Life in the Big Potato

I found a really cool site today. Bethinking.org It combines all the things I like. Theology, Philosophy, Technology. Go there...NOW!

I pray all of you had a great weekend celebrating the resurrection of our Savior. The women's ministry at the church sponsored and Easter Egg hunt for one of the children's homes in the area on Saturday. Church members donated their time and gave lots of candy and prizes so these 20+ kids could have a fun day and hear about the true meaning of Easter. I was able to share the gospel with over half the kids they brought who were teenagers while Bennett shared with the younger children. Please pray that the love of Christ shown to all of them on Saturday will make an incredible impact on their future. Sunday morning we had a packed house to celebrate Christ's life. There were so many visitors, and we were really encouraged. Bennett spoke on the Resurrection and barriers to belief. Pray that the unbelievers that were there will make a decision to believe in Jesus very soon. Yesterday afternoon we were invited over by one of the families in our church for Easter dinner. We are ...

The snow is normal now. I was just looking back through some ancient posts on my old blog . (I'm thinking of reviving it) On 12.06.2005 I made fun of how we thought about snow in Texas. "They say it might snow. Funny when that happens, people act like the air is electric. 'They're saying it's going to snow and sleet tomorrow!' You hear it all day long. Actually, the weather reports I read say 50% chance of slight snow or ice late in the evening. I'll believe it when I see it." It snowed hard all morning today. As I write it is snowing again. Its the second day of spring. No one is too excited about it. Except the skiers I guess.

Baby shower The nursery is almost ready That's an Ab Roller in the background. Don't worry, we haven't been using it.

Our Life Group learns to play Catchphrase There is a tiny rainbow just to the left of the center of the picture. This is a rare meteorological phenomenon where ice crystals in the clouds for prisms. I forget what its called. I saw this several times this winter. Usually it was much larger, but this is the only pic I got. I am Spartan North Idaho has a daily drama in the sky over my house.

"Dead 'til I get's me coffee!" Notice the kids hanging over the rails holding up signs to cheer for the missionaries! A clown in church

If you are ever going to come to Idaho you may want to study the culture. The website Stuff White People Like is a good place to start. Even if you are not coming to Idaho you might find this website hilarious.

The Global Impact Celebration at Shades Mountain Baptist Church is kinda like this. Tuesday night we got picked up at the airport in the church shuttle bus (and were immediately offered drinks and snacks). We arrived at our host home around midnight (and were immediately offered drinks and snacks). We met our host family, the Clarks, and felt instantly at home. Wednesday we checked in at the church (where food and drinks were waiting) and were given a gift bag with little goodies. There we met missionaries from all the dark corners of the world and US. After checking in and eating lunch they took us to our display area in the worship center. There was a room just for us full of snacks and drinks. That evening we stood by our display table and talked to people about NorthStar and Idaho. The church service that night was the kickoff of GIC. This is a big deal in the life of the church. Many people I talked to said it was their favorite week of the year. We were introduced in a ...

This week Jana, Fondra and I are at the Global Impact Celebration of Shades Mountain Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama. This is the same event Tom and I went to last year. I mentioned it in March last year. It is hard to know what to describe. For now take a look at the church's 2010 vision . In summary... "At SMBC, our vision as a church is that by the year 2010, we will have: • Performed mission work in all 50 states • Planted at least one church in Canada • Planted at least five churches in the United States • Sent missionaries from SMBC to all 24 time zones • Planted churches in all 11 International Mission Board regions" Bubbles is a hit at the expo

I know a few of you are interested in the work we are doing here and not just babies and snowfall amounts. So here's an update on what the heck we're doing here. I have been filling the pulpit (its actually a music stand) since our pastor left in December. I've preached several sermons from Hebrews and enjoy the challenge of preparing sermons week after week. The church has been very encouraging to me and has thus far ignored my faults and shortcomings. It is a great time of growth and learning for me personally. Jana has been working closely with our unofficial women's ministry team. They are planing monthly fellowships and prayer times for our ladies. They are also organizing a women's bible study that has been meeting on Sunday mornings. They are very excited about a missions project they are leading. For Easter they are hosting an egg hunt for The Children's Village. About 20 kids who live in foster care will come and learn about the resurrection st...

First an easy one A little harder The secret here is figuring out which way is up. The first glamor shot.

Baby is a she according to our ultrasound lady yesterday. It has been an exciting week. I started to feel her move- or more like feeling a bubble rolling around in my belly. The doctor said everything was right on schedule. Trudi- our ultrasound lady said she had good calf muscles too! I told Bennett that it seems more real after knowing it's a girl and feeling her move around. We are so blessed by this gift God has given us. I started thinking about my mom last night, and I remembered how she would tell me that I was God's child and how I had been given to her for just a short time. We've got an exciting road ahead of us. So now we just get to choose a name. Any suggestions?

I feel like I only use this blog to tell you all how much snow we've been getting, but hey, winter only comes once a year. We started getting nervous about all the snow piling up on our old flat roof, so we got about 14 men together to shovel off the church. It was fun. For more pictures go to our church's website

It could be worse. I could live in GUANGZHOU, China http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,326687,00.html My favorite quote from this article: "If this happened in America, it would have been cleared up much faster," said textile factory worker He Mingtong, 48, as he waited for his train beneath a pedestrian bridge near the station. "America has the equipment, the trucks, to clear away the snow." I hope the government doesn't get mad about Mr. Mingtong's remarks. Here people have been complaining about spotty mail service in some places. I'm not complaining. I don't even want to go get the mail, so how can I blame the post man for not wanting to deliver it? I guess stories like this one are a blow to Global Warming Doom-sayers. There are a lot of us in the Northwest and Northeast (and China) that would appreciate some Global Warming right now. Maybe we've finally turned things around. I stopped using aerosol hairspray years ago and I always t...

Driving home from church... Can you find the road in this picture? Jana took this picture out the side window. That's really what it looked like. We have over two feet of snow in our yard. This is the grill from the video I posted a few days ago. I took the Lipton Plunge.

Please don't listen to this just to make fun of me. Constructive criticism only! This is from Jan. 20. And you can download the Jan. 13 sermon here.

Here where winter does not relent we have to find ways to entertain ourselves. The other day I found a balloon of the variety often called "water". So I filled it up and placed it outside on the snow. At first all that happened was that it melted through the snow and was soon barely visible. A few days later when the outdoor temperature was 20 degrees I remembered my little experiment and retrieved it from its little nest in the snow. The following pictures show what I found:

This is video I took a few hours ago from my back yard. Don't worry, I was inside and quite warm.