Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Home Improvement Saga
This morning I went out to Becca's car to get it warmed up and scrap off the ice. When I came back to enter the house I found out that Becca was locked in and I was locked out. Thus began our home repair journey today since we do not want to be stuck in our home permanently. The process involved the use of many tools to get and get our door open. In the end we decided to remove the door from the hinges and Becca's swift "donkey" kick got the job done. Two hours later, we have the door re-attached to the hinges and a new doorknob installed. Move over Bob Vila, Becca and Chris are on the job!
Monday, January 29, 2007
The Necklace
I received this today from our pastor and thought the message was very challenging. I hope this is a blessing to you.
The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box."
Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?"
Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face."
A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."
As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. Mc James if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.
Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.
Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"
Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you.
Then give me your pearls.""Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She's my very favorite."
"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.
About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"
"Daddy, you know I love you.""Then give me your pearls."
"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."
"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you."And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.
A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.
"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"
Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, daddy; this is for you."
With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.
He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure. So it is, withour Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.
God will never take away something without giving you something better inits place.
You can do two things with this story:
A. Pass it on and let others be touched by its message;
B. Throw it away and not let it touch your heart.
The greatest gifts happen when you share love and touch others
The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box."
Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?"
Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face."
A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."
As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. Mc James if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.
Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.
Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"
Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you.
Then give me your pearls.""Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She's my very favorite."
"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.
About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"
"Daddy, you know I love you.""Then give me your pearls."
"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."
"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you."And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.
A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.
"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"
Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, daddy; this is for you."
With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.
He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure. So it is, withour Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.
God will never take away something without giving you something better inits place.
You can do two things with this story:
A. Pass it on and let others be touched by its message;
B. Throw it away and not let it touch your heart.
The greatest gifts happen when you share love and touch others
Thursday, January 18, 2007
City Hope Ministries
We have found a new church and are in the process of becoming members. The church is called City Hope Ministries. I've put a link to their website on the left side of the blog. We are very happy God has lead us to City Hope.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
What Color Blue Are You?
| You Are Royal Blue |
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Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Please pray for my Uncle Luther
Please pray for my uncle Luther. My dad called today and told me Uncle Luther has been transferred to an area hospital from his nursing home as he has severe internal bleeding. This is very shocking and unsettling to his close family as well as my dad. Thank you all for your prayers for his physical condition as well as his spiritual condition. We are not sure if he has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or not.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Merry Christmas!
I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. We're in Cleveland celebrating with my family. I'm glad to have a few days away from work to relax with family.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Well I thought this was going to be a brief post...
Well I'll break the silence with a brief posting. I met a friend of mine today at Panera. He was in from Texas for the weekend. It was good to see Nick and catch up a bit. I really feel out of the loop as I saw so many friends having pages on My Space. I am not motivated enough to get my own page, however I think everyone I know is on there. I had thoughts of really bad things going on the site, however I have now seen there are good things on the site too. I'm satisfied with my blog (not completely, I need to learn more about webpage design) and don't need a my space now.
I can't believe Friday is December. Where did 2006 go? It has been a good year though definitely with difficulties too. In today's sermon at church our pastor discussed the good that can come from trials. He was talking about Naomi from the book of Ruth. When she and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem everyone was happy to see her. As they expressed their joy to see Naomi, she in her despair and bitterness said do not call me Naomi but call me Mara. Mara means bitter. The challenge I receive from this passage is we will all go through difficult times, but how will we respond to them. God wants to use the hard times in our lives for His glory, but will we let Him do this? If Naomi would not have been bitter with Moab and returned to Bethlehem, then Ruth would not have met Boaz and that would have stopped the line of births leading to Jesus Himself. It is exciting to see how God uses trials, though it doesn't always help us at the time.
I have been in a funk today and I can't completely explain why. We are in the process of joining a church here in town. I am glad we have a found a church and I really like this church. The church is a good fit for us and will also be a challenge to us too. Part of me feels I should be more excited that we are joining this church though I am not. I can't help but thinking these negative thoughts I have had today are attacks from Satan. I desire to be sensitive to his schemes though I am not successful 100% of the time. I am reminded each day in one way or another that I need God's help to get through each day. God does not want to live life on my own and He does not enable me to either.
