searching the sunsets

Sunday, Crazy Sunday. Worship with your Spouse

Sundays are wonderful. Sundays are crazy. I love our corporate gatherings. Typically we do something service wise at the 9 and attend the 11. There are weekends where I keep thinking on Saturday nights how much I don’t want to get up the next morning and drive that far and all that jazz. Then of course, when the alarm goes off on Sunday mornings, I NEVER want to actually get up.

But then I do. We leave and it is always an amazing time. It’s an amazing time for Erica and I talk on the way there and on the way home.  It’s a wonderful opportunity for corporate worship. Community happens. Not just with the people around me—I was looking around at one point and saw an older gentleman in suit next to a 20 something in camo hat and blue jeans—but also for my wife and I. It is great to worship with my wife.  Erica and were talking about this a little on the way home and I think that is one of the things I enjoy most. I feel bad for people who can’t gather with their spouses for worship. I realize that there is a host of reasons, not the least of which is not everyone is married, but I really and truly cannot explain how great it is to worship side by side with your spouse. It’s something that we share that helps cement our relationship in a way that I don’t have adequate words to describe.  Some day maybe I’ll do a post of what I see as the benefits but for now, I’m going to go study and take a nap.

Pony Tails are Harder then They Look

I'm not going to cheat you here, making pony tails is harder than it looks. Skills every Dad of girls needs though. Yeah, I know the part isn't perfect.

You Know You're From Pa.

A friend from High School posted this on her facebook page. I know I have a significant portion of Pa. readers and this made me crack up out loud in my cubicle office. Thought I'd share with my friends. Enjoy

A friend of mine sent this to me and I just had to pass it along to all my friends and family in PA!
Sure does bring back memories of my childhood growing up in PA. Hope you enjoy and get a laugh out of it as I did!

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You've never referred to Philadelphia as anything But "Philly" and New Jersey has always been "Jersey"

You refer to Pennsylvania as "PA" (pronounced Pee-ay).
How many other states do that?

"You guys" is a perfectly acceptable reference to a group of men & women

You know how to respond to the question "Djeetyet?" (Did you eat yet?)

You learned to pronounce Wilkes-Barre , Schuylkill, the Poconos, Tamaqua, Tunkannock, Bala Cynwyd, Duquesne & Monongahela.

You know who "Punxsutawney Phil" is, and what it means if he sees his shadow.

The first day of buck & the first day of doe season are school holidays.

You know how to get 'rid' of things and how to read up.

You can use the phrase "fire hall wedding reception" & not even bat an eye.

You can't go to a wedding without hearing the "Chicken Dance," at least one polka & either an Italian song (sung in Italian) or "Hava Nagila."

At least 5 people on your block have electric candles in all or most their windows all year long.

You know what a "State Store" is, and your out-of-state friends find it incredulous that you can't purchase liquor at a mini mart.

You own only 4 condiments: salt, pepper, mustard, and ketchup!

Words like hoagie, chipped ham, sticky buns, shoo-fly pie, pierogies, and pocketbook actually mean something to you.

You can eat cold pizza (even for breakfast) and know others who do the same. (Those from NY find this "barbaric").

You not only have heard of Birch Beer, but you know it comes in several colors: Red, White, Brown, Gold.

You know several places to purchase or that serve Scrapple, Summer Sausage and Hot Bacon Dressing.

You can eat a cold soft pretzel from a street vendor without fear & enjoy it. (It almost always comes with mustard).

You know the difference between a Cheese Steak & a Pizza Steak sandwich, and know that you can't get a really good one outside PA. (Except Atlantic City on the boardwalk).

You live for summer, when street & county fairs signal the beginning of funnel cake season.

Customers ask the waitress for "dippy eggs" for breakfast.

You know that Blue Ball, Intercourse, Paradise, Climax, Bird-in-Hand, Beaver, Moon, Virginville , Mars, and Slippery Rock are PA towns (and the first 3 were consecutive stops on the Reading RR).

You know what a township, borough, and commonwealth is.

You can identify drivers from New York , New Jersey , or other neighboring states by their unique & irritating driving habits.

A traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a tractor or a horse-drawn carriage.

You know several people who have hit deer more than once.

You carry jumper cables in your car & your female passengers know how to use them.

You still keep kitty litter, starting fluid, de-icer, or a snowbrush in your trunk, even if you now live in the south.

Driving is always better in winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

As a kid you built snow forts and leaf piles that were taller than you were.

Your graduating class consisted of mostly Polish, German, & Italian names.

You also know someone who lives "down the lane."

You actually understand all of this & send it on to other Pennsylvanians or former Pennsylvanians! And send it to people that never lived in PA and confuse them.

Once Again, Cops Failing The Human Test

Look, I know that we're supposed to believe they always act in the right way, but once again this is an example of another cop who fails the humanity test. Read the story here and here. There's video and I'll try to get that up there later.  I'll also post more of my thoughts later. And yes, I know there are good cops out there. This guy needs reprimanded though, at the very least.

Question

I was pondering this today and I'm curious what you think.

Which do you think is harder, enduring while you hope or hoping while you endure?

Is Hoping Part of Holiness?

Hope is a funny thing. When I was a kid, I remember a guy telling me that he never set his goals to high so he couldn’t be all that disappointed. His theory was simple; “don’t get your hopes too high and you can’t fall too far down.”  I remember thinking that was terrible. Recently, my wife pointed out to me that I’ve fallen into the very trap.

Life can do that to you can’t it? Fail a couple of times, get your ass kicked a few times and suddenly my friends view doesn’t seem all that far fetched does it?  But the word hope is mentioned over 160 in 4 major English translations of the Bible (NIV=174, TNIV=180, NASB=164, HSB=171). Now, there are those who would have you believe that our only hope should be in Jesus for heaven.  I agree our hope is in Christ, but is it only for heaven? Is that the extent of our hope? I think God wants us to hope for more.

