Sleep

Riley Armstrong recorded a song several years ago called "Sleep". It's all about how he never gets enough sleep. If you've never heard, you should look it up...it's quirky. I tend to stay up way later than I ought to. It's amazing to me how quickly an evening disappears. I get home around 5, we make dinner, eat and spend some time playing with Addie. By the time the kids are in bed and Kathy and I have time to relax, it's usually after 9. Spend a couple of hours on our own pursuits, and then it's after 11 when I go to bed. I remember a time (college) when staying up till midnight, 1 am didn't even phase me. Now-a-days I feel like I've been hit by a truck next morning if I stay up past 11:30...and it is now 11:49...what does that say about my brain...why am I writing at this time of night..

I love sleep. However, I like spending time with my wife, surfing the net, watching movies, reading, even cooking. Do you ever find yourself with not enough time to accomplish what you want to accomplish? But then, I think about the things I want to accomplish in the evening and I realize that other than spending time with my wife and children, all the other stuff is pretty much useless. We fill our lives with things...stay up way past our bedtimes...to accomplish things that are meaningless. It's vanity, a chasing after the wind according to Ecclesiastes. Maybe we would all sleep a little bit better and be a bit more fulfilled if we spent our time  "accomplishing things" that grow our relationships, with others and with God...

Prayer Request and other thoughts...

I think my children are precious...you might not agree, but you'd be wrong...


I have a request to make of those who read my blog. I am currently being considered for a ministry position and I would ask that you pray for myself, the church, and my family while we go through the interviewing process. I would ask that you pray for God's will to be done and that we would all have a peace about that will. I do not want to go to a church simply for a job. I want to go because God is leading us there. I am excited about this possibility while at the same time nervous. I'd ask you to pray that God would calm my spirit as I talk with the church and that I would hear His voice as I make decisions. Thanks...

Other thoughts (random thoughts in no particular order)...

1. I love Christmas lights...I often think about leaving some up year round just so I can look at them...
2. Pinochle is a very fun game...If you've never played it, you should give it a try...
3. Crystal Bowersox's debut CD comes out December 14th...She was the runner up on American Idol this year...I hope it is as good as I want it to be...
4. Step Up 3 comes out on video soon...I totally enjoyed these movies. Not completely sure why. I'm not a dancer (in fact my wife laughs at me when I dance with Addie). But, for whatever the reason I really enjoy these movies and I can't wait to watch it again...
5. Tomorrow is Sunday...I hope you experience God in worship with a body of believers...God bless you tonight and thank you for your prayers...

Colorado

Thanksgiving in Colorado...check out the view from my in-laws back porch...This picture doesn't do it justice.

We didn't get subjected to any invasive searches at the airport, but we did have an extremely long wait. When we arrived to check in, we found out that our plan had been delayed by an hour and a half. We had gotten there early to make sure we had time to get the kids through security, so we went ahead and headed for the gate. When our plane arrived, there was a problem with the windshield and they had to ground it. Thus we were told we would have to wait for another plane that would arrive in another hour and fifteen minutes. Finally after being in the waiting area for four hours and forty-five minutes, we boarded and took off. After landing, my father-in-law picked us up and we started the 3 hour drive to their house. It was a rough start to the trip with a two and a half year old and a seven month old. However, now that we are here, life is good.

I love visiting my in-laws. As I've stated before, they are very similar in world view to my family. They also enjoy playing games. We play pitch, spades, hearts, and pinochle with cards; forty-two with dominoes; Settlers of Cataan and Munchkin board games. Tonight we played a new game called "A Game of Thrones" based upon the novels of George R.R. Martin. Lots of rules, but once you got the hang of it, it was fun. Games and more games get played when we are together, and it is a lot of fun.

I hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday with family or friends. I pray that God reminds you of all the blessings He has placed in your life. Finally, take some time to play and enjoy life...

Missed a day...

don't know where this is, I just liked the picture...

And I was doing so well at the everyday posting...oh well...life happens. So, back to the posting grindstone. I got to teach the youth in Sunday School and evening Bible study today. We had some fun. I thought I'd share a bit of my lesson from this morning here tonight.

