“Tongue control? It will never be achieved unless there is first of all heart and mind control. When any Christian comes to the point of yielding to the Lord in full sincerity, cost what it may control of his thought life, the problem of managing his tongue will be solved, provided that such a surrender goes deeper than the intellect and reaches the emotions and will. For the Bible makes a distinction between mere intellectual knowledge of God and the trust of the heart.”
Frank E. Gaebelein, The Practical Epistle of James: Studies in Applied Christianity (Great Neck, N.Y.: Channel Press, 1955), 80-81.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
The end of summer came quick. I think my busy work schedule has made the summer hard to grasp. The days flew by and then though I was adequately notified by Jenn, I still felt unprepared for summer to end and school to start. I wish we did some more fun stuff before it ended. Perhaps I will be more prepared for next summer by preparing during the winter.
Matthew is now in 4th grade and Claire is in 2nd grade.
They are making the challenging transition from a loose summer schedule to a tight school schedule. I'm not sure who is more challenged, Jenn trying to chorale them towards towards the start of another school day, or the kids trying to remember and focus on what they need to do to be ready. Most mornings I'm going to the gym, taking the dog out for a run, and getting myself ready for work. So I'm more or less an observer to their morning routing.
Around the evening meals I've made it a habit to ask the kids to recall something they learned that day. They struggle at times, but I've made it clear that if they can't recall what they learned from the day, then they will not be going out to play and will stay inside to review the material until they can explain it. The first time I set this guideline, suddenly Claire was able to recall a flood of information! It's always nice to see how rules can sometimes make things happen in a good way.
Monday, October 14, 2013
At Grace Presbyterian Church
Matthew and Claire were baptized on October 13th, 2013. There were 10 or more other baptisms that same day of our Congolese brothers and sisters. Thoses videos will be available privately. Many were added to membership that day and Pierry gave a wonderful testimony. I will post more on that later.
For now, here's a video that has a brief intro from pastor Bob on baptism, followed by the baptisms of Matthew and Claire.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
We recently caught two large spiders and fed one to the other. It took a while to get them to even see each other. One was in the black widow family and the other was meditteranean spider that is new to the area.
The larger overpowered the smaller this time.
We didn't wait to see if the black widowish spider managed to inject poisonous venom.
I grabbed a rock and smashed it before it could escape.
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Spending the evening at the Becks was a special treat. The Becks are our German neighbors who celebrated Oktoberfest on September 28th, 2013. There were lots of familiar faces from the neighborhood and swim team, and then there were some people that we had the priviledge of meeting that night.
Of course, Claire did not resist going to this adultish party. Her good friend Fancisca is nearly always there to help her find creative and fun ways to by silly.
And what boy can resist a treehouse? Can you find him in this photo?
As night fell, the lights around us brought a warm glow, as well as the home made Schnapps from Bernanrd's mother in Germany.
By this time Matthew had so much fun eating sweets that he had ejected some and went home. But I stayed to enjoy more yummy sweets.
It's special things like this that make our neighborhood a wonderful place ot live. Thank you Becks!
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
This brand started in Chicago and has made it's presence known worldwide. But only recently have we started serving this at our home. The coffee is incredible and I can write about that later. Meanwhile, enjoy a video that was put together by Magazine B to document the company. I think any coffee lover can appreciate this video.
