Layoffs an the grace of God

Well,

We had layoffs in the past week or so at my work and it makes you really evaluate things.  Inserts some unrest into your life also.  It also makes me think about how richly the Lord has blessed me.

I have work, family, home, and many more material possessions than I need for daily living.

Still I end up anxious.  The Lord has delivered me from every difficult time and every trying situation.

He has always provided for every financial need we have ever had in our life, from medical bills to any other unexpected turn of life.

This is what has sunk into my head since the layoffs passed and I still have my job.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving bring your requests to God, and the Peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:5-7)

99...100

Well, this may not be that exciting for any of you, but Hannah just counted to 100 today for the first time.  We were driving to our firends house just a few blocks away and I had said, dont' worry we will get there before you can count to 100.  And the whole way she was trying to count that hight and Cara and I were laughing because she doesn't know the numbers that high.

So at home I asked her again later, "Can you count to 100?"

She got up to 49 and then got stuck. So I reminder her of 50 and then she got all the way to 89 with prompts only for the ten's.  Well she made it all the way to 100.  Then she went back through and  counted to 100 - counting by 10's this time.

It was pretty cool to see her make that jump.

Anyway.  Now maybe the parable of the lost sheep will mean more to her :)

Sign Posts and Fences Part A

We are sign posts for God.

Sounds simple enough, and indeed we are. Some would say we are Christ's ambassadors. That is true too. We really fall short in this way. Do you know I don't' have a phish or bumper sticker on my car, because I am afraid that the way I drive sometimes may make my sign post say "Do Not Enter"? Now I am not making excuses for the way I drive (and with two little girls and a wife I am trying to work in it :) I am trying to make the point vivid. We fail to bring people to Christ sometimes because we don't live out the gospel truth that we love to talk about. God is real. He is alive, and walking among us as his spirit dwells in our bodies.

Do you know that we grieve the spirit sometimes? I am sure I do. Like when you are watching football and your favorite team just dogs the game. It is like they didn't even show up. Yeah like that. That is how God feels about us sometimes, but over something that really matters. The Word of God says so too. Do you know that in some places the bible says that God was sorry he made us? That hurts. But I think that is today a statement as much toward the people who claim to follow him as toward the ones who outright deny him.

Lets stand up and live out the life worthy of the calling which we were given.

hurley burley

We made our first Craig's List purchase a few months ago and it went really well. To be honest I had never purchased anything online from an auction or even anything less than a major ecommerce clearinghouse. We ended up driving about 30 min to save perhaps $200. I don't remember the exact amount, but it was well worth it.

The only problem is that we purchased this Burley near the end of winter.

So we didn't get to drive it around for about two months it seemed. Finally it got warm enough and we took the girls for a spin. I was so fun. It was easy to steer with them back there. I could hardly notice them unless I was on a major incline, and then it was not that bad.

Well worth it, and ton's of fun.

Escape

This is just based on a recollection that I had a few days ago. This last year we got the Wii
I was excited to play the Legend of Zelda game after I saw the cover art. However I had never played an RPG game before, and besides Super Mario world, I have seldom had the dedication to actually finish and win a game. (Contributing to this may have been that the SNES was my most recent Gaming system purchase.)

But I borrowed the game from a friend actually finished it last year. IT took about 7 months of playing late a night when the kids were in bed. (A little too scary for them)...

It was really fun though. And the Wii based game play was unbeatable. Swinging the sword, firing the slingshot. IT was grate.

Prais Songs for little hearts

Little Lil' moved up to the bigger nursery this week and they gave us a sheet explaining some things about it. One of them was a list of some songs that they will be singing in the nursery.

I think that she may know most of them already from the Veggie Tails sing along's that she sings with her sister so much.

But now I think I decided that I want to learn how to play them on the Guitar. (hopefully they aren't too difficult to play:)

And thankfully there aren't too many of them!

• My God is So Big
• Good is So Good
  
• Jesus Loves Me
• Oh, how I love Jesus

There are some others that I don't know if I have ever heard, I will work on these and maybe the Kids can teach me the others!

Speek up for those who cannot speak for themselves

I received a letter from our compassion child today. JA is from Honduras and is one year older than our oldest. This verse was on the bottom of the back of the page.

If you have never received a letter like this. The top half of the letter is written in the native language by the child or their parents, then the lower half is translated into our local Language.

The full verse says,

• 8. "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.

• 9. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

It just struck me. I don't think that we are doing that, we are just sending a little money their way, not that much to us, but we wanted the kids to have someone to think of other than themselves. See the world as a little bigger. But I guess that is the calling.

I hope they take it with them when they get older.

Two things everyone should watch

These are two things that everyone should watch/hear regarding Martin Luther King Jr.

I have a dream speech

The Mountain top speech which was given the night before he was assassinated.

Our Boy's All Growed Up

This is for Lefty, Righty and the Stuff.

"Our boy is all grow'd up"

Caleb and Missy had their baby today!!!! So exciting.
I just can't wait to see the little bundle of Joy, oh and Caleb's baby too :)
(Look for the details from the family I am not posting the out here)

Way to go Missy! Now Caleb Owes you big time.