The title of the lesson was Grab a Booty. (nice title for a youth lesson don't you think) I started with a story that I read awhile back about a college environmental geology class. The professor took his students on a field trip to climb a mountain and observe some rock formations. Before they left, he had them gather in a clearing and gave them this instruction, "For the next several minutes I want you to go around this clearing and grab each others butts." The students started out fairly nervous, but as you can imagine were soon making jokes and having fun. Once everyone was participating well, the professor called the group back together and told them the reason for this strange exercise. He said "The trail we are about to take is extremely steep, slick, and narrow. You climb it mostly on your hands and knees. If the person in front of you were to slip, the first thing you would see is their butt. If you are uncomfortable or unwilling to grab their butt and catch them, they could hurt themselves and those behind you as they fall. In order to prevent this I wanted you to be comfortable grabbing each others' butts so that if the person in front of you slips you can grab them and push them up until they regain their footing."

I think that often we as the Church fail to "grab a butt" when we see people fall. Instead of catching them in their weakness (awkward moments) and pushing them up the mountain with us, we step aside and even point fingers in judgement about their inability to stay on the trail. This is wrong. 

So, I gave the youth three rules for Christian Booty Grabbing...

1. You must have a relationship...You've got to build a relationship of mutual love and trust with a person to truly be effective in admonition. No one wants to hear they are doing wrong, but it helps if you know the other person is telling you because they love you and want what's best for you.
2. You must be consistent...Your ability to effectively help someone up the mountain is greatly hindered when you do not live what you preach.
3. You must be willing to receive...As you help others up the path, you are bound slip occasionally. Are you will to let someone else grab your butt and give it a push? 

I realize that for the most part this lesson is about accountability. However the point that I wanted to get across even more than being accountable to each other is that we need to treat each other better in the church. I've seen it happen before. A person stumbles and has trouble getting back in right relationship with God and the Church (not all, obviously) gossips, judges, and condemns rather than reaching out in love. As Christians, the world "knows" us for what we are against as often or more often than for what we are for. Christ was for loving people into relationship with Himself and His Father...I think that's what we should be about. It has to start inside the walls...

Snow and Shortness of Breath (or keystrokes)

We had our first snow of the year today! Not sure if this is a good thing or not. We didn't start the tile job, which means I'm probably not working tomorrow (this is good). However, it was stinking cold this morning and very wet. Since we didn't get to start laying tile , we went and did an indoor painting job that didn't last all day and I got to cut out early. This was nice since it gave us time to put up the Christmas tree!

We only got so far as the tree and lights, but I think we will try to get the ornaments put on tomorrow. Addie was funny as we unpacked the box with the tree, some lights, and some odds and ends from Christmas last year. "Look momma a snowman!" "There's a Christmas bear!" "Look momma I'm helping daddy with the branches." (we have an artificial tree so we were fluffing the branches.) She was carrying around about 6 different Christmas items at one point and trying to pick up others.

In an effort to keep this brief tonight (shortness of breath) I'll just add one more cute story. This morning before I left for work, Addie woke and and needed the potty. After she finished, she wanted to watch a VeggieTale. So, in an effort to allow Kathy to sleep a bit longer, I sat down to watch part of the video with Addie. When it was time to leave for work, I opened the door to discover that it had snowed...When Addie saw the snow she declared "When I get done watching my VeggieTale I can go play in the snow, and maybe eat some of it!" Her memories of snow from last winter are playing and eating it. May we all be as certain in life...

Getting Colder

We took the day off today because we will likely be working a tile job on Saturday. We went to Amarillo to help pick up the tile and to run some errands. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will be able to gets lots of work done on this job tomorrow and won't have to work on Saturday. However, there is a seventy percent chance for rain tonight and tomorrow morning, and a high of 46 tomorrow. This will make it a bit harder to lay tile outside on a concrete porch. 

It's amazing to me that we are already half way through November (well, almost). This year has flown by for me. When we first moved here to work for awhile, Kathy and I talked about it like it was temporary. We thought after six months to a year God would have us somewhere else. Now here we are a year later, and it is starting to get cold again. I never used to mind the cold too much. You know - wear a heavy coat from the car to work, the store, the house, etc. But now that I work outdoors fairly often (not as often in the cold months but still occasionally), I notice when it starts getting colder a lot faster. This is no longer feeling like nice fall weather. The air has more of a bite to it, and I am waking up with my skin feeling dry and itchy. 

