“Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won't also cost you yours.”
~Rich Mullins

Nov 30, 2010

It's the MOST wonderful time of the year!!!!

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, "I am the LIGHT OF THE WORLD: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

What a beautiful and amazing promise...and what better time to celebrate that promise but at Christmas-time?!?!? The most wonderful time of the year!





Our house got covered in lights today!!! (The writing on the roof says "Jesus" incase you can't read it in the picture)
Christ's incarnation is such a mystery...how could one be fully God and fully man at the same time? It makes no sense to us as humans! All we can do is accept it as truth, and be eternally grateful to Him for it!!!!
Hopefully, I'll be able to post some of the great things we do this season...like a concert on Friday, parade on Saturday, Christmas recitals, etc!!
'Night!
Lisa

A Different Set of Beliefs

Soooo.... my sisters and I, along with David R, are going through Worldviews of the Western World - I think I mentioned that in an earlier post. This week, we had to write an essay and answer 3 questions from a Biblical perspective:
1. Is There A God? What Is He Like?
2. What Is The Nature Of The Universe?
3. What Is The Essential Nature of Man?
This is all so interesting to me, and it is really helping me to know God better. I have a feeling that pretty soon, we are going to have to do an essay on basically the same thing from the Greco-Roman perspective. Should be some good stuff!!! OK.....so, here's my essay. Critique it, tell me it's boring, amazing, true, or whatever you think!!!!

A Different Set of Beliefs

Over the ages, the Christian belief system has proved to be different than all other religions. For some reason, the nation of America, founded on these beliefs and principles, is the world's most successful country. For some reason, throught earth history, men and women have been brutally tortured and murdered for these beliefs, and yet died willing, even joyfully, able even to pray for and forgive their persecutors. Why? What do these people have that others do not? They have the knowledge that there is an infinite God, who is also a personal God, guiding and governing the lives of each and every individual.

Throughout Scripture, we see many times that God has two main character traits - He is infinite, and He is personal. In Jer. 10:16, it says the God of the Bible is not like other gods, "He is the former of all things." He existed before anything else did. Again in John 17:24, Jesus Himself states that both He and God were existent "before the foundation of the world." As finite humans, it is impossible for us to fully grasp what that means. All we can know is that it is true, and that God is much bigger than us, and for beyond our comprehension. This would be a disheartening realization if we did not also know that He is a personal God. Before the fall, (Gen. 2:16) and after the fall (Gen. 3:8-9), God communicates with man in a loving and personal way. Considering that this is God's nature and that He created all things, it is easy to see that all of His creation was created for a purpose. The universe did no form because of random chance - it was created by the infinite, personal God.

Originally, God created the universe to be subject to and serve man, yet ultimately to be subject to and serve God, but after the fall, things changed. We know that God created the universe (Gen. 1:1) and that He is able to work into it and change it whenever He wishes - as in the time of the Flood (Gen. 7:10-11). Thus, it is not hard to believe that God could change the way His creation worked. Before the Fall, man had dominion over nature and was in harmony with it. When man fell and his nature changed, that which was subject to him changed in it's nature, also. Gen. 3:17-18 shows that God spoke, and the earth changed - it now would not be easy for man to till the ground; it would oppose him. So now, the universe is abnormal. Man knew why the ground opposed him (Gen. 5:29); God cursed it. However, even though the universe is abnormal, it is still under man's dominion because he bears God's image.

God created man in His image and gave him dominion over the earth, but when man chose to disobey, God cursed him. As God's image bearer (Gen. 1:27), man is set apart from the rest of God's creation. He has dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28), and that dominion is given to him by God. However, in spite of his superiority, man is fallen. God created man with the ability to make choices, and man chose to disobey God (Gen. 3:6). Because man sinnsed, God, as a just God, cursed man (Gen. 3:17). No longer a sinless being, man still has dominion over creation, but he governs imperfectly. However, God, in His mercy, ahs always provided a way for man to still have fellowship with Him. For us today, we have open communication with the infinite, personal God through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

In conclusion then, we see that God, as an infinite Being, created the universe and man to relate to Him as a personal Being. We, as sinful, fallen creatures, are able to have fellowship with our Creator. Being made in His image, we are different from the rest of His creation and have dominion over it. This givews us a responsibility - no man can deny the existence of God. For those of us who, as Christians, accept and believe that fact, we are responsible to help others accept it, also. This is the reason that Christianity is different - we have a God-given purpose and meaning in our life.

