Poison Ivy

Dave was on vacation this week. A very old willow tree finally fell. It had poison ivy all over it. Dave covered from head to toe with clothes to avoid exposure. His wrists were exposed between his glove and his cuff. Well, he's got it bad there. Some vacation. Between moving the tree and enduring the poison ivy, he'll have to go back to work to get some rest. He's my rock. I don't know what I'd do without him. I hope I never have to find out. We are doing a spiritual journey together. Sometimes I get ahead of him. Sometimes he gets ahead of me. But we keep each other grounded. I pray your Father's Day will be more pleasant then the past week has been.
Love
Karen

P.S. Thank you Mark for your tireless work in moving the tree. What would we do without you?

Gone missing from blogger world

With summer and end of school and murals I haven't blogged in forever. This is our third home school year and it gets better every year. I hope we keep improving.

Kevin just got back from church camp in Michigan. He had a great time. Next stop is Florida at the end of the month. He is handling independence really well. That's a good thing, right? We forgot to pack his phone charger, so we didn't get to keep in touch as much as hoped. I'll make sure to pack it for Florida.

Here are the latest additions to the Reign Forest at New Pointe. I could not get a straight on shot of the mural because the room was not deep enough. Zebras are fun to paint. The stripes make them look like they could walk right off the picture.

Francis Chan-Cornerstone Church

Kevin West and Jessica Rilke at New Pointe introduced me to Francis Chan via podcast. I added him to my favorite links. If Joyce Meyer is not your cup of tea, try Francis Chan. He blew me away. If I only have half an hour to spare I will be really torn at which one I will listen to. Both Joyce and Francis are awesome.

View from my back door

Photo

Painting plus a few deer. I wanted this to be a fall picture. There was snow on the ground in the photo. I left it out in the painting. When the sun sets it looks as if there is a purple lens on everything. I used a lot of purple in the painting. I added the deer because we have regular visits from deer and I wanted to share them with everyone. The younglings always hide behind mom and peek out from behind her. If you put your curser over the pictures and click, you can get a larger view. I hope you like.

Flowers

The result of my first attempt at bulb planting.

They're pretty, but they're falling over already. I wish they'd last longer. They smell so good.

Giraffe family joins ReignForest at NewPointe

A face only a mother could love

Facing our own giants

I love they way Joyce Meyer uses the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt for the Promised Land to explain different levels of spirituality. It really helped me to understand how someone can be saved and still be a mess. Basically she said when we get saved its similar to when the Israelites left Egypt (approximately 3 million). When the Israelites left Egypt, that represents us getting saved by accepting Jesus as our savior, which guarantees our salvation. While in the wilderness the Israelites were up against some great giants keeping them from the Promised Land (Moabites, Hittites, Jebusites). Our own giants are keeping us from our present day Promised Land. These giants are bad attitudites, doubtites, jealousites, selfishites, and so on. We're guaranteed salvation when we accept Jesus as our Savior, but we can’t live the life that God promised us until we shed ourselves of these giants and we can’t do it without God’s help. We just keep going around the mountain in the wilderness until we get it right. If we fail the test we just get to keep taking it. When we pass the test we get to leave the wilderness for the Promised Land. The Promised Land represents a happy more fulfilled life here on earth when we conquer our giants.
I am so thankful for anointed speakers who can put it into words I can understand.
I keep revising this because everytime I read it I seem to be leaving something out.

Turbo the Cat

What gifts do you have?

I can cook. Whether or not it tastes good is debatable. Well, we have to eat so I'll keep on trying. Pray for Dave and Kevin. I should stop feeling guilty about it. Some people can't do the things I do well. Don't compare your gifts to someone else. When we do we get in trouble and the Kingdom does not profit.

"God will help you be all you can be, but he won't help you be someone else." quote by Joyce Meyer.

Thank you Joyce

The Gift of One........

This was so good I had to write it down. Today Joyce Meyer pointed out how easy it is for us to accept the sin that we received from one man who was Adam. We acknowledge we’re sinners when it is said, but when it comes to accepting the gift of salvation from one who is Christ Jesus we find that so hard to comprehend.

She then quoted Romans 5:17…
For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

So good, so good, so good..........

Help wanted: Disciples, no experience necessary.

Joyce Meyer was saying how important it is to be self-accepting. Give yourself some grace. Try to like yourself. You can’t have good relationships if you hate yourself. She talked about how she was abused as a child and how it had a negative effect on her. She hated herself. She couldn’t relate to people around her in a positive way until God helped her overcome her self-loathing. Even with her past, God is using her in an incredible way. You or I may be the next to be used in a big way. Don’t compare yourself to perfection. Perfection can be misleading. Joyce used the following letter to illustrate how God always uses imperfect people in a big way:

Letter to Jesus

Topic:
To: Jesus, Son of Joseph
Woodcrafter’s Carpenter Shop
Nazareth 25922

From: Jordan Management Consultants

Dear Sir:

Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for managerial positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; and we have not only run the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant.

The profiles of all tests are included, and you will want to study each of them carefully.
As part of our service, we make some general comments for your guidance, much as an auditor will include some general statements. This is given as a result of staff consultation, and comes without any additional fee.

It is the staff opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.

Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew had been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.

One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man. All of the other profiles are self-explanatory.
We wish you every success in your new venture.

Sincerely,
Jordan Management Consultants


Eating Problems for Breakfast by Tim Hansel, Word Publishing, 1988, pp. 194-195 used with permission from http://www.bible.org/.,

If you’re not perfect, don’t be dismayed. Prepare for something big!

Rock on......

Dave, Kevin and I recently attended a training session at church that involves the creative side of New Pointe. I'm glad they’ve really been hammering the “why we do what we do” topic lately. When they first introduced rock and roll on stage at the church in Sugarcreek, I thought to myself, “I wonder what the older folks think?”

I just turned 50. I got my invitation to join AARP. So now I can answer that question. What do I think about that music they’re playing? I think it’s pretty cool. According to Bob Smithhouser of Breakaway (Kevin’s teen magazine) Magazine: “The Bible never specifies that God favors one musical style over another. Any sincere song of praise is a multi-platinum chart topper to God.” Unlike seniors of the distant past, most of us have been spoon-fed rock and roll. It’s not just for teenagers. As a matter of fact, when they played “Rockin Drummer Boy” at Christmas, I could hardly contain my enthusiasm. Okay! Okay! So my boy was on the stage when they played it. Can I get some grace here?

News flash from Dave: 95.9 radio said it is illegal in Oklahoma to burp in church.

Back to what I was saying, the key is the word “most”. What will most people like? There’s always going to be something about the service that doesn’t appeal to everyone. Everyone has a preference. That’s just the nature of the beast. So in order to reach the most unsaved, we should aim at the bigger target and do what is relevant to most. So, thanks New Pointe for doing what you do the way you do it.