Joe's Mind

Windows 7

2009-10-08T09:37:00.002-04:00

Windows 7 Launch party, my house, October 23rd... Wanna come, just let me know :)

The Weekend

2008-07-16T09:10:00.005-04:00

Well, it's a few days after, but I finally pulled some of the pictures off of my camera from this weekend. It was a packed weekend to say the least. We started out fairly early in the morning (by we I mean Chad, Jesse, Ruth, and I) with a shopping trip to Kroger. Now I know that sounds all fun and exciting, but the reason we did this, was because we had plans! Plans to visit Stone Mountain, climb it, and eat on it. =) All of which, by about mid-afternoon, we had accomplished.

It was a rather warm day, and as we were climbing a big rock, there wasn't a whole lot of shade to be offered, so by the top we were all ready for a nice little break. Then on the way down we stopped in a pavilion and spread out our lunch, which, by the way, was quite good. Just sandwiches, but I think because we were all so ready for lunch, it tasted really REALLY good!

Also on this day, as we have for several Saturdays in the past, we went up north of Atlanta and hit the ice. Not literally, but we did get our skates on, and were on the ice for a sum of about 2 hours. I think just about everyone knows by now, that in the fall I plan to join a hockey league, so this is all just good skating practice until that point. Jesse and Ruth still have all the pictures from that part of our day, so once I get my hands on those I will post some of them too... but until then... here are some from Stone Mountain.

Anyway, thanks to good friends for a good weekend. We may constantly pick on each other =) but I know I have some awesome friends, and they'd stand with me no matter what... Thanks guys!

Just where and what...

2008-06-27T11:56:00.005-04:00

In the shadows of tall buildings

Of open arches endlessly kneeling

Sonic landscapes echoing vistas

Someone is listening from a safe distance

The line moves slowly into a fading light

A final moment in the dead of the night

In the cathedrals of New York and Rome

There is a feeling that you should just go home

And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is

Obvious...

2008-06-24T14:53:00.006-04:00

Just a quick post with some pictures, and quick thoughts...

First the pictures... Jesse and Ruth were kind enough to take me up to Douglasville on Saturday while I was having my bike worked on, and then on the ride home they snapped a few pic's from the truck. (as you can undoubtedly tell from the top of the page)

Then I was doing a little bit of reading this morning, from one of the most interesting news sites around, and they had this on their page as a headline.

"Lawyers think juries watch too much TV and suffer from the "CSI Effect," which means they only believe iron-clad scientific evidence and detectives who put on their sunglasses and spout corny one-liners during testimony"

The link on that page leads to this story http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/nation/story/ED2529097F276D4086257471000DAA37?OpenDocument

I found it rather amusing, especially the first five paragraphs, due to the fact that I've seen the show myself, and have always found it comical to watch for some of the very reasons this article is pointing out. The article shows the thought process consuming our nation, and the world today... Their reality is based on Television! Amusing, but scary at the same time... How has it come to the point where people can actually believe that almost any of the TV shows on air are even anywhere close to reality!??? It absolutely astounds me... I can understand watching a TV show for entertainment purposes, but actually taking it seriously, that just gets to the point of ridiculousness...

Now I'm not going to come out and be one of those people that is going to say our TV shows need to have more reality in them, I mean come on, I'm a fan of both "Heroes" and "Lost" which have very little reality involved in either of them, and I am very entertained with them... But that's all I'll ever be, entertained. Will I ever base any of my decisions on them? Of course not! That would just be nuts... and yet here we are, coming to the point that our justice system is being affected by people watching TV... I hope I never have to go to court because someone did something to me, and the jury has a bunch of CSI Believers in it... as the article describes, eye witness would be almost totally discounted as not reliable, and unless the ridiculous amount of impossible, and impeccable evidence to gather has been unequivocally found, I will have no chance at all... unless of course I get an old man on my side, sliding his sunglasses on and off and saying, with infinite, and undeniable arrogance, that what I say happened, did in fact happen... =)

Several studies have been done into the "CSI effect," and some yield more results than others, but it would be naive to say that it's not happening with more and more frequency involving jurors, criminals, and forensic academia... it's just obvious. Anyway, enough of my ranting. LOL. Like I said, this article just struck a chord with me, as I watched some of the episodes not too long ago, and had these exact thoughts about it back then, only to have this article displayed today.

SO.... Really looking forward to July 4th, Love you all! and until I see you again, have fun!

Under a rock?

2008-06-12T21:41:00.005-04:00

No, I have not been under a rock, but we'll get to that, I just haven't posted in a loooonnnnng time. =) Not much going on recently, except about a month ago I guess it was, some of us went to Six Flags. This was rather enjoyable as I rode many of the roller coasters, and just in general had fun, here are a few pictures from that get-a-way.

So, anyway, now to the "under a rock" part... Unless you have been living under a rock, by now you know that the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, debatably the sports worlds hardest trophy to win, with Henrik Zetterberg winning the Conn Smythe trophey, for the playoff MVP. As many of you well know, the Red Wings are my favorite team, so this victory quite excited me! And so without further ado, I present the official Stanley Cup Champion locker room hat...

Comfort Food

2008-04-16T23:50:00.007-04:00

There's not many things quite like a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich... it doesn't matter whether you like it on toast, with crunchy peanut butter, or with whatever kind of jelly. During many of our childhood years this was always a favorite, and now stands as a nostalgic symbol of when times were more simple!

Recently there hasn't been much going on... I've put somewhere around 1300 miles on my bike, and I'm still alive... so that's a plus. =) Ken has recently changed his work schedule because of his recent promotion, so now I'm the only one left on PC/Network support for second shift... Fun fun...

The only other thing recently was a blog post I read a couple days ago... It is a blog by someone I've never actually met, I've heard of them, read their blog and know a little about them, but I don't actually know them. (I left an anonymous comment, but later e-mailed so they would know who I was=) The cool thing about it was that their latest post made me think. It put a belief I had to a challenge... not because it was disagreeing with what I believe, but simply asked a question about this thing, and put a desire in me to want to research and backup why I believe what I believe. This was the first time in a long time that I've had any need to do this, but it did get me thinking, how easy is it to just become "ho hum" about the things we believe... Just because we believe something for 20 or even 50 years doesn't make it true, and there may be times when we will be called to show why we believe what we believe, and this was a fun opportunity for me to do this... So I encourage everyone (including myself) to be continually searching out why we believe what we do, not to just take someones word for it, but to study and show ourselves approved workmen.

Acts 17:11b "...they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."

Mark 10:13-15 "And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein."

Going for a bike ride...

2008-03-29T14:28:00.001-04:00

View my R6S ride here...

http://picasaweb.google.com/JoeMBoman/R6Ride/photo#5183276753056288226

More Pics

2008-03-21T14:47:00.007-04:00

New Bike!

2008-03-20T22:47:00.005-04:00

Well, my new Yamaha YZF-R6S arrived today, earlier than expected!! Also unexpected, I was able to get the blue that I wanted... and I really can't even begin to describe just how much fun it is... I'll post more pictures when it is light outside...

Words are not enough....

2008-03-11T23:05:00.004-04:00

There come times in our lives where there are just no words to express the well of emotion and grief inside of us... Times of tragedy that the tongue just can not tell the derision of the circumstances. During these times it becomes easy to ask "why did God allow this?!" and humanly speaking there is no answer suitable... There are no words of comfort that can take away the pain, or even begin to repeal it. During these times we can only believe that God does have His purpose, and He is in fact in control, and though we may not see the reasoning of events in the present, from our own perspective, it is there.

So how do we even begin to pick up the shattered pieces???

Where is there even a starting point????

I don't know...

The friends closest to me have suffered great loss in their family, and though I am just a friend, and not a part of the family, this hits me with overwhelming weight. I like to comfort, yet at a time like this, the comfort I have to offer seems minuscule and meaningless in light of what has happened... I like to help, yet at the moment I feel completely alone and helpless... I share the weight of this burden with them, with all of my heart, and it has left me heart-broken...

So what now... what is there that I can even say...

I have wept for them, and mourned for their loss that I even feel more vividly than I can say. But most of all, I have prayed... Prayed with a fervency that I have not in a long time, prayed with a passion, that God would be there, when the world seems to be crumbling around, that He alone would bring strength and carry them through this fire... I have prayed, and will continue to pray.

All of this has made me reflect on a few things as well... forgive with ease, don't hold bitterness, show you care, make things right with all of those around you, live life with loyalty and honesty, and love with all of your heart, because you never know what tomorrow... the next hour... or even the very next moment may bring...

To all of my friends, and my family, I say now that I truly love you with all of my heart.

Finally...

2008-03-03T09:10:00.002-05:00

I finally updated my picasa with some pictures... It's been a long time, hope you enjoy!!!

It's Been a While Since I Last.....

2008-02-28T09:43:00.005-05:00

Not been much around here to report, but of late there has been some interesting activity, so I thought I'd put up a couple pictures of it. These are the pictures of the preliminary equipment necessary, once I actually get the Yamaha R6S, I'll post pictures of that too...

SUPERBOWL XVII GOES TO THE GIANTS!!!

2008-02-04T00:04:00.000-05:00

And here is the most amazing Superbowl cake ever created... Very nice Chris and Kim!!!!

Mac slayer... =)

2008-01-30T00:45:00.001-05:00

Yes... you read the title right, Mac slayer... that's exactly what my new computer is. I would gladly challenge any Mac to do anything in Photoshop or any other program to see which goes faster, why would I do that, because I know that no Mac stands a chance to even come close to the computer I just finished building! =)

So, after several weeks of ordering, receiving, and putting together, my new PC is finally setup! As you can tell by this post, which is the first one not done on my laptop, I am already enjoying it! For those of you who may have a tech nerd side of them like I do, I'll gladly give you the specs. Intel e8400 3GHz w/6mb L2 Core 2 Duo, Asus P5K-E, 4GB PC-6400, 2 WD 320GB 16MB Cache in RAID-0, Ultra 750w X2 Modular power supply, with a eVGA nVidia GeForce 8800 GT Superclocked, running Windows Vista Business 64-bit.

So, anyway, enough boring technical babel, all one needs to know is it's fun!! Here are a few pics of this latest project.

Winter

2008-01-19T22:05:00.000-05:00

Well... it seems we are destined for snow this year, as we got a bunch more today... It was a lot of fun as we played outside and had snowball fights and other such fun!!! If you want to see how much of the day was... I put a bunch of pics up on picasa.

Snow!

2008-01-17T00:20:00.000-05:00

Yes... That's right... Snow in Atlanta!!! Not sure how good this video of it will turn out on blogger, but hopefully you'll get the idea!!

Another...

2008-01-10T19:15:00.000-05:00

Yes... part 2 of video blogging.... this is sooo much easier than typing... although I will probably do that too in future posts.... This one... just a quick take on a LONG day! =)

A New year...

2008-01-09T19:17:00.000-05:00

Here it is... my first bid at doing a short video blog... enjoy!

...

2007-12-30T20:33:00.001-05:00

And in case anyone wants to know just what I do once I get to a hotel... here you go.

A Week Gone By...

2007-12-29T17:32:00.000-05:00

Well here I am, drawing nigh to the eve of my departure. 1 week I have spent mostly in Pennsylvania, and today a short time in New York. The week began with sledding, then the next day going to 2 great church services, Christmas Eve, Bowling, and just in general fun.

Before Thursday it had been quite a while since I had bowled, but I really had fun, I'm sure partly due to the fact that I did pretty well, but fun nonetheless! Today I met Jon and Heather up in Binghamton... It was a lot of fun to see them both after half a year had past, and the first time I've seen them since their wedding!

We did a bit of shopping... just the window variety for Jon and me. Had an excellent lunch, and drank some wonderful coffee to finish up the day. So now I've arrived back at my brother's house, where children (and adults alike) are playing and having fun. Dinner is on the stove, and the football game is on shortly after. Tomorrow will be one more time heading to church, followed by a most likely early night and a 4:00am departure to catch my plane. So until next time everyone have a wonderful time!

Party in the Snow!

2007-12-24T01:14:00.000-05:00

Well, I have made it back to the great white north, and when I first got here anyway, it was actually white. A warm day, and lots of rain have taken care of most of that whiteness, but it is once again below 32 degrees, at least at the time I'm writing this, and from what I hear supposed to snow at least a little tomorrow.

Even though I only slept for a very short time on Friday night, I was still ready to go on Saturday. Maybe not as ready as some people may have liked, but I still was able to get up off the couch and have some fun. My dad and I both captured some of this fun, and I figured I would share some of it with everybody... the first time that I have sledded in about 7 years!!! and yes... it was fun! ... so... enjoy... there's more on picasa! The first one is from the plane ride up here.

And So This is Christmas....

2007-12-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

It's definitely been a while since I posted something, and I'm not sure how long this one is going to turn out. For those of you who have visited my picture page in the past week or so, have seen that for the first time since I have lived in Georgia, I actually decorated.

I must say it was rather fun to do that this year... It's been so long since I have, the only time I can remember decorating recently was a couple years ago, helping my brother put up the lights on his house, the freezing cold day after Thanksgiving. I didn't mind the freezing so much, I was glad to grin and bear it!

So, though I decorated this year, it comes as a bitter sweet feeling... this is the first time that I've actually decorated for Christmas without my family... I know there are thousands of people that do this every year... but still, it's kinda sad! At the same time, it was rather fun, rigging up the lights (as the song goes) putting up a Christmas tree, and even getting a star, very similar to the one I grew up with, to put on the top.

I can't say it wasn't without challenges though... the biggest and most annoying one... for some reason, in my 25 years on this earth, no one has ever told me that most of the time, Christmas ornaments are sold separately from the hooks.... Should I have just "understood" this silly fact... I don't think so, because in my opinion, why in the world would I want ornaments, without hooks. And I don't want to hear about tying bows, and string around the things... NO! Ornaments should come with hooks!!! And if you want to do something else with them, then so be it! But I want my hooks!!!!!

Anyway enough on my hook spat =) On Thursday night of last week, I knew by Friday morning that I would lose my voice... which I did, but I decided that I would try out something a friend told me about. I had never really considered wrapping all that enjoyable, just something that had to get done.... well this time, on Thursday night, without a voice, I turned on all of my Christmas lights, lit 4 candles, started playing Christmas music, and sat down with some gifts, tape, and wrapping paper, and wrapped the gifts! It actually was fun, sitting there, enjoying the "Christmas" atmosphere, thinking about friends and family... and very soon after (I took NyQuil before I began) bed!

