Great quote from class tonight

"Bibles that are coming apart
usually belong
to people that aren't.

Gotta love that :)

So, yes...back at my Bethel class tonight. 3o scheduled classes, 5 tests and 2 weeks of a four part final and I still have to write up a book report from the summer session that I didn't complete yet.
Add to that the fact that we are apparently going to start teaching at some point this session some of the classes to the congregational level classes as well as everything listed above and this has the making of a very full upcoming year.

Starting Bethel Again tomorrow

Looking forward to doing the New Testament this year. I will be interested to see how everyone does and where we end up from a teaching perspective since that was the goal of the class...to create new teachers. Certainly a lot of time and energy has been invested by everyone so far and with a whole year left to go, much more still to come...
maybe I will have to create another video ;)

Another Construction Update

As promised, here are a couple more pics from me this week. It is definitely coming along, though as you will see from the pictures...it starts to get less obvious how much work is being done as you go along. Things like plumbing and electrical aren't quite so distinct as framing is :)


This is in the new bathroom. You can see that we are set up for a double vanity!


Here is the new sub-panel that is in the garage. We are not running the 200 amp service now that we will need if we ever get A/C for the house, but we did have them set it up so that the wiring and the box can accommodate it when it is time.



You can see that they finished up the roof and that it looks great. Definitely starts to make you see how it ties into the rest of the house.




On Friday they started putting up the siding. They could only do so much since they really have to wait for most of it until the doors and windows finally arrive...but, it is cool to see the little bit they did get up as it really gives it a finished look.

A blossoming flower

A post from my devotional this morning that I thought was worth sharing:
When a wife feels undernourished, underappreciated, and underloved (because the husband does not give her his time and attention) she wilts into a bland nothingness instead of blossoming with life and excitement.
the passage comes from a book called Every Man's Marriage

What a great reminder of how important our time is to our spouse. I pray that I give Kristen my time and attention so that she is nourished and able to blossom.

What determination can accomplish...

Just thought I would share this story...I have read about this guy and then saw this speech as well. I think it is an awesome reminder of what can be accomplished when the effort and determination is there. If I had half his ingenuity and drive...

http://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_how_i_harnessed_the_wind.html

Jaden's Soccer

Initially, we were not thinking of putting Jaden in soccer this fall since we were going to try to find a piano teacher and let him do that. We haven't succeeded in finding a piano teacher at a price we are willing to pay, so at the last second, Kristen got him into soccer. As it is on Saturday's and Tuesday nights, it is all Dad, all the time...as it conflicts with Mom's class or Mom's time to study :)

Here are a couple of photos from Jaden's game on Saturday...he even got to play goalie for awhile (when he was in the yellow jersey).

Goal Kick and Jaden sends it down the field!

The boys lounging in the sun while Jaden plays his game...they did not sit for very long, so I am glad I got the shot when I did...

Jaden warming up for the game...he also ran a lap around the field like he does at school. He is so much like his dad. He takes the game and the practice very seriously :)

Construction Update...

Been a little while since I posted on the addition.
They are coming to install doors and windows this week, so maybe I will have to post twice with pictures...


Looking from the new dining room towards the stairs that will lead to our new room above the garage.

This is looking at the addition from the backyard. Definitely gives you a better feel for how big it is. The boys love going into the construction area and wish that they could "play" in there as it seems to them like it was made for a game of swords or Jedi's or something.

A view from the front...I will have to update even more now...they have already finished tiling the roof :)

Apple Picking 2009

This weekend we went back to Tougas Farms in Northborough to pick apples again. We were blessed with a perfect day weather wise and we picked 20 pounds of apples varying in size, color and taste. As has become our annual rite, most apples were picked by Dad lifting the boys towards the tops of the trees and them picking the best ones they can find and handing them down to Mom. It will be interesting to see how many years I will be able to continue to do that :)

Tougas also had many ladders out this year to help people pick some of the higher ones up and it was fun for the boys to each get turns climbing up on the ladder as well. Here are a couple of pictures and more are posted on Facebook.

Starting to pick some apples...

My beautiful family

It was a very bright day as you can see...though Kristen and Jude couldn't :)

Gotta love that smile!

