Animal fun on the farm

Who needs National Geographic?  Just live on a farm.  Baby bunnies found in the yard and a mommy box turtle laying her eggs provides great entertainment.

At The Cross: Hope

 

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of

Christ Jesus our hope.”  (I Tim. 1:1)

Here are a few of my recent hopes.  “I hope you have a good day.”  “I hope I didn’t confuse her.”  “I hope she knows the directions to my house.”  “I hope the shoes are on sale.” 

After comparing my list above to the Bible’s teaching of hope, I realize I have a cheap understanding of hope.   Oh, I use the word syntactically correct.  I grasp the concept of awaiting something, and I do want these things, but I greatly lack the rich hope God offers in The Bible. 

When Paul spoke of hope, he described it as “good” (2 Thess. 2:16).  Titus modified hope with  “blessed” (Tit 2:13).   Peter used “living” (I Pet 1:3) as his adjective.  And the writer of Hebrews chose, “better” (Heb. 7:19).  Good hope, blessed hope, living hope, better hope.  Could these words really describe my hope for a shoe sale?

When Bible authors mention hope, it isn’t connected to good days, or good directions or even a good sale.  They connect hope with such things as…

Eternal life:  “so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” Titus 3:7 (Also Tit 1:2).

Righteousness:  “But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope” Gal. 5:5.

Resurrection:  “…I (Paul) stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead” Acts 23:6.

God’s glory: “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” Rom. 5:2.

Hope for the Bible Authors was no cheap shoe sale—it was overflowing with the richness of eternity.  I mean, can you taste the delight of eternal life in a mansion made specifically for you, surrounded by all of creation that has been restored to the perfection of Eden?  Can you hear the praises from heaven’s angels when you, with your resurrected body that will never degenerate with sickness or weaken with pain, make an entrance through heaven’s gates?  Can you smell the clean, pure, stainless robe of Christ’s own righteousness draped from your shoulders?  Can you gaze upon the mixture of unfailing love and perfect justice, abounding grace and uncompromised holiness, lavish mercy and untarnished righteousness, encompassing your vision as God’s glory fills your eyes?  God’s hope is that this life, these struggles, these experiences are not all there is.  

Do you see why my hope is so cheap?  The hope the Bible describes isn’t some earthly desire or petty wish that swings aside like a door on its hinges when an updated version hits the market.  It is the soul-quenching, savor-relishing hope of eternity spent in complete and perfect fellowship with Yahweh.

Oh the richness of the hope we can have because Christ Jesus died on the cross for our sins!

Is it any wonder that when the Bible presents this hope, it also presents duty?  We have a blessed hope, now teach these things and encourage others. (Tit. 2:.15)  We have a living hope, so don’t freak out when you face trials that test your faith.  (I Pet. 1:3-7)  We have a good hope, so abound in good deeds and words. (2 Thess. 2:16-17).  We have a better hope, so draw near to God (Heb. 7:19).  We have a rich hope, so go tell the world about it.

Here is the prayer I made after studying for this blog.

“Father, the hope given to me through Jesus Christ demands my soul, my life, my all.  No wonder Hebrews says our hope is the anchor for our souls.  No wonder they mentioned this hope so often to spur one another on and encourage perseverance.  It’s what they were living for.  It’s what imprisoned their will and focused their choices.  It’s what drove their life.  They poured themselves out not to obtain this hope, they already had it, but to give it to others.  Oh, Yahweh, may I pour myself out to offer this hope to others.  Don’t let me get wrapped up in cheap imitations.  Don’t let me satisfied with less.  Give me the opportunity to share this blessed, good, living, and better hope with the Wolof people.”  Amen

Spiderman and the Princesses in the closet

Looking out our bedroom window

 

When we designed our house, we really wanted to take advantage of the view since we are perched on the top of a ridge.  So, we had really big windows put into our bedroom.  This has also helped during the winter with passive solar heating as the sun warms up the inside.  Needless to say, it is very bright in our bedroom.  The downside now is since I have changed to second shift at work, I need to sleep a good portion of the day.  Very bright bedroom = Very bad sleep.