So, until next time, have a fun winter, and enjoy the Christmas season!!

Christmas Came Early!

2007-11-27T00:03:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd put up a quick post, and a bunch of new pictures! As the title denotes, Christmas came early this year... at least at the Christensen house. "Nanny Mary" is visiting, and they chose to use this time while she was here to celebrate with her! She brought fun presents for everyone, and everyone had a blast!

From what I'm told, there is supposed to be some kind of card showdown sometime this week. We played a little bit on Sunday night, but only a few of us, and not for very long... one nice thing about it though... we got cake two days in a row!!!

So until next time, I hope everyone will enjoy the pictures!

Clean at last!

2007-11-24T21:41:00.000-05:00

Well now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over, it will be back to the normal thing for a while, at least until Christmas time. I didn't end up taking any pictures during Thanksgiving at all, because I was just not in the mood to take any. Instead I was just taking the day in, being thankful for what God has done in my life.

This morning I got up with a mission... Clean! Now that Jesse has moved out, I have the room to myself, and I decided that I'd much rather have a clean room than a messy one. So, for most of the morning, I was moving stuff around, vacuuming, and doing laundry... the end result, a room that is actually nice to walk into, instead of scary! I've done quite a bit of rearranging as well, since now I have much more room than I did before, so... for all of you wondering just how clean I can actually get... LOL... I'll post some pictures soon.

After much of the cleaning was done, I was invited to come to Anna's 4th birthday party, to which I gladly accepted. We had a really fun time, especially Anna of course. I took quite a few pictures, which I will post some, and put some on the ol' picture page. Ruth made a beautiful and very tasty cake, and I'm finding that I really like my now photo filter and playing around with lights, notice the candle in this one, I really ended up liking this picture!

So, after the part, and everyone leaving, it was decided to pop in the movie Karate Kid... Now there was a movie I hadn't seen all the way through in a long time... it was interesting, that's for sure. So in all, it's been a fun extended holiday weekend, and in just over a day, it's back to work!

Psalm 23 "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though i would through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou are with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

A Success...

2007-11-19T22:02:00.001-05:00

Recently at Yamaha we had a food drive to try to help to restock the food pantry in the local area... as the title denotes... it was a success. The employees there donated a total of about 13,000 pounds of food!!! What an opportunity to help out the county.

It may not always seem like a big thing, and one may feel like they only have a small part... but it is a part none the less. God gives opportunity, and even when it seems like your own part may seem insignificant when put up against the whole, it is not. When God gives opportunity to do something, whether it is big or small, if we do it with all our heart, to minister to people, and to glorify God, we are doing exactly what He wants us to do!

As a side note... we did have a little extra motivation in our group. There was a small contest among the office workers, it was done by department. To make it fair it was judged by the number of items given per person in the department. IT... where I work... got 50 items per person... and WON!! Ken had the good idea, that he remembered from back in high school, of collecting money from everybody in the department, then going shopping. We did that on Thursday, then we waited till that night, and brought everything in! As a prize for this, we will get a private luncheon, and get the privilege of dressing up our boss for one day... which should be pretty amusing.

So anyway... it's Thanksgiving week... it's especially a week where we should all be thankful for the many blessings that God has given us. Really we should be thankful all the time, but in this time, when we especially set aside a day just for it, we should really be remembering just how good God is!!!

So... with that said... I'll leave you with a couple pictures and say HAPPY THANKSGIVING, I'm thankful so much for all my friends and family... God put you all in my life for a reason, and I can't help but being thankful for it!!!! No matter what wealth we have, no matter how "successful" the world considers us, if we have Christ, we have all sufficiency in Him!!

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy one

Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say "I am strong"

Let the poor say "I am rich"

Because of what the Lord has done for us

Give thanks!

(all the pictures I put up here, plus more can be found in the "Joe's Photos" link to the right.)

Quick Pic...

2007-11-19T00:01:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd quickly share one picture that I took last night... More from this photo shoot to come tomorrow... as well as news of the weekend... Enjoy!!

(Click on it if you want to see it full size)

E-mail From My Mum! and Pics From My Bro.!

2007-11-07T20:50:00.000-05:00

My mom sent me an e-mail that I liked, so I thought I'd share it! Also my brother sent some pictures that he asked if I found "blog-worthy." Obviously the answer is yes... as I wish I was there to actually see the fall!!!

LOVE IN THE EYES OF KIDS

What Love means to a 4-8 year old . . .
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?' The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.' Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss' Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.' Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,' Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.' Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.' Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.' Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.' Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image) Karen - age 7

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

Mark 10:14-16 "...Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them."

A Prayer for Godliness! and a picture =)

2007-11-05T21:39:00.000-05:00

Oh that God would give us the strength to stand in the face of adversity, to flee from temptation, and to live a Godly life! That when the world comes to pound down our door, trying to bring us down to their ungodly standards, that we would beat it back with the power of God's Word, and be an example in the face of hypocrisy! That when everyone around us is giving in, that we would be a bright light for God that cannot be ignored, but that we would stand out, and not just be another Christian trying to fit in with a dark world... Oh that God would prepare us to serve with all of our heart in His harvest.

How easy it can be sometimes to give way to Satan. He has a way of making the bad things look like "gray" areas, and the "gray" areas look good. He has the way of twisting our thoughts from thinking, that's not good, to that's not sooo bad, to, that's no big deal. Beware of this falsehood!!!! I believe it is something very prevalent in the "Christian" life today. God calls us to be different from the world, to stand out, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid! Once God establishes His standard within us, we can never look back, when we do, it is sin... and it destroys our fellowship with our Lord and Savior.

I will share an example from my life with you... music is one area that God has given me strong conviction. Some have this conviction, some do not. For me, many times it can be a struggle. A lot of people around me like certain kinds of music, kinds that I once found very enjoyable. Eventually God established a standard regarding music in my life, and from that time I have realized for me to turn on that kind of music again is wrong... I'd like to say that it's easy for me now, and that I've won every victory, and that I have no desire for it anymore... but I can't...

Certain circumstances tend to bring it out, and Satan knows just what these are. Recently I have had a very hard struggle with the desire to listen to it again, but I know, once I start again, it's going to become easier and easier every time I flip it on. It will be like I mentioned it before... this isn't good, I should turn it off....... Well... it's not that bad..... to, oh, it's no big deal.... and Satan will have won.

It probably wouldn't be as big a deal if God had never given me this conviction, but now that He has, I don't want to go back on it... I want my ways to be pleasing to the Lord, at all cost... even if it means my friends thinking I'm weird... because the moment I go back on it, I've lost something that God has given me, and I want every bit of what God has for me!!!!!!!! Nothing in the world is worth sacrificing God's best! I know too that when I stand for what I know is right, and do what God has convicted me to do in every area of my life, that I will stand out, and that really, it actually has nothing to do with me, just God shining through me, and I don't want to do anything that would hinder, darken, or obstruct God's glory shining forth!

So please... pray with me, pray for me, pray for our country, for our families, for our siblings, for our children. Let this world be so awed by God's light shining through us that they can no longer deny the all powerful, amazing, and wonderful God, that we have the privilege of calling our heavenly father! And at the last I beg you, and beg God that he would help you and me, to never, never, turn back to the things we once enjoyed in the world, but that we would always be looking for fulfillment and joy in the righteousness of our Savior Jesus Christ!

Luke 9:62 "And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

John 4:35 "...Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."

Another Weekend Half Over

2007-10-27T23:56:00.000-04:00

I woke up quite early this morning... around 4 a.m. for some reason. I, of course, couldn't go back to sleep, so I've been up for quite a while now... but I thought I'd use the time at the end of the World Series game to write a quick post.

Most of the day was spent over at the Caswell's, where we did a little bit of clean up work; burning leaves, cutting up some wood and stuff like that. We closed out dinner by going outside and roasting some marshmallows.

We went back in, and eventually turned on the movie "Luther," but we did not have time to finish it. Then home I came, and here I am, writing to all my adoring fans... HAHA RIIIIIIIIIGHT..... well writing to anyone that will read I guess would be more accurate =)

In case anyone wants to see the most amazing cakes ever made, my aunt informed me that she has posted them on her picture page. All of these cakes are made by my awesome sister-in-law, and the one that looks like a pirate ship... that's the one she made for my birthday... it ROCKED!!! Kim's Cakes

Galatians 6:10 "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

It's Been a While

2007-10-24T23:22:00.000-04:00

I guess I just haven't had much to post recently...

But I thought this time I'd throw some of my Photoshop CS3 edited images online, so you can see the "fun" I've been having with them...

Also... in other news... I recently finished the book "Believing God for His Best" by Bill Thrasher. It really is a great book, and offers great insight and wisdom. Mr. Caswell was kind enough to pick up a copy of this book for me, and once I started reading it, the night he gave it to me, I couldn't put it down, and finished it rather quickly.

So... a short and sweet (hopefully) update, maybe I'll put up some more next time... till then, thanks for reading! I'm praying for all of you, at least if I know you =)

Proverbs 27:17 "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."

James 2:23 "And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the friend of God."

Full Saturdays

2007-10-14T08:44:00.000-04:00

Well... It has finally started getting cooler here. It's been in the 50's in the mornings, and usually hovering in the high 60's or low 70's throughout the day. This is a change I welcome with open arms.

Yesterday, however, it did mean starting out in long sleeves, which was OK. I started my morning with something that has become a habit over this past week while both the Caswell and Christensen families have been gone. I took care of feeding all the animals, and stuff like that, then continued the morning with a walk through the woods out back. I stick to the one main trail, since there are less spider webs, and use this time to pray and read God's Word... It has quickly become one of my favorite times of day!

After that, I decided that it has been quite a while since I put up any pictures of myself, so I went to a few different areas in the woods, just snapping a few of myself. Later on I just started fooling around, being stupid, and having some fun... Which seems to a necessity of every guy now and then, unless he's a stick in the mud! =) (I'll put these up in the photo album)

Monday will be two weeks ago, Mike called me up and wanted to have lunch with me, talk about some things, and good stuff like that. One thing he told me while we were talking, was a good way to take my mind off of things, and pretty much be productive at the same time, was to take the time to help somebody. Well, I don't know if he was speaking in general or for me specifically cause that's one of the things I enjoy most... Just helping out. I think at the time, though, he didn't realize that, whether or not he wanted to be, he is the recipient of some of this help.

You see, they are away, winter is coming up, thus heat will have to be produced. So, I went out front found a huge stack of wood, and began swinging away. He will probably say "Hey! I wanted to chop some!" but there will be plenty more wood needed for the winter!

Eventually it started warming up... so I had to get a cooler shirt on. After splitting for a while longer, I went back out to the woods and took a few more pictures, then headed back to my house to see what the guys were up to, and mainly if they had eaten yet. Great wonder of wonders.. They hadn't!!! So the three of us went down to Olive Garden, none of us had gone there in quite a while. I myself, got the fettuccini alfredo, bread sticks, and salad. It was great!!

Though Jesse and I were both STUFFED after we ate, we both went back over to Mike's house and split some more! We stopped for a minute to get a drink of water, and that seemed to put us both over the edge, to the point that our stomachs just hurt. So we called it quits and decided to get dinner ready!!!

Don't worry, we didn't actually kill the chicken... that would have been too much work anyway. We were just 2 guys, being stupid... again. =) But hey, we have an excuse, where 2 or more guys there are, hilarious stupidity is sure to arise, at least at the time what they deem to be hilarious, if they contain some semblance or normalcy anyway. =)

So, after taking the time to carefully stack the wood, we called it a day. We returned home, where we thought we'd engage in another manly distraction... We popped in NHL '08 and played a video game! We won too! After that, I determined it was a long day, layed down on the couch, watched a bit of the Charlotte race, and fell asleep. Hard work makes for a good night sleep.

So thanks, Mike, for the advice of helping out, even when it ends up in two guys chasing around a chicken, it can take one's mind off of things for a while, just long enough to have some humorous fun!!

Psalm 28:7 "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him."

THE CHRONICLES OF A LOG:

Now, as for those of you who are wondering what the life of a log is, here goes:

The Log

The Log after 1 swing

The log after 4 more swings.

So there you have it... the only thing not pictured... stacking and burnning.

So... Until next time... uhhh... I dunno... ummm...until next time... I... won't update =) but then... I... will.....

Diversions....

2007-10-10T00:30:00.000-04:00

Sometimes photography can be so diverting..... Other times, not... In either case, here's a few recent Pics from Sunday, about a week and a half ago..... Tried a new imaging technique on a few, but only liked how 2 of them looked.... So for your viewing pleasure, here they are, 1 HDRI, and the rest, regular......

Something Cool From Mom

2007-10-07T22:14:00.001-04:00

Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

A well-known speaker started off his seminar

by holding up a $20.00 bill.

In the room of 200, he asked,

"Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up.

He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you

but first, let me do this.

He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.

He then asked, "Who still wants it?"

Still the hands were up in the air

Well, he replied, "What if I do this?"

And he dropped it on the ground

and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.

He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.

"Now, who still wants it?"

Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.

No matter what I did to the money,

you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.

It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are

dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt

by the decisions we make and

the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless.

But no matter what has happened or what will happen,

you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased,

you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.

The worth of our lives comes not in what we do

or who we know,

but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE.

You are special - Don't EVER forget it.

" Count your blessings, not your problems. "

And remember: amateurs built the ark.

Professionals built the Titanic.
If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it.

Thanks to all of you guys who showed your love to me when I couldn't feel it from anywhere. Thanks for directing me to God, instead of the world and self pity. It has been and still is a very hard time for me, but you guys are there for me when it felt like no one was...
all I can say is...thanks!

More to come later, I even already have a post prepared that will be dedicated to all of you who have helped direct me to God, and continue to do so... Not ready to post that one though, so until then, keep me in your prayers... please!

If God brings me to it, He will bring me through it,

He will go with me!!!

...and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

..............

2007-09-27T18:08:00.000-04:00

Not much to post currently, but I thought I'd put up something cool.

Job 23:10 "But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

Lamentations 3:24 "The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him."

Hello!

