Shalom.
My daughter participated in her first dance recital today. Her performance was superb, for a three-year old. :-) I took her to the dress rehearsal on Friday, where her performance was less than spectacular (click here for dress rehearsal), even for a three-year old.
She more than made up for it at the actual recital. We arrived at the venue (which was Hatboro-Horsham High School) for the recital about a half our early. I wanted to get a parking spot that was close to the building and to the exit. And I wanted to make sure that we were well situated before the performance. We were so situated that an usher had to ask us to leave the auditorium because we entered too early. The recital didn't start until 12pm, however, we were i the auditorium at about 11:45am, but no one indicated that we were allowed to enter the auditorium. My daughter had to enter at the side entrance since she was one of the performers, you know. My mother, brother, in-laws, niece and friends were in attendance. We waited through 14 other performances before the main attraction -- my daughters group. They were dressed so beautifully. Their outfits were very pretty and had a sparkling effect. Their teacher was off stage "helping" them get through the routine.
I had wondered during the time when she attended her weekly classes how she would handle the recital. I wondered would she be scared? Would she just freeze in front of the audience? Would she run off the stage crying? Well, needless to say, she did nothing of the sort. She was a true performer. :-)
I was so proud of her. I was all smiles as I saw her following the direction of the teacher and not her fellow classmates. It was the beginning of something special. I am looking forward to my other daughter joining the dance school.
By the way, information about the dance school can be found here: Dance With M.E.
Blessings.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
House: 1 Me: 0
Shalom.
The task of remodeling our new home continues. I took three days off of work to remove the enormous amount of existing wallpaper in the house. After three days of scraping the existing the wallpaper from the walls, I can testify that wallpaper is evil! I don't know who created wallpaper, more specifically, the glue, but they must have had a sadistic nature. (Of course I am joking.) However, once you have had to deal with multiple layers of wallpaper and glue on top of wallpaper that has been painted over (several layers), you may come to the same conclusion.
I hired some helpers and it took us three days to scrape wallpaper on the first floor and some of the second floor. We are still not complete. We have the third floor hallway, the remaining second floor rooms, and the second floor hallway. Thankfully, the third floor rooms do not contain wallpaper. And once all the wallpaper has been scraped, we will roll it up along with the carpet.
This house has seen many repairs and experienced quite a bit of damage in some areas. The damage is not extensive, just typical for a house that sat uninhabited for a year and through repairs/remodeling not done the proper way.
We are working to get estimates to remove asbestos from the old boiler, radiator pipes and a heater tank. I never would have guessed that I would be dealing with asbestos. Having asbestos removed by an asbestos abatement company is a pretty penny. We have heard suggestions that it would be cheaper to remove it ourselves or have someone else remove it. My concern is that the disposal must be done environmentally correct. I do not want to damage this earth any more than it already has been.
We are obtaining other quotes for different work that needs to be done. That process is a learning experience. The individuals I met while obtaining the quotes seem like good people and they love what they do. Some of the quotes were reasonable, other seemed a bit higher than what I was expecting. I hope to have made my decisions by next week.
I hope to have some photos posted soon.
Blessings.
The task of remodeling our new home continues. I took three days off of work to remove the enormous amount of existing wallpaper in the house. After three days of scraping the existing the wallpaper from the walls, I can testify that wallpaper is evil! I don't know who created wallpaper, more specifically, the glue, but they must have had a sadistic nature. (Of course I am joking.) However, once you have had to deal with multiple layers of wallpaper and glue on top of wallpaper that has been painted over (several layers), you may come to the same conclusion.
I hired some helpers and it took us three days to scrape wallpaper on the first floor and some of the second floor. We are still not complete. We have the third floor hallway, the remaining second floor rooms, and the second floor hallway. Thankfully, the third floor rooms do not contain wallpaper. And once all the wallpaper has been scraped, we will roll it up along with the carpet.
