Thursday, June 28, 2007

Habakkuk and the Presidential Elections

Most people don't roll over, hit the snooze button, and think "Hey, I'm going to read Habakkuk today for my quiet time." Quite honestly, I wouldn't have read it either if it hadn't been part of my Sunday School class' study of the minor prophets. Just to give you an overview--Habakkuk begins with a complaint to God about the Israelites and their disregard for God's statutes. God basically says, "Don't worry about it. I've got this all under control. I'm going to use the Babylonians to come in and take care of things." He actually says He's "raising up" the Babylonians to be a powerful nation for His purposes. Sounds a little strange if you know anything about that group of people. Habakkuk then says, "Whoa, wait a minute God. You're going to use the most unrighteous of all peoples to solve this problem with your own people?" God then reassures Habakkuk that He's using them for His plan but He will administer justice on the Babylonians before it's all said and done. The book of Habakkuk ends with the prophet's prayer acknowledging the awesomeness of God and praising Him no matter what happens.

v.18 :yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.

Now, I'm honestly trying not to pay attention to the presidential elections yet, because quite frankly, it's way too early to be thinking about an election that's more than a year away. I do know enough though to know that so far there is not a strong Christian candidate. For now, in the party where the Christians usually emerge, we have a Mormon and someone who says he's against abortion but doesn't have the backbone to do anything about it, as the front runners. I'm still praying that God will raise up a mighty leader who will make decisions based on God's principles. But, if He doesn't, Habakkuk reminds me that God is in control of all people, not just the ones who serve Him. He has a plan and it will be carried out no matter who holds our country's top office. We may need to remind ourselves of this fact in the days to come.

Praise for Dental Insurance

That might sound like something strange to give praise for but after being without dental insurance for several years, I am jumping for joy! Our kids got their teeth cleaned last in 2005 and I was $400 poorer after the experience. Today, all of them had checkups with their new dentist and I had to pay $0. Woo hoo! Alyssa has the beginnings of a cavity which they are going to go ahead and fill, no drilling required, next month; but the rest of the kids all got a good check up. Not bad since they've only had their teeth cleaned twice in the last 5 years!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Rain, Rain Go Away!

I'm so sick of rain I could scream! AAAAGH! This has been the strangest spring and summer for both of the states I have lived in over the last 3 months. It has rained almost every day since arriving at our new home. This does not mix well with 4 kids in a house with half their stuff and no friends to call to come over. Today we decided we had to get out of the house. At breakfast, I took votes on what everyone wanted to do. Nominated were the aquarium, space museum, roller skating, or movies. We ended up seeing "Surf's Up" at the cheap theatre. The "cheap theatre" only charges $2.25 for movies before 5, but you're guaranteed to stick to the floor. It's also recommended that you go to the bathroom before leaving home.

Surf's Up did not get rave reviews from the kids. Nathan laughed hysterically throughout the whole thing though and that alone made it worth sitting through. I love hearing his belly laugh that tends to be contagious in our family. The movie is portrayed in documentary format which makes the continuity of the story line hard to follow with constant flashbacks. The usual bathroom humor was present along with some innuendo that I see no need for in a kid's movie. It's redeeming quality was the moral of "winning isn't everything"; having fun and being a good friend are more important.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Movie Review: Evan Almighty

I was so ready not to like this movie as I am always skeptical of anything Hollywood puts out in the mainstream that's in any way related to Christianity. After reading a few positive reviews, we decided to take Nathan today. There are few aspects to the story line that I have to overlook, such as the flood not being cataclysmic and world wide or the fact that everyone nearby was let onto the ark regardless of their faith. Overall, God is portrayed as a kind and loving God who has your best interest in mind, that He is not there to make your life easy but to guide you through it. There is also a strong emphasis on families sticking together and that time with your family is more important than worldly success or any other thing. So, kudos to Hollywood for finally putting out a clean, family movie with a moral message-- despite the ever present poop jokes which Nathan, along with every other 7 yr. old boy in the theatre, found hilarious.

Personal Trainers, Zoo Animals and Thunderstorms

You may be wondering how all of those things are related. Nathan and I encountered them all on our special day out without the other kids. While Zac, Kate and Alyssa are off at camp and Kevin and Steve were out playing golf; I seized the moment to have some special time with Nate which doesn't happen very often at our house.

We were blessed with a membership to a local health club by one of our church members and it included three sessions with a personal trainer. I met with Sara last week for my fitness age test. You do some basic fitness tests to determine your body's age despite the number of actual birthdays you've had. At the risk of a slight bit of embarrassment, I'll share my scores with you. Flexibility--18, Body Composition--20, Strength--24, and Cardio--80 Obviously, I need to get busy exercising and get my heart pumping so I don't keel over before my next birthday which is just 3 weeks away. So, our day started with my next session with Sara. She educated me on how to use all the machines in the gym and designed a one hour workout for me. Did you know they have exercise bikes with tv's built in? I might actually be able to stay on that one for more than 5 minutes without getting bored.

Next, we were on to the zoo--our first trip to the one in our new town so we weren't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. It's on the smaller side but beautifully landscaped and all the habitats are very nice. Unlike most zoo trips where the animals are all sleeping, most were moving around and it was fun to see them in action as opposed to looking like a stuffed animal. It was a hit with Nathan since they had a train and a carousel. He also enjoyed the elephant show where one of the elephants played a harmonica. No kidding!

Unfortunately, some ominous clouds and thunder and lightning cut our trip short. We were the last 2 people allowed to get on the train at the back of the zoo and got to the front quickly enough to make it to the van before the downpour hit. But, we still had a great time on our "date" and enjoyed our time together.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Upcoming Events

June 21-24 Zac, Alyssa and Katie all go to children's camp; Alyssa will be the 6th grade girls' counselor
July 1 -6 Zac and Alyssa will be on the jr. high mission trip, conducting backyard Bible clubs and working at Mission Arlington
July 9-13 Zac--tennis camp, Nathan--swim lessons
July 20-28 Kevin to Sonora Mexico with sr. high youth mission trip
July 30-Aug. 2 Nathan to day camp with our church
October--Kevin to India for 2 to 3 weeks, telling Bible stories to villagers and digging water wells

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

How "Slackin' off" came to be

I've been thinking about starting a blog for quite some time. I love to journal, but am terrible at doing it on a regular basis. I'm hoping that having a blog and knowing that someone else is actually reading it (maybe) will keep me accountable to writing more often.

If you're wondering about the title....
I didn't want to include any personal information, such as a last name, in my title. I'm still a little old fashioned, for good or bad I don't know, about putting mine or my kids' names out on the web for all to see. I attempted to come up with a title using the kids initials, but with only 2 vowels and a lot of weird letters--K, G, N, Z--I couldn't seem to put together anything that actually sounded like a word. My own initials don't make a word either, but they are contained in the word slack. I figure if I'm writing regularly on the blog, I must be slackin' off on some household chore that needs to be done, but I can guarantee the chore will still be there when I'm done!