14 Down, 22 to go

Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality And Spirituality by Rob Bell


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have heard a lot about Rob Bell and seen several of his NOOMA videos. If you have heard him speak, or seen one of his videos, this book seems to follow that type of story telling approach. Connecting things that we all do everyday or hear about or think about to God and how He engages us to have a relationship with Him.
I found in this book that Rob does do a great job of reminding all of us of the value God has in each of us and that He continues to remind us of His desires for us through many of the ways He has set up the world...marriage, the Exodus, and the New Testament scriptures all have repeating patterns in the way God talks to us and reminds us of the way He has established the way things work...and also shows why there can be such pain when that which was made for good is not used in the way God intended.
I think that this book can be really poignant and would be an incredibly good read for people who are engaged to be married...as Rob does a good job of speaking to the sacrifice that is necessary in a marriage to make it work.

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Thought from today

Our pastor talked today about small groups and the importance that relationships have in our spiritual growth and development...
Anyway, he made a comment about maturity that was something along the lines of...the key to spiritual maturity is constant self-reflection to evaluate the Bible vs our practices.
It got me to thinking about how easy it is to fall into a habit of just going along with the flow of things...even things that are good things without truly reflecting on them, considering the impact on our lives, and those around us and so on. I get so busy doing, chasing the kids, getting to the next thing that is due or that I am already behind on that I don't really do a great job on reflecting right now. I think it is even reflected in that post from just a few days or so back on goals. If I spend no time reflecting, then it is unlikely that I will spend time validating that what I am doing was in line with what I wanted to get done. I know it happens to all of us, right..consider your last weekend...did you get all the things done that you set out to do? But aside from task lists and sheer accomplishments, reflection and evaluation are key to assuring that you haven't gotten off track, that you haven't lost focus on what was important. All those goals were great goals, but there was something behind them that was important...
Am I still honoring what I considered important based on the choices I am making today?
What is really important to me now based upon where I spend my time?
It can certainly hit you between the eyes sometimes...can't it?

45 Life Lessons from a 90 year old...

Written by Regina Brett, who is 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio. "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written." My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything and "anyone" (haters & discouragers) that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else. Amen
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion.
Today is special.
22. Over prepare, and then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone for everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time to time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Status on my goals this year...

This is a little sobering unfortunately...which kind of makes me think that I need to "rethink" how I lay these out and how I make sure I spend the cycles and time to accomplish them during the year...

1. Last year I read 24 books (12 Fiction, 12 Non-fiction).
- I have read 14 (13 that I have posted to my site so far...). That puts me on pace to only get to about 19 at the end of the year...ouch. I had a poor summer of trying to get through a couple of books for my bible class and I didn't do so well. I imagine I will do better than 19, but I don't know that I will get my goal...

2. Kristen and I will have at least 6 date nights this year.
- I think we are doing OK on this...though I haven't done a great job of keeping track. We have had either 3 or 4 so far...so, pretty close to on track.

3. We will make 6 local trips to new places this year.
- I don't even know how I have done on this one. I definitely do not think we have made the 6 trips and I am not even sure if we have made it halfway...

4. I will complete the Old Testament Bethel class in 2009.
- Completed

5. I will complete the p90X program in 2009.
- completed, though not as strongly as I would have liked...

6. Learn one cool magic trick for the boys
- not done...yet

7. Clean, organize and paint my office
- By doing the addition, this one is going to get done in spite of my lack of effort. By moving the office over to its new location here in a couple months, I will have a clean and newly painted office. Can't really call this one a success :)

8. I will create a feature presentation logo for all "Moffitt" movies we make moving forward.
- In process...haven't really created something that I like yet.

9. To do 40 hours of community service
- Miserable failure.

Bible Study starting back up

A week from now I will be starting up a bible study with some guys after basically the whole summer off. I am both excited and concerned. I don't think it went too well last fall and we had many mis-steps and lack of engagement by most people involved. I am really praying that everyone who decides to be part of this will be committed to attending, sharing and participating and that I can do an effective job of leading and helping everyone get the most out of the study that they can.

