Just a Bills and a Stomach Ache

Not much to talk about today. The biggest events of the day were doing the bills and getting a stomach ache. The two were not related though. I am actually lactose intolerant and the family had homemade macaroni and cheese yesterday...that was enough to mess up my digestive system...if you know what I mean. Well, it looks like I may be having to put our cat, Princess, down very soon. She is about 14 year old and can't seem to keep her food down. She throws up in the basement just about every night I think. In fact, sometimes she throws up in the living areas too. This morning she had left a couple of nice presents on the living room and play room floor. Real nice to wake up to picking up that mess. I feel bad thinking of having to put her down. A couple of years ago I had to put down our other cat, Cleo. Her and Princess were buddies. I had a tough time of it. I could barely get out of the Vet building before I blubbered. It was awful. These house pets become just like one of the family you know. Hmmm...Princess's days are numbered, but I am trying to prolong things as much as possible because I know it will be hard on the kiddos too. Enough rambling.

Fun Night

Well we had a fun night tonight. We had a get-together with all the adults age 18-40 in the church. Well, not all, but quite a few. It was "bring a dessert and your favorite game" night. We did a couple of ice breaker games. One was where we passed around a roll of toilet paper and had each person take as much toilet paper as they wanted. We did not tell them why they were taking the toilet paper. Then, once everyone had their share, we told them that they had to share something good about themselves for each sheet of paper that they took. Some were lucky and only took one piece, others tooks 10 or more sheets! It was fun. Then we passed out 3 x 5 cards and everyone had to write 3 things about themselves; two true things and one false thing puting their name on the top. I then collected them and read them one at a time and everyone had to guess both who it was and which of the three items listed was false. That was a riot too. We finished off the night with a game of Guestures (I think that's how it's spelled). What fun it was! Everyone seemed to have a fun night. It was definitely worth the effort. Sometimes everyone is so busy it is hard to get to know them. Also, it gave us an opportunity to get to know a newer couple at the church a little better.

Loose Lips Sink Ships!

Whew! I feel better now that I said that. No reason. Isn't it true though? The saying is relating to gossip and how destructive talking behind someones back can be. Do you want to be a good friend? Ok. Try your hardest not to talk about your friend's business, private or otherwise, with other people that you know. Even if you don't think it is necessarily anything bad. Hey, your friend might actually want to have some fresh news to tell someone that you didn't disclose before hand. So why am I talking about this. I don't know, maybe you needed to hear it. I think that those of us who talk a lot more than others can fall prey to gossip. That is because when we run out of "safe" things to talk about, we end up sharing things that we shouldn't. Sometimes we even talk about the traits or behaviors of others that seem to bother us. The truth is, that kind of talk usually returns to us through another source. Here is a wise saying: "practice listening". You will actually be perceived as more interesting than had you done most of the talking. This is because when we listen to the other person more, that person who is talking feels more like they are interesting and it creates the impression that you actually are an interesting person. Sound hokey? It's not...try it out. Listen more, gossip less, you'll win more friend and influence more people in the process. Enough rambling.

Get It RIght Here

Well, if there is any news in the family I guess you can get it right here. I won't be too personal about it though (you never know who is reading these things). The sad thing is that not much happens around here. Heather and I are praying about clear direction about how the Lord wants to use us in ministry. My sole ambition is not to be a business man or even an Internet marketer. My heart really is in full time ministry. Quite simply, at 35 years of age, life is about half over if you look at the average life span. I'm not trying to sound like I'm depressed or approaching mid-life crisis or anything, but when you really think about it, that doesn't seem like that much time in order to do something for the Lord. We don't want to move away necessarily or do anything really drastic (unless God wants us to), we just want to be the best possible servants for the Lord. This may sound strange for those of you who don't know God, but we want to do what He wants, not what we want. Being an Ordained Biship isn't just about having a nice certificate on the wall, it is about touching people's lives and adding value to people whom God loves. And speaking about love...if you are reading this right now and you don't have a relationship with the Lord, I want you to know that God loves you too. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life" John 3:16. He loves you and you're valuable to Him. If you ask God to forgive you of your sins and place your trust and faith in Jesus Christ, you will be rewarded the gift of eternal life.

