Address Change

This came to me over email and I liked it. So, again, I thought I'd share it with you all.

This is my change of address notice:
I have moved out from 1 Beggars Alley, located at 2 Poverty Lane at the corner of Bleak and Buster Circle . As of today, I have a brand new home!!!

My new address is:
Living Well on 3 Abundance Drive, located at the corner of Blessings Street and Prosperity Peak . No longer will I allow myself to travel on Begging Peter to pay off Paul route, located at a dead end Intersection Called: I Don't Have. It connects with Borrowers Junction. I no longer hang out at Failure's Place, near Excuses Avenue, next to the Procrastination Point. I've moved on to an Upscale Community called Higher Heights with unlimited potential and opportunities for me to succeed. Look at me, each day that I'm awake, I am thankful to be a product of my new environment. All my clothes are tailor made - I'm dressed in life's finest. Let me introduce you to all of them: Conceive, Believe, Act on, Have Faith, Be Persistent, and Always be Prepared to Achieve. Life is good because God is good!

Care to change your address? There are many vacancies! This is what I'm talking about putting God first and not letting other people control "your" destiny!!!

Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but HE did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears & light for the way.

Purpose Driven Life

This following excerpt of an interview done with Rick Warren, author of "Purpose Driven Life" (website www.purposedrivenlife.com ) was sent to me over the email. I really enjoyed reading it and I thought it would be great to share on my blog. Personally, I have yet to read The Purpose Driven Life (What on earth am I here for?) but I've had Bible studies on it and many people I know have gone through it. I've also done studies on a 2nd part of the book, Purpose Driven Community (What on earth are WE here for?) which is also a very, very good book. I hope you enjoy reading this interview and allow God to speak to you through it.

This is an interview with Rick Warren, "Purpose Driven Life" author and the Pastor of Saddleback Church in California. Rick's wife now has cancer, and he now has "wealth" from the book sales.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

"People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body--but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is "my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings."

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK GOD.

This is beautiful and food for the soul. A friend sent it to me, I shared it with you, now pick someone you want to bless and share it with them. God wants us to share with each other and bless each other. I know when someone does, it blesses my day.

God loves you - this is the day that He has made. Have a blessed Lord's day!

Carried Away

Last night, I took my girls into the city to see a Christian music group called "Carried Away". (website is www.carriedaway.ca ) They consist of 2 sisters and a cousin, Pam, Christine, and Colleen. My girls just love them. They were at Scott Parables after school and then in the evening they had a concert at Central Pentecostal College. At Parable's, we had a great opportunity to sit and visit with them in the Cafe. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our world is so bombarded with bad influences for our kids. It is so refreshing to come across a group that encourages purity, honesty, and encourages young people to follow Jesus. My girls look up to these 3 young ladies and I have no problem with that. They love God, love to sing about Him, they love to share their faith and worship Him with their music. It's so good to go to a concert and worship God, not the idols who are performing.

After the concert, we were able to visit a little more. These two young singers are sisters so we just had to get a sisters 'shot'. My girls will never forget this day.

Thank you Pam, Colleen and Christine for sharing this day with us. Thank you for your love for God and the love that you have for sharing your faith and God's gifts with those around you. You all have angelic voices and you will be blessed for using those voices to sing about the God you love and sharing your faith in your music. You have wonderful gifts. You're beautiful inside and out because of God in your lives. Your gracefulness in your performance was outstanding in spite of the lack of the audience you could've had. Thank you for the message of grace, purity, love, forgiveness and faith that you share. Your faithful example to the younger generation will be well received by parents who are looking for the right influences for their children. God bless you as you continue to serve Him with your voices and music. Thank you for impacting the lives of my daughters. I pray you will cross our paths again some day. Until then, I look forward to the day when we will all be "carried away" with Jesus to live forever with Him in Heaven. 

Who's the Kid??

One day after a major rainfall at the lake, Roger decided we should go out for a bike ride as a family. Wow! Were there puddles! And did they have fun! I had a hard time discerning who was the bigger kid - the dad, the boy or the girls. :-)

Brandon had a major wipeout but no bruises - just wetness. Well, after that, the getting wet and falling down didn't stop. Kyrstin tried walking around in the puddles barefoot for a while but soon realized it was just too cold.