2007-09-18T23:40:00.000-04:00

First, thanks to all of you who commented, I was very encouraged, not only by what everybody said, but because of the number of responses I got. I'm praying for all of you guys!

Now, what's been going on... Just got done with a busy week... and yet another busy day today. I've also joined facebook just recently, and met quite a few of my friends on there. (Thanks for making me join Jon!)

So the main story for this week.... Work on a laptop... and this wasn't just any laptop... it was the laptop owned by the president where I work. So anyway, this laptop was running Windows Vista, which hasn't been around that long, so I've not had a ton of experience with it yet. It experienced a problem that I had never seen before... and everything was in Japanese!!!

Eventually after going through a ton of screens, the problem was resolved! I brought the laptop back to the president... and he was happy!! So... good stuff!!

I've been trying to think recently of some places to go to get some new, and good photos... I, as of yet, haven't managed to think of that place, but there are a few in the back of my mind.

I guess this Saturday it has been decided that we will be have a party of sorts, and play paintball. Friday as well as today GA showed just how much they love me, by charging me money for my birthday... YIPPEE... License, $35... Car Tax, $240, Paying through the nose when your birthday comes around, Priceless!

So anyway... sorry I don't have anything really interesting to post this time... I'm sure more interesting stuff will happen in the future that I will gladly share with all of you! Till then, keep praying for me, and I will most definitely be doing the same for you! It is my hope that myself and all of my friends will be willing to give their all, and stand to the utmost against what we know is wrong, and to never let down the high standard that God has put in us, and not to let things around us effect us as to lower that standard!

James 1:12 "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."

At it Again

2007-09-10T00:06:00.000-04:00

I've been absent from posting recently, mainly because of a lack of things to post... But I've finally got a few things to put up mostly on the picture page, so here goes. I guess I'll try to go in chronological order...

Not this weekend, but the weekend prior, we went over to Callaway gardens and did some biking, this time we did not have so many bike problems, just flipping food cart problems =) which of course held the most important part of the day... the food!!! It was a lot of fun though, as part of that though, I brought along my new toy... My iPod, pictured here..

Originally I wasn't going to get one for myself, but it worked out that way, and now I'm having some fun with it. Some of you probably recognize the movie on there, but in case you don't it's "Sabrina" from 1954, staring Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, and Audrey Hepburn. (Good movie) Of course I wasn't using it to watch movies on our biking trip, I just had it in my pocket so I could listen to some music while we went along. I kept the volume low enough so I could still hear and talk, but at the same time enjoy the background music.

Throughout the week, there was not much exciting happening, just the usually work thing. Friday night some of us took the time to watch "National Treasure," which also happens to be a really cool movie. Then Saturday turned out to be a pretty lazy day for me, haven't had one of those in a loonnng time. Today (Sunday) was anything but lazy!

It started out with church this morning, we went over to Grace Fellowship, where they were celebrating their 25th anniversary. It wasn't the normal thing, they had a slide show, and special music, recognition of some of the founding families, and all that stuff. Afterwards I stopped over at Wal-Mart to pick up some stuff to do some cleaning on my car. I also ended up finding some stuff to repair the chip in my windshield that's been there for quite a while now, and it actually did a pretty good job.

While I was waiting for it to dry properly, I saw these little flowers outside of my house... I probably have passed them every day for at least a week now, and never noticed. Funny how easy it can be to take something for granted... Something so beautiful sitting right outside of my house, that I never even noticed. It just made me think of all the people in my life that God put there, and I just want to say I don't take any of you, my friends and family for granted. I love you all, and don't know what I would do without even 1 of you! "They" say you never know what you had until you've lost it, and I hope that's not the case with me, cause right now I think I have the greatest friends and family in the whole world, and I'll try with all my power never to take one of you for granted! Love you all!

I was reading in Philippians the other day, and was reading about Paul's love for God. He said that he would rather be with God, than here on this earth, but for the sake of the saints, he knew it was necessary for him to stay. What a relationship Paul must have had with our Lord, what depths of love for Him. It is this type of relationship I desire with God, and the type I desire for all of those that might read this! I started thinking about my past a little, and where I am now, and have been coming to a conclusion... If I am exactly where God wants me to be, my relationship with Him will be growing stronger and stronger! If I'm doing what He wants me to do, I will have a greater and greater desire to know Him. On the other hand, if the fellowship I have with God is falling apart, if I don't have that desire in my heart, to drive me to know Him more, am a really doing what He wants me to do? I know I've been there.

Now I understand, it maybe sometimes that some of us are going through a difficult time, and that's why it's not as easy to seek after God, but this should not end up being a constant state! We have a personal savior, not one who will save us then let us be. He desires a relationship with us! He desires us to seek after Him with all our heart. I could be sitting around, content and taking God for granted, and yet totally miss it! Yet at the same time I could be doing the most amazing thing "for God," and miss it just as easily. With those verses in Philippians, God has really given me a desire to know Him more! To strive for that relationship with God, like that Paul had! I know that when any of us are doing that, that is the time God will bless and reward us! Outside of that close relationship with Him, things will end up being fruitless, and barren. So it's my prayer that whatever I'm doing, that I would be in God's will and that it would only cause my relationship with Him to grow... never diminish! So if anybody has any testimonies about what God is doing in their life, what new thing God might be showing you, or something that God has done to draw you closer to Him, please, e-mail me, leave a comment, call me, let me know somehow! Hearing about what God does in other peoples lives is one of my favorite encouragements! And often times God will use that to show me something special too!

Anyway... That was really long! But it's been something that God has been showing me, and I wanted to share it with all of you!

So, I saw my Aunt's blog last week sometime, and saw that she posted this picture up there. And I thought first that it was really cool that she put it up, and it also reminded me of the day I went to do it, and the memory I have of all of that whole thing! I just thought it was cool, so here's another look at it, from a post long ago... and what seems like an age ago....

Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"

Franken-mag!

2007-08-30T09:04:00.001-04:00

A title Mike has most affectionately assigned to my Automag paintball gun... this was done with good cause though... a couple extra bolts sticking out of the side, a touch of green... and it could very well be a gun for Frankenstein.

It's mostly done... not the painting of course... that will change to actually make it look good. Most of the mechanics however are finished. It's just that right now, when the pressure gets turned up, it won't shoot. We think that it is probably because the piston the pushes the trigger mechanism (the sear) too high on the thing, not giving the piston enough of a mechanical advantage, which it will get when we lower the piston. This however requires more milling on the inside of the grip frame, which might get done sometime this week.

Other than that, it's pretty much been a rather regular week, so I'll just leave you with some pictures from Wednesday morning.

Romans 1:17 "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written. The just shall live by faith."

Update!?!?

2007-08-29T22:58:00.001-04:00

Within the next 12 hours... I promise!!!

...

2007-08-24T00:11:00.000-04:00

God is so powerful, and amazing in every way!

The Pictures speak for themselves.

I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,
Who formed the creatures through the Word,
and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.

For the Longest Time

2007-08-23T09:05:00.000-04:00

That's how long we played one game of Phase 10... for the longest time... We started this wonderful game at around 8:30 Saturday night.... after playing for about 2 hours, I needed to leave and get some sleep as the next day was Sunday, and thus Sunday school. Well, after all the goings on Sunday morning, as well as lunch, we continued our game. Still this game really didn't go any quicker this time either. We had fun playing, and eventually William won, but it was definitely the longest game of cards I have ever played, you can tell by our score sheet.

Sunday there was also a new experience for me, not for everyone else, but a return to something they really liked. It's a little shop in Peachtree City, known as Rita's. Their product... Italian ice and frozen custard. This was my first time eating frozen custard, and I must say it was great!! So great in fact, that I needed to go into Peachtree City for something on Tuesday, and I made a quick stop to Rita's again. Both times I had vanilla and strawberry swirl in a waffle cone.

Not too long after the swimming and games on Sunday, all the kids were getting ready for bed, so everyone was kind of busy, so I took the opportunity to go outside, walk around a bit, think a little, and snap some pictures. It was actually quite amusing when I first went out there, all the chickens just started following me around... it was actually pretty funny, this whole herd of chickens just following behind.

After a few pictures, I decided to take advantage of Ede's swing over on one of the trees. I just sat there for a bit, swinging a little, and just contemplating different things. =) It was actually quite relaxing. William came out after a little while, and started playing with Ruben (the dog) and was having a lot of fun, so I got one picture of them just before heading back inside.

The next big event was yesterday. We celebrated Faith's birthday.

She most defiantly had a good time, and even got some beautiful flowers!

The night started with pizza, and ended with coffee and cake...mmmmm.....

1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Weekend Update

2007-08-19T00:30:00.000-04:00

Sorry... no pictures for this post... I'm sure I'll post again soon, and with some pictures of what's happening. (which of late, hasn't been a whole lot)

It's been a pretty regular week at work, not much new on that front. This afternoon, we did have the nursing home ministry... at which we sung, and Merrol preached... Now we have to pick out some new songs for the next month so we can keep things mixed up a bit.

For those of you who have been following Ede's blog, and have been thinking, "wow, this hasn't been updated in a while," I'll just give you a quick note about that. This afternoon, U.S. time, her, and the other teachers over there, got on a train for a 6 hour ride to Hualien. This last week of summer camps are also known as service camps, and are shorter days that the regular summer camp. All of the teachers have been split up into 3 teams, and each team is responsible for a separate camp. As of this moment it is unknown if they will have any Internet access in their new location, so we may not even be fortunate to get a blog update this week either! Just continue to pray for all of them over there, shortly after this week they will be moving to their permanent location for the year, and hopefully will have easy Internet access there, for frequent blog updates. =)

So, other than this stuff... not much big news to share... I'm hoping to finish my Automag project this week, so that I will be able to use that gun next Saturday, but we will have to see if there's enough time! Hopefully everything will go smoothly!

John 3:16, 17 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved."

Another Weekend Ends...

2007-08-13T22:23:00.000-04:00

And a new week begins. This weekend began on Friday night, where we finished watching "Our Mutual Friend." At the end of it, I can now say that it was quite a good movie... There were some really creepy characters in it, and that made it all the more interesting. As the movie went on, it just seemed to keep getting better, and don't worry, I won't spoil the end for all of those who have not seen it yet, just suffice it to say... it was cool!

I got home from that at around 1:30 am or something like that, finally went to sleep around 2 or 2:30... and woke up again around 5:30 not being able to go back to sleep... Thankfully though, I really didn't feel all that tired.

So, around noon, Chad and I headed up to Douglasville to the Arbor Place Mall... We didn't spend a ton of time up there, mainly just hit a few stores, bought a few things, while also picking up some food, and took off... I'm pretty sure we got home around 4:45 that evening. It was really hot out that day, yet I had to change my oil... I waited until about 8:00 that night, yet still it was in the low 90's.

Then along came Sunday, and in the morning I got a call to let me know that we weren't going to head to the church that I thought we were, instead we were going to head to another one... I'm at a loss as to what the name was... I completely forgot... but, although they had some good things there, I doubt they were enough for any of us to want to head back.

Recently, as I have been reading through God's Word, He has been showing me more and more about being in His will... How when we are in His will, He will protect and guide us further in our Christian walk. When we step outside of that which He has for us, we open ourselves up for attack, and are trying to live our own way, which is a lot harder than living God's way! So before any of us try to do anything, such as ministry, or teaching, or whatever, we need to be sure that we are doing it God's way, and not our own. We need to be sure that in our private lives we are glorifying, and honoring, and developing a closer relationship with God before we try to minister or do anything else. If we are not having that close personal relationship with God, then we are not truly offering our best to those around us that God will allow us to minister to.... It's like showing up to a race without shoes! We may be able to run a few steps, but quickly it starts hurting, and becomes difficult, and we just can't run as fast... When we put those running shoes on, they will protect our feet, and allow us to continue running as fast as we can!

Ephesians 6:15-18 "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"

Our Mutual Friend

2007-08-10T01:17:00.000-04:00

The title of the movie we started watching tonight... It was recommended by one of Ede's friends/roommates, Charity. We decided to watch it over the course of 2 nights since it is something like 6 hours long... as it sits, I got home not too long ago, and it's 1:20 am right now!!! So this won't be long...

It looks like all of the parts are 1 and 1/2 hours each... The first part, as Dickens is known for, is a long setup of the story... Much of this part I had very much trouble keeping my eyes open, and even more trouble trying to even care about the seemingly non-existent story line. I guess it wasn't really non-existent... just very much under development. However, almost as soon as the 2nd part started, I got hooked... finally stuff started coming together a bit more... the story started taking off, and becoming interesting... so now all that's left is parts 3 and 4.

Just before we began, Ken and I got something to eat! A bit of spaghetti... this was the 2nd time eating it how I did. A friend once told me basically, and I'm paraphrasing this cause I don't remember it word for word, that noodles were meant to be eaten with chop-sticks! I think after this 2nd time, I'm starting to agree with her, it is easier to eat noodles with chopsticks! Thanks Ede!

Anyway... I need to go to bed!!!! The morning will come quickly I feel! So, hope everyone has and enjoyable day, and restful night!

2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

Another Busy Weekend...

2007-08-06T18:11:00.000-04:00

Here it is... Monday again, a week since my last post... I know all of you daily readers are extremely disappointed with me... riiiiight! Here goes anyway, a new post, for your viewing delight!

This Saturday we had the nursing home ministry, in Farburn. It went pretty well... the kids sang Isn't the Love of Jesus Something Wonderful, This Little Light of Mine, The B-I-B-L-E, and It is Well. We were also blessed with the opportunity to go over the the Lane's house on Thursday, and sing there as well!

After the nursing home, we made our somewhat regular run to get some pizza at Stevie B's, which is always a welcome dinner! After there we returned to the house, and after a short swim, put on Emma, another one of Jane Austen's books, in the form of movie, we watched the 1995 edition of it. It started out a little slow, but just built every minute from the beginning, turning out to be a very good movie.

Afterwards it was home, I knew Sunday morning was going to come very quickly, church was at 9 a.m. and that was very different. Usually they did their Sunday School afterwards, but they had a ground-breaking ceremony this Sunday, so we ended up heading out after the service. It was really weird to be home at 11 a.m. on a Sunday. Shortly I was to leave again though, and head over to the Christensen's to have a celebration for Ken's birthday... which was celebrated by a wonderful steak dinner. =)

After dinner we proceeded out-of-doors =) to do a little bit of shooting... Our main targets were a new .22 target that Ken picked up, and old hard drives. Mainly we shot at the hard drives with a 30-30 and my new M-44. The goal of this target, was that the data on the disk had to be destroyed, so we did that.