So in the vein of remaining thankful, here are a few things I appreciate about colder weather...

• Cold weather food-Soups, stew, chili, cornbread. I love so many entrées that simply don't taste as good in warm weather. 
• The holidays-Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. When the weather turns from cool to cold, it puts me in the mood for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Good food, family, presents, and most of all a time of remembering Jesus coming down and wrapping Himself in our skin to pay the price for our folly. 
• I have been listening to Christmas music for well on a month now. I am planning to try and put up our Christmas tree this weekend sometime.
• Fires in the fireplace-Now if only I had a fireplace...I guess the fake one I have on dvd will have to do for this year. 

I forgot one other thing I was thankful for on my previous thankfulness post...I am thankful for something my pastor told me a couple of weeks ago after the Men's Bible Study. We were joking about whether or not the Dallas Cowboys had a chance (this was several weeks ago when they still had a chance) and I jokingly said how angry I got watching the games. I meant frustrated, but he took me literally and replied, "Oh, I like football well enough, and I pretend to care occasionally, but it doesn't make me angry. The thing that makes me angry is that there are people in the world dying without Jesus in their lives, and we sit around getting frustrated at football games." (this is not an exact quote, but it was something along these lines.) I didn't reply, but as i thought about it, I realized that he was right. Why should we get so upset at a game yet not care whether or not our neighbor across the street is going to heaven when they die. It kind of puts things into perspective. Football is only football. Jesus didn't come to save it. He came to save those of us who watch or ignore it. Let's get our priorities straight...

Dumb Animals

I typically keep 2-3 movies on my Ipod in case I ever have a few minutes to waste waiting for something at a job site etc. Recently I have been watching Prince Caspian when I have time. There was a line that stuck out to me the first time I saw it and again yesterday as I watched. After returning to Narnia the Pevensie children are met by Trumpkin the dwarf and are traveling to the aid of the true Narnians. The Narnia they return to is quite different from the one they left and that fact shows itself throughout the movie. One of the first dramatic scenes where these changes are evident involves a bear. Lucy Pevensie remembers the animals of Narnia talking when they lived there before and thus approaches the bear without fear. The bear roars and starts to charge. The other children start to tell the bear to stop to no avail. When it seems that Lucy will surely be killed by the bear, Trumpkin kills it with an arrow. Dismayed by her near death and the death of the animal Lucy asks "Why didn't he stop, it was almost like he couldn't talk." To this Trumpkin replies "Get treated like a dumb animal long enough, and that's what you become." 

That statement stood out to me in a big way. I started thinking about all the ways it was true in our lives. People, myself included, can rise and fall by others' beliefs about them. We tell young girls that they need to be a certain size and look a certain way in order to be considered beautiful. (you might not say those words but the society around you does) So as that young girl matures, she struggles with her looks because she doesn't meet the expectations. A child is told over and over that he/she is dumb/stupid/ignorant because they struggle in school. They begin to believe and behave as if they are dumb/stupid/ignorant. Our society preaches the value of wealth and power, and if we are not careful we can fall into the trap of seeking after those things and we will lose sight of what is important. 

Why does this matter? First I think it should be a wake-up call to each of us that we need to be careful of the "truths" we speak into people's lives. Words have power, and we can be a positive influence or a negative one. As the saying goes, you might be the only Bible some people ever read. Second, I think this line of thought should remind us of the importance of surrounding ourselves with people who will lift us up and set us right when need be. There's a reason God tells us in Acts not to forsake meeting together with other believers. We need people in our lives who will remind us of who we are in Christ, and challenge us to live the truth of His Word. We need each other. Our world is becoming more and more mobile and individualized, and less and less societal. I can easily spend so much time writing this blog and surfing the internet in the evening that I go to bed without having spent any quality time with my wife and children. We need people who will remind us of God's love and God's plan...

Pictures

 I know this picture isn't the prettiest, but this cake that Kathy and I made yesterday is maybe the best cake I've eaten this year...Not joking. I got the recipe from a Betty Crocker book I purchased in the checkout aisle in Wal-mart. It is a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting. If I thought it would survive being mailed to you, I would send a piece to anyone who asked because I think you should try it...

