Long time no post

I have more time now than ever and am posting less than ever. Thankfully I am a master of excuses and can justify just about anything. Ok here it goes. My laptop was down for about a week and a half, charger died. Then this week I got a new charger and now the battery wont charge, My dad showed up and is visiting for a couple of weeks.

The weather is starting to make up it's mind that it wants to be warm. So we're doing more out doors stuff as a family. We were wanting to go camping in Missouri this weekend but the rain stopped that. My wife and I are now officially hooked on an online farming game called Farm Town.

Here's some pics.
Me and Grandpa went in on some outdoor fun for the kids, a go-cart and a mini dirt bike.... look closely and you can see that the "new" go cart is being pulled with a rope... good investment.
Gage Chloe Hunter and I planting the first apple trees of our wannabe orchard. Lord willing one day we'll have the land for a real one with room for some animals.
Rissy enjoying something fruity!
Jamie today, we went bowling at a Christian Center in Peoria, we were the only ones there. It was great!

Chloe Elizabeth

This little girl is Lo-Lo. She is goofy, energetic, funny and fun, testing (not in a rebellious way but in a curious way), and joyful. She enjoys the thought of one day being a mommy, just like her mommy. She is a sponge, absorbs everything that overflows from her mommy and daddy's cup. When we get excited about something so does she, when we get worried about something so does she. All children absorb what their parents give them, even though we don't notice it sometimes, but this little girl has no governor for her absorber. That's not always bad and it's not always good. May the LORD use her open heart and enthusiastic spirit to the working of his glory!

I've been encouraged!

I almost called it quits on my air conditioning business. I've had a few jobs go bad, everyone told me I would, and I've lost a bunch of money... well it's a bunch to me anyway. I was going to let a few of my warranty jobs run out then cancel my insurance and call it a day. I get discouraged easy when I make a mistake doing a job, or when it takes longer than I thought, or when I don't make the profit that I thought. Well last week a brother called me up and asked me to do a job that I bid for him... a year ago. I told him I'd really rather not and tried to get out of it the best I could but he insisted that I do it. He really wanted me to do it. We worked out the details and I took it. This time though I decided I wasn't going to let myself get stressed out, I decided I was going to take my time and most important... Take my son along. Gage, age 8, came with me all three days of this job. He helped me and encouraged me through all of it, I also decided to have a friend from church help out. I learned two important things this weekend.
1st remember why I started HVAC in the first place. One day me and my sons may have a business that supports two generations. I want to be able to work along side of my boys! Fully self employed with 2 or 3 or 4 or more employees, how ever many boys we have! With a support staff of a loving wife and daughters back at the office! That's something to stick through the stress for.
2nd don't be afraid to ask for help. My son was a huge help to me, just having him around kept my stress level down, plus I wouldn't work myself too late into the night with him there (know when to call it a day). Also, my helper from church saved me at least two days of labor at the job site. He was a hard worker and very resourceful.

Field trip to get school supplies.

Today we took a 2 hour trip to the local Amish and Mennonite community. It was fun, I like seeing everyone working so hard on my day off plus, honestly, they live an intriguing lifestyle. A couple years back I took my wife to Lancaster Pa. for our anniversary, we spent a weekend there just site seeing and shopping around. The reason we drove 2 hours wasn't just to drive around and watch men harvest their corn, this particular community has a little book store about 2 or 3 miles outta town. It's run out of a large machine shed at an Amish families homestead. They carry a huge variety of home school curriculum and christian literature that sadly you can't find in any mainstream christian bookstore. After driving for 2 hours, stopping to eat lunch at Yoder's, we headed out to the book shop.... the entire road, for at least a mile including a bridge right before their house, was closed. We drove all through the country looking for a way around the construction. Finally we stopped at one of the road blocks and I walked about a hundred yards and stopped a guy on a steam roller to see how to get to that shop. He said as long as we stayed on the shoulder and didn't touch the new asphalt they were laying we could drive on down there..... I should have taken a picture of that shoulder. Huge ditch, steep, with a 6 foot shoulder and we're in a 15 passenger. ::sigh:: Praise God that he made us men so stubburn. I figured if I drove 2 hours just for this book store we'd drive through the corn field to get there if we had to. Well it didn't come to that but that would have been fun, instead we drove past the baracades on one end of the construction (the end where they were building the bridge) and parked our big ol' van behind their earth movers. We had to walk quite a ways and cross a plywood bridge down in a gully but it was worth it. I won!

Another Year Older!