Well I think that is enough ranting for now. Thank you for listening. Have a great night!
I can't believe Friday is December. Where did 2006 go? It has been a good year though definitely with difficulties too. In today's sermon at church our pastor discussed the good that can come from trials. He was talking about Naomi from the book of Ruth. When she and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem everyone was happy to see her. As they expressed their joy to see Naomi, she in her despair and bitterness said do not call me Naomi but call me Mara. Mara means bitter. The challenge I receive from this passage is we will all go through difficult times, but how will we respond to them. God wants to use the hard times in our lives for His glory, but will we let Him do this? If Naomi would not have been bitter with Moab and returned to Bethlehem, then Ruth would not have met Boaz and that would have stopped the line of births leading to Jesus Himself. It is exciting to see how God uses trials, though it doesn't always help us at the time.
I have been in a funk today and I can't completely explain why. We are in the process of joining a church here in town. I am glad we have a found a church and I really like this church. The church is a good fit for us and will also be a challenge to us too. Part of me feels I should be more excited that we are joining this church though I am not. I can't help but thinking these negative thoughts I have had today are attacks from Satan. I desire to be sensitive to his schemes though I am not successful 100% of the time. I am reminded each day in one way or another that I need God's help to get through each day. God does not want to live life on my own and He does not enable me to either.
Well I think that is enough ranting for now. Thank you for listening. Have a great night!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Birthday Events
This blog entry is long overdue. I have to catch everyone up on the events of the past couple evenings for Becca and I. On Wednesday night we went out to dinner at Red Robin with our burger club coupons we received for our birthday. The coupon says only one coupon can be used per table, but since we have the same birthday we wanted to be able to use both coupons for our dinner. We asked our server if we could use both coupons and she said…YES! So this is a glowing endorsement for Red Robin. Join their burger club on their website and make sure to go there for dinner sometime soon.
Yesterday was Becca’s and my birthday. I am still shocked sometimes that we share a birthday because of how rare that is. I planned a surprise party for Becca and invited some friends of ours to our home to celebrate the special occasion. I have been working on this party for at least a week now and had so much doing it. Becca and I talked the whole rest of the night after the party (it seemed) about all the fun details I worked with in planning the party. We went out to dinner at the Olive Garden. This was the 2nd night in a row we went out to dinner and we did decide that we need to wait awhile before going out again. We had a very nice server and the food did not disappoint either. I really do enjoy celebrating my birthday with Becca. After dinner we went home and the surprise party started. Some friends were already there, others arrived later on. I arranged for some friends to call in during the party as they could not attend in person. Some people brought gifts, other just came. I really enjoyed the party and was glad to celebrate our birthday. Next year is 30 for me so I better be on guard.
Yesterday was Becca’s and my birthday. I am still shocked sometimes that we share a birthday because of how rare that is. I planned a surprise party for Becca and invited some friends of ours to our home to celebrate the special occasion. I have been working on this party for at least a week now and had so much doing it. Becca and I talked the whole rest of the night after the party (it seemed) about all the fun details I worked with in planning the party. We went out to dinner at the Olive Garden. This was the 2nd night in a row we went out to dinner and we did decide that we need to wait awhile before going out again. We had a very nice server and the food did not disappoint either. I really do enjoy celebrating my birthday with Becca. After dinner we went home and the surprise party started. Some friends were already there, others arrived later on. I arranged for some friends to call in during the party as they could not attend in person. Some people brought gifts, other just came. I really enjoyed the party and was glad to celebrate our birthday. Next year is 30 for me so I better be on guard.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Please pray for Pastor Haggard and his family...
It made me sad to read about the accusations made to Pastor Haggard in
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Halloween
I am very excited to share how my company is celebrating Halloween (not that I really like the holiday, but it does show how much fun we have around here). We just had a costume contest. Now we are feasting upon Robinette's cider, donuts and caramel apples. Later on we will have pumpkin bowling. And yes we will also be doing work around here too. Have a great day!
