Decorated for Christmas

Old door that we found on our property. We will use this for decorations somehow. But I really liked this picture that my mom took. So I edited it a little bit.

Pictures that I took from my farm back in northeast Iowa.

Lindsey and I have a new pet. We have yet to name our furry friend. So if you have any ideas let us know. But as you can see from the video, we have a new squirrel friend. The last time I went back to North East Iowa to the Farm I brought back a couple of ears of corn. We placed them on our deck, and within a couple of days some squirrels have been eating them. But the one squirrel looks as though he needs to watch his calories and work out. Cause he is Fat.

Yesterday our furry friend got greedy. He was eating away when he decided to grab the corn, knock it off our deck onto the ground, and then tried carrying it way into the woods. Watching this take place I took action and ran after the thief to get our corn back. I scared him enough to drop the corn. I placed it back in it rightful place on our deck. But the thief came back today to steal the corn for good. So a question comes to mind. Do I enjoy playing with this squirrel or do I exterminate him. Check back for the rest of the story because I'm sure this story is not over.

Radical By David Platt

I bought a new book called Radical by David Platt. It focuses on how Christianity in America has become so watered down that we are spending less time letting God work through us to impact the nation and world for Jesus Christ and spending more time pursuing the American Dream. Indeed, as a Christian, I have admittingly spent much time pursuing the "American Dream" and finding out the dream turned into a nightmare - living to make enough money to buy a good house, having a family, making a decent income, having good health, etc. is NOT the ultimate goal of an American Christian. Glorifying God is to be our main purpose. Here are some quotes from the book that I thought were sweet.

"As long as you and I understand salvation as checking off a box to get to God, we will find ourselves in the meaningless sea of world religions that actually condemn the human race by exalting our supposed ability to get to God. On the other hand, when you and I realize that we are morally evil, dead in sin and deserving of God's wrath with no way out on our own, we begin to discover our desperation for Christ."

"The modern-day gospel says, 'God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Therefore, follow these steps, and you can be saved.' Meanwhile, the biblical gospel says, 'You are an enemy of God, dead in your sin, & in your present state of rebellion, you are not even able to see that you need life, much less to cause yourself to come to life. Therefore, you are radically dependent on God to do something in your life that you could never do."

“This is where we come face to face with a dangerous reality. We do have to give up everything to follow Jesus. We do have to love Him in a way that makes our closest relationships in this world look like hate. And it is entirely possible that He will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor. . . . We rationalize these passages away. . . And this is where we need to pause. Because we are starting to redefine Christianity. . . We are molding Jesus into our image. He is beginning to look a lot like us. . . And the danger now is that when we gather in our church buildings to sing and lift up our hands in worship, we may not actually be worshiping the Jesus of the Bible. Instead we may be worshiping ourselves.“

“God beckons storm clouds, and they come. He tells the wind to blow and the rain to fall, and they obey immediately. He speaks to the mountains, ‘You go there,’ and he says to the seas, ‘You stop here,’ and they do it. Everything in all creation responds in obedience to the Creator…until we get to you and me. We have the audacity to look God in the face and say, ‘No.’“

I see over the horizon a light beginning to show and I know the Master is on His way. I want to be found doing His work on my last day here. I can't wait to resume this journey now as a RADICAL.

Lone Survivor

I've been reading this amazing book called Lone Survivor. Its about a four-man Navy SEAL team consisting of Lt. Michael Murphy, and petty officers Danny Dietz, Matthew Axelson and Marcus Luttrell. They departed for a reconnaissance mission high in the Hindu Kush Mountains near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The team’s target was Ahmad Shah, a local terrorist leader with close ties to Bin Laden who led a group of insurgents referred to as the “Mountain Tigers”. Five days after insertion, Luttrell was the only SEAL to make it out alive. This book takes you inside the Navy SEALs training program in Coronado. You are with Marcus Luttrell throughout BUD/S and Hell Week. You fly with him and his teammates in a C-130 to the Hindu Kush, where the hunt begins for bin Laden's right-hand man. But then it all goes terribly wrong, up there in the mountains of Afghanistan. The battle sequence in Afghanistan and its aftermath is incredibly intense . The best screen writer in Hollywood couldn't have dreamt up something more intense, moving, and awe inspiring.

Reading this fills one with humility and gratitude for the sacrifice that all the members of our armed services make on our behalf, but especially for the men of the SEAL teams. All I can say is that I am very glad they are on our side.

Ballard Rocks

I've been working with the high school ministry for Cornerstone Church now for 3 years, and things keep getting better. God is using me in some sweet ways. What I do has changed from being the freshman group intern to a Regional Youth Minister for Ballard. These students are amazing. At the last escape we had 35 students from Ballard at it, and we brought 48 students to the Road Rally. What is the road rally you ask. It was an hour and half event with a BBQ that had the students get in teams of 4 (plus a leader) drive all a round the area doing challenges to earn points. Team with the most points won a all expense paid ski trip. The winning team was a team from Ballard. We kicked some butt.

Lindsey's Fashion Design

New dresses Lindsey's made.

Brieana, (on the left) a girl in Lindsey's small group is also wearing a dress Lindsey made.

The other dress Lindsey made at her internship.

Homemade Donuts

Crispy Cream Who? Yeah I know. Crispy Cream isn't as big anymore, but they inspired Lindsey and I to make some donuts. Rolling out freshly risen dough as the deep fat frier of oil heats. There's something magical about the doughnut.