Both of my boys will be turning a year older this weekend. Well Gage is 8 today and Hunter will be 3 Monday, so for me that is my weekend. It was a busy day, I was able to have today off work, I usually work Tuesday thru Saturday. We got up went to a soccer game, came home split a ton of wood. (I'll take this time for a little aside, Chloe did an amazing job helping split wood today, she emptied an entire trailer load of unsplit wood by her self! Mamma in training nothing she's gonna make a fine wife too!) Gage got a B-B gun from grandpa, his first, and spent every bit of free time he could come up with shooting at soda cans and pinned up papers. We had a cook out with grandma and grandpa too, bratwarst mmmm..... I got Gage a head lamp, I have one and he just loved it plus I figure it'll help him getting wood for mommy on cold nights, chasing cats from the chicken pin with his B-B gun after sunset, and finding his way to the bathroom down dark hallways! All Hunter can think of these days are dirt bikes, he loves em', you give him some toy trucks, tractors, and a toy dirt bike and his imagination runs away with him. We ended the night with ice cream cake.
They had fun today, and so did I but wow, really Gage is 8 today.... and Hunter is going to be 3. How precious and fleeting the time is. I still feel so young but my kids are getting so big. Train up a child while his is young sounded challenging when they were babes and it seemed like they would be young forever, now it seems like I may wake up and find that they are all grown up. LORD I pray for wisdom for these days are short and few.

What's your vision of a Church?

I have been kicking around some thoughts I've been having about the format of today's church. I don't know if it's the whole "the grass is greener on the other side" kinda thing, but I've heard testimonies and visited other formats of churches that seem to have something that our modern form of church doesn't. I'm still in the information gathering stage of this scientific method. But one thing I do believe is that the traditional conservative church today has lost the "body" mentality, it's more like a "machine" mentality and instead of "members" its' "cogs". We're only valuable when we fulfill a job function, and everything the church does is centered around grooming us for a position in the machine. Whereas a "body" would nurture a "member" to be fit for the kingdom, whole, holy, useful, a vessel of honour, and loved. See there is a difference between nurture and grooming. I've sat under fundamental preaching my entire saved life, and will continue too, but one thing that our churches lack is actual discipleship, and when you have fundamental preaching (hard preaching on truth) to a crowd of hearers of the word what you get is a congregation of really good actors. We know all the right things to do, how to look like a good baptist and how to act like a good christian, but it's all in theory and not in practice. Kind of like when I went to HVAC school, in class we learned all about air conditioners, I could name every part and what it did and how it worked.... The first time I actually worked on one I felt like I was exposed for a total fraud. I was an hvac technician, I had the hvac technician knowledge, but I was never shown how it worked. I didn't need coddled but I did need mentored or apprenticed. Well I'm a born again christian, I've sat under biblical teaching for four years, but it seems like I've just caught the vision of what our lives as believers are supposed to be about. I don't know maybe it's because of my youth or the because of the late start I had, being saved only a few years ago, or that maybe having received blessings from the LORD (four going on five) and the responsibilities he gave me with them has made me mature. It seems to me that this kind of vision for family, home, spiritual life, walk with the Saviour would be passed on from believer to believer. Think about it, it's not that weird and don't get me wrong I don't think we should do all the leg work for someone, if they are tares nothing will convict them of that better than constant intense exposure to the light. I talked to a man I respect about this and he liked my vision but had no idea how to do that in today's church.
I think a church needs to be discipleship centered. If you have a church full of thoroughly discipled believers on fire for the LORD they will be able to do more for the Kingdom of God than a hundred churches full of "new recruits". The same zeal is there but many are weak in the faith and soon get discouraged. I know.
I think a church should be interactive, not just a few hundred people sitting in a pew looking towards a preacher for an hour and a half then leaving. There needs to be accountability and fellowship, probably more of accountability than anything.
I think a church should be family oriented, not family friendly, and definitely not business oriented. We shouldn't look at people who walk through the church doors as a potential work force but as fellow laborers. I think a Church should be good stewards but I don't think they should be after financial gain.
I believe that a church should stand firm on the word of God as it's only source of guidance. Not conventions or committees. I believe that Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life and that he is sweet enough to attract the lost sinner, we do not need gimmicks to bring crowds.
Please share what your vision for a church would be.


Editors Note: 10-12-2008
Here is a link to a post in response to this post. Very well put! CLICK HERE!

Mamma in training.....

Well, it took a few days but they finally got me sick too. My kids spread their stomach flu all around the family, they got grandma & grandpa, they got mommy, I thought I was going to make it through but it's not looking good. I wouldn't say I'm full blown sick right now but I feel it coming. I got home from work and had to lay down, I couldn't help with anything. Everytime I move I feel like I may hurl. Oh yeah, I'm getting graphic. Anyway, Jamie had to take Gage to soccer practice and that left me with Chloe Clarissa and Hunter. Chloe was in fine form I might say, she cooked supper, cleaned up, brought me the baby, and tried to keep things organized. She's five by the way. I loved it. I gotta go now though, sitting up typing is making me feel sick.