The Days Go By Too Fast

Don't the days seem to go by too fast? I mean, it seems like the week just started and already Wednesday is, well, tomorrow! I think I work too much. Well the heat wave is past us. It is quite cool and rainy today. I'll take that over the extreme humidity any day. Pastor Friend said that the church is going to get air conditioning put in this Thursday. Thank the Lord! Some people actually left the church service this past Sunday night because the heat was too unbearable. I don't blame them. I felt a bit like passing out in the pew from the heat myself. Well I think I mentioned that Seth hit the pavement and the basement floor with his forehead last week didn't I. Did I mention that yesterday he turned around in the bathroom and married his face to the cabinet countertop. Oh yes. Nice little black eye there little buddy. Not even three and it looks like he is a Golden Glove boxer! I'm thinking of buying a full face motorcyle helmet for him to walk around the house and go to the playground with. (lol) Heather has just taken him up to bed, and the older ones are telling me that he is crying out for daddy. He's starting to get out of the phase of calling me "mamma"...which I am glad. I was really starting to get a complex. Alycia and Rochelle have been helping me in the office. Putting school things that were returned from the parents back in the files. What a great blessing they are. I went to a meeting tonight for the church leadership. We talked a bit about small groups and also the possibility of one day having church services on Friday night. Any thoughts on this? It seems that Friday night services might appeal to those that like an evening service, but would rather not do it on a Sunday night as they get up early to go to work. A Friday night service would give the liberty to sleep in on Saturday morning. The small groups are to help people establish relationships that otherwise would be difficult (or impossible) just on Sunday during the regular church service.

Moved the Blog to My Server

Ok, I've moved the blog to my server. Why? Well basically to add consistancy to where everything is in relationship to the main website as a whole. It seemed strange to have my blog on blogspot.com and everything else at themagazinepeople.com. So now all is located in one place. Well today was very hot and sticky again. Totally uncool! (pun intended). Later in the afternoon I took the family to get ice cream. I got a large one and that seemed to really hit the spot. Of course, Hannah is too young to have ice cream and Seth can not have it at all because he is severely allergic to dairy products. We just made sure to take a long enough drive for him to fall asleep before we got there. I hate eating that stuff in front of him when he can't have it. I'm really hoping and praying that he will outgrow this particular allergy. He can't having anything with milk or whey or any other thing remotely like milk. Major bummer since so many products have milk in them...even ones that you would not expect to have milk. Rochelle on the other hand, has a milk severe milk intolerance and basically anything with milk will mess her up inside.

Tooo Hot for Me!

Well today was too hot for me. Well, it was not the heat really, as much as it was the humidity. Uhg. Where's the pool? Where's the cold shower? Where's the ice cold soft serve chocolate and vanilla twist ice cream cone? Where's the refrigerated iced tea? Where's the...well you get the picture. Just something to cool you off. Why anyone would want to go to place called hell, I can not imagine. I'm good with the heat we have here thankyou. At any rate, not much to say from Augusta, Maine. My son has fallen down twice this past week and hit his face. Once at the playground, and another time in the basement of the church. OUCH! It's already looking better though. I think kids heal much quicker than do us adults. If I face planted onto the pavement at the playground I would probably be laid up for a week or so becking for my wife to bring me this or that and comforting me in my pain. Women, of course, would be tougher(adult or not) than us guys. Let's face it men, I've seen my wife have four children now, and how they can endure such unbelievable pain is beyond comprehension. We had some friends over today, Shona and Edson. It was nice getting together with them. We had the usual spaghetti (or however you spell it) dinner. It was an enjoyable afternoon with them that had to be cut short by us returning to church. I showed them a little about blogging, and even showed them about Blogger.com. Ok, Shona and Edson, if you read this, I hope you've already set up your account. I'm ready to start reading your posts... enough for today....