This is what I want to do when I grow up...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJnxYsZNzwM
Brett's First Camping Trip!
11 years ago
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Pics of Xander
Xander had his 6 month photo shoot with Mika Beth this week! She posted these yesterday and I absolutely love the pics of my little man!!! Who knew old doors could make baby pictures so cool?
Check it out!
http://www.mikabethedwardsphotography.com/blog/
Check it out!
http://www.mikabethedwardsphotography.com/blog/
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Trust In the Small Things...
I get these every morning and thought I'd pass along today's email.
Enjoy!
Learning to Receive
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman
Thursday, March 05 2009
"In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat - for he grants sleep to those he loves" (Ps 127:2).
One of the paradigm shifts every believer must learn once they make Jesus lord of their lives is how to move from receiving by sweating and toiling to receiving by trusting and obeying. In the scripture, Egypt represented sweat and toil and bondage. The Promised Land represents a land of milk and honey received by trust and obedience. We learn in Joshua 24:13 that our obedience will allow us to receive things we would never receive out of sweat and toil.
"So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant."
I learned this principle when God began to transition me from owning and operating an advertising agency to a vocational marketplace ministry. Many times I could not see how provision to do my work would result because it was not based upon a contract-for-services model. I was once invited to speak to a small group of people on a Caribbean island. I knew it would require three days of my time and I'd receive very little compensation. The Lord instructed me to go anyway. Just as I thought, I did not receive a commensurate income for the time invested for the three days. (This is often the way we think in business).
However, I left some books behind and they began to be circulated to other islands. A few businessmen received the books and they invited me to speak at a conference for 22 Caribbean islands later that year. One man was touched by my teaching.
On January 2, I received a check for $5000 from this man. I pondered the sequence of events that led to receiving this provision. It was because of my obedience to the small things that God was able to "give me a land on which I did not toil."
Be faithful to the small things and God will always honor your obedience.
Enjoy!
Learning to Receive
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman
Thursday, March 05 2009
"In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat - for he grants sleep to those he loves" (Ps 127:2).
One of the paradigm shifts every believer must learn once they make Jesus lord of their lives is how to move from receiving by sweating and toiling to receiving by trusting and obeying. In the scripture, Egypt represented sweat and toil and bondage. The Promised Land represents a land of milk and honey received by trust and obedience. We learn in Joshua 24:13 that our obedience will allow us to receive things we would never receive out of sweat and toil.
"So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant."
I learned this principle when God began to transition me from owning and operating an advertising agency to a vocational marketplace ministry. Many times I could not see how provision to do my work would result because it was not based upon a contract-for-services model. I was once invited to speak to a small group of people on a Caribbean island. I knew it would require three days of my time and I'd receive very little compensation. The Lord instructed me to go anyway. Just as I thought, I did not receive a commensurate income for the time invested for the three days. (This is often the way we think in business).
However, I left some books behind and they began to be circulated to other islands. A few businessmen received the books and they invited me to speak at a conference for 22 Caribbean islands later that year. One man was touched by my teaching.
On January 2, I received a check for $5000 from this man. I pondered the sequence of events that led to receiving this provision. It was because of my obedience to the small things that God was able to "give me a land on which I did not toil."
Be faithful to the small things and God will always honor your obedience.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Making Good On A Promise...
Blame Daddy. He bought me this hat.
Xander in his Elmo-walker-type-thingy at Grandma's.
Xander's first swim. "Look Mom, no hands!"
Baby Television (BTV)'s Spring Break 2009.
Da -dum... Da - dum... Da-dum...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Can I Get an AMEN?
Who knew Rick Santelli was a preacher???
I have tons of really cute pictures of my really cute kiddo that I will be more than happy to post. But, if you have 5 minutes to spare on this blog, please watch the video in the link provided below. Then, breathe a sigh of relief that you ARE NOT ALONE.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853
Pictures of Xander WILL follow. I promise.
I have tons of really cute pictures of my really cute kiddo that I will be more than happy to post. But, if you have 5 minutes to spare on this blog, please watch the video in the link provided below. Then, breathe a sigh of relief that you ARE NOT ALONE.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853
Pictures of Xander WILL follow. I promise.
Friday, January 30, 2009
5 Reasons This Recession Is NOT AS BAD as Everyone Thinks:
1. This past weekend at Southeby's famous New York auction house, the above painting (mystically titled: "Bagpipe Player in Profile") was sold for a whopping $10.2 million. If times were tough, one wouldn't have to buy the painting. You could merely open the nearest window and view hoardes of constipated bagpipe players.
2. Exxon Mobil posted profits in 2008 of $45.2 billion. That is the largest profit ever reported by an American company. Ever. Like... ever! Guess we know who's buying crappy art.
3. The coolest ticker symbol on the NYSE is "TAP." It is the symbol for the cominded Coors/Miller beverage companies. They "disappointed" the Street by earning profits (yes they do still exist) of $90 million in the 4th quarter of 2008. This, by the way, is the worst quarter for the stock market in US history & brewing companies are STILL making mounds of cash.
4. A couple of weeks ago, there was a movie which reached #1 at the US box office. Title: "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" Spending money on crappy movies is the poor-man's version of buying crappy overpriced art. Thus proving the recession isn't stopping pointless spending regardless of your income level.
5. Speaking of income... In 2006, Merrill Lynch (now a division of Bank of America ...a.k.a. Bank of Amerrillca) earned a net income total of $7.5 billion, so it bonused its Wall Street execs a total of $8.4 billion. We are all aware of just how much better things were back in 06. So, a gap of a billion dollars or so between the amount of income and the amount of bonuses is only slightly alarming. In the year 2008, Merrill Lynch lost a net income total of $27 billion (that is not a typo and I did not leave out any decimal points). So, naturally, its execs certainly earned their bonuses which totaled $7.5 billion (only $900 million less in bonuses than the highest bonus year on record for the company).
