It seems like I have been so busy since my last post back in January (embarassing). Well, I will see how things take shape this year. Last year was very demanding on our time, resources and relationships but hopefully we can march victoriously forward throughout the remainder of 2008. Please, dear friends, know that I have lived through my wife's blog for the last few months, seeing her passion for creating new and exciting things in our kitchen. Does that count? (towards my "blog potential") I don't know. LOL.
It feels weird, but after not being actively involved in ministry and feeling like an integral part of our local church for quite some time, perhaps the one-thing I would ask from our friends is to pray that we find the church and the place (of service) where we are called to serve.
It is inspiring to know that our "best-est" friends in the whole world, the Logan's, are out there doing what the Lord has called them to do. Way to go guys! You're willingness to go is encouraging to us... ROCK ON!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Saturday Night
Well, this Saturday Night was one of the BEST I've had in quite some time. Our friends Kevin and Holly, and their kids, Emily and Katie, were RSVP'd to come over for dinner. Earlier that day, Kevin calls and says that David and his two little boys, John and Josh, might be coming over, since his wife, Vicky, was spending time in the hospital with her abuelo, whom is not doing well at this time. All of them showed up around 5:30-ish and made themselves comfortable while I finished cooking the main course -- STEAK!
I really didn't know what too expect with all of these little ones, but I quickly found that they enjoyed chasing our dog Prince, all around the house. they had so much energy and laughed and laughed so much -- it was really quite a treat to see them play and have a good time. Finally, someone that can make my dog tired by chasing him around the house for hours. YEHEY!
Well, we all had a good dinner. A few people made some noises at the dinner table and YES, they were the good kind of noises. (Thanks Holly for liking my steak, btw). Our friends came in mini-vans, and yet some of the onion soup left in to-go containers. You know what? It took quite some time to prepare everything that day, but it was nothing in comparison to what I received in return through the fellowship of our closest friends.
Good friends rock!
For Jescel's take on our evening.
I really didn't know what too expect with all of these little ones, but I quickly found that they enjoyed chasing our dog Prince, all around the house. they had so much energy and laughed and laughed so much -- it was really quite a treat to see them play and have a good time. Finally, someone that can make my dog tired by chasing him around the house for hours. YEHEY!
Well, we all had a good dinner. A few people made some noises at the dinner table and YES, they were the good kind of noises. (Thanks Holly for liking my steak, btw). Our friends came in mini-vans, and yet some of the onion soup left in to-go containers. You know what? It took quite some time to prepare everything that day, but it was nothing in comparison to what I received in return through the fellowship of our closest friends.
Good friends rock!
For Jescel's take on our evening.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Tis the Season...
Well, another Holiday season has come and is -- almost gone. Wow! So many things have occured this year. So many life changes and challenges, too. Some good, some bad, and some too painful to think about. Yet, we do have hope for the coming year! Jescel and I have been through a lot and we long to find a better balance of sweet-ness to all of the sour-ness we have experienced. Thank God for His patience, protection, and provision in 2007... and for all of our friends here in Miami (and elsewhere) that help us to remember that we are not alone!
God Bless all of you and thanks for including us in your lives.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
What's Next?
Hey there, it's me...
Here's a new blog! Even my wife has been wondering when I would write a new blog entry. Well, I haven't exactly been inspired to write much lately. Jescel and I continue to receive news of events happening with her father in the Philippines, and now with our helper, Marilyn, that has been taking care of him. We had been hoping & praying for a lengthy break from any troublesome news, but last night we found out that Marilyn's father called and wanted her to return home. Apparently her mother is feared to be near death, as her health has been rapidly deteriorating for some time. We are worried for her mother and her family, and since she had to leave suddenly we now have to be concerned about Jescel's Papa, too. Unless we can find someone to help us, Papa will be alone in the house. While he can do some things for himself, he does require help with certain things on a daily basis. It is just not something that we want to think about - The possibility of something else negative happening to Papa, especially after Mama went home to be with the Lord as well as Papa's subsequent surgeries, etc... It really seems like it's one thing after another, truly.