It was unbelievably hot out yesterday, and today as well... along with all the humidity, most of us were just standing out there most of the time, occasionally raising and shooting a gun... yet we were sweating like we had been running a race or something! When we did finally finish, it was most definitely time for the pool! In which, through much spurring on by both Ruby, and William, Mike and I began wrestling, and trying to dunk each other... today, my neck is quite sore, as I believe his is too, since we both stopped because our necks started hurting.

This is a long post =) Anyway, next was cake time! Just before cake though, I was personally attacked!! I couldn't believe it... it came out of nowhere... as soon as the hit came, I was down on the ground... all 4 limbs in the air.. Those who saw the offence were quite amused... and after realizing just what happened... I could not help but laugh as well... now I will reveal to you the offender...

You see!!! This evil green dress!!! It attacked me!! I was walking around the corner, minding my own business, when out of nowhere, this green dress threw itself in my walking path! And with the material it is made of, if just pulled itself out from under my foot as soon, and just as quickly as when it had put itself in front of me! Down I went! It was all so amusing however, I could not help but to burst into laughter.

So... when I woke up this morning... I was pretty tired from the happenings, as well as having a sore neck, and still do! Work has been relatively light today though, so that has been nice... I wouldn't wish the last two weeks upon my mortal enemies (I don't think I actually have any of those... but if I did!!) It was nice to have a "not-so-crazy" day!

Now as I wrap thing up, I have been thinking about holiness, and how we are called out of this world to live a holy life, and don't think I could put it any better than Romans 12:1, 2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

I know that's it's all my friends and family that read these posts, so I can say for sure, I love you all! and pray for you all daily, and just ask that you would pray for me too! =)

Now That Was A Day!

2007-07-30T00:39:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a long... yet extremely fun one!!

It started out in the morning when I had been on my computer for about an hour, Ken got online and asked if I would be coming to the recital where both Wesley and Ruby were playing. I quickly decided that, yes, I would come... I knew I'd enjoy it, and maybe I'd get some good pictures too!!

There were quite a few students there, with varying levels of ability. They were all a joy to watch, and it was very much fun. Wes and Ruby played a duet together, and Wes also played one on his own. They both did a great job!

Soon after, it was off to Callaway Gardens for some bike riding! I had never been there for bike riding before, but they have tons of trails, all paved, that were a blast to ride. After a few small problems to start out, we were on our way around the trails! I took a bunch of pictures while riding my bike, which a few, mostly ones that got deleted, were very interesting. Callaway is a very beautiful place though, and we really had a fun time.

One thing about it though, I rode a little bit ahead with some of the older kids, and at one point Wes went one way, and the other three went the other way. Not knowing which way was right, I decided I'd spin around and see what Ken said. Turns out Wes went the shorter way, which is the way they usually take to get back. So I said I'd go catch the other kids and let them know. lo and behold, the kids must have turned around and went the other way when I went back to talk to Ken, so, I ended up riding the whole way back.. the long way... and much of it, the up hill way. Non-the-less, it was fun. There was one portion where there was a pretty long down hill, that I was probably going about 35 on, and it was a weaving trail. That part was very fun to ride down!

Eventually everyone made it back into the van and off we headed. Once we got back we all hopped into the pool, and what a welcomed thing that way. We swam for an hour or so, and got out so every could get ready for bed, because, yes, it was that late!

Following that, Ken and I headed into Yamaha, because Ken was called in the morning with someone saying how they needed another computer setup in one of the guard shacks by 10:30 Sunday morning. So we went there and got it all setup, and headed out. I think I ended up making it to my house sometime around 11:30 to 12. All in all it was a fun day!

Philippians 5:19, 20 "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God an our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

More pictures will be posted on my web album tomorrow... It's too late tonight. =P

The Pre Weekend Report

2007-07-27T14:18:00.000-04:00

Sorry, not any pictures for today, just a quick post about what's going on.

It has been an extremely busy week here at YMMC. I can't say there's been any one specific thing that has been causing it, it has just been rush rush. That's not always a bad thing though, it definitely keeps you on your toes! I feel though that I need to make a post... I mean I can't complain to other people about not posting unless I post myself! =)

Those who get on in the next couple of days should see a longer/more picture filled post. Tomorrow my plan is to go over and ride my bike at Callaway Gardens. We should have lots of fun there. I've never done it before, but I have seen some of the bike trails, and have heard that they are quite extensive. So, it should be really fun! More details will be forth coming!

Luke 22:46 "And said unto them, Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation."

The Post-Weekend Update

2007-07-23T08:12:00.001-04:00

This was a busy weekend for sure. Saturday was the day we finally got rid of all the access to our Novell servers where I work... We were there for close to 7 hours setting permissions, and setting up scripts for the newer Windows servers to start taking the load. For the most part this process went off without a hitch. Although we did end up going in for about 10 minutes again Sunday night after church.

I really enjoyed Sunday School this week. The pastor was talking mainly about the name Emmanuel, God with us. He was trying bring out the realization that God is not some distant figure, that is somewhere out there in space...But that He is here with us, amongst us. He is touched with what we are going through. He also brought out how we need to get set in our hearts that we are where God wants us to be, and I quote... "You need to settle in your heart that you're doing what God wants you to do, it may be raising a family or working down at the saw mill, but you need to get it settled." Then another quote, "Have we surrendered all we are, all we have, and all we ever hope to be to God's will?" It's not wrong to have hopes and dreams about what will happen in the future, but we need to have those surrendered to God, and let Him work in our lives how He wants to.

Though it was a rather busy weekend, I did manage to catch a nap Sunday afternoon! It wasn't a very long one, but it was something. It was kinda nice because I'd been feeling kinda tired the past few days, probably because I have a slight cold...It's just hanging around nagging at me right now, especially the stuffy nose... I hate not being able to use my nose!!!

Anyway, Sunday night after we finished with church, and did what we needed to do at work, we headed over to Brewster's! That was something that I had not had in quite a while, and it was great!

Matthew 28:20 "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and , lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAY, even unto the end of the world."

The Big Day

2007-07-18T21:52:00.000-04:00

Well, the big day is referring to yesterday... It was Ruby's birthday! Ken had some meetings in the morning, so he came in early, and got to leave early! I on the other hand still had to wait till 8:00 till I left. Still, everyone waited for me to have cake and ice cream!!! Actually when I arrived, there were still plenty of people in the pool.

Soon, though, everyone was out, and ready for some delicious cake!!! There were also some wonderful rice crispy treats. Those things are GREAT! So, I think with all of that, the presents, and a world-wide call from her sister =) Ruby was quite a happy birthday girl!

This weekend should be an interesting one. Saturday, assuming overtime approval, I will be at work for a while. Mainly it will be for server upgrades, as well as a little bit of house keeping in our computer room, which, believe me, is much needed.

Other than that... not a whole lot going on. Recently God has been challenging, as well as encouraging me very much! Every time we open His Word, there are treasures to be sought out! As one popular song says, we should be seeking Him as a precious jewel, and to give up we would be a fool!! For He is our all... all sufficient, all sustaining, all we need! Just seek Him with all of your heart, and He will be there just waiting to show His glory!!!

Mark 10:21 "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."

The Weekend!? Again?!?

2007-07-16T22:04:00.000-04:00

Yep that's right, the weekend wasn't actually over when I wrote the last post. So I figured I'd finish it.

Sunday, after church, we went back to Ken's house. It was there that we shot our new rifles! It was a load of fun. We also did quite a bit of swimming! Which also, every time, is great fun!

While shooting, one of the bullets actually continued on, and managed to take out a small tree!! The suggestion was made as of that being a fun way to clear out the back yard, yet a rather expensive way!

Today, while waiting in the parking lot, about to leave Yamaha, I turned around, and noticed quite the rainbow over head, so I ran quickly to my car and grabbed the trusty camera, and thought I'd share a few pictures with all of you.

So... mainly this post is for a few pictures, but my online photo album is updated too, with more than I show here, so I hope you enjoy! I've also added a voting section to the right, check it out... let me know what you think.

Genesis 9:15-17 "And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth."

What a Weekend!

2007-07-15T08:05:00.000-04:00

This one's been a long on, in terms of doing stuff... and a short one in terms of sleep!

Friday after work it began with a Small animal auction. I arrived there at about 9:15 pm, and met up with Ken, Wes, and William. Wes was there trying to sell his bunnies. With work, however, they weren't able to get there very early, and the animals go up for sale in the order that they arrive. Wes's bunnies... Well, they were the last of the auction. It was fun hanging out with everyone, and seeing so "different" animals, and I'll tell you what, one guy had a stack of animals that was just huge, he must have bought close to 200 animals... Maybe he's starting a farm or something... Anyway, we were there till about 1:30 am, and I got home around 2, and went to bed at about 2:30.

The next morning, Saturday, had an early scheduled leave time. We were to leave Mike's house at 6:30 am, so I was able to get about 3 and 1/2 hours of sleep.... I slept a little in the car on the way back, but not much... It was a fun day though, after we got Ken's air tank tested, we went over to the Gwinnett gun show... just thousands of guns, from every time period. The two most interesting, I think, were a WWII BAR, and a WWII Thompson! The Thompson was sold by the second time I went to that table... It had a price tag of $20,000.... The BAR was still there, sitting with a price of $26,500.

Well, I didn't get either of those guns, but I did get a piece of WWII history, a Russian M44 Mosin-Nagant. It's a bolt action rifle, that was pretty inexpensive, mainly just because there are so many of them out there.

I came home Saturday, after being at Mike's sometime around 6:30, I think.... I laid on the couch, and was mostly asleep, when Jesse asked if I wanted a smoothie... I ended up heading out with him and doing that whole thing, but as soon as I got back, I was on my bed, and in about 1/5 of a second, I was asleep... So... I'm feeling pretty good now!! Just preparing to go to church this morning.

Hebrews 10:24, 25 "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

Zzzzzzzz......

2007-07-14T21:42:00.001-04:00

Well I've been working on updating the blog, with some of the events from this weekend, but I'm just to tired to finish, so look for something new tomorrow night hopefully. =)

The Fam!

2007-07-13T18:46:00.001-04:00

This is a blog entry.

2007-07-12T23:03:00.000-04:00

Well for the first time in a few days, today has been a relatively cloudless day... Much of the day was characterized by bright sun, and in my opinion, not too high temperatures... of course I was in the A/C most of the day!

Today was filled with Chinese food for me, that's the only kind I ate today! Ruth had made some beef noodles for dinner at their house on Tuesday, and was kind enough to send some along with Ken for me to eat as well, so Ken and I practiced with our chopsticks for lunch! Then on the way home, I decided that I hadn't yet had my fill, and stopped at a Chinese take out place, and got some sesame chicken, with fried rice, and once again pulled out the chopsticks!!! MMM.. it was good stuff today!

Last night was Hannah's birthday party, for which I was invited for cake. While there there was also one of my favorites! Cheese cake!!! Made from scratch too!! It was prepared with cherries on the side, for those that liked that topping, and I happen to=) It turned out to be a very fun evening. After the cake Hannah opened all of her presents, and played with them a bit, and finished up by dancing around a bit in her brand new Princess dress!!

Now I'm just sitting down, calming down a bit, writing a quick post, and preparing to read God's Word. Over the past several days I have been reading a bit more than usual, and am really enjoying it. I've also started to write down what God is showing me, and already I'm having a good time doing that, knowing that one day it will be an encouragement to me, and hopefully to others too!

Last night through God's Word, I was asked a question. Do I have the care for people that Steven had???? Here he was, ministering to everybody that he could, and they stoned him. Yet even at the very last, he thought not of himself, but of those around him who wanted to kill him, and asked God to forgive them!!! Not to hold them accountable for what they were doing!!!! The real question is, would I care enough for someone who sought my life to ask God to forgive them, and lay not the charge of that sin on them.... I think more often than not we find ourselves much more offended over something much less than what Steven faced. Oh that God would give us the grace to truly have a care for the souls around us!!!!! That we would be willing to go to these ones that we see everyday, and show God's love to them.

Isaiah 6:8 "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."

By Popular Demand!

2007-07-10T15:01:00.000-04:00

Here I find myself writing again... I mean, it's not good when people are getting bored while looking at my blog... Sooooo... I have been encouraged recently that my blog should be kept more up to date!!! So... without further ado, here goes!

Recently God has been encouraging me so much, it seems as though, well I guess it doesn't seem, it really is, that He knows just what I need, just when I need it! Sometimes He can take my life, when I'm down even just a little, and just say "Focus on me, and everything else will fall into place."

I was reading last night in Matthew, and He did just that. As I read about Peter walking on the water with Jesus, He just opened my eyes, and returned my focus to Him. As Peter looked around and saw the raging storm, the daunting waves, the thunder and lightening, he lost focus of what was sustaining him, he lost focus of the power that was holding his feet on top of the water. Jesus asked him, "wherefor didst thou doubt?" ... Why Peter, when you are here with the LORD of all creation, and the master of this small sea, did you take your focus off of me and doubt??

God just gave me the comfort to know that He is in control... if only I would look to Him to be my all sufficiancy, to take care of me, and to work in my life, dispite what goes on around me... He will work it all out to my good. For this all I can do is say praise God!

As part of another suggestion, I picked up a little something yesterday... something that, should God in the future bless me with children of my own, I can share with future generations, to let them know how God had worked in my life. To let them know the struggles I faced, and how God over came them, and to remind myself of what God has shown me, and brought me through!

I probably spent a little too much on it, but it is leather bound, and some really cool pages inside. I also picked up a nice pen that I can keep with it so that I will be able to write whenever God impacts my life with something. I look forward to filling the pages with all that God can and will do!!!

Psalm 43 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. For thou are the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off, why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto the holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the alter of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."

Independance day!

2007-07-05T07:51:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a safe 4th. The fireworks here were pretty good this year. We headed over to Peachtree City for the celebration. They were surprisingly long, somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 minutes, with quite a spectacular finish.