It can be reasoned that even during a recession, people may continue to buy art, watch dumb movies, and buy beer. It is an unfortunate unwritten law of the universe that petroleum companies WILL make money. But, surely, during an time that has been called the WORST ECONOMIC EVENT SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION - a company that exists for the sole purpose of offering sound financial advice to its clients would not create an income-to-bonus gap of nearly $35 billion.
Surely...
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Keeping Up With the Jones's...
...and the Burgoyne's, and the Rusin's, etc.
Since everyone and their Momma's goldfish has posted pictures of their bouncing little babies and I have like one picture of Xander on here ...
well ...
Here you go!!!
Horns or Halo?
(The "horns" are actually just 2 dabs of baby lotion Daddy puts on him after his bath. It cracks him up every time.)
Xander's G.Q. pose.
My favorite picture of Xander & his favorite toy.
Wonder who he got his lopsided smirk from?
That's our Xander & we don't remember what life was like without him!
(which probably has been caused by a combination of all-nighters and lots of love)
Monday, January 5, 2009
Confessions of a Twilight Critic
Teenage Romance is not exactly my typical reading genre. It ranks up there with school dances, boy bands, and hanging out at the mall: ALL teen girlie-stuff that I make a point to avoid at any cost.
As a matter of fact, my recreational literature is on a planned cycle. One non-fiction, is then followed by one adult fiction. I know. It is a little retentive. But, we are only given so many brain cells - and if you are as certain as I am that so many of them died in college - it makes sense to try to keep the remaining few firing on all cylinders. It is not that I have anything against vampires. My version of vampires are found in Anne Rice novels and in movies like "Underworld." It is the thought of someone emasculating vampires by putting them into a teen romance novel. I actually find it a little bit insulting.
In my wife's never-ending efforts to expand my previously limited horizons to the finer things in life (like: Rock of Love, Charm School, Project Runway, The Hills, Rascal Flatts - you can see where this is going), she decided that I needed to - no - that I HAD TO read Twilight. I suggested that we just go see the movie since she had read the book and that would be how I kept up. By my line of thinking this would mean I had only 2 hours of torture rather than the week it would take me to suffer through the book.
However, if you know anything of Roxy's and my relationship, you know that this is EXACTLY the sort of battle I end up losing. EVERY SINGLE TIME. So, I flipped to the first sentence in the first chapter, sighed, and prepared myself for a week's worth of brain cells lost to a teenage vampire romance novel. I prayed none of my friends would ever find out I actually read this book. And so it began. "My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down."
Within minutes, Stephenie Meyer had me wrapped around her binder. I was already plagued with questions. I had to keep reading. Each page I turned made me eager to flip to the next. Each chapter brought about new questions and before I knew it - I was dying to know what Edward Cullen was! It was only when I laid the book down that I remembered that I knew he was a vampire. Wow. She was more than a writer. Stephenie embodies that which distinguishes an author in my mind. I was so lost in her world that I forgot all about mine!
By the end of the novel, I had ached for Bella and Edward's tragedy of love between two infinitely impossible - yet so real - characters. By the end of the novel, I could not wait to read the next.
Why spend an entire blog on this? Because if you are or have ever been a pre-emptive critic; you need to read before you rate. I love this series and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to break a typical and boring reading cycle. Perhaps my wife wins these battles for a reason...
As a matter of fact, my recreational literature is on a planned cycle. One non-fiction, is then followed by one adult fiction. I know. It is a little retentive. But, we are only given so many brain cells - and if you are as certain as I am that so many of them died in college - it makes sense to try to keep the remaining few firing on all cylinders. It is not that I have anything against vampires. My version of vampires are found in Anne Rice novels and in movies like "Underworld." It is the thought of someone emasculating vampires by putting them into a teen romance novel. I actually find it a little bit insulting.
In my wife's never-ending efforts to expand my previously limited horizons to the finer things in life (like: Rock of Love, Charm School, Project Runway, The Hills, Rascal Flatts - you can see where this is going), she decided that I needed to - no - that I HAD TO read Twilight. I suggested that we just go see the movie since she had read the book and that would be how I kept up. By my line of thinking this would mean I had only 2 hours of torture rather than the week it would take me to suffer through the book.
However, if you know anything of Roxy's and my relationship, you know that this is EXACTLY the sort of battle I end up losing. EVERY SINGLE TIME. So, I flipped to the first sentence in the first chapter, sighed, and prepared myself for a week's worth of brain cells lost to a teenage vampire romance novel. I prayed none of my friends would ever find out I actually read this book. And so it began. "My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down."
Within minutes, Stephenie Meyer had me wrapped around her binder. I was already plagued with questions. I had to keep reading. Each page I turned made me eager to flip to the next. Each chapter brought about new questions and before I knew it - I was dying to know what Edward Cullen was! It was only when I laid the book down that I remembered that I knew he was a vampire. Wow. She was more than a writer. Stephenie embodies that which distinguishes an author in my mind. I was so lost in her world that I forgot all about mine!
By the end of the novel, I had ached for Bella and Edward's tragedy of love between two infinitely impossible - yet so real - characters. By the end of the novel, I could not wait to read the next.
Why spend an entire blog on this? Because if you are or have ever been a pre-emptive critic; you need to read before you rate. I love this series and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to break a typical and boring reading cycle. Perhaps my wife wins these battles for a reason...
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