vbs

is over...
we survived

spiritual gifts

ok, our pastor has been preaching on the body of Christ lately. some good stuff that i never heard during my "fundy" childhood.

for example, (and maybe some of you don't know this :-), but there will be more than just baptists in heaven. it was nearly surreal hearing that taught from the pulpit.

last week, he taught an easy way to discover your spiritual gifts. ask yourself the following two questions:

what's in your heart? (God-given passion)
+
what's in your hands? (God-given abilities) God asked moses this ? at the burning bush.
=
spiritual gift

spitiual gifts aren't limited to the few mentioned in the Bible. they are examples. which makes more sense. God is too creative and multi-faceted to hand out the same couple gifts to everyone within the body of Christ. woo-hoo - that means i have a gift and so does everyone else.
now i must place it in God's hands and let him use it.

gamers

maddie playing dr. suess abc's.















emmy and daddy playing spyro on the playstation. (note maddie in the background playing computer.)











i didn't have a computer in my playroom growing up.
oh wait, i didn't have playroom. i didn't have a computer either -
not until we got married.

the icecream man cometh

the sounds of summer...

the painted house

"the wall is beautiful now."


















the table is beautiful too.
don't forget about the floor.













will i ever learn not to leave the darlings alone?













never fear - magic eraser to the rescue!

money tree miracle

i spoke with my sister this morning. bryan worked at a toyota plant most of this week. he's inspecting steering wheels or something like that. they told him on monday they would only need him on tuesday, but soon extended the offer through next tuesday. hopefully, the extention will last all summer. the plant is nearly two hours away, but the money is good, so the drive is worth it.

keep shaking the money tree.

money doesn't grow on trees

my dear nephew needs to find a money tree. or at least a job. he's been hunting for three weeks now with no hope in sight. last year God provided and bryan left school in may paid in full. as he approaches his sophomore year, he has no money, no job and no prospects.

-now let's take a short break for me to hop on my soapbox - (it's one of my favorite places)

*he worked all year at school and was not paid enough to cover one month's bill. (an honest day's work for an honest day's wage is a biblical principle swept under the rug by the school)
*if he attempts to get a loan from the school, they will screw him in interest. (yet another biblical principle here that they like to ignore) of course, no gov loans, which are repaid at a lower interest rate.
*also, he will be working two jobs at school next year, but only paid for one. the other job is an "experience" job. yet another way the school steals from their students. eight hours a week of free labor multuplied by X amount of others working "experience" jobs. that's a lot of "experience."

sorry to those of you who attend/teach at the school - you know what school-
but atrocities like these happened while i was a student and they continue to happen. they were morally wrong then and they continue to be wrong now. it's not a pretty picture to paint but it is true.

all that to say, please pray that he will find a good job this summer. pray for God to provide a money tree miracle in his life.