This house has seen many repairs and experienced quite a bit of damage in some areas. The damage is not extensive, just typical for a house that sat uninhabited for a year and through repairs/remodeling not done the proper way.
We are working to get estimates to remove asbestos from the old boiler, radiator pipes and a heater tank. I never would have guessed that I would be dealing with asbestos. Having asbestos removed by an asbestos abatement company is a pretty penny. We have heard suggestions that it would be cheaper to remove it ourselves or have someone else remove it. My concern is that the disposal must be done environmentally correct. I do not want to damage this earth any more than it already has been.
We are obtaining other quotes for different work that needs to be done. That process is a learning experience. The individuals I met while obtaining the quotes seem like good people and they love what they do. Some of the quotes were reasonable, other seemed a bit higher than what I was expecting. I hope to have made my decisions by next week.
I hope to have some photos posted soon.
Blessings.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
A New Challenge Is Upon Me...
Shalom.
I am embarking upon a challenge that will stretch me physically and mentally. We purchased a home that is about 5,000 square feet and the house was in pretty good shape. It was a foreclosure and sat vacant for about a year.
My wife and I happened across the house in March of 2008. We saw the house and liked it. We put a bid in and the bid was rejected. We had requested a $10,000 credit based upon the results of a home inspection. (By the way, make sure when you are about to buy a house, that the contract includes an escape via the home inspection.) So, we returned from vacation and the house was put back on the market for less (yes, LESS) than our offer price. Well, needless to say, we pursued the property again. This time our initial offer was countered and we agreed to the counter offer. We thank God that the house came around again.
Now, we are in the process of remodeling the kitchen and two bathrooms. We are removing the plethora of wallpaper in the house and painting the walls where there was wallpaper. We are removing the 16 trees that are on the property and adding a quarter bath next to bathroom. That way, people can eat and not be slowed down too much by having to relieve themselves. The work will be very involved and detailed, but when the work is complete, what a home it will be!!
This process is teaching me that I still have a ways to go when communicating with my wife. We thought we understood each other concerning a change for the side yard of the house. She was saying one thing and I was hearing another. :-)
The fixing up of the house is keeping me very busy. I am trying to keep up with my life outside of the house, but believe me, it is a challenge.
When this season has passed, I will be taking a vacation!!
Blessings.
Jason
I am embarking upon a challenge that will stretch me physically and mentally. We purchased a home that is about 5,000 square feet and the house was in pretty good shape. It was a foreclosure and sat vacant for about a year.
My wife and I happened across the house in March of 2008. We saw the house and liked it. We put a bid in and the bid was rejected. We had requested a $10,000 credit based upon the results of a home inspection. (By the way, make sure when you are about to buy a house, that the contract includes an escape via the home inspection.) So, we returned from vacation and the house was put back on the market for less (yes, LESS) than our offer price. Well, needless to say, we pursued the property again. This time our initial offer was countered and we agreed to the counter offer. We thank God that the house came around again.
Now, we are in the process of remodeling the kitchen and two bathrooms. We are removing the plethora of wallpaper in the house and painting the walls where there was wallpaper. We are removing the 16 trees that are on the property and adding a quarter bath next to bathroom. That way, people can eat and not be slowed down too much by having to relieve themselves. The work will be very involved and detailed, but when the work is complete, what a home it will be!!
This process is teaching me that I still have a ways to go when communicating with my wife. We thought we understood each other concerning a change for the side yard of the house. She was saying one thing and I was hearing another. :-)
The fixing up of the house is keeping me very busy. I am trying to keep up with my life outside of the house, but believe me, it is a challenge.
When this season has passed, I will be taking a vacation!!
Blessings.
Jason
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Discerning the Process of A New Day
Shalom.
Pastor Willie Blakely brought forth a needful word on Sunday, April 20th.