On to the blog for the day. I mentioned in my first post that this blog might occasionally be a place for me to show off my children. Today is one of those days...
This is a picture of myself and Eli at the Halloween festival. He was supposed to be me. We drew a beard on him, found some glasses, and gave him a tool belt. His shirt says "Daddy's Little Helper." He won first place in the birth to 3 yr old level of the costume contest...

 These next several pictures are from Maxwell's Pumpkin Farm in Amarillo. Neither of our children were very interested in having their picture taken, but we got a few that were pretty cute. Do you think there is any family resemblance between the two of them?

 Adelaide seldom smiles for pictures these days...she tends to frown at us or simply look stoic. Here's a bit of  a grin...

 Eli thought that holding this pumpkin was pretty cool...I think he would've stayed pretty happy if he hadn't been sitting on hay that kept poking through his pants...

 Addie running through a tunnel made of hay...she thought this was super fun...

 I love my little girl and I think she is beautiful...I liked the glow behind her head here...

 I love digital cameras. They give us the chance to take lots of pictures and simply choose the best from the bunch. (my wife occasionally thinks that I choose the wrong pics from the bunch.)

As a follow up to my post yesterday, I forgot to mention my in-laws in my list of things for which I am thankful. This was a gross oversight. I am extremely blessed in that I married into a family that I actually enjoy spending time with. They are strong, godly Christians and they raised their daughter in that vein. I have heard so many jokes/complaints from other married couples about their in-laws and I am thankful that I can't relate.

As a second follow-up, Kathy showed me this blog post after she read my blog last night. It is from a mother to her children, and it very nicely elaborates the point I was trying make about being "happy." Hope you enjoy reading it...http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-dont-want-my-children-to-be-happy.html
Have a great night...

Everything's Fine...

This is the first day I've sat down and couldn't think of anything to write. I've enjoyed writing daily, but tonight I almost feel like it is a waste of time. However, it could be because I am watching a movie while trying to write, "Everybody's Fine".

This is a story about a man trying to go and see his family. I don't know how it ends, but it is a bit sad so far. This man seems to genuinely desire to see his children, but they all cancel on him last minute. So, he decides to go visit them all as a surprise. His children seem to all be too busy for him and lying to him about their brother. 

The thing that stands out to me so far is that he just wants to know his kids are happy. They all tell him that they are, but you can tell that none of them truly are. The question that is going through my mind is...am I happy? Then as soon as I think it, another question pops into my head...is happy really all I'm striving for? 

We have a mens Bible study at the church on Monday mornings. We have been studying Ecclesiastes. If you want to be a bit depressed, this book can do it too you. Solomon wasn't very encouraging when it came to making you feel like life had a purpose. As we've been studying, the only thing comes across as important is that we strive to follow God with our lives. It's all meaningless without Him...

So am I happy? Yes. God has blessed me greatly. The bigger question is, Have I placed God at the center of my life? Until He is center, none of us are going to be truly happy, we'll just keep saying that everything is fine...

Watch "Everybody's Fine" it was good...

Thanksgiving...

Had my first Thanksgiving dinner of the year at church tonight. Amazing turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, and layered chocolate desert. Kathy, myself, and my brother Josh sang a special (which went pretty well). All in all a great evening. It got me thinking about things I'm thankful for. Here's a short list...

• My family...If you don't know my wife, let me simply say this...I married above what I deserved...she is an amazing woman. My two children are the cutest kids you will ever meet (and I'm not being biased, it's just true). Eli and Addie both sat through the whole dinner and program tonight without causing any sort of disturbance, which is quite a feat for a baby of 7 months and a 2 1/2 year old.
• God...He is revealing things to me about myself that I need to know and challenging me to grow. Besides which, He has never left nor forsaken me and my family. He is my Savior, Lord, protector, and provider.
• Work...Even though I occasionally think this handyman work is going to kill me, I am so grateful to have a job which allows me to provide for my family. I also enjoy getting to work with my dad and brother. Plus, I'm learning how to do all sorts of useful stuff.
• My parents and siblings...It is fun being here with my family for this time in our lives. I truly love them and enjoy getting to spend some time with them. My dad and brother having been playing fantasy football with me this year and I am beating them both...
• amazon.com music downloads...This list is in no particular order, just things I am thankful for. Kathy thinks I already have way too many CDs lying around, so being able to download music that I want and not having to deal with the physical disc is nice. Plus they have really good prices on lots of stuff and even have sales on digital music...
• Weekends...Because my work occasionally wears me out, I am grateful for days to relax and recharge.
• Christmas Music...I love it!
• DS...My family bought me a DS game system last Christmas. I don't often have time to play video games these days, but when I want to relax with a game this portable system is lots of fun.
• My Ipod...I use this thing everyday. I am a music addict and and I am thankful to have a device that lets me listen throughout the day.
• Losing Weight...I have lost 22lbs so far and have about 6 to go...

