Another Day

Trying to relax.Ike is alot better since Wednesday.
He came back to school today-Yeah!!!
Jim started working on the electrical wiring for the pool-the poor guy was having a bad sinus headache and it got too dark to work so we called it a day.My brother -in-law Jim-he's the man for the job and he's doing a fine job that is.
Keller-that boy needs to buckle down in school-the kid is smart -very smart he just hurries through everything he does then gets sloppy and forgets stuff-definitely a year of transition for him in the area of school aptitude.
Part of growing up.
Leah-work,home,school,me,the boys you know stress.
And there is Max.The crazy cat.
I thank God for His grace over us even when I don't show appreciation for it at times.
I can think of worse things to brood over and situations to dread than what I have now.
I think with God's help,I can handle this.

Sick

Isaac has been sick.
All week.
It finally hit its peak yesterday when Jean (my mother-in-law) tool him to the doctor early than the proposed time because he had another bout of SEVERE abdominal pains.Nothing renders you helpless watching you child writhe and scream in pain.
It tears you apart inside.
So the doctor sent him to the ER at Morris hospital to run some tests.
11:00-11:30He was a trooper through the whole ordeal.
In the end,cat scan,IV and all, they ended up diagnosing him with
Lyphadinitis-messentric.
Due to a virus,the lymph nodes in you small intestines get inflamed.
So, you get bad abdominal pains and fever.
He's doing okay.We all got back at 6:30.
I thank God that it wasn't as bad as it could be.

Rush Hour

This past Sunday at church it was interesting.
The service was great and the Spirit moved.
Our pastor,who leads worship with music was,I felt rushing us into the presence of God.
Sometimes I feel we are in such a hurry when it begins we miss out at the important intimate time in the Most holy place.
My pastor is so notorious with that. He gets so excited he lose his place and this Sunday was of no exception.
We actually stopped playing the train wreck was so bad.
However, God prevailed.
In the worship experience,we often times lose sight of why God has called us together.
We use upbeat songs to get the congregation moving-to hurry up and get to the slow stuff in order to do the altar call or to get to that all important message from the Word so we would have time for preaching and maybe an altar call at the end.
Have we put the Holy Spirit on a schedule?
Are we in a hurry?For what?
Is the worship experience on Sunday morning the equivalent of waiting in the drive-thru at Macdonalds?
Have I and the many others in the body of Christ forgot what it means to wait in His presence?Many of us prefer the outer courts and dread the inner courts for what
The Unexpected?
A warm fuzzy glowing type feeling?
What if?
What if God showed up-it's His house you know,and disrupted our timetable to establish His own agenda.
Do we really know how to worship in His presence or do we spend that part of the service groping in the dark?
What's with the rush hour?
Is what we bring to the Master worth the time we spend or are we wasting it for our own agenda-to please ourselves?
I'll let you answer the question.



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Trip to Ohio

Last weekend Jean and Dave and Leah and I went to a friend of our's daughter's wedding in Colombus,Ohio on Friday.It was a nice time-ha! No kids!No kidding!!
We came back that Saturday night-I think you can still get jetlag just from travelling in a car besides flying.
I was wiped.
Then to top it off Sunday afternoon Isaac startred getting REAL bad stomach cramps that lasted all through the night.
He then began spiking a fever.
Today, he's doing better although Keller started spiking a fever.
We are supposed to be getting our swimming pool this week and Julie hasn't come out to mark all the lines in the ground .I still need either Dave or Jim to help me get the wiring for the pool ready so it's going to be an interesting week.

Path

Yesterday,Keller and I went for a bike ride.In Coal City there is a bike path that stretches from border to border.
So, we took it and we must say it is a cool bike path.
This morning,I took a ride on it early.It was beautiful-just before the sun rose up.
I saw a doe on the path ahead of me.
Before I could get my camera phone ready,she took off.It's nice to see nature once in awhile in action.I think I found a new bike path.
Too bad Diamond doesn't have any-they should.

Spiritual Game

"And churches still go on playing a spiritual game
while the beggar on the street goes insane
And churches still go on with a humanistic message made to soothe your soul
while the truth about your sin goes untold..."

That was an excerpt from the song "Spiritual Game" off the album On Rock by a Christian rock band Daniel Band.The album was recorded in the 80's yet this song seems as relevant today as it was in its day.

Well-tempered

In my last post, I was re-evaluating my life.It's good to do that once in a while.
In my class, we are studying the Book of James. I have read it before and now once again I experience insight in a book that today is overlooked.Mainly because it is a "meat" of the Word book-new Christians will have a tough time reading it because to me it is geared for the seasoned believer that needs a proverbial "kick in the butt" so to speak.Chapter One- How we see our trials and how we respond to them can shape our relationship with God. We can allow them to lead us to righteousness or like Adam and Eve,we can let these tests take us into sin-which leads to death.
Counting it joy is having the Godly perspective-not superficial or negative since-that calm in the midst of the storm-smiling in the face of death because we know Whom it is that is there with us-He,Christ suffered as well.
I see the analogy of making swords in this.The metal has to be heated,beaten and heated and beat again until the piece of metal becomes the desired object-a sword.
Our trials can shape us into be the tool God wants us to be and the weapon that the devil fears most.
That means believing in God without wavering.That is the challenge right there.
Being double-minded is to be unstable.
James goes on to say that the person who is double minded should not expect to receive anything from Him.
Maybe that's why we see less people get healed,saved,and delivered.
Maybe that is why we don't see a breakthrough in our nation and our churches.
Unbelief,doubt, walls we set before because it is easy to hide-
"what if?""What if this?"-that is fear and fear leads to fin-an absence of faith.
Lord help me in my disbelief.

Reflecting

Looking back at the road I am treading.
The shortcuts I tried to take.
The curbs of life I hit.
I don't pray enough-if not at all.
I don't read His Word enough if you even count on Sundays.
Do I believe as I use to?
Have i allowed the trials in my life to draw me closer to Him or farther away.
Do I allow too much distraction in my life to weaken my focus?
I desire to finish-to finish well.

Laodicea

My Pastor told us last Wednesday about a website geared at watchdogging the "new" churches and their hirelings we call pastors today:
sliceoflaodicea.com
Must I be carried to the skies with flowery ease
While others fought to win the fight and sailed through bloody seas...

Sir Isaac Watts

Java,java,java

I remembered today the quote I had Leah put on my birthday cake last year.
The saying goes...

If Given Enough Coffee,I Could Rule The World..."
I haven't got my quota yet so the world can sigh a breath of relief.