The message from the Lord was about truly realizing that we need Him to properly live this life; that we need to direct others to Him (and not us) so that they may properly live this life. We need Him to carry out His will for our life while on this earth. We can no longer waste any more time trying to figure things out, or trying to seek others for advice, affirmation or agreement. We need to hear the truth, read the truth, speak the truth and live the truth. We have to either take God's Word as being true and powerful, or not. We have to be all in.
Pastor Blakely took his text from Isaiah 43.
Pastor Blakely informed us that God is trying to make His people realize that he is doing something new and trying to change our way of thinking so that we can move past our limited human thinking. We need to take the limits off of God and let Him be God. We have to realize that this life is not about us anymore. We have a higher purpose. And we don't have to worry about the devil derailing that purpose because we are more powerful than him. Once we really believe that and CHOOSE to operate in it, we will be in a totally different place spiritually. We would advance further along to where God can begin to really use us. We need to really see what God is trying to show us and wants us to see concerning our lives and His divine purpose.
We were reminded that God is not really interested in our gift. (He will use our gift because we are available at the time it is needed.) God is more interested in our character and that we do what is right. We cannot think of ourselves as not needing healing, mercy, repentance or forgiveness. We cannot get caught up in thinking of ourselves higher than we ought to. With that kind of thinking, we are setting ourselves up to fall and that could extended into the lives of the people that are rightly connected to us. Or, if we are in a leadership position, we could be leading God's people away from God instead of toward God. That would be a very terrible thing for all involved.
For those that have accepted Christ as their personal savior, this life is truly about doing God's will. We need to be in a place where we are more concerned with His will for our lives than anything else. We have to always remember that relationship is more important than religion. I don't think we can ever not need to be reminded of that fact.
Blessings.
Pastor Willie Blakely brought forth a needful word on Sunday, April 20th.
The message from the Lord was about truly realizing that we need Him to properly live this life; that we need to direct others to Him (and not us) so that they may properly live this life. We need Him to carry out His will for our life while on this earth. We can no longer waste any more time trying to figure things out, or trying to seek others for advice, affirmation or agreement. We need to hear the truth, read the truth, speak the truth and live the truth. We have to either take God's Word as being true and powerful, or not. We have to be all in.
Pastor Blakely took his text from Isaiah 43.
Pastor Blakely informed us that God is trying to make His people realize that he is doing something new and trying to change our way of thinking so that we can move past our limited human thinking. We need to take the limits off of God and let Him be God. We have to realize that this life is not about us anymore. We have a higher purpose. And we don't have to worry about the devil derailing that purpose because we are more powerful than him. Once we really believe that and CHOOSE to operate in it, we will be in a totally different place spiritually. We would advance further along to where God can begin to really use us. We need to really see what God is trying to show us and wants us to see concerning our lives and His divine purpose.
We were reminded that God is not really interested in our gift. (He will use our gift because we are available at the time it is needed.) God is more interested in our character and that we do what is right. We cannot think of ourselves as not needing healing, mercy, repentance or forgiveness. We cannot get caught up in thinking of ourselves higher than we ought to. With that kind of thinking, we are setting ourselves up to fall and that could extended into the lives of the people that are rightly connected to us. Or, if we are in a leadership position, we could be leading God's people away from God instead of toward God. That would be a very terrible thing for all involved.
For those that have accepted Christ as their personal savior, this life is truly about doing God's will. We need to be in a place where we are more concerned with His will for our lives than anything else. We have to always remember that relationship is more important than religion. I don't think we can ever not need to be reminded of that fact.
Blessings.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Forget In Order to Identify
Shalom.
Minister Anh Brown allowed the Lord to use her to bring forth a simple, yet potent and timely word.
Her scriptural text was taken from Philipians 3:13.
The preacher for that day talked to us about forgetting our past so that we can identify who we are in Christ. We need to forget so that we are not hindered in identifying who we are. It is so important that we rely on God for everything. We cannot let our accomplishments or failures take the credit for who we are. And we don't want to use those accomplishments or failures as a crutch. We need to stand on God's word and trust in God with our whole heart. The former things are a hinderance, a weight that prevents us from moving like we should and where we should, for God and in God. (I know I need to let go of some things and truly embrace the possibilities in God.)