I'll stop there, but as you can see, I have been greatly blessed, and I am glad we have a season called Thanksgiving to remind us that we should be thankful for the blessings God has placed in our lives.

1 John 3:1-3 ¹ See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Change

I love the David Crowder Band...they are artists who like to think outside the box both in their music and obviously in their videos. I appreciate artists who don't get caught up in following the pattern of whatever is "hot." This video creatively shows (by the by...according to Crowder, they used over 700,000 Light Bright lights to make this video) a couple falling in love and then one of them dying. All the while the music asks God to "Shine Your light so that I can see You," and near the end of the song Crowder sings of God overcoming. I can think of few things better for a blog entitled "oft go astray" than the idea of God overcoming and us asking God to show Himself to us in all situations in our lives. Our life situations will change continually, and it is encouraging to be reminded that God doesn't change in the midst of our changes. He is a steady rock that we can hold to when the waters of life threaten to overwhelm. 


I heard an interesting statistic recently discussing the number of major changes that people go through in their lives. According to the stats, back 50-100 years ago people would experience 3-5 major changes in their lives (marriage, divorce, new career, moving to a new state, etc...). The stats went on to state the today your average person would experience between 10-15 major changes in their lives (I personally think it might be more). We need God more than ever, but we seem to seek God less than our predecessors. It's an interesting paradigm. As Kathy and I talked today about what we thought would be the next direction in our lives, we came to an interesting thought...maybe our goal should be to move ourselves closer to God rather than trying to move ourselves closer to a new job, town, experience. I think it is quite possible that God has us where we are for the purpose of drawing us back into closer relationship with Him. It's an interesting thought to say the least. Maybe God's plan in all of this is to simply draw us back and then send us out...and if so, would it not behoove me to start disciplining myself to dive into the spiritual disciplines and to ask God to move in my life?


As a final thought (completely unrelated to the above post), if you would like an amazing Christmas CD, I suggest heading over to amazon or itunes or wherever you purchase music and download Jars of Clay's Christmas album from a couple of years ago called "Christmas Songs." I think it is one of my favorite Christmas albums...

Date Night and Christmas Music

While date nights and Christmas music do not normally go together, they are the two topics on my mind this evening.

Thanks to my parents, Kathy and I got to spend the evening child-free. I must say that even though I truly love and enjoy my kids, it is great to get away and spend a couple of hours alone with my wife. we went to eat and then went to walmart and simply wandered around. You don't realize how stressful it is to go out to a restaurant and to wander walmart when you have two little ones with you...Well some of you do. I love my wife more than she may realize sometimes, and I know I don't say it often enough. If you have someone special in your life make sure you tell them often. (by the by...great time to buy candy at walmart...all the halloween candy is half off)

On to Christmas music...I know many people will think this strange, but I have been listening to my Christmas music for almost a month now. You see I grew up this way. My mother has never been a big fan of halloween. When we were growing up we started listening to Christmas music about the time that stores started putting out costumes, and skulls, and tombstones. I guess she preferred to skip ahead a bit and focus on a more important holiday. (don't get me wrong, we still dressed up and went trick-or-treating etc...)

As Kathy and I drove home from our date tonight we were listening to some Christmas tunes, and I started thinking about how many of the songs we consider "Christmas Classics" have nothing to do with Jesus. I myself and guilty of occasionally skipping songs like "O Holy Night" and "Away in a Manger" for secular favorites like "The Christmas Song" and "White Christmas." Not that there is anything wrong with these songs, but I was thinking about how easy it is for us to put Christ aside as we get ready to celebrate the holiday season. I love the Christmas season more than any other time of year. I love spending time with family, giving and receiving gifts, eating large portions of turkey and dressing, etc... But I don't want to focus solely on those things. I don't want my daughter to think that is what Christmas is all about. I want her to understand that we celebrate Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ as a tiny baby, sent to this earth to die for our sins. It's never to early in the year to remind ourselves of this...