Just like the energizer bunny, Roger, the biggest kid, just kept going and going and going. I think he was having more fun splashing the kids as he drove by. This mom had a wonderful time just standing by with the camera and staying dry. :-)

Alysha, she took her boots off and ran through the puddle a lot. Water just kept getting in the boots so why not take the boots off. :-) The tents in the backround were a little water logged as well. The rain can be fun!! Why sit inside and pout when you can be having fun outside in the puddles. hee-hee 

My Calling to Love my Husband

I'm just going through a personal study called "Created to be His Help Meet" by Debi Pearl. (website address www.NoGreaterJoy.org ) What an incredible book for all wives. It's a book on discovering how God can make your marriage glorious. It's a great book and it has taught me a lot. It is really speaking to me and showing me, through God's Word the Bible, where my place is in my marriage and in my life. When I chose to be married, I chose to become my husband's helper. I haven't always done well at that, but through grace, mercy and testing, God is showing me how to be the helper to my husband that He wants me to be. I don't have to listen to everyone else tell me what I need to do and who I need to be, but what's most important is that I'm listening to God show me and tell me who He wants me to be.
I know God wants me to love my husband no matter what. God has shown me that I am God's gift to my husband - I was created to fill a need-his need. I want to be what God created me to be. I know God is using me to help my husband to be more caring and sensitive, because men are not naturally that way - but even if he's not, to love him anyway. How many times does my husband have to love me in spite of all my faults and quircky ways. How many times do my children have to love me in spite of the mistakes that I make with selfish parenting ways at times.
God has not finished His work in me. God is teaching me how to uphold my husband in prayer and love. God wants me to teach my children an example of a godly marriage and a devoted wife through the good times and bad. I am to show my husband daily how much I love him and appreciate him. I am to serve Him in love, not resentment, bitterness or anger. What good does it do me if I feel that I have to show him in a resentful way what he has done to hurt me, or if I wanna make him 'see' my hurt feelings by my petty, selfish ways. That does me no good. God didn't create me to be selfish and look after my own interests and desires and to neglect my husband or my children. He created me to be a helper and to sacrifice what 'I want' to serve my family, in spite of times that they will or have hurt me with unkind words or actions.
When I became one with my husband, I committed myself before God and witnesses and my husband, to love him till death us do part. I love my husband dearly, with all my heart. God knew exactly who to send me to be my partner for life. He knew exactly who I needed to compliment my characteristics and to meet me halfway with our differences. God gave me the perfect man for me - He knew best. I love God for giving me the husband that He did. We have been so blessed with over 17 years of marriage, a wonderful church family, beautiful children, parents who love us and raised us the best they knew how in spite of the circumstances of their own difficult lives and upbringings. No things haven't always been perfect, what marriage is perfect, but God has led us through all the way. I praise Him for where He has brought us from, I praise Him for where He is bringing us to, and I praise Him for everything He has done in our lives together.

Continue to teach me Lord to be the wife that You want me to be. Forgive me for the times that I have been selfish, wanting my own way, and not turning to You for guidance each day. God, you have not called me to love anyone on my own - I need your love to love to the fullest. I need You God, to show me the extent of Your forgiveness and mercy so that I can bestow it to others around me. Each day Lord, I need to lean on You to show me the way and to guide me through the challenges of parenting our children and loving my husband the way You want me to. You've created me Lord to be my husband's help meet, to be his helper and I can only follow that calling in my life with your help - I cannot do it on my own. Life's pressures and temptations each day bombard me to take my focus off of You, Lord, help me to stay on track. So many marriages are falling apart all around us God, and I pray that will never happen to us. My desire is to have You first in our marriage, in my life, and in my children's lives. May we never leave Your teachings, Your ways, O God, may our desire always be to follow You with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. Thank you for loving me, cherishing me, and creating me. Thank you most of all for sending Your Son Jesus to die on the cross to forgive us our sins, rising again and now living in Heaven so we can have eternal life. And thank you so, so, so much for giving me the husband that you did - a husband who loves me, protects me, provides for our family, cherishes me, makes me laugh, and is my best friend. Help me to be the best wife ever for my hubby. Amen.
 

Fun with the Triplets

This summer we had spent some time at Emma Lake and had the joy of having a wonderful family join us for an afternoon. The triplets with their little brother came by.
We're having a watermelon feast here. They are so adorable. What fun they were! I think watermelon was one of their favorite summer foods. :-) So delicious on a hot day!
Our son, Brandon enjoyed having them come out as well. The 'little' boy in him came out with these busy guys. :-) I don't think the love of trucks ever becomes outgrown in a boy/man - I think they'll always love trucks no matter how old they are.
Roger came and showed them a fish that he and Brandon had caught. They'd never seen a fish up close before so they were in wonder of this slimy thing in the bucket. It was so much fun being with them.

I so much appreciate all the different people God brings into our lives. Each summer is filled with friends. New friendships are an ongoing thing and we have been so blessed by each relationship that has passed through our lives. God is continually working in us to teach us, nurture us and help us to grow and mature in love for Him and those around us. Every that comes into our lives, we have so much to learn from them. Each one is unique and special.
Thank you God for people, who are created in your image, created to know You and love You. May we be diligent in allowing others to see God in us and to know the love and sacrifice of Your Son Jesus.