Arrows in the hands of a mighty man....

Ok so he's not quite mighty, and he's just a man in training right now, but this is a picture of my oldest son, Gage. I see so much good in this boy, so much hope. He is my strong brave child, he's always in thought, serious, and full of joy. Obviously I didn't view my own childhood with the eyes I have now, but looking back I don't remember any of the things I see in him in my life as a boy. I give God all the praise for that. Jamie and I are first generation Christians, for the most part, and if you spent a day with us you would know that easy. We've made a lot of mistakes and a lot of them may hinder us the rest of our lives. A man that has never tasted alcohol will not have the same temptations as a former drunk, a man who has remained pure from his youth, saving himself for his wife, will not have the same scars as an impure man. We have set in our hearts to raise up a generation that loves the LORD. Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. We are claiming that promise for our kids, we may make mistakes along the way but vision is there. I read Gods word and see all of his promises for my children and I want them all, then I look at my life and my experience and wonder how. With man it's impossible, but with God... Psa 127:1 "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." I can't do anything to deserve GOD's favour on my children, I can't twist his arm and say there LORD, I trained my children out of your word, now they better not wonder... No, if the LORD is not in it then it's my strength trying to do GOD's work. Here's a picture for you, my father in-law works for the railroad. He's works with those iron rails and those great big wooden railroad ties, he does real heavy labour. His strength has been built by the work he does, if I were to try and use my strength to do that I would fail.. and have. Have you ever lifted one of those railroad ties. They are heavy. I had a couple here in my yard, I had to cut one in half with a chainsaw just to move it, my father in law carries them on his shoulder...
Psa 127:2 "It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep." It is vain for me to worry and struggle to try and get GOD's work done, if I am faithful and ask he will give. Boy that's a tough one for me though, I like to get things done, and I don't like the thought of not knowing what the out come will be.
Psa 127:3 "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
But my children are an inheritance from GOD, something that he has left for me. That means that they are precious to him and worthy to given. GOD wouldn't pass on no cheap dollar store nic nac for an inheritance to his children, no, children are priceless to GOD. Remember what Christ said about offending them, Mar 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. I'm not sure what the offence would be but if he's talking about just letting them come sit around him in this passage as the offence.... how worse are we. That's a pretty heavy punishment for offending a little one. They are indeed precious to GOD and he has intrusted them to us, he will show himself strong through our weakness.
Psa 127:4 "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth." Gage, and all my children will be able to go farther than I ever will, they will have a headstart on there mom and dad, by 20 odd years. Like an arrow shot from a bow, it travel beyound the archer. My children will be able to go beyound my reach and accomplish what I couldn't, and what I didn't even dream of.
Psa 127:5 "Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." Even in the few short years we've been living for the LORD, we've seen his mighty hand at work in our lives and in our childrens lives. I don't take that lightly. When my oldest son will go up to a young boy and boldly ask "do you know JESUS?" and my daughter ask her grandpa, "are you saved?" When they hear people speak lies or misunderstandings about what they know to be true of GOD and his word, and come to me and say "daddy, that's wicked", sure they're young yet and may not know all the right ways and words, but they have a heart for truth. 3Jo 1:4 "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." I believe with all my heart that when the day comes, and the LORD puts a HOLY SPIRIT conviction on my children, that it will be so simple for them. The desire for truth is already there, and no truth is greater that Jesus' love for them.

They're all sick!

I've been working doubles every Tuesday and Thursday now for about a month and I'm scheduled for another month of it. When I work a double I get home about midnight or a little after. Well with all this work I've been getting kinda haughty, thinking wow that's alot of work that I'm doing, I'm really pushing my self. Well, Last night I got home, Jamie (my wife) was up waiting for me. We talked about our day, I got on the web to check some blogs and my emails, she made me a snack, then about 12:45 my oldest daughter woke up and threw up.... on her bed.... then on the floor.... As Jamie was working with her my youngest daughter wakes up and vomits in her crib... so I pick her up and clean her up.... Ughh. Anyway I had to be into work early this morning and it was already past 1a.m. I had to be up at 6a.m. so my gracious wife allowed me to go to sleep as she bravely took on my two sick baby girls. Well I guess sometime in the middle of the night my oldest son woke up and started in, Jamie didn't get to sleep until 4:30, was up with me at 6, laid back down at 7 and napped till 9 then has been running every since. She had three sick kids all day, canned apples, made apple butter, and kept house while still having energy to greet me with a sweet spirit when I got home. I tell you what I could work a double every day of the week and still not put as much energy into a day as her. When people ask what my wife does for a living I say "well she's a stay at home wife" they always say "oh well that would be nice", you know kind of in a condesending way. But then I just tell them, well we have four kids and one on the way, she homeschools them, cooks three meals a day, keeps a clean house, takes care of our chickens, and on and on and on.... She works harder than anyone that I've ever worked with. To the world that may not seem worth it, you know, what does she get in return, well she is a mamma, a keeper at home, more valueable than rubies, a gift from God to her household, and in a God ordained position as the woman of our home. Her treasures are laid up in heaven, and no salary of man could touch her reward. I praise God for my wife! :)

The manly art of hunting...

