RUNNING

One of my daughter's is running cross country this fall. She is the most athletic of all the kids and a natural runner. In her first meet she ran very high 29 minutes and change. In her second she cut almost 5 minutes and last week she cut about 30 seconds. This past week she ran Varsity instaed of JV. She said it was differant, the girls would push her as they passed. She is a gamer and has a good kick. Her attitude is to try and pass just one more before the end.
On one of her starts there were about 400 giirls atarting across about 200 yards. The course funneled down to a normal ten yard wide opening with in the first 300 yards. She didn't want to get caught in a crunch so she sprinted out to the lead for about the first half mile before falling back.
While we were at the orphanage Our son, who thought himself to be a fast runner, and the girls were playing with a soccer ball in a field next door. At one point he grabed the ball and started to run across the field. He had a bout a 30 yard lead when Catherine, who was in flip flops and he in sneakers, took off after him. She caught in no time and decked with her forarm. He went head over heals and she returned with ball telling him Ukraine not to do it again.
The first time she touched a football, American that is, she threw a perfect spiral about 40 yards. She can do just about what she wants too.
We now have two daughters who are learning to play Clarinet. Alexandra has been at for two years ans Olivia is learning this year. Olivia has a good ear for it, she has been able to play things by ear. Not an easy feat if you are learning to play an instrument.
This time of the year always reminds me of our adoption of the girls. It was on 8/28/05 that we went over and returned on 1o/31/05. I remember writing in my journal during the end of the time there that as I was praying to God thatall I wanted to do was get home in time to see a little football and could He help speed things up. It worked, out oof the blue we got a phone call that all things blocking us were removed and we had a court date set. I wonder what would have happened if I had prayed that a few weeks earlier? Oh well, it was worth the struggle because we have Blessed abundantly since with four of the sweeetest and loving girls that anybody could have.
I love my wife and I love my children. I only wish there was a way for us to get more. After seeing all those children we left in that orphange I still dream of ways to get some of them home. Lord willing it will happen one day.

He's My King

This is something I've heard in church before. It is really worth the read. It's worth the listen too if you look it up.
The spirit of sickness has been in our home but is almost gone. Three of us had the crud, not the dreaded swine flu, or as the younget called it the "swamie" flu.


The late Dr. S.M. Lockeridge, a preacher from San Diego, California who said these words in a sermon in Detroit in 1976

My King was born King. The Bible says He's a Seven Way King. He's the King of the Jews - that's an Ethnic King. He's the King of Israel - that's a National King. He's the King of righteousness. He's the King of the ages. He's the King of Heaven. He's the King of glory. He's the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords. Now that's my King. Well, I wonder if you know Him. Do you know Him? Don't try to mislead me. Do you know my King?
David said the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. My King is the only one of whom there are no means of measure that can define His limitless love. No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of the shore of His supplies. No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. He's enduringly strong. He's entirely sincere. He's eternally steadfast. He's immortally graceful. He's imperially powerful. He's impartially merciful. That's my King. He's God's Son. He's the sinner's saviour. He's the centrepiece of civilization. He stands alone in Himself. He's honest. He's unique. He's unparalleled. He's unprecedented. He's supreme. He's pre-eminent. He's the grandest idea in literature. He's the highest personality in philosophy. He's the supreme problem in higher criticism. He's the fundamental doctrine of historic theology. He's the carnal necessity of spiritual religion. That's my King.He's the miracle of the age. He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him. He's the only one able to supply all our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He's available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He's the Almighty God who guides and keeps all his people. He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharged debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek. That's my King.Do you know Him?
Well, my King is a King of knowledge. He's the wellspring of wisdom. He's the doorway of deliverance. He's the pathway of peace. He's the roadway of righteousness. He's the highway of holiness. He's the gateway of glory. He's the master of the mighty. He's the captain of the conquerors. He's the head of the heroes. He's the leader of the legislatures. He's the overseer of the overcomers. He's the governor of governors. He's the prince of princes. He's the King of kings and He's the Lord of lords. That's my King.His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His light is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. I wish I could describe Him to you . . .but He's indescribable. He's indescribable. That's my King.He's incomprehensible. He's invincible. He's irresistible. I'm coming to tell you this, that the heavens of heavens can't contain Him, let alone some man explain Him. You can't get Him out of your mind. You can't get Him off of your hands. You can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him. The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree about Him. Herod couldn't kill Him. Death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him. That's my King.He always has been and He always will be. I'm talking about the fact that He had no predecessor and He'll have no successor. There's nobody before Him and there'll be nobody after Him. You can't impeach Him and He's not going to resign. That's my King! That's my King!Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Well, all the power belongs to my King. We're around here talking about black power and white power and green power, but in the end all that matters is God's power. Thine is the power. Yeah. And the glory. We try to get prestige and honour and glory for ourselves, but the glory is all His. Yes. Thine is the Kingdom and the power and glory, forever and ever and ever and ever. How long is that? And ever and ever and ever and ever. And when you get through with all of the 'ever's, then . . .Amen.

Garden

The garden of Even has done well this year. There has been an abundance of peppers and tomatoes. The corn was small due to to the fact that I didn't turn the soil deep enough. Next year I will use a Roter-tiller. I also have a fungus on my tomatoes. I used some seeds from last year to grow and they had it. It has spread to the new ones I got this year. The tomatoes are good but I am only getting the first round, the plants are wasting away like they would at the end of the growing season. I learn each year something new about what to do.
I am still amazed at the way God takes a little seed and allows it to grow and produce something I can eat. Wow, God is great, if you don't think so look around you, what else could have made such beauty from vegetables, or plants of all kind.
Thank you Jesus for all this.Just wait until we get to Heaven!!!!!!!!!!!!

