Hutchinson

We went away for the last couple of days with some friends to a town called Hutchinson where a lot of their family live. It was a great couple of days and filled with fun and new experiences!The kids rode a Harley!Andrew almost rode a dune buggy, but it had mechanical problems so we just pretended. Can you believe this is someone's backyard? If the dune buggy had worked, you would have seen a big plume of smoke and dust in the picture too.This is the same place. I think Andrew and Kylie could have played here all day.Sandy and the little ones went on a jet ski.We got to ride on a boat on the lake for the first time as a family and went tubing.Andrew got into it.I was surprised that the little ones were brave enough to go for a ride too!Was she posing or is it just natural?
Even mom got in on the action. Here she is with Kylie. Wa-hoo!

Better

Emery appears to be doing much better. Her hives have disappeared and the only noticeable difference now is that she is unusually hyper (probably due to some of her medication).

She's good enough to say Proverbs 22:15 - Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, The rod of discipline will remove it...far from him.

Matt and Emery now have 12 verses. It's pretty exciting. I don't think I had this many verses until I was 18.

Hives!

Poor Emzy! You can't really see it well in the picture, but Emery started getting hives a few days ago. Every day, they have spread further up her body and today they reached her face and covered her body. So we went to the doctor and she received a 5 day prescription for Prednisone. Thankfully, they haven't bothered her too much. But please pray for her!

Jogging

The 2 young ones decided to go jogging together, indoors. These are their official jogging outfits. Of course, it's not how fast you run, but how "good" you look when you run.

Gum

Emery loves gum. I was chewing some yesterday and she had her eye on it the whole time. She asked me why I was chewing gum and I told her that I needed it because my breath didn't smell that good.

So this morning, she asks me (fully intent on getting a piece of gum), "How does the air inside my mouth smell?"After a long, hard day working out in the 96 degree heat, we all came inside for a bath. Why is it so hard to take a normal picture? I tried 4 times and this is the best I could get.

Dying Thoughts

No, I'm not depressed and feeling suicidal. But I just finished this book by Richard Baxter. For those of you who don't know, Richard Baxter is a puritan who's most famous book is probably The Reformed Pastor which I have not read. Here's a picture of him.Dying Thoughts is about Phil 1:23 and the desire to leave this life to be with Christ. I have thought about this topic much as Phil 1:21-23 have always been verses dear to my heart. Baxter truly has a heavenly perspective about this world. This book can help you let go of the desires of this temporary life and long for the better joys of heaven with Christ.

This is the 2nd book of Baxter's that I have read and though both are filled with great ideas and thoughts, I have to admit, they are somewhat hard for me to follow. His writing style is not that difficult to read but his thoughts seem very random and not very linear. So in the style of Baxter here are a few random quotes:

• The life to come depends on this present life...Heaven is won or lost on earth; the possession is there but the preparation is here. Christ will judge all men in another state, as their works have been in this.
• It is His work for which thou livest. Thou hast no other business in the world...If God will add any more days, serve Him with double alacrity. The prize is almost within sight. Time is swift and short.
• [In regards to death and the loss of our fleshly body] It is but a separation from a troublesome companion, and putting off a shoe that pinched me...And further to depart from such a body is but to be separated from an accidental enemy, and one of our greatest and most hurtful enemies; not indeed, as the work of our Creator, but as the effect of sin. What could Satan, or any other enemy of our souls, have done against us without our flesh? What is it but the interest of this body that stands in competition with the interest of God and our souls?...What steals away men's hearts from the heavenly pleasures of faith, hope, and love, but the pleasures of this flesh?
• [In regards to being with Christ] And wilt thou not willing go, when such infinite love calls thee? Art thou not desirous of His presence? Art thou afraid to go to Him, who is the only cure of thy fears?...Not to the riches and honours of this world, or the pleasures of the flesh, but chose thee in Christ to an inheritance in glory? If God chose thee to blessedness, refuse it not thyself, nor behave like a refuser.
• Without thy glory, earth is but earth; and without Thy grace, earth would be a hell. O, rather deny me the light of the sun, than the light of Thy countenance!...Without Thine and my Saviour's help, I can do nothing. I could not pray or learn without Thee; I never could conquer a temptation without Thee; and can I die, or be prepared to die, without Thee?
• Hope anticipates salvation, as fear does evil. It is the hypocrite's hope that perishes; and all who hope for durable happiness on earth must be deceived. But 'Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven and earth, which keepeth truth for ever.' Woe to me if in this life only I had hope. But the righteous hath hope in his death. And hope maketh not ashamed. 'Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord.'

These are some dying thoughts to live by.

1 John 4:20-21

Not to be outdone, Andrew has got his verse done too. 1 John 4:20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

I'm proud of how he worked his way through this verse. And that he looks so cool in shades.