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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Summer at its best




Our Trip to Cape Cod. What a great trip!

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Snow


I love snow. No really, I LOVE snow. It makes me grin and my heart light. Everyone at work complains about it and the mess it creates (granted, I drive through it like a grandma and hate all the car accidents that seem to follow it)-- I smile and don't really say anything because deep down I can't wait till it falls again. It's the freshest thing from Heaven next to new babies. When it falls, the whole world goes silent, the birds and city life too. It's magical and if that sounds strange to you, you've just grown up too much. How awesome is it that little puffs of white float around from the sky? It's the best when there's enough to lightly cover everything. Garbage and old cars, naked trees and ugly NJ houses become beautiful--good enough for a cover pic on Martha Stewart's magazine. One of my earliest memories is having my mom wake me up early, bundle me up and take me outside to 'see' the snow. Mind you, being from Agusta, GA there wasn't anything to play in, only enough to simply 'see' and I had to 'see' it early because it would surely melt away at sunrise.

But I really, really love how it compares with my Jesus. Psalm 51:7 says, "wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." Mmmm... Jesus, that is good. The snow is falling now and if I hold my breath I can hear it outside the window. It's coating all the junk next to my garage and the neighbor's mack truck, turning rubbish to beauty. That's what Christ sees when he looks at my heart, no thanks to anything I've done or deserve. Instead of selfishness and sin, He sees white. Amazing. Grace. Snow. No, whiter and purer than snow. And the coolest thing is that unlike my first memory of the magical stuff, His washing doesn't melt away. There is nothing that I did to deserve this purity nor anything that can be done to negate it.

So, tomorrow morning as I inch to work going all of 24 miles an hour and customers whine about the inconvenience. I'll quietly share in the joy of local school kids and worship the Creator of snow.

The blessing by faith, I receive from above;
Oh, glory! my soul is made perfect in love;
My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know,
The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow. - James L. Nicholson, 1872

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Favorite Super Bowl Commercial

Dalmatian - Spot Wink


This defitately our favorite commercial from this years Super Bowl.

What was your favorite?

Did anybody think the commercials were more violent this year?

-Jonathan

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Happy New Year!

I'm so excited about the upcoming year and the mysteries it holds. Jon and I had a handful of friends over to ring in the new year and say goodbye to '06. We had everyone grab a pen and pad and jot down their top ten headlines from the past year. It was really fun and a great time to think back on memories both joyful and trying. God has been faithful throughout-- amen. I'm constantly amazed at the overflow of blessing I've received this past year. While remembering the old and preparing for the new, I came across a great list of questions to ponder and wanted to share (created by Don Whitney). As the new year gets off the ground, take a breath, a moment from the business of the world, and consider that which moth does not steal and rust cannot destroy. Happy New Year!
1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?
9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?
In addition to these ten questions, here are twenty-one more to help you "Consider your ways." Think on the entire list at one sitting, or answer one question each day for a month.
11. What's the most important decision you need to make this year?
12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what's one way you could simplify in that area?
13. What's the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?
14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?
15. Who do you most want to encourage this year?
16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?
17. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?
18. What's one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?
19. What's one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?
20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?
21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?
22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?
23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?
24. What's the most important trip you want to take this year?
25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve this year?
26. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?
27. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?
28. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?
29. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?
30. What's the most important new item you want to buy this year?
31. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year?