The preacher informed us that we need to learn to walk in the spirit. And she offered up a great definition for how someone actually walks in the spirit. And you might think is was something deep, but it wasn't. The way one walks in the spirit is by denying self. Yup, that is it. Simple, yet profound, huh? That is something which is easier said than done because of our self-preservation mindset. Imagine the freedom we would have if we stopped being so concerned with us all the time. We are upset about what this one said about us, or what that one did to us five years ago, five days ago or even five minutes ago. Imagine the lives we could touch by getting over ourselves and allowing God to rule our thoughts, our movement, our actions. As the preacher said, by allowing God to be responsible, it releases the pressure off of us. And that is a wonderful thing! ^_^
Blessings.
"Jesus plus nothing is all you need" -- Pastor Willie Blakely
Minister Anh Brown allowed the Lord to use her to bring forth a simple, yet potent and timely word.
Her scriptural text was taken from Philipians 3:13.
The preacher for that day talked to us about forgetting our past so that we can identify who we are in Christ. We need to forget so that we are not hindered in identifying who we are. It is so important that we rely on God for everything. We cannot let our accomplishments or failures take the credit for who we are. And we don't want to use those accomplishments or failures as a crutch. We need to stand on God's word and trust in God with our whole heart. The former things are a hinderance, a weight that prevents us from moving like we should and where we should, for God and in God. (I know I need to let go of some things and truly embrace the possibilities in God.)
The preacher informed us that we need to learn to walk in the spirit. And she offered up a great definition for how someone actually walks in the spirit. And you might think is was something deep, but it wasn't. The way one walks in the spirit is by denying self. Yup, that is it. Simple, yet profound, huh? That is something which is easier said than done because of our self-preservation mindset. Imagine the freedom we would have if we stopped being so concerned with us all the time. We are upset about what this one said about us, or what that one did to us five years ago, five days ago or even five minutes ago. Imagine the lives we could touch by getting over ourselves and allowing God to rule our thoughts, our movement, our actions. As the preacher said, by allowing God to be responsible, it releases the pressure off of us. And that is a wonderful thing! ^_^
Blessings.
"Jesus plus nothing is all you need" -- Pastor Willie Blakely
Avoid The Hostage Situation
Shalom.
Pastor Willie Blakely brought a word that was truly from the Lord. The word had come as an edification and warning.
The scripture text is coming out of Exodus 1. The text talks about how the children of Israel multiplied as a people and the king that watched and was concerned about their multiplying. The devil is doing the same thing with God's people -- he is watching the multiplication of God's people and devising a plan to destroy God's people.
We were instructed to avoid the hostage situation. Who is holding who hostage you ask? The devil is holding God's people (those who claim Christ as Lord and saviour) hostage because we are allowing it. We are allowing it by not spending time with God in prayer. We are allowing it by not studying his word. We have to change our way of thinking. We have to call a sin a sin. We can no longer believe that a certain sin is worse than another; there are no varying levels of sin. All sin is putrid in the nostrils of God.
We need to learn to ask for help. The Bible says in Proverbs 16:18 that pride goes before destruction. The enemy is using pride and other devices to put us in a hostage situation. And we have been operating in those areas for so long that we can hardly see that we are very vulnerable to the enemy's attacks. We have to ask the Lord to open our eyes so we can see; we want our Spirit man to be strengthened so that we can get into a place where we are aware of the enemy's devices and we can deflect that attacks.
And the kicker is that the devil knows we have power over him, but we are the ones that don't know we have power over him. The devil lays hold of our mind and causes us to think we have no power. But that is the furthest from the truth. We need to counteract those thoughts. We need to avoid the enemy's domain. We need to avoid the things mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21. As Galatians 5:1 tells us, we don't have to be trapped by the enemy because we have been set free. We are set free from being ruled by our emotions. We are set free from remaining too long in a downtrodden state.