In my mind, I cannot even bring myself to think about dealing with another major life event, like the phone call(s) we received last night. I am really struggling with these things. I am a guy, and I am the one that "fixes" stuff. If it were money issue, I used to be able to work a little overtime. If it were a time issue, I could try to get away from work early. If it were something that required physical strength, I could roll up my sleeves and get to work.
Things have definitely changed. The "overtime" is not there, the "time" itself seems to be slipping away, and "rolling up my sleeves" doesn't seem to help as much as it used to. Basically, as I told Jescel last night, I am at the end of myself at this point. I can't fix these "life" things. I think that we're both at the end of ourselves, wondering whats coming next for us.
Here's a new blog! Even my wife has been wondering when I would write a new blog entry. Well, I haven't exactly been inspired to write much lately. Jescel and I continue to receive news of events happening with her father in the Philippines, and now with our helper, Marilyn, that has been taking care of him. We had been hoping & praying for a lengthy break from any troublesome news, but last night we found out that Marilyn's father called and wanted her to return home. Apparently her mother is feared to be near death, as her health has been rapidly deteriorating for some time. We are worried for her mother and her family, and since she had to leave suddenly we now have to be concerned about Jescel's Papa, too. Unless we can find someone to help us, Papa will be alone in the house. While he can do some things for himself, he does require help with certain things on a daily basis. It is just not something that we want to think about - The possibility of something else negative happening to Papa, especially after Mama went home to be with the Lord as well as Papa's subsequent surgeries, etc... It really seems like it's one thing after another, truly.
In my mind, I cannot even bring myself to think about dealing with another major life event, like the phone call(s) we received last night. I am really struggling with these things. I am a guy, and I am the one that "fixes" stuff. If it were money issue, I used to be able to work a little overtime. If it were a time issue, I could try to get away from work early. If it were something that required physical strength, I could roll up my sleeves and get to work.
Things have definitely changed. The "overtime" is not there, the "time" itself seems to be slipping away, and "rolling up my sleeves" doesn't seem to help as much as it used to. Basically, as I told Jescel last night, I am at the end of myself at this point. I can't fix these "life" things. I think that we're both at the end of ourselves, wondering whats coming next for us.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Sans Budlight...
BEFORE
AFTER
AFTER
....AND I don't even need a beer..... way to go... I just wish I could do this more often!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Being Equal
Come on... Stretch out your wretched, broken, and withered hand and I will heal you!
Sounds weird coming from me, huh? Yeah, for sure. But coming from Jesus, it was perfectly normal--if you knew that He was EQUAL to the Father God.
Just yesterday, my wife asked me if I knew about some new religion claiming that when a person accepts Jesus, then that person becomes a god themselves. In fact, if we are literally then sons or daughters of God, then there must be no other rationale but to claim deity for ourselves, right? I think we all have heard what happened to the Angel of Light, Lucifer, when he tried to claim this very thing for himself and was evicted from heaven along with the other angels that believed the same stuff. Even the angels have a free-will, for they too can decide to follow God's plan willingly, or not. Maybe they were just being revolutionary in their thinking. God's ways were so "old-school" and they decided they could improve on the agenda. Yes, yes, yes! They had a better idea for the way things should be -- more so than God!
Well, God decided otherwise. Instead of tolerating their new agenda, God kicked them out of Heaven. So God's obviously a "hater" now for not accepting their "better" way of thinking, acting, and behaving, which is basically contrary to His purpose and design for them. God is so wrong fordoing this! How could He do such a thing, does'nt he know who Lucifer is? Dude, Lucifer is a god too, so you better give him some "r-e-s-p-e-c-t" now. Yeah, right! Like the book of Revelations doesn't tell you how things are gonna end.