Think about it. When Peter tells us to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that lies in us (see I Peter 3:15) is he really just telling us that we are to be hopeful for heaven and not really hope for all that much here on earth? Surely, he’s offering us more than the right to be a jerk with little credentials and a lot of self-links using a blog to attack other people! Does God want us to dream? Does God care if we dream? 
Now, today I heard someone say in regards to relationships that expectations are just premeditated resentments. I asked her if she hoped. Her brutally honest and painful answer was an emphatic, “Nope. Not if I can help it.”

I think we have surgically removed hope from our lexicon.  Perhaps, we’ve done this because of a faulty theology that has relegated salvation to being merely something of where we are going. In some sense it would be easy to just blame our faulty theology (and there is plenty to go around) but I think it’s deeper than that.

Think about the promise found in John 10. Jesus came that we might have life while having life. Think about the scandalous passage where Jesus compares God’s relationship with us to that of a father wanting to give us good gifts! There is nothing more scandalous than someone saying that God wants to give us good gifts. Tasteless post cards are produced. “Will it preach?” is plastered over pictures of people living around the world in abject poverty.  All of which misses the point. God told us He loves us.

I wonder if hoping is Holy. I wonder if hoping doesn’t connect us to God in a way that can’t be denied by doubters. Is our hope “level” equal to the level of trust we have in God’s goodness? Is our willingness to hope directly proportional to our willingness to trust God? I know two men, both are in the same condition financially, but the one has stopped hoping while the other continues. One seems to have much more faith in God than the other.

But hoping is messy. Hoping is potentially painful. Hoping is a road lined with risks and potentially crushing pitfalls.  When we hope, we inherently take a risk that we’ll be disappointed.

Maybe when we fail to hope, we do something even more dangerous. Maybe by failing to hope we do something that is actually insidious that eats away at our soul.  Maybe by refusing to hope we actually call God a liar. When we refuse to hope we might actually be saying by our actions that we’re writing God off. 

I’m not talking about hoping for a new truck or a new car, but what about hoping for a new job, or a baby, or a marriage? Or what about healing? Can we hope for a vacation? Can we hope for affluence? Can we hope for that dream_____________? I think that not only can we, but we must.  

Hoping may be the greatest way we can say that we believe there is a God and that He is good.  In a world, of snarky religious wannabe leaders and crushed dreams that are infected by the stain of sin that bleeds into life like a tea bag bleeds into hot water we have to draw a line in the sand and say,
I

will

hope!

Be hopeful today. When people ask why, be prepared to tell them it’s because you know a Jewish carpenter.

Skeeter and the Mystery of the Lost Mosquito Treasure

Skeeter and the Mystery of the Lost Mosquito Treasure is an excellent DVD that provides that opportunity to teach our children about contentment with who God has made them to be . Based on Psalm 139: 13-14, this film is as entertaining it is educational.
Skeeter thinks his brother’s perfect. His brother has spent much of his life hiding a secret of his own, while becoming famous.  Their father left them both a secret that requires their cooperation in working together.  The father affirms each brother for their uniqueness and differences.

My three girls were glued to the T.V while it played. Wild cheering followed the end of the movie when a monumental discovery was discovered.  Each child connected with the characters.
Produced by Thomas Nelson, this DVD  is # 12 in the series about Hermie and friends.  I enjoyed the fact that it opened conversational dialogue with my children to talk about our differences. God talks directly to Skeeter in this DVD, providing more opportunity for conversation with our children.  The running time for this DVD is just under 60 minutes and is well worth the price.  My kids thoroughly enjoyed it and I think yours will as well. 

What Would You Say?

So I was in Tractor Supply Company today (one of my fav places) and I was walking by a section. See the section below because I don't want to give it away. Suffice it to say, the product in the picture is the exact product that I was standing beside.  The following conversation is what transpired:

 Me:  "Oh man, it'd be nice to have one of these if we're going to make our garden bigger this year. Plus, I'd like to not have to rent one again."
Someone Else who was with me but shall remain anonymous: "What is it, a rototiller?"

Now, come on what would you have said?

Running a Pilot Test on My Life: Risking My Dreams

“You just need to be writing.” Immediately, I felt my stomach tighten in the usual way.  I mumbled a response about being too busy, and was appropriately chastised.

Goals, dreams, hobbies, we all have them.  One of mine is to be an accomplished writer. I used to think that blogging would help that and to some extent it has but I also think to some extent it has hurt me. I’ve stopped editing what I write and pretty much throw something together and slap it up. 

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of being a published author and have talked about it. I’ve had a few things published online and in a few different places but nothing major. I think part of that is the fear. Fear is a funny thing. If I never try, then I can never fail. Of course by never trying I can also never succeed. 
This brings me back to the topic at hand; namely goals and trying. I decided this week that I am going to pursue my dream of writing. I’m going about this two different ways.

First of all, I’m going to actually put together multiple book proposals. Not just a book proposal but I’m going to put together multiple book proposals over the coming weeks and months.   
Secondly, I’m going to set aside time every week to do some serious writing. Of course, I’ll have to do this in order to get my book proposals done. I’m going to set aside one hour a day for four days out of the week for the next two weeks. This is my pilot test to see how it works. If it works, I’ll continue, if I need to adjust, I’ll make those adjustments in two weeks. This test will start on Monday 16th. 

Next week, I’ll lay out my goals for how many book proposals I’d like to have done by what date. I may succeed, or I may not. Either way, I’ll doubt I’ll be the same when I’m done.

What Do You Wrestle With?

When it comes to the Bible, what passages do you wrestle with?