We have to stop trying to build buddy systems and forgoing telling one another the truth. We need to love one another enough to tell the truth. We should only be concerned with God liking us, meaning we need to make sure we live the word of God and not just preach it or quote it. We can't afford to let our brother or sister go to hell because we don't want to lose their friendship, or we are concerned that we won't get invited to a banquet, or get invited back to preach, or that we can't have anyone preach at our anniversary service and help us raise money for the "need of the week."
Blessings.
"Jesus plus nothing is all you need" -- Pastor Willie Blakely
Pastor Willie Blakely brought a word that was truly from the Lord. The word had come as an edification and warning.
The scripture text is coming out of Exodus 1. The text talks about how the children of Israel multiplied as a people and the king that watched and was concerned about their multiplying. The devil is doing the same thing with God's people -- he is watching the multiplication of God's people and devising a plan to destroy God's people.
We were instructed to avoid the hostage situation. Who is holding who hostage you ask? The devil is holding God's people (those who claim Christ as Lord and saviour) hostage because we are allowing it. We are allowing it by not spending time with God in prayer. We are allowing it by not studying his word. We have to change our way of thinking. We have to call a sin a sin. We can no longer believe that a certain sin is worse than another; there are no varying levels of sin. All sin is putrid in the nostrils of God.
We need to learn to ask for help. The Bible says in Proverbs 16:18 that pride goes before destruction. The enemy is using pride and other devices to put us in a hostage situation. And we have been operating in those areas for so long that we can hardly see that we are very vulnerable to the enemy's attacks. We have to ask the Lord to open our eyes so we can see; we want our Spirit man to be strengthened so that we can get into a place where we are aware of the enemy's devices and we can deflect that attacks.
And the kicker is that the devil knows we have power over him, but we are the ones that don't know we have power over him. The devil lays hold of our mind and causes us to think we have no power. But that is the furthest from the truth. We need to counteract those thoughts. We need to avoid the enemy's domain. We need to avoid the things mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21. As Galatians 5:1 tells us, we don't have to be trapped by the enemy because we have been set free. We are set free from being ruled by our emotions. We are set free from remaining too long in a downtrodden state.
We have to stop trying to build buddy systems and forgoing telling one another the truth. We need to love one another enough to tell the truth. We should only be concerned with God liking us, meaning we need to make sure we live the word of God and not just preach it or quote it. We can't afford to let our brother or sister go to hell because we don't want to lose their friendship, or we are concerned that we won't get invited to a banquet, or get invited back to preach, or that we can't have anyone preach at our anniversary service and help us raise money for the "need of the week."
Blessings.
"Jesus plus nothing is all you need" -- Pastor Willie Blakely
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
My children
Shalom.
I just wanted to share an experience I had today with my oldest daughter. I had called home from work to discuss some business with my wife, but before I could even mention it, my wife begins to inform me that my oldest daughter locked herself in the bathroom on the first floor and gave herself a haircut. This was disturbing because she had the forethought to lock the bathroom door, which says she knew what she was doing. The house has two full bathrooms, and the first floor lavatory can be locked via a latch that is at my daughter's level. And I don't even know when she learned that there was a lock and how the lock works. She used scissors, a child's pair of scissors, that my wife bought for her arts and craft projects.
When I heard that news I thought "What in the world!?" I was totally surprised and disappointed. I was disappointed because I had already had words with my daughter concerning locking the bathroom door because she has done it in the past. I was scared because I thought what if she harmed herself while in the bathroom. Thank GOD that she didn't harm herself. Then my immediate thought on punishment was spanking her, and I was unanimous in that decision. Oh yeah, and my daughter actually wanted to talk to me when she realized I was on the phone with her mother. She told me she was reading her Bible. (How about that? Coincidence?) Now, you can't tell me that kids are not smart. By the way, my daughter that performed this is three years of age. So her telling me that she was reading her Bible made me pause for a second. But I was still set on spanking her rear end for what she had done.
