Emily Helped
It was her first time up high on a ladder!
View from the church
Front yard with Christmas tree in the front window
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Christmas Lights
There is a cold front supposed to arrive next week, so I took the opportunity to put up the outside lights today.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Veterans Day in Wagoner, OK
The ceremony started a few moments after 10 am. The general of the local VFW had us salute the flag and led in the Pledge of Allegiance.
A retired pastor, also a veteran, led an opening prayer and wasn't ashamed nor afraid to pray "in Jesus' Name."
Several people, including the Blue Star Mothers, gave speeches honoring our veterans. The Wagoner Chief of Police, Terry Hornbuckle, gave an impromptu speech after he had already said what he planned to say. It was the most heart touching of any of the prepared speeches.
As the ceremony was coming to an end, one of the WWII vets stood up and asked to address the assembled. He led us in a spontaneous singing of "God Bless America." It was truly touching.
The veteran's left the courthouse and went down the street to come back in the parade. A school one block away, let all of its students out and they came equipped with flags and hand-made signs to honor the veterans. They cheered and waved when the veterans came by.
The Wagoner High School Marching Band also participated.
My older daughter, Audrey, played the cymbals in the band.
I am really glad to know that people take time to appreciate our veterans.
A retired pastor, also a veteran, led an opening prayer and wasn't ashamed nor afraid to pray "in Jesus' Name."
Several people, including the Blue Star Mothers, gave speeches honoring our veterans. The Wagoner Chief of Police, Terry Hornbuckle, gave an impromptu speech after he had already said what he planned to say. It was the most heart touching of any of the prepared speeches.
As the ceremony was coming to an end, one of the WWII vets stood up and asked to address the assembled. He led us in a spontaneous singing of "God Bless America." It was truly touching.
The veteran's left the courthouse and went down the street to come back in the parade. A school one block away, let all of its students out and they came equipped with flags and hand-made signs to honor the veterans. They cheered and waved when the veterans came by.
The Wagoner High School Marching Band also participated.
My older daughter, Audrey, played the cymbals in the band.
I am really glad to know that people take time to appreciate our veterans.
God Bless America!
Saturday, November 06, 2010
A Beautiful Picture
My friend, Marty Duren, took this picture and posted it on Facebook this morning. Personally, I think it is one of the prettiest pictures I've ever seen and wanted to share it with you.
Marty is the author of "The Generous Soul" which was published in October 2010. You can purchase it from Amazon here. You can actually download the introduction to the generous soul for free on Marty's website.
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| click to enlarge |
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Lessons from a Dead Squirrel
Sunday morning, we noticed that there was the foul stench of death as we entered the church building, albeit very, very faint. I used some Febreeze and it seemed to cover it up pretty good. Since the weather was nice, we kept the lobby door open. Even by the evening service, it wasn't bad.
Tuesday was a whole other story. There was no getting around it; we had a dead animal somewhere in the attic of the foyer.
I honestly figured someone would do something about it, but no one did.
By the time Wednesday evening came around, the odor was nearly unbearable. One woman held her nose; one man had the dry heaves.
Our normal Wednesday evening service is in the fellowship hall, which is just off the foyer. I suggested that we move to the sanctuary, where we were safe from the smell.
We've been studying Philippians and were up to chapter 2 verses 14-18. So many people camp out on verse 14, "do all things without grumbling or disputing", but verse 15 is what we took a longer look at:
As we were discussing about being "lights in the world", someone mentioned that "lights don't appear to shine as bright in the light, but when you bring light into the darkness, that's when it really shows up!"
We all thought that insight was profound. We talked about how we, as believers, instead of shining bright, often "turn off" our lights so we don't stand out. We talked about how those who are in the darkness, never want to return to the dark, but once we are in the light, we seem to miss the darkness and want to go back there.
I mentioned that as crazy as that sounds, it is even worse. As the light represents life, the dark represents death.
We talked about how a dead animal, probably a squirrel, which is quite small, moved a group of human adults away from its decaying body. We talked about how small it was, but how it influenced all of us that night. We talked about how if we could smell sin, it would smell so much worse than the dead animal. We were repulsed by the stench of death, but we embrace our favorite sin as "not so bad."
Something else that I thought about while typing this is the fact that we used candles and air fresheners to cover up the stench, it wasn't until we actually removed the dead squirrel from the ceiling that the smell went away. No matter how we try to hide our sin, cover it up, or ignore it, it doesn't go away until it is completely removed. And only Jesus can do that.
Oh that we could actually smell sin! How we would be repulsed by it! How we would flee from it! How we would do anything to avoid it!
Are YOU being light in the darkness? Does YOUR light shine? Are YOU trying to hide, cover-up or ignore your sin?
Tuesday was a whole other story. There was no getting around it; we had a dead animal somewhere in the attic of the foyer.
I honestly figured someone would do something about it, but no one did.
By the time Wednesday evening came around, the odor was nearly unbearable. One woman held her nose; one man had the dry heaves.
Our normal Wednesday evening service is in the fellowship hall, which is just off the foyer. I suggested that we move to the sanctuary, where we were safe from the smell.
We've been studying Philippians and were up to chapter 2 verses 14-18. So many people camp out on verse 14, "do all things without grumbling or disputing", but verse 15 is what we took a longer look at:
...prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
As we were discussing about being "lights in the world", someone mentioned that "lights don't appear to shine as bright in the light, but when you bring light into the darkness, that's when it really shows up!"
We all thought that insight was profound. We talked about how we, as believers, instead of shining bright, often "turn off" our lights so we don't stand out. We talked about how those who are in the darkness, never want to return to the dark, but once we are in the light, we seem to miss the darkness and want to go back there.
I mentioned that as crazy as that sounds, it is even worse. As the light represents life, the dark represents death.
We talked about how a dead animal, probably a squirrel, which is quite small, moved a group of human adults away from its decaying body. We talked about how small it was, but how it influenced all of us that night. We talked about how if we could smell sin, it would smell so much worse than the dead animal. We were repulsed by the stench of death, but we embrace our favorite sin as "not so bad."
Something else that I thought about while typing this is the fact that we used candles and air fresheners to cover up the stench, it wasn't until we actually removed the dead squirrel from the ceiling that the smell went away. No matter how we try to hide our sin, cover it up, or ignore it, it doesn't go away until it is completely removed. And only Jesus can do that.
Oh that we could actually smell sin! How we would be repulsed by it! How we would flee from it! How we would do anything to avoid it!
Are YOU being light in the darkness? Does YOUR light shine? Are YOU trying to hide, cover-up or ignore your sin?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
NaNoWriMo
I have decided to participate in the National Novel Writing Month. It is a project to get people to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. (the month of November)
I have decided to write a young adult novel called "There Is No Such Thing as Vampires." It is about Sophie Anderson, a pragmatic 7th grader who likes science and silent movies. When Dimitrie Tudose arrives from Romania as a foreign exchange student, everyone is convinced he is a vampire. Sophie sets out to prove everyone, including her best friend, is wrong.
We'll see how it goes.
I have decided to write a young adult novel called "There Is No Such Thing as Vampires." It is about Sophie Anderson, a pragmatic 7th grader who likes science and silent movies. When Dimitrie Tudose arrives from Romania as a foreign exchange student, everyone is convinced he is a vampire. Sophie sets out to prove everyone, including her best friend, is wrong.
We'll see how it goes.
Wagoner Bulldogs On a Rampage!
Congratulations to the Wagoner Bulldog Football Team for their 9th straight win! They beat Tulsa McClain 54-8. With one game to go, they are in lead to take the 4A championship!
Go Bulldogs!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
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