Nov 26, 2010

Christmas is COMING!!!!

OK....as soon as Thanksgiving is over, it is now "officially" the Christmas season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!! FINALLY!!!!! Can you tell I love Christmas?!?!?!?

Since I get to start putting lights on our house, I get to put them on my blog, too :)

Thanksgiving

Wow...we had one amazing Thanksgiving!!!

It started on Wednesday night when all the K girls came and spent the night. We stayed up till 1AM watching movies, talking, telling funny stories, and watching Sabrina pretend to be different people from church. We all slept in the living room with a big fire and had a great time.

Thursday morning, we slept in until around 8:45, and then did chores. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast but, since we had a turkey in our oven, Brooke and I went over to the R's house (who are out of town) and cooked in their oven. After breakfast, we took the horses out and went driving. It was cold, but it was really pretty, too! When we got home, we started cooking. And we cooked....and cooked.....and cooked.

By the afternoon, there was SO MUCH FOOD!!!! We had all of us, the K's, the F's, and Matt and there was still tons left over. We had a great time fellowshipping and just hanging out!

As we all calmed down, we had an awesome family worship time singing songs and telling what we were thankful for. There was lots of food, lots of fun, lots of laughter, lots of noise, and (as always) lots of kids!!! Over all, it was a very memorable day, and a good time was had by all!

Enjoy the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The whipped cream got out of control! I tried to put a "20" on Brooke's face....


...and it got worse.....


...and worse!!!


I couldn't stop laughing! She told me we're not friends anymore :) It was so so so funny


Laney was horrified at Brooke covered in whipped cream :)


Sabrina ate too much.....


...and paid the price! (Doncha think she needs to be on a diet?!?!?)


Our 30lb turkey!!! You can't tell how big it was, but this was one GORGEOUS turkey!! We were all a little in awe of it. It fed 14 people and there was incredible amounts left over. Mrs. K called it "thunder thighs" because the drumsticks were so huge :)


Someone stole food while the backs of the "kitchen guards" are turned


Mr. K smoking tuna...and torturing the dogs!




Beautiful, beautiful Ainsley...one more thing to be thankful for! She is one of God's wondrous works!!!!


Proud Mama and Papa :)




Macie looking "cool" in her shades :)


By the end, we were so tired that we dissolved into fighting...

Lisa and Sabrina were fighting over the recliner

And Hadleigh and Laney were fighting over "chapick" :)


I hope everyone else had a great day!!!

In HIM,
Lisa

Nov 23, 2010

Sabrina Singing

WOW....what talent Sabrina C has!!! She is only 14 years old, and she can sing like a pro!!! She surprised her Dad on Friday night with a beautiful recording of her singing I Can Only Imagine with Matt on guitar. She has an absolutely beautiful voice!!! It is so neat and encouraging to see the young people in our church using their extreme God-given talents to glorify HIM. If you know Sabrina, be prepared to cry while listening to this!! (I did) The movie may not be up for a little while...




This Thursday is going to be a memorable Thanksgiving!! The K's, F's and Matt are coming over, and us and the K girls are going to make the whole dinner. We bought a 30 pound turkey last week...this thing is HUGE!!! There is soooo much food being planned that I will have to take a picture of the table before everybody starts eating. We are really excited to do this and I know it is going to be a really blessed time as we all talk about what we are thankful for. God has blessed us so richly!!
Some of the things I am thankful for this year:
1. That God PREDESTINED me to adoption before the foundations of the earth!!
2. For parents who have been married for 18 years
3. For my sisters who make me laugh and see life in different ways
4. For being raised in a home where everyone is seeking to obey God and honor Him with their lives
5. For being homeschooled and being taught the VALUE of staying pure
6. For being able to own and enjoy horses
7. That God gave me the talent to play the piano!!!
8. For a year where I have learned to know God and walk with Him like never before
9. For Godly friends who encourage and support me
10. For our AMAZING church family!!