Fortunately when we designed the house, we also gave ourselves a walk-in closet with room for a bed and enough room left over to still use it as a closet.  So I stole Rebekah's bed and set up my little shack.  As we were making the bed, we discovered that since the kids are the only ones with twin mattresses, we bought all the sheets accordingly.  So of course I decided on the ideal combination.  I went with the Disney's Princesses fitted sheet and the Spiderman flat sheet.  It seemed so natural.  The kids thought this was hilarious.

Coming soon

Coming soon to a mailbox near you! 

Getting our newsletters out is truly a family event.  It took all 5 of us most of Sunday afternoon to get all of the newsletters printed, folded, stuffed, addressed, stamped, and sealed.  Of course it didn't help that we ran out of ink in our printer and had to run into Frankfort to get more.

Training

On Saturday I had the opportunity to do part of the training for the team going from our church to New York City on a mission trip this summer.  I shared about the "why" of missions.  Why do we get involved in missions and why should be care about going out to reach the world.  The obvious answer that we can point to is the fact that we are commanded by Jesus several times to go out and reach the world.  Yet I believe that more important is that fact that as Christians we are called to be Christ-like in our lives.  If we are to emulate Christ, we cannot escape from the pattern of going out to reach the world.  The entire Bible is one long story of God's desire to reach people.  God is constantly sending his messengers to the lost throughout the Old Testament.  This culminates in the event of God incarnate coming to earth for the sake of people.  Not only that, but when Jesus began his ministry on earth, he left his earthly home and went out to reach the people where they were at.  It would have been easier and more comfortable to take up residence in Nazareth and send out word for people to come to him.  But that isn't what he did.  He continued the precedent of going out to seek and to save the lost.

A Royal Tea

On Saturday the girls and I attended a Royalty Tea at church.  It was for all moms and daughters.  We had our picture taken, ate great food, and enjoyed the testimony of a mother and daughter from our church.  It was fun to spend the afternoon with my wonderful girls.

Finally

So, finally, after spending 5 months in dispatch answering 911 calls, my doctor said I was to the point where I can return to work on patrol.  Yesterday I spent the majority of the day running around getting back all the equipment they took away when I went on light duty.  I went to pick up my car which had been sitting in a parking lot for the last 5 months.  Of course they battery was completely dead, so they had to replace that.  I guess it isn't good to leave stuff in your car powered on that long. 
As I was reorganizing my mobile office, I found that apparently a mouse has taken up residence in my car as I had to clean mouse poop out of everywhere.  I was kind enough to leave a granola bar in there for them to eat and this is the thanks I get?  

Mother's Day

The kids and I made a tasty meal of beef burritos with rice, beans, and guacamole for Holly for lunch.

We also got Holly an MP3 player so that she could listen to the Bible in French that we downloaded.
We are all so blessed to have Holly in our family.  She is an excellent wife and mother.

A big deal for us

First grade completed?

 Check!

Third grade completed?

Check!

Fifth grade completed?

Check!

All subjects and grades accounted for.  Yea, we've made it!  The end of our 2nd year of home-schooling is upon us.  It has been a great year filled with memories of projects, books read, and challenges conquered.   I thank God for this opportunity to spend my days with 3 amazing kids.

Kittens!

A few weeks ago we began to notice that our cat was looking a little fat.  We haven't had her fixed, but she is a little over 2 years old and never got pregnant despite having several male cats around.  Well last week we began to be able to feel the little kicks inside, so we began to prepare for kittens.  Then, a few days ago, Gabby noticed she wasn't looking quite as fat, so the hunt was on.  The kids quickly found them in a little nest in the weeds next to the house.

 

Yard Sale

As we work towards moving we have looked around the house and begun to notice how much STUFF we have accumulated over the last few years.  We have slowly been working on getting rid of most of the unnecessary things.  We have wanted to have a yard sale, but those of you who have been to our house understand that where we live isn't exactly conducive to getting people to stop by.  First your suspension is tested by the 3,000 potholes after you leave the road, then you have to cross the bridge which we rebuilt, then you have to drive up over a giant rock and make an immediate 90 degree turn, then you have to make your way up the hill through the washouts and over the water bar which will high-center a car without a lot of ground clearance.  Sooo, needless to say we were so thankful when some of our friends in town offered to let us invade their yard for the weekend.  We were able to get rid of about 2/3 of the stuff that we took over and the kids had the opportunity to hone their sales skills hawking cinnamon rolls.