So, what about us? Are we really reading the Bible as the Word of God as His Truth and adapting our minds, wills, behaviors to what He says, or do we honestly believe that we can be little, "mini-me" gods and change things that we don't agree with? We go to church, sing hallelujah and praise God and each other, yet somehow we discredit ourselves and prove our religion to be worthless by the motivations of our hearts and our actions. After all, can't we see that what God said in His Word so long ago was for somebody else, and couldn't possibly apply to my life today. Maybe God is a"HATER" as much today -- as He was in the beginning. Maybe it's just that you don't agree with God's Word, since it causes your flesh to burn at the thought of Him requesting that you conform to His definition of a "CHRISTIAN" and not your own. Go ahead, re-write the Bible to make yourself feel better; Disagree with God so you can live your life anyway you wish; You can live for you, for your "dreams", to build your own "tower of Babel" if you think that God will tolerate this. How are we ever to reach our schools, cities, or communities for Jesus if we not even willing to conform ourselves to the standards that God has revealed to us?
So many Christians hang onto things that should also be filtered through the Word of God and through the renewing of our minds in light of the new creations we should be after becoming Christians. Even key aspects of our different cultures that we prize and value must be held up to the Light of God's Word and be filtered accordingly. What! You're telling me that I have to stop being latin, filipino, indian, german, etc... NO! But the life that God desires from you should transcend even your own culture.
Within your own culture, Jesus desires to renew your whole life so that you could most effectively glorify Him, right where you are! But are you like Lucifer? Do you think that you have a better way, or a better plan than God's? Are you being deceived? If you are, and don't know it then you would say "no". That's deception; Your perception has been altered to make you think everything is alright. Is everything alright, is the flesh and the spirit in agreement in your life? Do they ultimately line-up with the Word of God, for this is the litmus test. Of course, if you've decided to EDIT how, when, where and to what areas of your life the Lord has access to, then maybe your'e not the person you think you are.
We attempt to make ourselves EQUAL with each other irregardless of position, authority, or design. We simply don't like even the appearance of someone or something higher than us on the foodchain. People preach EQUALITY at the expense of purpose. As humans, we are created equal in our essence. By God, we were created male and female --for a purpose. As Christians, we also have a different purpose, but that does make any of us gods, nor does that mean that we should assume we can claim authority to nullify the Bible whenever we claim a new purpose for our lives that, by our own declaration, supercedes the divinely inspired Word of God! In other words, if you don't believe it, then admit it. If you can't ask God for wisdom in these matters, then don't expect revelation. If you think that your opinion is worth more than God's, then go and live like the rest of the world, if that's really what you want to do. So, who is really "HATING" now, us or God?
Sounds weird coming from me, huh? Yeah, for sure. But coming from Jesus, it was perfectly normal--if you knew that He was EQUAL to the Father God.
Just yesterday, my wife asked me if I knew about some new religion claiming that when a person accepts Jesus, then that person becomes a god themselves. In fact, if we are literally then sons or daughters of God, then there must be no other rationale but to claim deity for ourselves, right? I think we all have heard what happened to the Angel of Light, Lucifer, when he tried to claim this very thing for himself and was evicted from heaven along with the other angels that believed the same stuff. Even the angels have a free-will, for they too can decide to follow God's plan willingly, or not. Maybe they were just being revolutionary in their thinking. God's ways were so "old-school" and they decided they could improve on the agenda. Yes, yes, yes! They had a better idea for the way things should be -- more so than God!
Well, God decided otherwise. Instead of tolerating their new agenda, God kicked them out of Heaven. So God's obviously a "hater" now for not accepting their "better" way of thinking, acting, and behaving, which is basically contrary to His purpose and design for them. God is so wrong fordoing this! How could He do such a thing, does'nt he know who Lucifer is? Dude, Lucifer is a god too, so you better give him some "r-e-s-p-e-c-t" now. Yeah, right! Like the book of Revelations doesn't tell you how things are gonna end.