Ok, so I've never actually technically hunted before but I've gone with others. When I was like 12 or 13 I went squirrel hunting with my uncle Mike, I was so scared he'd actually kill a poor lil' squirrel that I would stomp around and talk real loud so that they would all run away. I know, don't worry I grew outta that goofy tree hugging thing. So a couple of years ago I went again with my father in-law. I would just sit out there with him, video taping and watching. We went bow hunting twice I think, one time I got sick about an hour into it, really light headed and got ill to my stomach, I still catch flak about that one. Another time we went out and my father in-law was shotgun hunting. I loved it, we were on the ground about 20 yards apart, I had the video camera and was taping woodpeckers and squirrels, field mice were scurrying across my outstretched legs looking for food. Then there he was, a young buck out about 40 yards, we could hear him moving around earlier but now we got to see him. I set the camera on him, I knew any second Jim would take him down so I tried to keep a steady beat on that buck. What seemed like several minutes passed, actually it was just about a minute, and I was just wrapped up in the beauty of God's creation. Then BAMMM!! Boy that buck just dropped in his tracks.... I think.... I kinda got gun spooked and the camera jerked all over the place... Yup... Smooth huh? Jim hasn't asked me back out to go hunting since, in fact he often says that if it wasn't for my boy he'd stop hunting all together... I think he's just worried I'm gonna ask to go back out again. I got me a bow now, I'm gonna practice as much as possible and try to go out this year with him, so I'll probably have a good story for y'all after that.

A family that works together....

Today was a great day! Amazing, and fun. I went to my normal Men's Meeting this morning, it is a discipleship meeting that I've been going to for a few months now, I had a few errands to run while in town, got home around 10, and then my family got to work. I loved it. First, my three oldest children changed the brakes on my van (with a little help from me). A 10 minute job, with the proper tools, took about an hour and a half, it was well worth the extra time. My kids were excited about helping, and had fun doing it. I wanted this to not only be a time of training for my children, not to be mechanics but for team work, following directions, hard work, organization, and joyfulness.

After we got done with the van, we went straight to work on our garage.... I haven't seen the floor in there since my father in-law passed on the ownership of it to me. We worked on it all the way up until 7:00 p.m. My kids worked soo hard and diligently. It brought joy to my heart to see them work together with mommy and daddy without complaint, without asking to stop and go play, and with such sweet spirits. This did more for me than it did for them I'm sure. The LORD helped me humbly guide my children throughout these labors instead of barking orders at them. I love a good days hard work, but this was different, this was with a purpose, we were able to show our children love and guidence with joy, it didn't even seem like work.... until we sat down.... now mommy and daddy are feeling the effects of all the hard work. Maybe I can get a back rub outta this too! Click here for more photos

Raising Chickens

As a family we have been trying to come up with a family mission, a common goal that we could all work together for. We all decided that we would enjoy raising some chickens, just to kinda get our feet wet and teach the children responsibility, diligence, hard work, and also have a lot of fun with it too. We're currently on round two with this family experiment, we originally what 12 chickens and 2 turkeys. We didn't have anywhere to “brood” them so we set up shop in our living room. We set up one of those large storage totes and put a heat lamp in it. I loved having them in the house, the kids played with them and fed them. After about 5 weeks though we moved them to my father in-laws garage and upgraded them to a cattle feeding troff. Two weeks later we turned them loose into their pin we had fixed up. That night something killed 3 of them. Here I am trying to work on character building with my children and I fail, oh I got hot about that. It had to be somebody's fault. That afternoon I went around and made sure nothing could get in or out of that hen house. Next morning, I go out to see how good I did... something had not only killed all the rest of my chickens but made a night of it, seeing as how none of them could get out. He picked them clean. Everyone was discouraged, especially me (like I said I fail often, but Lord willing I'm going to fail forward). So for the next two weeks I was determined to eliminate all forms of chicken eating life from our lil' town. I set a live trap every night, and every night I caught a tom cat or a coon or something. I did this till I couldn't catch nothing else. So now we have twenty chickens, they're about 6 weeks old and looking good, I'm struggling with being short about them. I found I'm being a little over protective of them, as much as I cherish the idea of building life skills in my children by allowing them to help and encouraging them to explore this little fowl things, I loath the idea of loosing. I won't be beat by a stinking tom cat again.