Some of us guys also had a lot of fun earlier in the day. There was a cookout planned for 2:30 over at the Caswell home. Soon after everyone arrived we all took our guns out back and did some shooting for about an hour or so. It had been a long time since we had done that, and there were some real cannons there that were a lot of fun to fire..

That just about describes the whole day. As we were on the way out the door we did finally hear from Ede, it seems her cell phone wouldn't give her service, so she ended up calling from a land line with a phone card. So, we know she made it safely anyway!

No pictures on this post... I didn't end up pulling out my camera at all yesterday, I was just so busy, there were no time for pictures, but I may try to get some from Ruth and Katie, it seems like they snapped quite a few, but we'll see....

2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Up, Up, and Away

2007-07-03T16:09:00.000-04:00

Last night there was a slight precursor to today. There had been a cookout planned, as well as a little thing for Ede to take with her this morning... something that she can show to anybody in Taiwan that tries mess with her, and say "Hey, you mess with me, and you mess with all of these people too!!" Here they are.
So... the day has finally come. Not July 4th, but July 3rd. The day Ede fly's to Taiwan.

It started out with a very early morning. The flight was at 9:15, that meant getting to the airport at 7:15, which meant getting to McDonald's by 6:15, which meant leaving by 5:30 - 5:45, which meant getting up at 4:48..... I set 4 alarms before I went to bed last night, I wasn't going to miss this one. As for McDonald's... I wasn't hungry, too early, or just not in the mood or something.

Soon after everyone finished up, to the Atlanta airport it was. My body decided it would act backwards, as did some other people's as well.... Our bodies decided that it was time for a dry mouth and wet eyes... Sure we are sad to see her go, but at the same time we are joyous. Though she will not be with us, we know that she is following God's will in her life, and were she to stay, sure, she would still be here, but out of God's will. So through the tears, we will still praise God for how wonderful He is, and look forward to all that He has planned for Taiwan and for Ede, and for her return in 9 months. =)

Psalm 28:7 "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him."

Mondays...

2007-06-29T19:25:00.000-04:00

Well... this post was started on Friday, but isn't actually getting posted until today.

Fridays are usually full of fun and excitement... preparing for the weekend... anxiously awaiting that last minute at work.... All of that held true today!! Here I sit... anxiously awaiting that last minute before I clock out!!! I was also greatly surprised this morning. I can't share about it quite yet... just know that I'm very happy about it. =) Now that the weekend is over, it's wait until July 4th for another break!!!

It's been over a week since I left my parent's house, then later that day my brother's house. That was a week that went entirely too fast... Jon and Heather's wedding, all the traveling.... I have to say though, this week has seemed no less speedy. The days just keep rolling on, barreling forward, one day into the next as time speeds ahead.

The weekend will offer no hint of slowing down either. I was getting ready for an uneventful Saturday, planning on settling down on my couch to watch a movie or two, but then I got a call... and it appears we will be having a good ol' Bar-B Q! Should be fun!! Then Sunday after church we will be having a going away party for Ede, which I imagine will take up the entire day. So we should have a good time.

Now that it is Monday, I can say that we did indeed have a fun time. I think by the end of it all were were all kind of tired. With all the swimming, and playing, and hussel and bussel of the day. So that night I left a little bit earlier than normal... and actually managed about 7.5 hours of sleep. (more than I've been getting). Still I will be looking forward to Wednesday when I will be able to sleep in. =)

So everybody have some fun. Remember to pray for Ede tomorrow as she fly's out at 9:15am, for almost a full day of traveling (somewhere around 13 or 14 hours just from L.A. to Taipei.) So until next time.....later!

James 5:16-18 "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."

The Wonder of the Pool

2007-06-19T11:49:00.000-04:00

Oh yes... I have been doing a lot of swimming... out there 3 times yesterday alone. I really really like swimming!

So, our day started out with my brother and I going for a bike ride, which we did again this morning. Yesterday it was 4.5 miles, today it was 5. The most fun part of it was going on trails in the woods. I learned how to successfully tree climb, I picked that up quickly, as I didn't really want to fall again when going over trees, a thing which I managed to do the first 2 times I attempted it. (end up on the ground) Immediately after returning, I laid on the garage floor for a few minutes waiting for my breath to come back to me. Then to the pool it was.

All in all it was a very fun day, and we're looking forward to some more today!

Mark 12:30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment."

24 hours

2007-06-17T23:07:00.000-04:00

Well I find myself with a little bit of free time. It's just a little after 11pm here, here being at my brother's house in PA. I arrived this morning at around 8:40. At that time I hadn't quite been up for 24 hours, but I did not go straight to bed when I got here. I got showered up and headed off to the morning service at my brother's church. My plan had been to sleep tonight... unfortunately that didn't work out though. After Church we had some lunch and I was going to go down stairs to grab my swim suit, and instead fell to the bed, and slept for quite a while, and I'm sure I won't have too much trouble sleeping tonight either.

Yesterday was a really fun day though, besides all the driving. We started out by going to the nursing home, which, in my opinion, other then a couple off the wall things, went really really well. Merrol was a little late, so Ede played a little more than usual, and we played an extra song together. We then started singing, and when we were done singing Merrol arrived to take over. Ede and I played another couple songs after that, and then Merrol brought the message.

After the nursing home we all headed over to Chuck E. Cheese's. The pizza was pretty good, and I think everyone had a blast on all of the games. I ended up staying until everyone left, which was at about 7:30, and began my drive to PA. I was kept awake by some great chocolate chip cookies!! =) I stopped a couple times for gas, a couple times for water, and once for breakfast. Then, finally, 13 hours later, I arrived.

So here I am for the week. Thursday will be another busy day for me, and I will be driving another couple hours Wednesday night or early Thursday morning to go up to NY, to prepare for Jon and Heather's wedding. Thank you everybody for your prayers on the grueling trip.=)

OH, and we can't forget, to all fathers out there, especially mine..... HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!!

Proverbs 17:6 "Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers."

Here We Go Again...

2007-06-11T18:39:00.000-04:00

Monday evening... at the end of a day at work. I felt this morning like I never wanted to get up... I just wanted to sleep, and sleep, and sleep... unfortunately I couldn't though. I guess it was from a combination of too many late nights, and being out in the hot sun for such a long time on Saturday, still though, I wouldn't trade it...

Saturday we had the family fun day at Yamaha. I didn't win anything =( but that's OK, I did have a lot of fun. I managed to take quite a few pictures that day of the kids playing games, as well as the BMX show they had setup there. This was a new thing this year, and I must admit, it was pretty cool!

Sunday came along, and with it Sunday school, and morning and evening services. The real excitement was just before leaving for the evening service. I was trying, notice I said trying, to show Ede about cleaning her new Digital Rebel XT, I was not being successful because for some reason the lens cleaning fluid was not coming out of the bottle... So... I squeezed a little harder... and suddenly....POP.... an explosion of fluid all over the place, and worst of all, in my eye!!! OWWWWW.... It wasn't really that dangerous, just water and some detergent were the ingredients... but wow, it stung. I left my contacts out today for the chance to let my eye feel a little better without the extra stress of having a piece of plastic in it, and it's feeling pretty normal now.

So was your weekend as exciting as mine, my Carnival prize winning, BMXing, Ent viewing, eye squirting, bottle exploding, ice cream and brownie eating, weekend?!?! It was GRRRRREAT!!!

The only bad part... I think I was skipped about a gazillion times in Phase 10!!!!!!!!!! LOL That's OK though, I find myself caring less about winning, and more about enjoying the time I can spend with friends. =)

Romans 11:33-36 "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen."

Again?!?

2007-06-07T18:50:00.001-04:00

Ken and I went over to Wal-Mart today, and once again got denied when trying to pick up some pictures... What in the world?! Fortunately there was a manager there that had some sense this time. =) Last time, I was told that no matter what I did, I wouldn't be getting those pictures (consequentially they accidentally gave them to me this week with another order I had.) LOL. This time though, I was told that as long as I brought my camera in, and it didn't look like I had just scanned them in, that I could get them. So we went back and did just that, and surprise surprise, they gave them to us. Yay!!! Go Wal-Mart!!

So, in either case, not a whole lot out of the norm happening recently, just very busy. We did recently find out that Ede will be heading to Taiwan in very early July. This was a bit surprising to all of us as you can imagine, as the original plan was for mid to late August or September. So, things have only gotten busier. In fact, tonight, in special preparation for the trip, we will be playing cards. =)

My last few posts have been pictureless, and just maybe by next post, I will have some pictures to put up, unfortunately none for tonight though, just my rambling thoughts. This Saturday will be the family fun day at Yamaha, it lasts until about 3 o'clock, and afterwards we will be heading back to my house for Ede to have her first experience at blogging, so be looking for posts to be arriving there shortly. Through_Ede's_Eyes

I guess the one big thing I've been doing is working on my latest paintball gun. It's an A.G.D. Automag. I don't care what anybody says, it may be older, but it's still the best marker out there. It is absolutely unbeatable in accuracy. Newer guns may be accurate, but all of you electro gunners, don't know a thing about accuracy till you've shot a good Automag. So, part of my work on it is done, I have some of it coated in it's new color, and will be coating some other parts very soon. Before finishing all of the coatings though, I will be milling out parts of the trigger frame, as well as the rail. This is so I can put in a new trigger. It will be a long, yet fun job.

To another area, I've recently finished several books. "Christy" I finished on Saturday, and that same Saturday I got another book named "Passion and Purity," and read it all on Sunday. It was an excellent book by Elizabeth Elliott. Mainly it follows her story with her husband Jim Elliott. Throughout the book she describes, and gives advice on certain situations that those considering a future involving marriage can run across. She talks about ways to go about a proper courtship, and in her story shows some of the ways that can be very detrimental if the correct timing is not followed. One of the most important points she talks about is giving our all to God, even our very feelings. Since she went through 5 years of waiting for Jim Elliott, she knew a good deal about this. She talked about some of the letters she had received where people would say that they have prayed that either God would take their feelings away, or give them an answer about the other person. When written about this, her response was, that might not be how God works. He allows things to come into our lives for a reason, anything really, money, things, and feelings too. As with everything else, we need to give it right back to God, and say, God you allowed this to be in my life, I may not know the purpose you have for it right now, but Lord, I realize that whatever happens, it is for my best, and to glorify you. She talks about how daily she had to put her thoughts of Jim on God's altar, how no matter what, her feeling were going to be there, but if God chose for them not to be together, that she would still glorify Him. I can only imagine how she would have felt had Jim's answer been different, but, fortunately it worked out for her, and after 5 years of waiting, they were finally married.

One thing she talked about was very good advice for any guy out there, and really girls too. It's natural for us to have "feelings" for others, that was the first institute God made, a marriage between Adam and Eve. But, we need to deal with them in a God honoring way. She told of how Jim told her of his great love for her, and that if he got married, it would be to her, but God might be calling him to a life of celibacy. This was a very bad idea. As she she says later on, and she quotes someone else one this, "A man should never tell a woman that he loves her, unless he's ready to marry her, and he should never ask her to marry him without telling her he loves her." She points out, that if all guys actually did this, it would save so much heartache and trouble. So what really happened is that he expressed how he felt before both of them were in a place where they could consider marriage, and because of that, it created a distraction from God, for which he later apologized.

So, you may say, "if he never said anything, he may have lost her." I say, if it was God's will, and those were the two people he chose to be together, though he would have suffered through having to hold his feelings in until God showed him clearly that they were both ready to pursue a marriage, they both would have been able to serve God more effectively, and God still would have worked so that they would be together. You see... I don't believe there there just a pool of fellow Christians out there that it's just O.K. if we choose one of them, I believe that if God has marriage in your future, He knows, and has picked out that one person, just for you. I have to say too, for those that are married already, remember that, the person that you are with, how special they are, because God chose them just for you!!! There may be rough times, but that's just God's way of working to draw you closer to Him, and if you are both getting closer to Him, you will also be getting closer to each other. It's also His way of helping you grow, remember, if you love the Lord, everything in your life will be working out for your good!

Maybe after all of that you might tell me, "you dream, the real world doesn't work like that, either go get, or you won't get anything." Well... so be it, call me a dreamer!! I think I'll trust God on this one, He knows a lot more than me, and He already knows from the beginning to the end of my story, and I'll let Him be in control of it. And I'm not saying that a guy should never "go after" a girl, cause sitting around being lazy, yeah, someone's not just going to drop into your lap, and say OK lets get married, I'm just more of an advocate of waiting on God's timing for both people involved. I also believe that when done the right way, and in the right time, God will honor and bless no matter what the outcome, who knows God may have a blessed life of singleness for some of us, and an equally blessed life of marriage for others, we just need to trust that in every situation life can present, God is in control, and He has a masterpiece of a story worked out for each of us.

So in either case... I'd recomend this book without hesitation.

Isaiah 55:8, 9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

The Weekend end

2007-05-29T09:32:00.001-04:00

Well, it's Tuesday now, time to head back to work. Papers from my desk will attack me, computers will want to eat me, their pilots may just want to strangle me, but I will not go quietly, I will fight back, I will conquer the computers for one more day, and hope that I survive until 8 o'clock. =)

Seriously though, it was a great weekend, from paintball, to wood splitting, to painting ceilings. I must say though... I am just a might bit sore today, but still, much was accomplished. Saturday was the paintball festivities, I think it was 9 of us that played, I'm not sure how, but I managed to survive till the end of all but 2 games, but somewhere within those 2 game, I managed to pick up 11 welts, only 3 broken balls, but still... OWWWW. Most of them have now changed from red to black-and-blue... my only solace... knowing that the same people that gave me those black-and-blue marks all got some of the same back from me that day!! Fun was abounding that day, and at the very end of it I completely disassembled my Automag (the marker/paintball gun.) I now will begin preparing it for a new coating. I need to strip off all of the old paint, and potentially will re-coat it this weekend.

Monday came soon after... go figure... Which I started with some splitting of wood down at Ken's house. It was some hard wood to chop... some were a bit smaller and not too bad, other were bigger and still not that difficult... but some just seemed to be 50 knots all tied together and not coming apart... I think I hacked at one piece of wood for about half an hour. Still, it was a great time, I always enjoy that.