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Just finished a book...
I just finished reading Dispatches From the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters and Survival by Anderson Cooper. For my generation, he is remembered as a correspondent on Channel One News and now has his own program on CNN called Anderson Cooper 360°. The book was interesting (though not the best written book I've read lately). In the book Anderson is recounting his experiences in Sarajevo, Sri Lanka, Somalia and New Orleans while covering world events for Channel One and CNN. I did find it interesting how these experiences caused him to reflect on events in his own life. There is the tendency to comparmentalize life and not let certain events at work effect your personal life. Anderson realized while writing book that it is helpful to work through things like this as they come up. The book also shows me how busy a life Anderson has and how grateful I am that I can come home at the end of the day and leave work behind (even if I have to work an extra hour). I know I have the tendency to covet things I don't have sometimes and books like this make me grateful for what the Lord has given us. My job is to be content. This is a day to day battle. Some days are certainly better than others.
Monday, October 16, 2006
New Furniture
My parents are in the process of downsizing, so Becca are inheriting some furniture from them. This is a win-win situation for everyone because my parents are rid of it and Becca and I can certainly use it. We also don't mind the price for the furniture either :) My dad came up on Friday with a friend of his and delivered a piano, a futon, and a set of drawers with a hutch top. The piano was the one I used to learn on so it is nice to have it in our home. A friend of mine tunes piano for a reasonable price so I'll have him out soon to have that done. I look forward to playing the piano again. I have missed it.
Also, exciting news on another front, last week the proposal for the community center at Becca's employment was granted final approval. This has been a long time coming and I'm very excited for Becca. She has put a lot of work into this and I'm proud of the work she has done. You can read more about the community center here.
That's my story for now. Have a great day!
Also, exciting news on another front, last week the proposal for the community center at Becca's employment was granted final approval. This has been a long time coming and I'm very excited for Becca. She has put a lot of work into this and I'm proud of the work she has done. You can read more about the community center here.
That's my story for now. Have a great day!
Monday, October 09, 2006
Happy Columbus Day!
Had a fun weekend and now that we can breathe from all the activity, I’ll catch you all up on what we were up to. Friday night was the start to Alumni Family Weekend (aka Homecoming) at Cornerstone. Imagine my surprise when 1,600 alumni show up for a free concert. J The concert featured Big Daddy Weave and Mark Schultz. It was a really good concert. It was also nice to see some people that Becca and I had not seen in a while.
Saturday morning we went to a local fruit farm to get apples and pumpkins. We had a good time. I hope to do this again sometime where we pick the apples from the trees. I really do think the apples taste better if you get them from the farm rather than a store. We’ll have to see I guess. Saturday night our small group started again. We’re excited to start another year with our group. We are not attending the same church as the rest of the group, but we are able to stay in this group. We are both grateful that we can do that. We will be starting a study in Daniel this Friday when we meet again. I have never really studied this book so I’m looking forward to the study.
Sunday morning was church. We have been attending City Hope Ministries the last few weeks. We really like the church. It was nice to have a couple near our age reach out to us yesterday and get to know us better. We really didn’t experience that at our former church. We’ll have to see if this church is where God wants us to be, or if we need to keep looking.
Sunday afternoon was a birthday party for a 2nd year old. His parents are in our small group. It was a beautiful day for a party and we were able to spend some time with friends from our small group. However there was no rest for the weary J as we had people over to our home last night. Becca made enchiladas and I did some cleaning around the house. They brought a chocolate cake with them that had about an inch of frosting on the top. Just a little rich I’d say.
Well that was our weekend. Definitely a busy one, but we enjoyed ourselves.
HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY!
Saturday morning we went to a local fruit farm to get apples and pumpkins. We had a good time. I hope to do this again sometime where we pick the apples from the trees. I really do think the apples taste better if you get them from the farm rather than a store. We’ll have to see I guess. Saturday night our small group started again. We’re excited to start another year with our group. We are not attending the same church as the rest of the group, but we are able to stay in this group. We are both grateful that we can do that. We will be starting a study in Daniel this Friday when we meet again. I have never really studied this book so I’m looking forward to the study.