Guitar Lessons

Well, I can't claim that I will ever have any sort of mastery over Guitar. But I did get to live in a house just off campus once where everyone but me was a musician.

During that time I was inspired to buy a guitar. One of our friends helped me find a nice acoustic for cheep. I never really learned how to play, but I did learn a few songs by reading Tab's and how to play a few cords.

SO... Cara said that I should try to learn how to play if I really am interested in it, which I am.

She sent me these three links to online guitar lessons to try to shake off the dust before I go all out and realize I hate it.

I liked this one most but then the theory became too much. The first three lessons were really good. Getting to know how the scales work on the strings could be really helpful though if I could be disciplined enough about it. I did really appreciate the beginning theory though and learning the Cowboy cords. Now I can pick it up and with my sheet of paper sound like the Guitar is being played even when I am not playing a specific song.

This one just seems intimidating because when you first come this video is showing someone play this cool slick.

Not sure about this one yet. Haven't really had time to evaluate it.

Skillet Comatose Tour

Nothing beats getting to go to a concert for a band that you love a the last minute...

Skillet was just stunning live at 3*. Thousand Foot Krutch was ok in c0ncert, but Skillet was really grate. It was fun to go hang out with my buddy Will. I think this is the first concert I have been to since 5Fe went under.

I also have to give mad props to my wife for taking the hit for me on a night when I usually hang out with the girls. With less than 24 hours notice she stepped in and let me go see her favorite band without a second thought.

I love being out at 3* in Minneapolis.
I would attach a picture but... for some reason the Cell Phone pics didn't show up so well from in the middle of the mash pit.

Rock on.

Challenges & Opertunities for Humanity

If you haven't yet herd of it, check out this site featuring the greatest challenges facing the world today (which engineering has an opportunity to carry forward).

You can access them here

Here is a quick preview

• CHALLENGES FACING HUMANITY
  Make solar energy affordable

  Provide energy from fusion

  Develop carbon sequestration

  Manage the nitrogen cycle

  Provide access to clean water

  Reverse engineer the brain

  Prevent nuclear terror

  Secure cyberspace

  Enhance virtual reality

  Improve urban infrastructure

  Advance health informatics

  Engineer better medicines

  Advance personalised learning

  Explore natural frontiers

Twinkies

Well we went to a Twins game this past weekend. It was fun. We did not get a chance to stay the whole game, which is a shame because they ended up winning off of 4 singles. Hay, you can't complain when your team wins though!

We did make it to Casey H's graduation he is a man after my own heart (of course he will deny it but it is true). He had star wars playing right next to his Sr. photo slideshow! This with cheese, crackers, M&M's... what more could you ask for.

Plus we visited with our friends for a birthday party, and Hannah got to play in the sprinkler at their house. Yeah it is that warm around here already! Time to put the AC in!

All this on top of a wonderful message on family to encourage the soul and lighten the spirit!

What a wonderful Start to a new week.

Baseball & marriage?

OK, so following the worst game of my softball carer [*cough* - hobby], last week, I had only an below average two games at the double header this week. So...I called up my buddy Caleb and we went a swinging.

We went to the batting cages and I got 6 tokens ($10 worth) Each token gets you 18 pitches. Caleb pointed out to me "Think about how many games does it take you to see 18 pitches?" And in this context I can just worry about hitting them, not running, or getting someone out.

Kind of reminds me of why it is valuable to do the marriage conferences, or mentoring groups that Cara and I have enjoyed so much. They can provide a safe, focused, controlled environment where we can "see" a number of situations in a few hours that it would normally take several months to "see". In addition we can face them fresh, and with a good attitude where we would normally face them under less than ideal circumstances, and in high stress.

safe: (no one gets out)
focused: (only goal is to make contact)
controlled: (choose your timing to set your best attitude)
fresh: (avoid stress of the moment)

It gives you a chance to get back in your groove. My buddy Caleb said that baseball is a "game of streaks." You have a series of good games where you are on fire, and then you hit a slump. Sometimes you just have to shake it up and put in a little extra time in the cages to try to get back to the fundamentals, shake off the dust. The results may not be instant, but you just have to outlast the difficult moments, relax a little, and as my wife said "try to still have fun, that is why you wanted to play isn't it? Because it was fun." Soon enough you will be hitting strong again if you don't give up. Maybe marriage is the same way.

Just thinking.
Bill

Asian Indian Family Wellness (Crisis Services)

SEWA-AIFW

If anyone ever has the need to refer someone from the Asian or Indian community to a place of safety, there is a nonprofit in the Twin Cities area:

for the benefit of Asian Indian's in need, be it family, immigration, health (or safety)

This is like a culturally sensitive/relevant version of a crisis intervention center/shelter/social services. I have not found many if any other people around trying to do what they are doing for the Asian Indian community. In fact it was a little difficult to find them, so that is why i decided to post the blog. If you know someone who is from this community who is suffering from domestic abuse, or other family/life/work stresses and difficulties that seem unmanageable, please consider letting them know that something like this exists.

Here is there contact information.

Office phone number is 763-234-3491
24/7 crisis line is 952-912-9100.

