Pay it Forward

"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father,inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink;I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. - Matthew 25:34-40

Tonight Tammy & I accompanied our youth minister, his wife and a few teens and parents on a "spiritual exercise". Our youth minister calls them "Pay it Forward" devotionals. He and the teens gather together and talk about how they could help someone then they go do it. Tonight that took the form of purchasing blankets, sweatshirts & fastfood gift certificates and then driving to a well known location where "homeless" people are known to gather and sleep. The kids, accompanied by the youth minister, then went to talk with whomever they find and asked if they can help them and then help them if they can. Tonight all the items purchased were given out. I love the thought that these kids are getting this experience of practicing Matthew 25:34-40. It is one thing to read scripture, have an intellectual understanding and talk about helping the "least of my brothers" and something totally different to act and just do it.

Thankful for church splits!

"Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virgina..." - The Mayflower Compact

When you look at the history of organized Christiantity or the Christian church you see groups of people coming together and splitting apart as individuals strive to serve & worship God as they believe. A group of "Seperatists" living in England around 1607/08 were striving to worship God and believed that they needed to be apart from the Church of England. These "Seperatists" moved in 1609 as a church family to Leiden in the Netherlands, where the goverment was tolerant towards diverse religious views. In 1620 these "Seperatists" or as we know them "Pilgrims", started to move again by sailing to the "New World" aboard the Mayflower. After setting sail with about 100 Pilgrims and after struggling to survive that first year the 50+ survivors celebrated a Feast of Thanksgiving along with chief Massasoit and 90 Wampanoag men.

So today I am thankful for every blessing God has so generously placed before me. I am even thankful for a "church split" that occurred back around 1607 in a village called Scrooby located near Nottinghamshire in the English midlands.

Why did the turkey cross the road?

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin.

To avoid the Stryker armoured Vehicle.

I saw this image on the DefenseLink web site and could not help but think how totally unimpressed these Iraqi turkeys are with the most recent addition to the US Army's mechanized inventory. The photo was taken just south of Mosul, Iraq. Of course there is also the chance that this Stryker crew is just waiting to pick-off a few birds to help celebrate Thanksgiving in a few days.

Road Trip!

"People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the hugh waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering." - St Augustine

This past Thursday we headed to Jacksonville, Fl with the GBHS girls varsity soccer team. The coach scheduled a couple games against potential Regional opponents as well as a school visit for the team at Jacksonville University (JU). The girls practiced for about about an hour at JU then took a walking tour of the campus. The JU girls soccer coach was suposed to give the tour but his team ended up in the NCAA tournament and played Florida State Friday night. The administration official that gave the tour did a good job and I was surprised that the school had so much to offer. Our team mom found a great deal on a hotel right on the Atlantic in Neptune beach which was reasonably close to Jacksonville University. I really do love the beach and enjoyed a couple really nice morning walks along the Atlantic.

Friday night the girls played Stanton College Preparatory School and won 3-2.

Saturday afternoon the girls beat Paxon School for Advanced Studies 1-0.

Parents Weekend

"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once you grow up." - Pablo Picasso

Tammy & I went to Tallahassee, Fl this past weekend to FSU's parents weekend. We had a great time with Amanda and some friends from FCC and enjoyed watching FSU defeat UVA pretty handily. Ashley had a varsity soccer match Saturday so she stayed in Gulf Breeze. The GBHS girls tied Chiles HS 0-0. One of the other parents took the above picture of Ashley (#6) during the match. I must admit that watching my children work, play & live life is a pretty awesome blessing, one that I hope I never take for granted.