another fork. Take the high road to the pools or the low road into the canyon. The children decided to go to the cayon.
These children are brilliant! The canyon was filled with water, and steeeeeeep canyon walls. Water falls all around and beauty that would take your breath away. I told all the children, at one spot, "The the first child into this water fall would get 5 dollars." They were not certain I was serious, until I pulled the 5 dollars from my wallet and layed it on the groud. Don't forget we are in January and this water is snow melt. Plus this place that I am asking them to jump into requires swimming once you are in to get to the edge and back out. After about 2 minutes of all the children giggling and looking at each other, you see Jordy flying through the air and Splash! She cam out of the water just as you would imagine a cat, shocked, wet and happy all at the same time. It was great!
We decided that it was time to go after 2 other children (David and Jyneen) decided to follow suit and get really wet. We had a great time and there was minimal teeth gnashing from the wet ones on the way back. It was great!!!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
NOW !!!!!
So I'm reading through Gen. and I get to Chapter 8 where Noah has been in this ark for what I can gather is about 6 months. Plus or Minus. Keep in mind that this is probably one of those low times in his life. He is a farmer, not a sailor, then you throw every animal on earth in your boat and close the top. This is a valley in my book!
Anyway, Noah sends out a raven to see if the water has dried up. This bird keeps comming back and doing this for 40 days. How low can this valley get? After 40 days Noah sends out a dove and it comes back empty. What If we were Noah and the dove comes back empty? How do we react? I would be very angry and might start to doubt God. Does Noah go down this road? Nope, he waits a week and does it again. Sure enough the Dove comes back with a sign that this journey is about to end.
We keep hearing that we are a microwave society and that we want things done now and with out the wait. I am in that place where my life is at the cross roads and this message has brought it all back into perspective. I need to wait and be patient to what God has planned for me. Not NOW, but wait.
Anyway, Noah sends out a raven to see if the water has dried up. This bird keeps comming back and doing this for 40 days. How low can this valley get? After 40 days Noah sends out a dove and it comes back empty. What If we were Noah and the dove comes back empty? How do we react? I would be very angry and might start to doubt God. Does Noah go down this road? Nope, he waits a week and does it again. Sure enough the Dove comes back with a sign that this journey is about to end.
We keep hearing that we are a microwave society and that we want things done now and with out the wait. I am in that place where my life is at the cross roads and this message has brought it all back into perspective. I need to wait and be patient to what God has planned for me. Not NOW, but wait.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Falling Short
I made a pack with a friend to go through the bible in a year and blog about our experiences. I have to say, to this point, I have kept one day so far. I feel bad, not that I am not keeping up with the plan, but that I am robbing myself of such rich knowledge and wisdom that comes along with reading God's word. To spend time in the word of God is like having him sit next to you and whisper into your ear.
Our community has a blog, and one of the questions that was brought up was, what can you do to hear God better ( I am paraphrasing ). I would say spend more time with Him. If you are unfamiliar with someones voice and they tell you something you are not likely to listen. If your father asks you to do something, It could just be a whisper, you would be all over it. I think that is where spending the time in the presence of God can come in handy. Pray for me that I might get the strength to start back up again reading and get something out of it.
Our community has a blog, and one of the questions that was brought up was, what can you do to hear God better ( I am paraphrasing ). I would say spend more time with Him. If you are unfamiliar with someones voice and they tell you something you are not likely to listen. If your father asks you to do something, It could just be a whisper, you would be all over it. I think that is where spending the time in the presence of God can come in handy. Pray for me that I might get the strength to start back up again reading and get something out of it.
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