Summer is over & house painting

The summer is over for the kid’s. Tomorrow is the last day before they start back to school. This summer was a lot more fun for them as they spent long weekends with some of the relatives. Until this year they had not felt comfortable enough to go away with out us.
School...
Every year it takes longer and cost more to get them in. We had to buy 3 $100.00 calculators. (Whats wrong with just using their fingers and toes?) This year we have one in Choir, one is doing culinary stuff, one is running Cross Country and then track, one is in concert band and the fifth is in begginers band. All of this means extra stuff to buy and extra things to go to during the school year.

Lots has happened this past three months. I painted the outside of my house. The job should have been done in a couple of weekends and a day or two. HA !!! I miss figured that one, big time. I had the help of the kids and it made it go a little quicker. The house looks great now and after taking a few weeks off to recover I started back to painting the inside starting on the entry way. I needed a 32 ft. extension ladder to reach up to the top of our entry way. The same ladder I used to paint the outside with. Outside use of the ladder was hard because of the size and weight and took two of us to handle. Inside it took special attention not to tear up the walls. It took two days to paint the entry way but it looks good. The front room ,or formal living room, was easier and only took one full day. I am picking up speed as I near the end of painting the entire house, inside and out. Last but not least was the wardrobe closet we have in our master bedroom. The room is big enough to put a queen size bed in it. Wife and the girls spent about two hours getting all the clothes and stuff out. I spent about two and ½ hours painting it. Just as I was finishing up a friend came by and checked in to see how it was going. This was about 5 pm and I was cutting in the last piece over the door jam. As I was getting down off the ladder I reached up to get the can of paint and dumped about a ¼ gallon all over the area between the bathroom and the closet. Most on the carpet in the closet. For the next 2 plus hours I cleaned up a paint mess. What a way to end a day.
Enough for this post.........


Check out this video ... worth watching. It's Steve Harvey introducing Jesus Christ.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvCd_ANIKys#

Long Time Coming

It has been a while since I last Blogged. My work has kept me very busy, I have been painting the outside of our home, keeping up with the kid's and tending to the garden and yard. I'm not sure which one is the hardest but I know that I am tired.

I have lost 18 pounds since mid May. I have about 12 more to go to reach the desired weight I want. It is a matter of health. The Doc. checked me out in May and informed me tha if I didn't lose and keep the weight off and exercise ( that is a dirty word) I will be a canditate for meds for diabetes(?) as this is a gentic thing. My Mom's side of the fam has a history of it along with high blood pressure and cancer.My Dad's side has heart issues and cancer. Looks like the deck is stacked against me here but I will "surwive". Medical teratment, prayer and a strong will can make a difference.

I will surwive comes from our trip to Ukraine to adopt four girls in 05'. While there we took them to the circus in Kiev. The circus there stays in town in one spot for most of the year, unlike ours that travels around the country. The circus there is very well done with lot's of action and music. Not speaking the language we were at a lose as to what was being said or the words being sung. Until a pretty young woman stared singing that old disco song "I Will Survive". She sang every word in perfect English except for that one word, Surwive. This was at the beggining of our stay there and it became our battle cry for the next 7 weeks of trying to complete the adoption. We spent a total of nine weeks and one day there to do that.

Our garden of even is doing good so far. We have about 20 stalks of corn growing and a dozen tomatoe plants and another dozen pepper plants. Tomatoes are plentiful but the peppers are nothing. The plants are strong and big and they get flowers but no fruit. I guess Im not standing right when I water them or something. The peaches are almost ready and the few apples we have this year are coming along well.

OBAMANOMICS

I think Ma is played by Pelosi. If you watch this enough times it almost makes cents, er, sense.

Modesty

MODESTY HONORS BEAUTY

First, Let’s get this straight: Modesty is not putting on more clothes. Modesty is honoring God by acknowledging the value He placed on your body when He created you. If it were just about clothes, then Adam and Eve would have been created wearing something more than skin. Modesty isn’t about your closet, it’s about having a heart bold enough to throw aside that which the world tells us, and holding on to that which God tells us: That we are a beautiful creation wrapped in the wonder and glory of the perfect artist.
Today’s world of advertising will never tell that. Girls, you will never hear an advertisement tell you how beautiful already are. Instead, it will tell how beautiful you will become if you do this or buy that. And, even more disappointing, that end result of beauty will have nothing to do with the exploitation of your sexuality. Guys,you will rarely see an advertisement that encourages you to be a respectable man who spends his whole life loving one woman, but you will see plenty that tell you success is measured in how many scantily clad females your deodorant can attract.
Is life really so shallow? Is there not more to life than an insatiable sex drive?
In today’s media- commercials, music videos, movies and television programs- the bottom line is that sex sells. Always. Why? Because, at some point, we actually started to believe that sex was a measure of success. Women think they have to look sexy, dress sexy and be willing to have sex constantly. And men think they have to have sex, a lot of sex, to be worth something. When you take those two idea’s and throw them into fashion and the pop culture, you will end up with styles and trends that depend upon targeting of our sexuality. That which God created for mystery becomes a commodity, and something glorious becomes common place.
This is where modesty comes in. Modesty is the decision to reclaim our bodies and tell society that we do not need to sell ourselves to one another just to feel worthy. Modesty is a girls decision to encourage a guy in purity by accentuating her love for Christ, not the curve of her hip. Modesty is a guy’s decision to prove himself a man by running after God, not making himself available to every girl.
Modesty is choosing to let your beauty speak of love, not lust.
Choosing to be modest is not sentencing yourself to a life of baggy clothes and long dresses. That’s not what this is about. Modesty, quite simply, is daring to live a life submitted to God. It is a choice.


Are you daring enough to be MODEST ?

I found this some time ago and copied it for my girls and boy. I forget who wrote it.