A little bit later we headed to the Yager's house, as they are fixing it up getting ready to sell it, and we helped them out a bit. My first task was hanging shelves, and when I finished there went to painting, first a ceiling, and then another room, everything but the ceiling. All in all there was a lot accomplished that day, though there is still a ton of wood to chop, we got a lot chopped, and though there is work left to do on the house, a lot was finished. So praise God for all He allowed us to accomplish on Monday, though my back may not admit it right now, it was great to go and help out part of God's family, and minister to them in that way.

Ephesians 5:1, 2 "Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children: And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor."

....

2007-05-25T10:08:00.000-04:00

Ever had one of those weeks where you're just going through something over and over again in your mind? It can wear you out... But then, through much prayer, God just breaks through it all, shows you He is all sufficient, and gives you a peace that just about knocks you off your feet because you just can't understand where it came from?

God is just incredible that way. My mind hasn't stopped going since last Sunday, but this morning I woke up, just praising God for who He is, and how He truly has everything in control! He is all sufficient, able to meet any need we come across. His work doesn't just stop at our salvation, but continues working in us for the rest of our lives. The question about it is, will we let Him be our sufficiency, will we let Him use us, will we be vessels in His hands... When we are willing, God will use us to do amazing things, and He will guide us in ways we never thought possible. He will be working in our lives, and in the situations every day life presents in ways that we cannot even know or understand. Praise God, He is wonderful, and a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

God Will Make A Way
by Don Moen

God will make a way,
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way.

By a roadway in the wilderness, He'll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and earth will fade
But His Word will still remain
He will do something new today.

Just a Quote...

2007-05-14T22:55:00.000-04:00

This will be a short post, mainly just for a quote that I liked in the book I am reading. First though, a quick update for the weekend.

Saturday was a day of much laundry, and resulted in many clean clothes, sounds thrilling doesn't it?!?! Sunday I was invited over to a Mothers Day Feast at the Christensen's. I was thankful that while I was there I was able to help a little bit in making a few of the things. I received my instructions, and was on my way. It was fun then, though my feet and legs are quite tired today as I ended up playing kick ball then soccer for a total of something like 2 or 3 hours, it was loads of fun though.

I also got a chance to talk to my mom all the way in NY for a little bit, which was rather nice for Mothers Day. I have to say, my mom's the greatest, and I only wish I could have joined her for the holiday!!

So anyway... the quote, I'm not going to do a full bibliography though... It's from the book "Christy" by Cathrine Marshall. At this particular part Christy is talking about how friendship is in the mountains, and I liked it because I can relate, because it describes how I feel about my friendships...

"And so this kind of friendship was for life- yes, and for eternity too. One would never deceive or defraud a friend, nor allow him to be in need so long as you had one coin, one garment, or one meal to share with him. His sorrow was your sorrow; his joy, your cause for rejoicing."

1 John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God."

Wow... It's been a while.

2007-05-11T11:38:00.000-04:00

Has it ever been a long time since I've put anything up here. I guess it's just been really really busy, I've just been doing other things. Now, however, I have a little bit of time, and thought it a good time for posting.=)

So... Here goes... The last time I wrote was on Wednesday, April 25, and in the post I left off by saying that I would have plans on the following Saturday as long as nothing better came up. The truth is, that nothing better could have come up, I was set to do what I was going to do on Saturday, and there wasn't much hope of changing it.

That Saturday I woke up at about 4:30 and started getting ready for the day. By about 5:30 I was ready to leave, and took off. I drove north for about 2 and a half hours, up to the "Helen" area of Georgia. You see, my whole purpose for this day was to get the "Perfect Picture." I had several stops that I planned on making, but had been hearing on the weather the past few days, that it was supposed to be mostly cloudy all day. As I drove up there, however, I saw that in fact it was not mostly cloudy, but almost the exact opposite, I couldn't see but 1 cloud in the sky. When that hit me I could do nothing but praise God. He had started my day out amazingly, He gave me a perfect day, in which to try to find the perfect picture.

Finally I reached my destination area. I drove around in the mountains a bit when i first got up there, although I didn't exactly make it in the 2 and a half hours I was expecting to, but that was my fault... I stopped for breakfast.=) So all that considered, I pulled into the park area for Anna Ruby Falls at about 9:00.

It wasn't too bad of a hike to the falls area, with a paved pathway, only about a mile long. It was a very beautiful area, as the path followed the stream the whole way to the falls. The whole way I was taking pictures, tons and tons of pictures.

I was done at Anna Ruby Falls by about 11:00 or 11:30. From there it was a short drive over to the Raven Cliffs Falls trail. This was a much more rugged trail, and was somewhere between 3 and 3.5 miles long. There were make-shift bridges, trees fallen across the path, rocky inclines, and all sorts of stuff. Were I not on a mission for the "Perfect Picture" I probably would have taken a little bit more time on this trail, but as it stood, I was on a mission. I took even more pictures on this trail than I did at Anna Ruby, but as I was walking I realized all the beauty surrounding me, and just again praise God for this day that He had given, and He just brought to my mind all the ways He has blessed me. Now I was surrounded by some of the most beautiful parts of His creation.

So on this trail I walked at a brisk pace, stopping every few minutes to climb down embankments, or hop over some stones to get to the other side of the river, so I could get some good pictures. I also ended up taking pictures of other groups that were up there. They would see me taking pictures, then ask if I could take their camera and get pictures of them, I was more than happy to oblige. As I felt I was getting near to the end of the trail, or at least what I thought would be near the end of the trail, I started realizing that I should have worn 2 or 3 pairs of socks, as my feet started telling me to stop. I however did not listen, and pushed on.=)

Soon I did in fact come to the end, where I climbed quite a steep, rocky, hill up to the falls. It was kind of interesting, it was like two rock faces next to each other, with a split in them, and from both sides, in poured the water. It was pretty cool, definitely different than any falls I had seen before. Shortly I climbed back down, set my camera up, and got a quick picture of myself. After that I packed everything away, and started back at a very quick pace.

As I said, the way back was walked very quickly, and not only my feet but my legs many times were saying "STOP!" Still, I didn't listen. At my feverish pace, I made it back to the beginning of the trail in about 45 to 50 minutes, and went over and just sat in my car for a minute. Then I took off my shoes, to which I think my feet will be eternally grateful, and slipped on my sandals. By this time it was getting close to 3:30, and I once again took off, only the drive home remaining for this part of the day. I did however make a quick stop as Sonic...mmmmmmm.... after breakfast being so long ago, that was just wonderful.

I finally made it home between 6:30 and 7:00 and was glad to rest just a bit. I thought about taking a nap, but instead ended up looking through the pictures to try to pick out "The One." My first pass through I narrowed it to 78... lol... I decided that was enough for that day, and just rested a bit.

You may now think that that was a long day, and it would be a good time to go to bed and get some rest. But that wasn't it... I had plans for that night! At about 9:30 I reached the Christensen house, where we watched the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. We had popcorn... I don't think I had ever been happier to have popcorn... it was very strange, even as I drove over there I hoped popcorn would be involved, and it made me uncommonly happy. We had a fun time though, and a late night.

Sunday was busy as well. Starting out early with Sunday School, I must say, I was a might bit tired. =) Our evening service was canceled that night, and we had our men's and ladies meetings. After the meetings I once again went back the the Christensen's house, at which time Ken, Ede, and I headed over to Callaway gardens to take Ede's senior pictures. It was fun to go out there and walk around a bit, we got some good pictures as well. When we tried to print them Wal-Mart did not want to give them to us, even though I was the photographer. I even filled out one of their copyright release forms, and they still gave us a hard time, saying that we could have gotten anybody off the street to sign it, and that we couldn't prove that I took them... There's some real good customer service for you... HA... Eventually they gave us the wallet sized pictures.

Later that week I tried to print out 5 8x10's one for each of the chosen pictures. I went to pick them up, and was told they would not sell them to me no matter what, they were professional and they will not give them to me, so I went back the next day to see the manager. I brought my camera, with the pictures still on it, as well as my portfolio in, and still, even though I filled out the copyright release form, they would not give them to me, saying that I couldn't prove they were mine. So later on I called the Walmart.com photo center customer service line. Finally someone that would help me. They apologized for how badly I was treated, and told me that it would be delt with, and that I would hear back shortly from them. Well I did hear back on Saturday. I got a message on my voice mail, saying that once I fill out a copyright release form I would be able to get my pictures... HELLO!!! Anybody home!!!! I already filled one out..... I still couldn't get my pictures... So a lot of help they ended up being. So right now, to me, the Newnan GA Wal-Mart... is just a huge pain in the rump, I'm going to try my luck today at the Wal-Mart in Peachtree City, and hope I get some people that actually have a brain.

So... Anyway, to get off of that... This past weekend was Ede's Graduation! Way to go Ede! She graduated with about 35 other home school students, and the main speaker was a supreme court justice here in Georgia. It was a good ceremony, and afterwards I took her picture with Ken Ham. We looked around the book sale a bit afterwards, then headed back the Newnan to eat at the Chin Chin Chinese restaurant. That was where all the hard work from Saturday was revealed. The picture that I so needed to be perfect, was part of my graduation gift. That picture I will not be posting, as it is reserved for that gift.

That evening we had a fun time of dessert, and playing cards. It was another late night, but still it was a blast!!

I think that pretty much catches up everything... I've yet to make plans for this weekend, so who knows what I'll be up to, I guess there's no telling......

Philippians 2:1, 2 "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. "

It's Been a While

2007-04-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

But here I am again, with a new post!

I had a very busy weekend this past Saturday and Sunday. Saturday started out with a men's breakfast at the church, where we had a larger than normal group. It was nice to see a little more interest than usual. The meeting ended up going about 20 minutes longer than we had planned, but that was OK, it was a very good time of learning in God's word.

Next that day we had the nursing home ministry. We went up toward Atlanta, which for this nursing home is about an hour trip. When we got there there was a singing group just finishing up, and then we took over. We had a good time of singing, playing, and worshiping.

This was followed by dinner over at the Caswell's house. It was a lot of fun. We cooked hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire. Afterward some of us went back to ride the horses. It started out fun, the horses were a little stubborn, but nothing that we couldn't deal with. Wes and I rode them first, and Ede was going to grab the next ride, but the second time around the back came with issues that would prevent us from riding them anymore that night.

As we went back toward the woods from the back pasture, the horse Wes was on, took off running. He ran all the way through the woods, collecting branches and vines all over Wes. When he finally stopped, Wes was able to get off, and had lost a lot of skin from his left hand. on Monday he would end up going to the Dr. and finding out that it had gotten infected. He will be OK though, it's well on it's way to healing.

On Sunday we had our normal morning service, after which we went to a thing called "Sermon on the Mount." It is an analogy between training a horse and the Christian life. It's actually incredible with how well it is done. It was a ton of fun, but it was also long. I think we were there for about 4 hours!!!

Later that evening I went over to the Christensen's house, where we had some dessert. Home made brownies!!!!!! and ice cream!! Good stuff!!! No one will ever hear me complain about that =) We played a couple rounds of hearts, but it was kinda late so we called it a night. Everyone had school and work the next day, so we couldn't stay up too late... still it definitely was fun!

Now... it's mid-week again, and unless something better comes up, I will have something to do on the weekend, mainly involving taking pictures, which, when I get them, I will post them. So until next time, have fun!.

Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Back from Indy

2007-04-16T22:25:00.000-04:00

Well... Mike and I made it back from Indianapolis last night around 10:30. We were a little tired from the trip, but not too bad.

I can't even begin to describe how well the conference went these past few days. It was an amazing time to spend with the other men, and with the Lord. The singing was absolutely incredible, every song. It makes me wonder how often do we truly sing to the glory to God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength???

We also came back with about 8 books that were just given to us... free of charge, praise God! So we came back with a lot of reading material.

One of the best messages there, I have to say, was called "How Close Can We Get?" The speaker was talking about the Christian walk, and how most people's actions speak out saying "How close can we get to the edge and still be saved." When shouldn't the real question be "How close can we get to God." We should have such a love for God, that we say, "I don't even want to be anywhere near the edge, I want to love God with all that I have, so how close can I be to Him."

We also did a lot of talking about meditating in the night seasons. Using our time as we prepare for bed, and rest, to worship God, and to meditate on God's word. How can we "entertain" God tonight? What scripture can we memorize, and repeat back to Him? What new insights can He give us as we lay down on our altar that we've dedicated to Him?

In either case... I would appreciate your continued prayers. There's so much more I feel I could be doing to love God more, pray that He would help me do that, because without Him, I can't even really love at all.

One final comment about the conference... One comment that was made.... Success is not just what we are (money, friends, things) Success is what we are compared to what we could be. What more could we be doing for God that we are not?????

Matthew 22:37-38 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they mind. This is the first and great commandment."

John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Last Post for a while...

2007-04-11T05:58:00.000-04:00

This is the final post for a minimum of 5 days... I am ready to leave for Indianapolis in just a few minutes.

Mike and I would appreciate any prayers that are offered for us during this week, and I thank those who have already said they would pray for us. We will be away from our daily lives for the next several days, focusing on God. We are praying for a real time of spiritual refreshment.

And with that I must leave... Catch you all later!!

John 15:12 "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you"

Busy Busy

2007-04-09T11:30:00.000-04:00

Go here to see the latest pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/JoeMBoman .... Some... interesting ones... will be posted tonight

Since my last post it definitely has been very busy. My last one was on Wednesday. Thursday my wall mount for my TV came in, and that was my Thursday night project. Friday it was down to Callaway Gardens for Easter pictures, Saturday we had nursing home, followed by "Loves Unending Legacy," Sunday we had our services in the morning, then it was over to the Christensen's house for Easter dinner. So... if you don't want to read anymore... that was the quick synopsis.

If you do want to read more... here is the breakdown. =) After work Thursday I went over to Mike's house to pick up some tools to work on the wall mount. He was kind enough to let me borrow a drill, bit's, stud finder, and a level. Then on I went to my house. The actual setup of the thing really wasn't that hard. Chad came home during the middle of my setting it up and gave me a hand with it. Now on the wall it hangs... so far I really like how it turned out!