So, what about us? Are we really reading the Bible as the Word of God as His Truth and adapting our minds, wills, behaviors to what He says, or do we honestly believe that we can be little, "mini-me" gods and change things that we don't agree with? We go to church, sing hallelujah and praise God and each other, yet somehow we discredit ourselves and prove our religion to be worthless by the motivations of our hearts and our actions. After all, can't we see that what God said in His Word so long ago was for somebody else, and couldn't possibly apply to my life today. Maybe God is a"HATER" as much today -- as He was in the beginning. Maybe it's just that you don't agree with God's Word, since it causes your flesh to burn at the thought of Him requesting that you conform to His definition of a "CHRISTIAN" and not your own. Go ahead, re-write the Bible to make yourself feel better; Disagree with God so you can live your life anyway you wish; You can live for you, for your "dreams", to build your own "tower of Babel" if you think that God will tolerate this. How are we ever to reach our schools, cities, or communities for Jesus if we not even willing to conform ourselves to the standards that God has revealed to us?
So many Christians hang onto things that should also be filtered through the Word of God and through the renewing of our minds in light of the new creations we should be after becoming Christians. Even key aspects of our different cultures that we prize and value must be held up to the Light of God's Word and be filtered accordingly. What! You're telling me that I have to stop being latin, filipino, indian, german, etc... NO! But the life that God desires from you should transcend even your own culture.
Within your own culture, Jesus desires to renew your whole life so that you could most effectively glorify Him, right where you are! But are you like Lucifer? Do you think that you have a better way, or a better plan than God's? Are you being deceived? If you are, and don't know it then you would say "no". That's deception; Your perception has been altered to make you think everything is alright. Is everything alright, is the flesh and the spirit in agreement in your life? Do they ultimately line-up with the Word of God, for this is the litmus test. Of course, if you've decided to EDIT how, when, where and to what areas of your life the Lord has access to, then maybe your'e not the person you think you are.
We attempt to make ourselves EQUAL with each other irregardless of position, authority, or design. We simply don't like even the appearance of someone or something higher than us on the foodchain. People preach EQUALITY at the expense of purpose. As humans, we are created equal in our essence. By God, we were created male and female --for a purpose. As Christians, we also have a different purpose, but that does make any of us gods, nor does that mean that we should assume we can claim authority to nullify the Bible whenever we claim a new purpose for our lives that, by our own declaration, supercedes the divinely inspired Word of God! In other words, if you don't believe it, then admit it. If you can't ask God for wisdom in these matters, then don't expect revelation. If you think that your opinion is worth more than God's, then go and live like the rest of the world, if that's really what you want to do. So, who is really "HATING" now, us or God?
Monday, October 8, 2007
All things KWAN...
So, here in the Philippines... People are speaking in their native tongue (of course), which is mainly Cebuano or Visaya, and I find myself with a mystery. THE WORD, "KWAN" or at least I think that's how it's spelled? I started hearing that word after arriving here, so I asked my wife what that word meant. She vaguely stated that "KWAN" was the english equivalent to "like" or "kind of". Jescel also stated that it was a "filler-word used here in the Philippines". Ok, got it. At least I thought I did until Mr. "KWAN" began popping-up all over the place, in almost every other sentence.
Now, I have reached critical-mass and consider all things to be "KWAN". I even am beginning to make my own KWAN-like sentences. For example, I could ask my wife, "What did you do to yourself today? You look so KWAN-derful!" or "Hey, would you like to buy some fruit? Today, they are having a sale on KWAN-telope", or perhaps even "Don't try to live life too fast, just live KWAN-day-at-a-time". I don't know what the real meaning of the word is, but I know that I am gramatically challenged at this point and may require help from my filipino friends to shed some light on the meaning(s) of KWAN. Anyone???
For now, God Bless.
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