⁶ For to us a child is born, 
   to us a son is given, 
   and the government will be on his shoulders. 
And he will be called 
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace 
   there will be no end. 
He will reign on David’s throne 
   and over his kingdom, 
establishing and upholding it 
   with justice and righteousness 
   from that time on and forever. 
The zeal of the LORD Almighty 
   will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:6-7

Worthy Pursuits...

So here I am on day four in a row...I am truly enjoying taking the time to do this in the evenings before bed. I took this picture yesterday while driving to a job site...I thought the sky was simply beautiful...

I'd like to share a link to another blog, that I would encourage you to follow...
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/11/time-to-return-to-your-first-love-make-a-commitment-booklet/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+HolyExperience+(Holy+Experience)
This link will take you to a specific entry that I found to be so challenging that I don't even know how to describe it. Take a moment and go read it (hold down your ctrl button while clicking the link and you won't even have to leave my page...) before reading the rest of my post...hers is much better anyway...

When I read this, I was filled with conviction about my own utter lack of scripture committed to memory. I mean sure, I can pop off a paraphrase of a scripture (without its reference) to make a point, but actual number of scriptures committed to memory for total recall is quite lacking. When the Bible says in Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." it gives us a clue about defeating temptation, avoiding sin, and having faith in difficult times. Paul reminds us 2 Timothy 3:16 that "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness" and yet we don't take the time to learn it. I am convinced that I need to step up to the plate and start committing God's word to my heart. I love the resources mentioned in the above blog to help with the memorization. I think I might just have to go out and order some moleskin notebooks and start working on the book of Ephesians soon.

I entitled this entry Worthy Pursuits (plural) so let me move on to the second pursuit of the evening. Back in July I challenged myself to lose 30 pounds by November 1st. I was at the heaviest I have ever been in my life and I was tired of it. To date I have lost 22 lbs and have changed my goal to simply getting down to 175 lbs. I don't know about you, but I hate working out...running, walking, lifting, aerobics, you name it I think I dislike it. So losing weight is a matter of changing my diet. I have found a great tool in this arena. www.caloriecount.com is a great resource if you are trying to lose weight. You simply tell the system how active you are, and it will tell you how many calories you burn each day approx. It will then tell you how many calories you can eat in a day and still lose weight. great tool...but the thing that helps me the most is that it will keep track of your caloric intake if you tell it everything you eat.

I have found that simply knowing how many calories I can consume, and approximately how many calories I can eat helps me monitor myself fairly well. I wish I had discovered this web site back in July rather than mid September. I might have gotten closer to my 30 lbs by now. However I press on toward the goal, and hopefully by the beginning of the year I will have met or surpassed my goal.

Smells like...

2 Corinthians 2:14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

If you didn't know this about me, I like to cook...more specifically, I like to bake. Probably because most of the things people bake are packed full of carbs, sugars, fats, and flavor. Monday night, my daughter and I set out to make chocolate chip pumpkin bread from a new recipe that I found. We had lots of fun messing up the kitchen and finally put two loaf pans into the oven to cook. Within about twenty minutes, our entire house smelled like a little slice of heaven. The bread was supposed to bake for an hour, so we had a while to wait and the waiting was making me extremely hungry. (by the way...chocolate chip pumpkin bread does not help with losing weight...) By the time it finished baking, my little one was in bed, so she didn't get to try it until the next day, but My wife and I both dug in. It was quite tasty, and at the same time slightly disappointing. See this was the second batch of pumpkin bread I've made in the last month. The other recipe that I used the time before made a much better bread (thanks Courtney W). So while this bread was a success in terms of tasting good, I won't be making it again...