Then came Friday, it was actually a little chilly outside, but warmed up some after lunch. It was right around lunch time that I headed down to the Christensen house. Soon after arriving we left for Callaway Gardens to snap some Easter pictures. We walked around the "azalea bowl" and took quite a few different pictures. After we had done that for a while we headed over to a picnic area and had some lunch. Lunch was followed by a trip to the "butterfly house." It just so happened that on the way back from there that we saw a great place for a picture, and the last one we took ended up being the best! Soon after we headed back to the house, and took the scenic way home. From which I took this shot... it's actually about 15 pictures combined to do it.

Once we reached the house we had some time to hang out a bit, and eventually start up a game of Rook. We were having so much fun I think several times we lost track of the time. It ended up a very late game! But we all really had a lot of fun, I think we all slept a little bit later on Saturday too!

So, Saturday came quickly, or really was already on us, but the time to wake up came quickly. I headed over to their house again that day, and we did a little bit of practicing for the songs at the nursing home, and then left for it. It went well, I tried to play along with some of the songs that everybody was singing, although I made a few mistakes in that, including singing the 4th verse when I was supposed to be singing the 3rd. =) Then all the kids came up and we all sung "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" followed by Ede and I playing on violin and guitar, "Come Thou Fount" and it seems like we are doing well on that one, though both of us had a slight mix up at one time or another during it, either way, we enjoyed doing it.

We went for pizza afterwards, which everyone enjoys, followed by the new movie "Loves Unending Legacy." We were originally scheduled to head over to Joyce and Ferrol's house but Anna got sick, and we had to cancel that. I had done a little extra cleaning that morning though, just in case something happened, and everyone ended up coming over to watch it at my house. I just wish I had more opportunities to have people over, I always enjoy entertaining.

So...(take a breath)... next came Sunday, where we had a morning service, but not an evening one, so that people could spend time with their families for Easter. It turned out to be a really fun day. I was invited back, for the 3rd time that weekend, (I hope I'm not becoming a pest) for Easter dinner, which was fantastic!!

A little while afterward everyone played a little bit of wiffle ball, followed by the story of the three trees, which I'm not going to go into here, but if you ask me about it sometime I will let you know. It really is a very good story about how someone can have a dream to do something great, and God may or may not have the same plans that we do, but can accomplish great things for us in ways we never imagined.

After the story, I went along with all of the kids outside to have what seemed to be an energy burning session. It started out with me throwing the football with Wesley and William, went to pushing kids on the swings, and finished up with us tying Wesley to a tree. Don't worry though, I didn't let him stay there long, I went back to get him, and as he was laughing most of the time, was having fun as well. He may have it in for his brothers and sisters now though!!

We also played Rook again that night. We didn't go near as long as we did Friday night though. The first couple games my team didn't to so well, we were down by about 100 points. We made quite the comeback after that though. I ended up taking the bid 3 times straight, and 1 of the times didn't even really want it, just didn't want the other team to get it. It seemed however, that the color I kept picking for trump during those 3 games, ended up being just the right color. All of the times Ede ended up with either 4 or 5 of that color, which for me to use for trump and her have that many is not very likely, and she had the rook all 3 times. William also ended up having good hands during the 3 games, which made it all the better. The cards were just falling our way that night.

Before we played cards though, we did something really cool. Like I had previously stated our evening service was canceled that day. So, all of the younger kids went up to bed, and the older ones stayed down. Ken prepared it, and we all sat preparing ourselves to have communion. It was actually really really cool, to have communion on Easter, with some of the friends that are closest to me. This do in remembrance of me, and that's truly what it was all about. We had about 10 minutes before everything was ready to just pray to God, and remember the work which Jesus accomplished for us, and it was just awesome, God is just awesome! That time that we had together God just really impressed upon me again the great work that He did! He came to earth, because He loved us. He freely and willingly sacrificed His body for us. He took all of our sins upon Himself, anything that we've ever done, anything that we still may do. He didn't just die and stay in the grave, but as we celebrated, He rose again, sits on the right hand of God, and is ever making intercession for us!!! What an amazing God we have!!! To show us such love when all we could offer was hatefulness and sin. Jesus came, and He changed our hearts, for which we can never even try to repay Him, but he doesn't require us to repay Him, it was a gift. The greatest gift that has ever been offered to the world!!!! And one day, He is coming again. Not only did He rise up, but He is preparing a place for me, to spend with Him in eternal glory, and he is coming again to bring His family home!!

John 14: 1-3 "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believed in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

=)

2007-04-04T09:35:00.000-04:00

Still no pictures to put up yet... Maybe this weekend we'll have some. Guess I'll just have to wait and see. I did go yesterday and pick up a lens cleaning kit, for which my camera was in dire need. I really don't know how stuff ends up on the lens, it's always covered except when I am taking pictures. Either way, I can now clean it.

And, wow, did I ever sleep better last night. I awoke this morning very refreshed, and ready for a new day. It should start out very well at work, I have been invited along for lunch by one of our Japanese visitors. He invited both Ken and I along with the group because he was thankful for the help we were able to offer both this weekend and the past couple of days. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to that!

I also just have to say that all I can think of this morning, is praising God for my friends and family. I'm so thankful for all of them, and wouldn't want it any other way. I wouldn't want any different parents, any different siblings, definitely no change in my beautiful niece and nephew, and couldn't ask for any better friends. I'm glad that God chose my family for me, and glad that he put the friends I have in my way as well. To everyone of my friends and family, you mean the world to me!

In all of this I can't leave out the most important friend I have, and just have to praise God for saving me. Jesus is the friend of friends! A friend who will never leave nor forsake! Praise God, for only His glory, not through anything I had to offer, He chose to make me part of his family!

Who can cheer the heart like Jesus
By His presence all divine
True and tender, pure and precious
O, how blest to call Him mine

All that thrills my soul is Jesus
He is more than life to me
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see

Ho Hum...

2007-04-03T08:23:00.000-04:00

What an evening.........

Didn't really get a whole lot of rest last night, busy thinking about.... stuff.... but it's all good! I'm sure it'll be better tonight.

Wes is flying home today, he's getting in around 3:15, and hopefully isn't chickenpox contagious anymore. I'm guessing that he had a really good time up in MI, but I'll probably hear about that later.

I'm definitely looking forward to Thursday this week though. "Why?" You may ask, well, because I have this Friday off because it is Good Friday. I was always told when I was younger, and now heartily agree, the second best part of a 3 day weekend is a 4 day week! Not sure yet just what I'm going to do this weekend, that's extremely up in the air! I'm sure it'll be fun with whatever happens though.

Anyway... I really need to get ready for work, I brought Greg into work today, and haven't had the time to get ready myself yet, so.... that time has come. =)

Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

2007-03-30T10:07:00.000-04:00

Well it's been several days since I've put anything up, so I thought I'd throw a quick up date on the blog before work. Unfortunately no pictures this time, I guess nothing that exciting has been going on.

The past couple of mornings I have just been preparing to play some songs at the nursing home this weekend. Looks like we'll do 3 of them this time. We're going to have a light crew for it this Sunday as well, most of the kids will probably stay home because of the chickenpox going around. From what Ken said though he has something a little different planned for the nursing home this Sunday, so it still should be good.

Wes has now been away for almost a week, and has only been able to make contact here once, as far as I know anyway. It sounded from like what he said that he was having a good time though, so continue to pray that God would bless the group up there.

I am as of yet undecided as to what my plans are for Saturday. I was thinking about going down to Callaway, but am not really sure yet. I might just wait till there's some people to go with. I guess I'm just much more of a social "animal" than I used to be... Heh. But, who knows, I may still go down there, if there's nothing really going on here.

And that's about all. Like I said, not much exciting happening right now, so not really a whole lot to write about. Maybe something big will happen this weekend, but I dunno, just have to wait and see!

Psalm 42:1 "...As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after the, O God."

World's Fastest Half-Mile

2007-03-26T22:11:00.000-04:00

We're back from the track! What a day it was! Bristol Motor speedway, the most exciting short-track ever devised! In combination with the "car of tomorrow" debut, the racing was exciting. It was also unimaginably loud! Thankfully we had the in-car radios with sound-deadening earphones. Kyle Busch was eventually pronounced the winner, with Jeff Burton coming in an extremely close 2nd.

We left the hotel for the track at 5:30 am, and arrived at the track around 7, and eventually made our way to sales trailers, and then to the inside of the track. We must have walked miles that morning. We went all the way around the track and then all the way back. This did wonders for the legs today....

The race was everything it was built up to be. Fast, action packed, and crazy all the way around. It was a blast, it's just too bad it couldn't be longer than just one weekend. I'm glad the traffic afterwards didn't last longer than a weekend though, it was quite long enough. It put me behind by at least 2 hours! So, I got home this morning around 2 am, and slept much later than I normally do, it was well worth it though!

Today when I got into work Ken gave me something. It was a membership to Callaway Gardens here in GA. It was so unexpected! I was so surprised, and what a cool thing! I hear that it is a really cool place. Good place for biking, and a beautiful area! Now I'm really looking forward to this spring and summer, we should really be able to have a lot of fun there!

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of light, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

All Creation Sings His Praise

2007-03-22T19:39:00.000-04:00

Here I go again. It's Thursday night, about 20 minutes until I will leave work. Thought I'd write a quick post, update some info, and all that good stuff.

I woke up this morning to a beautiful day, and decided to go play with my camera for a little while. There are plenty of pictures posted on my photo page, but here's my favorite of the day.

If you can't read what it says on the bottom it says "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork"

What beauty God has created, it's hard to imagine that anyone could believe that this whole world came about by chance. All creation sings His praise!! God's creation alone bares witness to Him.

After reading a little bit about a certain photography course yesterday on http://ips.iblp.org/. I have decided that they are right in their motives. Any photography I do should be to the glory of God. I mean really all I am doing is capturing a single moment in God's great creation, and to me it just screams out "Glory to God in the highest!!!!!"

On another note.... I found out a bit more about Ede's nose today. It turns out that it's not actually the cartilage part of it that is broken, but the actual bone itself. I guess in this case it will require surgery. She has a pre-op appointment tomorrow, and then it's back again on Tuesday for the actual surgery. Pray for her, I'm sure it won't be too much fun. On the good side, at least her chickenpox are mostly gone!!!

Also, this Saturday, I will be driving up to Virginia, and Chris will be driving down there. At the same time, Wesley, will be flying up to Chicago and then be driven up to the upper peninsula of Michigan. He will be attending a "Journey to the Heart." Pray that God would give us all safe trips, and that He would really bless Wes as he is away these 10 days.

Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."

Monday mornings....

2007-03-19T12:05:00.000-04:00

Here I sit, another Monday come around. Thought I'd just throw something quick up there this morning, highlighting yesterday's events.

We had two very good services yesterday, and they just happened to tie in with the devotional I was reading this morning. I'll post the main verse from both at the end of this post. Forgiveness and bitterness were the topics. It is so true that so many issues arise from people being bitter toward each other and just never dealing with it.

Anyway, I'm now just waiting till next weekend, when I will head up first to VA, for a hotel, then back down to Bristol TN for the race. Chris and I will be up there this weekend, and it looks to be a great time. I'll definitely be snapping pictures that day, hopefully we will have good weather for it.

That brings about our events of yesterday. Jessie and I had a little bit of car fun between the services. He decided he wanted some pictures of him and his Camry, so I gladly obliged.

Matthew 18:12-22 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven

What a day...

2007-03-18T02:03:00.000-04:00

The day started out well. I got up at 5:50, so that I would be on time to cook for the men's breakfast on Saturday morning. We had a good time of sharing and discussion. It wasn't a large crowd that we had there, but still it was a very good time. During my time of cooking I tried to get some sunrise pictures, but it wasn't a really good location, but here is one that I got that was OK.

I also snapped this picture of our American flag as the sun was coming up.

After the breakfast I had to go rotate my tires, they were a little overdue, and I have a slight trip to make next weekend, so I needed to be totally prepared. Ken said that I could do it at his house, so I headed there afterward. I started out with the driver side, but when I finished that some of us guys headed over to pick up some material for the bunny cage that Ken and the boys have been building. The Lord provided the material they needed free of charge from a torn down building. The roof was completed quickly after that.

I was a little worried about today to tell the truth. I knew I would be heading over there to rotate my tires, and with Ede having chickenpox I wasn't sure she would be comfortable with me coming in and being there, but she told one of the kids to tell me I could come in as long as I didn't laugh. =) To this request I readily promised that I would not have laughed either way.

I really felt bad that she had gotten them, I know it wasn't my fault or anything, I just know that she is greatly vexed by them, and just how annoying they can be. But that was just the beginning, I felt even worse by the end of the day. She came out for the first time since Wednesday, and was looking at the bunnies, when the two boys convinced me to play some football. They then got her and Ruby involved as well. Long story made short, after about 3 or 4 plays, Ede and William smacked heads together, leaving William, no doubt, with a knot on his head, and Ede......... With a broken nose.............

I felt soooo bad for her. It was enough just to have the "pox," but then adding that to it.... UGH!!! It was terrible. So she went to the hospital, and they took x-rays, and said it may be broken in more than one place..... UGH Again!!! She will be going back again on Tuesday for the results, and any setting or anything they have to do to it. I guess they have to wait 72 hours before anything can be done to it.

After getting back though, she came again to be in pretty good spirits, and we all watched a DVD on a Christian family where the 4 daughters formed a string quartet, which sounded just great. After that we all had a time of prayer, and the younger kids went to bed. Us older ones stayed up a bit longer, drank some malts...mmmmmm.... and played some Rook!! Nearing the end of the game Ede felt as though she had a fever, and was quite worn out from the events of the day. We finished up, and I headed out. I am extremely thankful for them having me over almost all day long, and feeding me, and just everything!!!!!

Please do pray for Ede though, I'm sure it's discouraging to be dealing with all of the stuff while having such a tight schedule before graduating this year. We know that God will provide, and meet the needs there, but I know she would appreciate much prayer as well.

Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Different

2007-03-16T18:50:00.000-04:00

Well, as you can see, I changed around my blog a little bit. Made it more fitting to my current mood =P Actually the background and everything just fit the top picture better, so that is really the description of my life. Whizzing by at unfathomable speed. A few things are stationary, but the majority is there for a second and then gone! It truly is a fast paced life at times, and I can't always account for where it all goes.