So, as I made my trek home after work, I debated whether or not to still beat her. I went back and forth. I thought, maybe this is a cry for attention, or perhaps she saw a fellow student pretend at school. I recalled that she did lock the bathroom door before and I told her that was wrong. Because of the previous offense with locking the door and that she should have asked to use the scissors, I resolved that I would still beat her.
When I walked through the door, I was greeted by guess who? I was greeted by my daughter who had given herself the haircut. She hugged me and went trotting off to the kitchen. After I took my coat off, I sat my daughter down and explained to her that I was disappointed in her cutting her hair. I told her I was concerned for her safety when she locked herself in the bathroom. After that was said, I spanked her on her legs a few times. She cried, of course. I took her with me to the dinner table to eat dinner. She ate a little piece of fish and fell asleep.
I had called my mother before I left workand asked if that is normal behavior for children. My mom said that my brothers and I tried to cut each others hair but not our own hair.
With the introduction of my children to my life, my life has taken a change of course that I could never have imagined. This change in course has been very rewarding and very challenging at the same time. The only thing I would have done differently is purchase a four-door car instead of a two-door car. Prior to my wife and I having children, my wife wanted a coupe for her new car. And, at the time, I didn't see a problem with that. But oh, if I knew then what I know now...
Blessings.
I just wanted to share an experience I had today with my oldest daughter. I had called home from work to discuss some business with my wife, but before I could even mention it, my wife begins to inform me that my oldest daughter locked herself in the bathroom on the first floor and gave herself a haircut. This was disturbing because she had the forethought to lock the bathroom door, which says she knew what she was doing. The house has two full bathrooms, and the first floor lavatory can be locked via a latch that is at my daughter's level. And I don't even know when she learned that there was a lock and how the lock works. She used scissors, a child's pair of scissors, that my wife bought for her arts and craft projects.
When I heard that news I thought "What in the world!?" I was totally surprised and disappointed. I was disappointed because I had already had words with my daughter concerning locking the bathroom door because she has done it in the past. I was scared because I thought what if she harmed herself while in the bathroom. Thank GOD that she didn't harm herself. Then my immediate thought on punishment was spanking her, and I was unanimous in that decision. Oh yeah, and my daughter actually wanted to talk to me when she realized I was on the phone with her mother. She told me she was reading her Bible. (How about that? Coincidence?) Now, you can't tell me that kids are not smart. By the way, my daughter that performed this is three years of age. So her telling me that she was reading her Bible made me pause for a second. But I was still set on spanking her rear end for what she had done.
So, as I made my trek home after work, I debated whether or not to still beat her. I went back and forth. I thought, maybe this is a cry for attention, or perhaps she saw a fellow student pretend at school. I recalled that she did lock the bathroom door before and I told her that was wrong. Because of the previous offense with locking the door and that she should have asked to use the scissors, I resolved that I would still beat her.
When I walked through the door, I was greeted by guess who? I was greeted by my daughter who had given herself the haircut. She hugged me and went trotting off to the kitchen. After I took my coat off, I sat my daughter down and explained to her that I was disappointed in her cutting her hair. I told her I was concerned for her safety when she locked herself in the bathroom. After that was said, I spanked her on her legs a few times. She cried, of course. I took her with me to the dinner table to eat dinner. She ate a little piece of fish and fell asleep.
I had called my mother before I left workand asked if that is normal behavior for children. My mom said that my brothers and I tried to cut each others hair but not our own hair.
With the introduction of my children to my life, my life has taken a change of course that I could never have imagined. This change in course has been very rewarding and very challenging at the same time. The only thing I would have done differently is purchase a four-door car instead of a two-door car. Prior to my wife and I having children, my wife wanted a coupe for her new car. And, at the time, I didn't see a problem with that. But oh, if I knew then what I know now...
Blessings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