Nov 3, 2010

Holding For Ransom....

There is a cowgirl over here at the D's Ranch who is holding this hat for ransom...it was left after the party last weekend. We will trade this hat for the little boy who was wearing it on Sunday :)

One Amazing Sunday!!!!!!!!!!

Well, last Sunday was totally awesome! Around 8 AM, all of us girls were ecstatic at the HUGE trailer coming down our little road. Dr. Sterrett's trailer is (guessing) a 12 horse and it is pulled by a semi. AMAZING!!!

We started unloading the round-pen panels, sound system, and crates of books/movies/shirts, etc. As we worked, more people showed up and things started moving along. At one point, Tyler said that there were 38 cars here!!!!

The sermon itself was great. He took a totally unhandled long yearling and within 1.5 hours was on her back trotting both ways. I think it was harder to understand what he did for those who don't understand horses, but this little filly was a jerk. At first, I actually thought, "Hmmm...I wonder if he bit off more than he can chew. He may not be able to break her?!?" But, no sweat. Again, I can't believe at the way he can handle a crazy horse and the whole time relate it to our lives. He covered so many topics in such a short time that you felt a little breathless afterwards :)

Lunch in our beautiful front yard was so fun. There was unbelievable amounts of food and desserts especially! Always a great thing to have lots of, right?!?!? We fellowshipped, talked, danced, and hung out for a little while, and then we started re-packing all the equipment into his trailer.

We had 13 EZ-Up canopies down in the arena to provide shade for everyone who was watching. There were also lots of folding chairs. So, after about 2 hours of working, we got the barn area cleaned up and sent Dr Sterrett off to his next stop. I really hope he comes back next year!!!!

The front yard was really fun to clean up....some of us started racing to clean up tables/chairs...which was fun until Jessie and Geramy almost ran over me and Brooke because they were carrying tables and racing for the gate :) It's so great to work with friends because it's just fun the whole time. Everyone pitches in and a huge amount of work gets done in a very short time period.

As it got later/darker, the boys played football for a while. David slipped on our grass and landed on his side...creating a nice bruise on the side of his leg in the shape of the knife that was in his pocket!

After that, we started playing Capture-the-Flag, but that ended abruptly. As soon as the game started, I ran as fast as I could from where I was hiding towards their flag because they didn't have anyone guarding it. Well, I tried to turn on the wet grass and my right leg slipped out from under me and I really hurt my knee. At first, I thought it was really hurt; I couldn't walk on it at all. But, then it eased up a little, and I am doing OK, but wearing a brace on it.

Needless to say, I was done with the physical activities for the night, so we built a little campfire in the driveway. We were going to do a bonfire with the tree we took out on Sat., but it got too late. For a while, us three girls, David, Noah, Josiah, and Matt all looked through the piles of dead wood for scorpions using black lights.

After about an hour of unsuccessful searching, we begged Mom and Mrs. R. into going and getting marshmallows. Some of us burned ours, and some of us made them gooey and delicious. As we all wound down, Matt and Josie pulled out their guitars and we sat around the fire and played and sang for a while. It was beautiful.

So.....the whole thing was incredible. We had quite a few people hint that we should do church at our house during the months when the weather is nice...I don't object at all! Everyone was awesome about setting up and then cleaning up. By Monday afternoon, you could have never known that 200 people were at our house 24 hours before. Thank you so much to all of you who helped so willingly. My mom was kind of hesitant to have a big group at our house just because of the clean up afterwards, but she was so pleased, and said she wouldn't mind doing it again at all. God has really blessed us with an amazing church and amazing friends.

I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did, and now.....I'm still catching up on sleep, so I'm off to bed :)

G'night,
Lisa