The verse at the top of the page was one Kathy and I used for our youth Bible study that we teach on Sunday nights. I love the mental picture that Paul paints in this passage to the Corinthians. He compares us to a smell that spreads everywhere and permeates the world around. Much like my pumpkin bread while it was in the oven. While teaching the youth we asked the question "How do you Smell?" I think that many times we as Christians don't really permeate our world with the fragrance of the knowledge of God. Sure we smell like Christ if you get close enough to us, if you get to know us really well. But people don't smell Christ on us from a block away while they approach. We've become content to dab on just enough Jesus to get by, go to church, pray for a meal, offer to pray for a friend while really thinking about the next item on our daily calendar. I think God (through Paul) is calling us to much more than just dabbing a bit of smell good on a couple of times a week as we leave the house. I think the picture here is more like someone who baths in their cologne and is proud of it. God is looking for Christians who will stand out from the crowd. People who not only go to church, but who truly desire to engage in worship when the are there. People who don't just pray over their meals, but who go out and feed the hungry. People who don't just offer to pray for their friends, but who cry out to God on their knees and earnest petition for those in need. God wants us to fill this world with the Fragrance of the Knowledge of Him...

I'm not there yet, but I want to be...pray for me to not only be filled with desire but to be fired with a passion for action...Good Night and God Bless

November 2nd

Two days in a row...this might be a first for me.  As I write my 2 year old is sitting at her door crying that she "wants mommy to sing." I'm not cold hearted, but this is the second night this week where she told us that she wanted one of us to sing her to bed and then changed her mind. Sunday night we let her cry for about 45 minutes, decided we couldn't take it any longer and I went in and sang to her and put her to bed. The problem is,  she hasn't taken a nap for the last two days, and tonight is once again trying her best to not go to bed. We are afraid of setting a precedent that we will succumb to her desires if she simply cries long enough and loud enough. So, for now she sits and cries and I try not to feel so bad that I give in to her. It's a bit heart-breaking...

Do you think God ever feels like this? We push and pull for our own way, and yet he knows what is best for us. So while we bang our heads against the wall and wonder why things seem so hard in our life; wonder why God seems so far away, He is up there looking down on us and simply waiting for us to give up the fight and surrender to His will and plan. The farther we get from His plan, the less we look to Him for guidance, until  something so big that we can't handle it comes our way and we crawl back to Him and ask for His help.

I think sometimes that this is where we are as a country. We've tried things our own way for so long, that we've forgotten what it looks like to ask God for guidance. Now that our country is in the tough situation that we have, rather than looking to God for help, we look to a change in political party. Don't get me wrong, I think it's important to vote, and I think there needs to be a change in the current government, but this should not be where we place our hope for the future. The Republicans don't have it all figured out and they won't be able to get our country completely back on track. My biggest concern right now is how big is the wall going to have to be that our country runs into before we realize our need for God once again?

She is finally quiet...I don't know if she fell asleep at the door or went back to bed...we'll hope for the latter...

Starting Something New

   So...I've attempted to keep a blog before, but I've never had much success.  However, my wife is an avid reader of blogs, my sister writes one, and I have found myself drawn to them more often than I would have thought, so I have decided to try again. 
   I'm not sure what the content of this blog will consist of.  I would love to be one of those bloggers who actually make money writing their blog because so many people follow it and they can get advertisers.  (mainly that appeals to me because it sounds like a nice way to make extra cash)  Something tells me that this will not be the case.  So I think for now this will simply be a place for me to think out loud and show off my kids once in a while.  
   For this first post, I will take a moment to explain the title of my blog.  Gang Aft Aglay is a Gaelic phrase from a poem by Robert Burns.  The line reads "the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglay."  Translated it means "Oft Go Astray."  I do not speak Gaelic (though I think it would be cool if I did) but when studying this poem in college it stuck with me.  I am a 28 year old with a college degree in ministry.  I currently work for my Dad as a handyman in a small little panhandle town in TX.  I've made plans in life, and many of them have fallen through.  However, I cling to the promise found in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Just because my plans have not all worked out the way I thought they would doesn't mean that God no longer cares, or that I'm no longer usable by God.  It simply means that my plan has changed.  God still has a plan for me and my family and we are simply waiting and praying for Him to reveal the next step.  Maybe this blog will talk about a few of those steps along the way...
   We'll see how well I do with writing on this thing regularly...if anyone reads this, hope you enjoy. Until next time,


   May the road rise up to meet you
   May the wind be ever at your back
   and until we meet again
   May God hold you in the center of His hand