Like the cars whizzing by, so are the thoughts of my everyday experiences. I believe in just 5 minutes I can, uncommonly to most people, think about 50 different things, or angles of a given situation. Sometimes this is useful, it works out well for my job, which much of it is problem solving. Other times it can just be a pain in the butt! Wondering about the present and the future, and if I stay on something too long the risk of it turning from wonder to worry, and that's not where I want to go!!

Recently some of my thought have been about where I am in God's eyes. Am I living the way He would want me to? Do all of my thoughts, actions, and words show forth His glory? What ways can I minister to people that I am now neglecting?

I know that right now God has put a great desire in me to encourage Godly fathers in our community. What is it that our churches, and our nation is made up of? .....Families!!! It is my opinion that many of the problems arising in these places today is because of the lack of leadership in our homes. Though I am young, and inexperienced in the area, still, I have a burden to encourage fathers to become strong leaders in their homes, which is part of the reason I am attending the "Dad's Conference" in April, so that I can learn more ways to be an encouragement. The other reason I'm going up there is because one day I hope to be a father as well, and when that day comes I want to be the best father, husband, and leader in the home that I can be.

So... you may agree with me, and you may not, whatever the case is, please do pray for me!

Malachi 4:6a "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers..."

Interesting stuff....

2007-03-14T23:15:00.000-04:00

Wednesday night, getting close to bed... Perfect time to post. We've been working on the 1st quarter PC roll out at work, 10 new PCs every day, it keeps us very busy. I'm really looking forward to some rest tonight.

However I did want to share this latest picture... I took it after work tonight... My first attempt at a night picture. It's not great, but it's a start!

In either case, hope everyone has a good night tonight, and a good day tomorrow. Please remember to pray for us as well as the people there, as we go to the nursing home this weekend.

Psalm 28:7 "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him."

Whirlwind

2007-03-12T19:11:00.000-04:00

Wow... What a whirlwind of a weekend... it started and just did not stop!!! I apologize for not posting Saturday with pictures as I had stated, but time and I aren't the best of friends... and when us two are involved "definite" is a very relative term. Still, here I am, at it again, and this time actually having some new pic's!

The busy weekend started Friday at about 6:30pm. This is when I went to UPS to pick up my new item!!! =) For those who may not know yet, I got a new camera. It is a Canon Digital Rebel XT. Since getting it the shutter has not stopped moving, and there wasn't a better weekend for it.

Friday continued with another game of cards, Hearts was the game this time. With so many people, there was a lot of luck involved, but still I WON!!!! I only took 9. I don't care what Mike says, it was pure talent! =)

Next came Saturday, which began with a nice breakfast at good ol' McDonald's, good stuff. Mike and I then continued feverishly preparing for the paintball festivities scheduled for the afternoon. A quick stop at my house, on the way to get air for the guns, revealed to me that my new CF card for my camera had also come that very morning. (PICTURES GALORE) I guess we had about 10 people playing paintball that day, and we all had a great time.

Here's one of the group: Ede (kind enough to film us all) Wes, Chad, William, Ferrol, Ken, Oluf, Merrol, Me(Joe), Mike, and Greg.

After Paintball ended it was time to eat cake. You see, this was Mike's birthday party, a month late. If you knew the circumstances, you will know why it was a month late... very good cause!

Then came Sunday. We had a Gideon presentation that took a while, then, when he was done, Ede presented a little bit on the CI trip. She talked about the 4 CI's and then had a slide presentation. She may have been a little nervous, but it didn't show, and she did a great job.

After the service I was invited to head over to their house for lunch, to which there was no way I was going to decline!! I had a really good time. After lunch we went over to one of the parking lots in Newnan, where we tried to sell some of Wesley's bunnies. While most of us did this, Ruth and Ede went to look for Easter shirts.

Soon after we headed back to the house, where it was time to play with the new "Big Red Bat, and ball." Now that was just a great time, having fun with all the kids, who were all having a blast!

And this just brings us to today, where I sit at my computer writing up the next post. I can only look back at the weekend and say praise God for the good time he allowed us all to have, and praise him for the friends and family he gives us to have fun with!!!!

Colossians 3:16 Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Mid-week Musings

2007-03-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Sorry but, I won't be posting any pictures today, although I will definitely be putting some up Saturday night. I just have a little bit of time before work today, so I thought I'd throw an update onto the post.

Last night was an interesting night... I got a call at my desk at about 7:15. Someone was saying that they had some stuff not working on their computer, of course in the Yamaha area, it couldn't have been further away. So, I drove up there on the golf cart, and started working on the problem. Eventually Ken came up with me, and after a little while of troubleshooting, we figured out, and fixed the problem. This happened right at 8:00, the time to leave!!! As we drove back down I told Ken that I had asked when she had started having the problem, to which she responded, "around 4:00." So my question was why in the world did she wait until 7:15 to call us............... Oh well though, just one of "those" users I guess. At least we got it fixed when we did, and didn't have to stay any longer.

When I got home last night, I also ordered something cool!!! It will be fun I think, and will improve my blog a little too!!! When I get it, I'll put up some pictures so everyone can see what it is. =)

Until then everyone have a great time!!!

John 13:35 "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

Whew....

2007-03-05T01:48:00.000-05:00

It's been quite a day. I feel already that this could turn out to be a long post... but it will include pictures! I also plan on updating the photo album tonight as well. Pictures of my new Sunday wears will be included too!!

Things went very well pretty much all day long. I woke up early, got to church early. In Sunday school today we learned about Hebrews 10, Doc Lescelius taught us and it was good. After this was our morning worship time, where we started with some singing, and taking care of some business in the church. Brother Joel spoke this morning for the message. He is a missionary in Peru, they also joined our church today! All of the things we had to do today made for a extra long service, we didn't finish until about 1:00, but that was alright, it was a good service. Just after the service one of my friends asked to talk to me, and that quick little conversation, and their great sensitivity meant a lot to me, and encouraged me very much!!!

After the service was dinner at the church, and somehow, as always, I ended up at the end of the line, and usually when you're there, there's really not that much food left, so I gave Mike a call, and we made a quick Taco Bell run. mmmmmm.

Then at 2:00 was supposed to be the men's meeting, although it didn't actually end up starting till 2:30, we were still out before the ladies meeting. =) It gave us just enough time to head over, and get ready for the nursing home.

Ken tried something new today, and it worked out very well. The people in the nursing home are always hearing preaching from every church that comes. So Ken thought we might try a format more like a Sunday school. He was asking questions, and getting their opinions, and they were participating very much. I think it really worked out great, and I think they really enjoyed it.

After the nursing home came dinner and the "Great Spades Game." We were divided up into 4 teams, and 2 teams each played each other, then the winners played the winners, and the losers played the losers. Wow... It was soooo much fun!!!!! I came in second with my partner Ken, we were so close though... But the undisputed winners, and champions of the night were Mike and Mary, but that's alright, I could have come in last and still had fun. I just really enjoy hanging out with all of my friends and the kids, and hopefully they don't get too sick of me!!

In closing, especially remember to pray for Ede. She has been coughing a lot today, so much so that even her sides stared to hurt from it all. It's about the worst that it's been since she caught this bug.

Also, thank you everyone for making today such a great day. Praise the Lord, He is good!!!

Psalm 150:6 "Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD."

Saturday's gone....

2007-03-04T08:57:00.000-05:00

Saturday was a a very busy day. In the morning I finished the original version of "Pride and Prejudice." I'm not really decided which I like better. I like most of the casting in the latest one, but enjoy the story line of the first. Either way, I enjoyed both very much.

Sometime in the early afternoon we headed out to the nursing home, it's about an hour to get there, and most everybody was reading stuff on the way, so I pretty much just sat an took in the scenery around the highway. =) The nursing home went well though, we sung several songs, and Brother Merril brought a message on Psalm 23.

Following the nursing home we went over to Chucky Cheese's and had a ball. It was a lot of fun to go around to all the games and play with the kids, and they really had a blast. They were all winning all kinds of tickets so they could turn them in for a prize at the end.

So, everyone had a really fun day. Today (Sunday) we have our morning services followed by dinner at the church, then our men's and ladies meetings. After these we will be going to another nursing home, this time a little closer, only about 5 minutes from Ken and Ruth's house. After that, who knows just how much fun we will have....

Wednesday fun!

2007-02-28T22:49:00.000-05:00

Here we go again!!! Today was a department meeting day at Yamaha... and lucky me, I was the note taker for the day... and of course, the meeting went a half hour overtime... blah. It wasn't too bad though, and now I won't have to take notes again for a long, long time!

In case anyone was wondering how my "spades kick" is going, we finally broke out of a slump tonight! We play online on MSN, but I'm really looking forward to this weekend, when we will most likely play either spades or rook all in one place, instead of across the Internet. That way is always more fun, adds to the competitive nature of it all, and you can actually socialize while playing. =)

I also have a couple new things to wear this Sunday, I'm pretty happy about that, it's been a really long time since I've bought any clothes for myself, so, pictures of that stuff will be coming late Sunday or Monday. Remember to pray for us on both Saturday and Sunday as we will be going to two different nursing homes those days. Pray that we would really be able to minister to these people, I know they could really use encouragement.

(so you chose to take the red pill.....) Today I also got a little extra free time, and decided to write some Chinese... LOL. I'm sure that seems rather random, but either way, I did indeed write some. This is my name, Joseph on the top, and Joe on the bottom. (At least this is what my program said it was)

(So here's a sample of my Chinese handwriting)

Also check out the picture page, I added some that Chris sent to me!

I also just finished removing the front door to my house... the door knob broke so that we couldn't get out.... one of my roommates had been working on it for about 10 Min's when I decided to take a look at it, at which point I removed the pins from the hinges, and we were able to pry the door open.... So, the knob is now being replaced, and we will once again have a working door!!!!!!! Yip Yip YAHOO!!!!!!

Psalm 135:3 "Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant."

The mind of Christ

2007-02-28T09:21:00.000-05:00

To receive when others reject, to treat each one with true respect,
To shield when others throw stones, to be with one who’s all alone,
To think and choose to see the very best,
To live like this is nothing less than to possess

The mind of Christ, my highest goal
The Lords delight, the desire of my soul
The Fathers heart will always guide my life
If I will have in me the mind of Christ

To build up when others tear down, to seek the lost until they’re found,
To give grace where it’s needed most, rejecting pride when others boast,
To sacrifice my all without regret,
To live like this is nothing less than to possess.

The mind of Christ, my highest goal
The Lords delight, the desire of my soul
The Fathers heart will always guide my life
If I will have in me the mind of Christ

1 Cor 2:5 "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:"

Thanks mom for reminding me of it!

P-A-R-T-Y!!!!!

2007-02-26T23:00:00.000-05:00

Well... I can't speak for everyone else... actually I probably can... We had a blast tonight! There was cake, ice cream, pizza, bean dip... mmmm, great stuff!! We got to hear about many of the stories, and see many of the pictures from Taiwan, but that wasn't the best part of the party... We were all overjoyed to see Ede back, safe and sound... A month can seem like a stinking long time... of course a year isn't any shorter, thank goodness someone created messenger programs!

It really is crazy when you think about it, just 200 years ago no one would have ever thought that we would be able to talk to people, real time, on the other side of the world. Quite honestly I'll probably miss that a little. Getting up in the morning studying God's word, and getting ready for work, never knowing who might "pop" online. In fact I doubt now that I'll see just about anybody on MSN in the morning anymore. That's alright though, I think everyone would agree that's an easy sacrifice for the current alternative. I know, however, I will see some on at night though... I have a serious spades kick going on, and Mike and I get on to play for an hour occasionally, great fun!!

So... Thanks for coming home Ede!! I can once again speak for everyone, we will enjoy the next six months, and be praying for you constantly. I know that God will continue to work in your life to prepare you for the next year! And THANKS for the cool stuff too!!!!

I convinced the world traveler to suffer through a picture with me. I'm holding a pair of authentic chop sticks, with spoon and cloth holding bag... along with a 100% silk, hand made tie. GREAT STUFF!!!!! Thanks again Ede!

Matthew 4:19 "And He saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Monday's here!

2007-02-26T10:13:00.000-05:00

Monday has come, and I'm still here! I've finally managed to get my camera working with my computer... for some reason it doesn't seem to like Windows Vista, so I had to boot up with XP this time, but at least I have a working camera.

I arrived at work just a bit ago and actually got a good parking spot, those that know anything about Yamaha, that is a defining accomplishment for any day. So here I sit, writing again... Do we head deeper into the rabbit hole today????

I've been showing off the article about my Aunt Ginnie to just about everybody that I know, and I would post a picture of it, but I'm guessing the magazine has a copyright on it or something.

Thought I'd share my Sunday "job" with everyone, and that will finally be my first picture. *APPLAUSE*

Here's the sound board that I control every Sunday. Looks like fun right? Really it's not too bad, and once everything is setup, doesn't really require that much adjustment. Sometimes it seems like a chore, but it's a ministry that I can actually do there, and I enjoy it for the most part.

As for Today, I came into work early (9:30am) and will be leaving early (6:30 pm) This is because of a party tonight!!!! Party's are great. This one will be at the church tonight at 7:15 where we will be welcoming home Ede after her month spent in Taiwan. It's 10:30, and she's just about in the U.S. again, flying over the great lakes. It should be a great time... and just maybe I'll put up some pictures of it tomorrow!!!

.......Maybe I'll try to eat some cake with chop sticks.......

Welcome to my mind!!!

2007-02-24T16:54:00.000-05:00

WARNING!!!!!
You're entering my mind... that could be a scary place!
I'm attempting to start a blog. I thought it looked interesting, and thought that it might help those who may want to keep up with me a little bit more. Either way, this should be an experience.

So, if you dare continue, welcome to the inner workings of my brain!

Pictures will be coming soon, till then, text will have to suffice.

Today has been a regular Saturday, other than starting a new venture in blogging. I did wake up a bit early, but that's alright, it gave me more time to do other things. Last night ended the CI in Hong Kong for this year, now all that's left for all of the teachers is the lengthy trip home, remember to pray for all of them.

Tonight may be a bowling night, at least that's what I'm hoping for. Maybe that will afford my first opportunity to get some pictures up here, and won't that be wonderful?

That's enough of my mind for the first post, check back if you dare explore my inner workings, each post will bring you deeper and deeper into my head!!!!!!! BE YE WARNED