Blake got a stop-motion animation kit for his 11th birthday and has been playing around with it ever since learning how to make better movies each time. He lately has been using this character bob (Blake has an aversion for capital letters) in putting him in his short films. See bob in movie and bob in spiders. Blake and Tanner hope to become film makers some day. They already have some shows planned like Blake and Tanner, Karate Masters and Ripmon. Don't ask me to go into what they are all about! Anyhow, maybe we have the start of something here!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Back to School
With school starting back up and education on everyone's mind I thought it would be a great idea to post this video produced by Kidology as reminder that as important as education is, there are deeper issues in a child's life with infinite more importance attached to them. Remember everyone we are in this for eternity's sake!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Vacation photos part 1 - Hershey and Lancaster
We had a great vacation and I have so many pictures I am going to put some different slide shows here and break them down by each part of our trip. I know it looks a little like having a vaction slide show party with the sheet and everythign but Hey it is my blog!
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Romantic getaway
Patsy and I just returned from our romantic getaway to Savannah, GA in early celebration of our 13th anniversary and had an amazing time. I know it sounds like so much cheese but these times away with my wife are so wonderful and get better the longer we are married.
Anyway in the way of highlights Patsy and I arrived Thursday evening and it was raining but it let up and we went down to the river front and ate at a Greek restaurant and tried some new food. We are always looking to try new food both gourmet and exotic and down home!
We stayed both nights at the Savannah Bed and Breakfast Inn. Not everyone appreciates history, but we are big fans of all eras and this was a colonial era home. We stayed in the parlor room and had a great big four-poster bed an a stone fire-place. We loved it, except for the eggs and grits for breakfast the second day. OK so we don't love all food!
On Friday we we went to Lady and Sons for lunch. We got in line at about 8:45 in the morning to put our name in and we were in plenty of time. We did not see Paula Deen or her kids but we did see her husband Michael walk by. We really didn't care to see them we just wanted to eat there. Very good food 
especially the bread and the dessert. Patsy had a great meatloaf sandwich too.
especially the bread and the dessert. Patsy had a great meatloaf sandwich too.
After lunch we went on a trolley tour of Savannah and then toured an old home. After that we went back to the B and B for a nap. That evening we went out to Tybee Island and walked the beach and then went to a restaurant called the Crab Shack. It was hilarious with live gators and basket lights and live oaks growing out of the decks. Check out their website here. We had a wonderful boiled platter of shrimp, crab legs, lobster claws, crayfish, corn of the cob, oysters, sausage and potatoes.
The next day we had breakfast and walked around a Park for awhile. Savannah has tons of small parks or squares with fountains and live oaks, crape myrtle
trees and magnolias all with Spanish moss on them. Then we drove home to find that our sitter Heather (and Pastor Paul helped too) had our house and kids in wonderful shape.
trees and magnolias all with Spanish moss on them. Then we drove home to find that our sitter Heather (and Pastor Paul helped too) had our house and kids in wonderful shape. Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Elephant in the room
Have you ever heard of the phrase elephant in the room? It is used when there is an issue is so big that everyone pretends its not there. It’s too big to deal with. Many families have big elephants in their home, abuse, addiction, infidelity, depression, financial ruin, etc...
David Stoop wrote “in the classic metaphor, family secrets are like the elephant in the living room that no one ever talks about. Eventually the elephant grows and takes over the room, spraying its waste on everyone and making it impossible to be in the room. Still, no one ever talks about the elephant.”
Kind of gross but accurately described. We as a nation are also a family and with the election for president drawing close we also have an elephant in the room that we don’t want tot talk about. There are some important issues to talk about, national security, energy prices, the mortgage crisis, immigration, health care etc. but we are missing the elephant in the room.
Imagine the big issues of the day in Germany in 1935 or in then USA in 1850 or in Great Britain in 1938. Looking back we can see their elephant, but can we see our own. So what do I think is our elephant? You might think I would say abortion and yes I agree there is no greater issue facing a people who do not even try to protect their own young. But as I see it the elephant in our country is that we have turned our back on basic Biblical principles and are loosing the ability to tell right from wrong. I don’t know if our family can get on track until we deal with the elephant and have the will to do it.
From my view I think the church family in our country also has an emerging elephant growing in our living room. We spend most of our time in the American church talking about and praying over money, worship styles, staffing issues, missions, evangelism, counseling, building programs, Sunday school or small groups etc… These are valid things but we are for the most part ignoring the big elephant. According to Barna Research, the Mosaic generation (young adults sometimes called Millennial) are least likely to attend church in a typical weekend (33%) versus Baby Busters (my generation also known as Generation X) at 43%, Baby Boomers (49%), and Elders (54%).
So given this current trend we are generation away from some serious trouble. Church doors will be closing and the church will cease to have a relevant voice in the culture. Now god will still be in control, but I think He is calling us to do something here.
Research also shows that most people who are serving God as adults gave their life to him between the ages of 4 and 14. Other statistics bear out that when parents are actively engaged in being the spiritual mentors in the home their kids end up active in their relationship with Christ as adults at much higher rate. Some studies done by Awana suggest over 90%!
So equipping, encouraging challenging and preparing both Christian and community parents (yes all parents are looking for help!) needs to be a primary focus of the church. Having a strategic and cohesive ministry from birth through young adult years also needs to be a high priority. Evangelism efforts geared towards kids ages 4-14 and mission initiatives geared towards the same age group needs to be on the forefront of our agendas. There is so much more I could add, but I hope this gives you some feed for tough on taking care of the elephant.
Kind of gross but accurately described. We as a nation are also a family and with the election for president drawing close we also have an elephant in the room that we don’t want tot talk about. There are some important issues to talk about, national security, energy prices, the mortgage crisis, immigration, health care etc. but we are missing the elephant in the room.
Imagine the big issues of the day in Germany in 1935 or in then USA in 1850 or in Great Britain in 1938. Looking back we can see their elephant, but can we see our own. So what do I think is our elephant? You might think I would say abortion and yes I agree there is no greater issue facing a people who do not even try to protect their own young. But as I see it the elephant in our country is that we have turned our back on basic Biblical principles and are loosing the ability to tell right from wrong. I don’t know if our family can get on track until we deal with the elephant and have the will to do it.
From my view I think the church family in our country also has an emerging elephant growing in our living room. We spend most of our time in the American church talking about and praying over money, worship styles, staffing issues, missions, evangelism, counseling, building programs, Sunday school or small groups etc… These are valid things but we are for the most part ignoring the big elephant. According to Barna Research, the Mosaic generation (young adults sometimes called Millennial) are least likely to attend church in a typical weekend (33%) versus Baby Busters (my generation also known as Generation X) at 43%, Baby Boomers (49%), and Elders (54%).
So given this current trend we are generation away from some serious trouble. Church doors will be closing and the church will cease to have a relevant voice in the culture. Now god will still be in control, but I think He is calling us to do something here.
Research also shows that most people who are serving God as adults gave their life to him between the ages of 4 and 14. Other statistics bear out that when parents are actively engaged in being the spiritual mentors in the home their kids end up active in their relationship with Christ as adults at much higher rate. Some studies done by Awana suggest over 90%!
So equipping, encouraging challenging and preparing both Christian and community parents (yes all parents are looking for help!) needs to be a primary focus of the church. Having a strategic and cohesive ministry from birth through young adult years also needs to be a high priority. Evangelism efforts geared towards kids ages 4-14 and mission initiatives geared towards the same age group needs to be on the forefront of our agendas. There is so much more I could add, but I hope this gives you some feed for tough on taking care of the elephant.
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell
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