Sunday morning was church. We have been attending City Hope Ministries the last few weeks. We really like the church. It was nice to have a couple near our age reach out to us yesterday and get to know us better. We really didn’t experience that at our former church. We’ll have to see if this church is where God wants us to be, or if we need to keep looking.
Sunday afternoon was a birthday party for a 2nd year old. His parents are in our small group. It was a beautiful day for a party and we were able to spend some time with friends from our small group. However there was no rest for the weary J as we had people over to our home last night. Becca made enchiladas and I did some cleaning around the house. They brought a chocolate cake with them that had about an inch of frosting on the top. Just a little rich I’d say.
Well that was our weekend. Definitely a busy one, but we enjoyed ourselves.
HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY!
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
YEAH my car is fixed
We took my car to the repair shop this morning to get the muffler bracket fixed. I called three businesses in town and this one had the best customer service and seemed to know what they were doing. They found an after market muffler bracket and have installed it. They also say the muffler and rest of the exhaust system are in good shape and do not need to be replaced. This is exciting! I will be glad to have my car back in working order and we will both be glad that it was not very expensive.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Happy Monday!
Happy Monday everyone! It's a bit rainy here in GR; hopefully nicer where you are. We were in Cleveland for the weekend visiting my family. Saw my sister's apartment. Lots bigger than I thought. Check out Mel's blog from the list on the left and encourage her to post :)
Now that we are done with house improvements for now, I am working on car improvements. The muffler bracket for my car is broken. I hope the muffler is sturdy but we'll have to see. I'm going to call a few businesses in town today in hopes they can install a new one for a good price. A friend of mine looked over my exhaust system last week and thinks the muffler itself is in good condition. This was good news. I hope I can get this replaced inexpensively.
Other than this nothing too exciting going on with us.
Now that we are done with house improvements for now, I am working on car improvements. The muffler bracket for my car is broken. I hope the muffler is sturdy but we'll have to see. I'm going to call a few businesses in town today in hopes they can install a new one for a good price. A friend of mine looked over my exhaust system last week and thinks the muffler itself is in good condition. This was good news. I hope I can get this replaced inexpensively.
Other than this nothing too exciting going on with us.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Prayer Request
Please pray for our friends Ked & Amelia in Florida. They aer going through a difficult time of uncertainty. Read her post here and please PLEASE pray for them.
Quote
It is never too late to start doingI heard this statement during a podcast of Insight For Living. Chuck Swindoll has been greatly enabled by God to preach the Gospel and the Scriptures to many people around the world. I completely agree with this statement and thought I would share it with you to encourage you today. Hope you have a great day!
what is right.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Electrical outlets
My question for today is why would people paint over electrical outlets? When we recently painted our living room one of the first things we did was to tape around the edges so the outlets wouldn't get covered. I am certainly not an expert in home repair, but this is one of the things that I know.
Today was a busy day. My in-laws came over and helped us with putting in new floorboards and new outlets. Some of the outlets had been painted over, some just needed replacing. Our living room looks so nice. I look forward to sharing the room with friends and family when they come over to see us.
Today was a busy day. My in-laws came over and helped us with putting in new floorboards and new outlets. Some of the outlets had been painted over, some just needed replacing. Our living room looks so nice. I look forward to sharing the room with friends and family when they come over to see us.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Update on home improvement
Well we are definitely making progress now on the home improvements. Our windows are up and they are nice. It is such a wonderful thing to have windows with screens you can open at night so we can turn off the air conditioning. Also the slider being fixed is nice too. I can't wait to get our next electric bill to see how much we will be saving. The windows are block a lot of noise from outside.
This morning the carpet was installed in our living room. The installers arrived around 6:40 this morning and were done by 7:30. These guys really knew what they are doing. Tomorrow my in-laws are coming to help us. We'll put the new floorboards down, hang the new curtain for the slider and put some new outlets in. The previous owners painted over a few outlets. I really don't know why you would do that.
Have a great Friday!
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