"All information is confidential. Help is available, to link one to services with culturally trained advocated, social workers and doctors and lawyers. Help is available in housing, health and financial.If there is any thing we can do please do not hesitate to call. 763-234-3491."

SEWA-AIFW website

What God's Will isn't

I was reading the Genesis Worship blog for Woodbury Lutheran Church and came across a fascinating question posed anonymously in response to a message they did on God's will a week ago.

A dialogue developed between two individuals with selected excerpts below.

I struggle with the words "Thy will be done"...But oftentimes when something bad happens, an unexpected death and cancer. Even when Hurricane Katrina hit or the Tsunami, people claim that it's "God's Will."...How do you explain to your teenage son that it was God's will that their friend was killed in a car accident? I don't believe it was God's will she died.

So what is Thy will be done?
====
So do you think that spiritual maturity allows a person to surrender more completely to God's will particularly during the trials and tests of life?

Is there anything else besides good and evil? Is something always good or something evil?
====
It's easy when things go right in our lives to say it is God's will. But if something goes wrong, is that God's will?
====

This discussion really made me think. It made me think of how cliche and unloving we as Christians can be towards those hurting. The discussion did not go that way, but the questions seem posed from a heart that has been wounded by that kind of carelessness in the past. This is what I added at the end.

God has promised that we will suffer if we follow him. This is why it says we must take up our cross and follow him, and that if the world hated him, it will really hate us. Yet not everything that happens in this world has moral weight. Remember that Christ debunked the idea that a tower fell and crushed a group of men because they were any worse sinners than others who remained living. It was just tragic.

The world we live in is broken. And as the person above stated, the enemy of God wants to cause harm to both believers and non believers alike.

Yet in the midst of that we know what the will of God is. He wants that none of us should perish but that we should be redeemed by the blood of Christ. So those things that happen can be used to further God's will (if they lead anyone closer to Him) or they can be used to deceive us and draw us away (as the enemy would have it). To some extent it is our choice to respond to suffering with faith, or discouragement.

It should be the Christian's mission to encourage, and shore up the faith of those hurting so that their response can draw them closer.

I do agree with the first person who had some misgivings with how we use "God's will" God's will is going to be accomplished in this world. I believe he can accomplish it through tragedy even if he is not the cause of that tragedy. I have the same compliant with the way that Christians toss around the word "hope" We say "I hope it doesn't rain today," but that is the world's kind of hope.

Our hope is with certain confidence.

It is in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ in the last day. It is guaranteed as sure as the sun rising tomorrow morning.

In that hope we can respond to suffering with faith not only to draw ourselves closer to God, but to encourage others who are hurting more than we are. As Paul said, we can comfort them with the comfort that we first received from God. And that is also why we suffer, so that we can serve those who are suffering through the comfort we have received.

Snow Day
part 3: Sledding at Last

Well, our neighbor either reads my blog or read my mind...most likely my mind is less daunting as a maze of riddles and free thinking than I would suppose because I doubt the former is true. :)

Keith saw me outside and asked me if I wanted his old Sleds! I could not believe it. I said yes of course.
So Hannah and I went sledding two times in the big hill behind our house. It was great.

This was not the first time as our friend Jim @ family invited us out to visit them prior and we had much fun sledding then also. What was different about this was the ability to be spur of the moment. Just go for an hour with 45 min for sledding. OK also unique, was me not getting snow in Hannah's face! Sorry Kiddo

Any way it was a blast. Thanks Keith!

And Lilly got to take her first trip across on a sled *safe on the sidewalk* for those of you concerned. Yes she will still make it to her first birthday. Ah... but that is another post!

TTFN

Snow Day
part 2: Snow Pants

Do you still have Snow Pants?

If not you should go pick some up. It is so much fun to play with your kids in the snow. They are probably on clearance somewhere unless they are already sold out and replaced with swimming suits.

We tried to find a snow sled and they were all sold out. 3 Stores. Then the final one had either a saucer sled to small for the two of us, or one big enough but for $27! So, needless to say we had fun in the snow with just our snow pants and gloves instead.

We made a snow wall, and snow angles (which Hannah calls "Snow Kissing's")
It was grate fun, and we came home to a delicious Egg Bake.

Ah, what a day.

Snow DAY
part 1: Shopping

Wow that was a fun Snow Day Sunday. We slept in (well most of us :) We woke up and enjoyed some basic breakfast and then went grocery shopping in the mess. Roads were not that bad. And due to the unusually light traffic in the store? we were able to score a grocery cart driving car. These are the ones that have two steering wheels, and a little go cart in the front for the kids to drive in. Hannah loves them.

When the unthinkable happens...

Say it ant so!

My youth is passing before my eyes (OK it is long gone, but no more pretending anymore!) My favorite band's website has been dismantled! http://www.fiveironfrenzy.com/ is no more. :(

I can't believe it. Will the only surviving memory of Five Iron be the ailing memory's of its greatest fans (my friends of course) and a solo entry in Wikepedia ? Alas, we will all one day go the way of the buffalo. If only we can have as much impact on the hopes and dreams on those close to us as they had on my last high school years, we will all be doing well.

Farewell Five Iron, Farewell!