Some thoughts on "The Resurrection Factor" by Josh McDowell

This is one of the books I chose to read over the summer for my class at church. It was a decent read and I wrote up some thoughts on it...

Does the historical evidence support the resurrection of Jesus Christ? This is both the subtitle of the book and probably one of the most important questions that you can ask over the course of a person’s life. If historical evidence is in support of Jesus Christ resurrection then that should speak volumes to all with respect to His claims to being God. Much like ‘The Case for Christ’ by Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell was determined to do his due diligence in researching Christianity. By validating the claims that the New Testament made regarding the resurrection he “removes the question, ‘Is Christianity valid?’ from the realm of philosophy and forces it to be an issue of history.” But why is the distinction in this question so important? Why would we care to move it from one classification to another?

Philosophy is “Investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods”. In other words, what you can rationalize or think to be true…is your truth. If someone can convince you to think their way…that is your new truth. Philosophy believes that you can figure out everything…including God…by using logic. And from this branch of thinking and reasoning we get the great questions that supposedly stump us like, “Can God make a stone big enough that even He can’t lift it?”…questions that prove that man can completely mix ourselves up into thinking we are smarter than we are. However, if we move The Resurrection and the basis of Christianity into a historical question, we change how people have to engage the reality of God in our world. It is no longer a question of can you rationalize God. It is a question of did it happen, and, if it did happen, what does that mean? Those are concrete questions that demand explicit answers and proof that exists outside of someone’s mind.

Christ died on the cross. He rose on the 3rd day and defeated death. There were prophecies that it would happen…Jesus himself said it would happen…and we have written documents from eye witnesses that said it did happen. If He really did defeat death, what would that mean to you?

McDowell writes of the many other kinds of evidence that can support this as truth as well. The circumstantial evidence provides incremental proof outside of accepted and documented facts and the eye witness testimonies and further, even the archaeological evidence has only supported the facts as described by the witness testimonies. McDowell even discusses the alternate theories that have been provided and why the holes in those show that they are trying to fill the gaps for that which only the supernatural reality of God being in our midst truly fills.

“If all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude that the tomb in which Jesus was buried was actually empty on the morning of the first Easter. And no shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy, or archaeology that would disprove this statement.” If accurate, and the book goes to great detail to show that it is so, then The Resurrection truly is a fact of history and, as such, has immeasurable consequence…not only two thousand years ago, but to today and for all eternity. God came as a person to this earth, died and rose again and called us to believe in Him and that historical sacrifice so that we too could conquer death. So, we don’t need to rationalize God’s existence…but assuming you are still someone that feels that urge than I suppose you could go with Pascal’s wager…you will still realize that it is in your best interest to believe in God.

13 Down, 23 to go

The Resurrection Factor by Josh McDowell


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The was a book very similar to the more contemporary "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel. McDowell looks at the historical evidence aruond the resurrection and makes a case for why it is the most coherent and rational set of events based on the eye witness testimony, the circumstantial evidence and even his own life changes 2000 years after the event. While it seemed that a couple of his points were repetitive in the book, overall he makes a clear case for why a Christian can truly believe that the tomb was empty on that first Easter and why the Christian religion started off so strongly in Jerusalem amidst such a difficult environment. Worth the read and I also enjoyed some of the backup material that he included in the version tht I read...so look for the version with the supplemental information in the back.

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Check back tomorrow and I will post the paper I wrote for my class that is more detailed in my thoughts around the book than this brief review.

Labor Day Weekend

Enjoying a weekend just hanging out with the family. Had Friday off as well, so it made it a 4 day weekend! We went to the flea market with the kids and wandered around a bit today which was fun. They certainly get a kick out of all the stuff but it is hard to drag them away from things that they are always interested in buying. For the rest of today, we are having some friends over to enjoy some burgers and dogs and let the kids play with their friends. A good way to end the weekend.

More Construction Pics

Love to see the progress...it is exciting.


This was day 1...the back of the house from the garage...


Day 1 as well....from the front. Amazing!



Still Day 1, but looking from our backyard so that you see how it will attach to the house.




Day 3 and we are hanging out on the second floor looking at what is getting done!




Day 3 from the front of the addition.