The Barrel :+:

Who says God doesn't care about the little things. I remember in a movie I saw years ago a phrase, "I never did mind the little things." The idea was the the little things didn't bother the person. I am so thankful that our Lord does care about the little things. I had told Kathy that I really wanted a barrel for burning scrap wood and such. She laughed and said, "Where are you going to find the barrel your looking for?"
I wanted a 55 gallon steel barrel, so I just prayed to the Lord, "Lord, if it's o.k. with you could you lead me to a old barrel somewhere." A couple of days latter, while the sun was setting, I told Kathy I think I'm going to find my barrel today. She said, "Where?" I told her I wanted to drive down this street and take a look. As I drove, approximately, 2 miles I looked to the left and there was an old barrel filled with trash. I went inside a building to find the owner of the barrel working and asked if he wanted the barrel or how much he would charge for it. He asked if it was filled with trash and I told him it was. He said, "If you haul the trash in it off, it's yours." I am so glad our Lord minds the "little things."

Family time ~

We are back...and we brought some family and friends this time. Starting on the left is me (Mike), Kathy (in blue), Matthew (our nephew), Scott (our brother-in-law), Steven (in the middle and the boyfriend of Kelly), in the front next to me is Tivis (our lovely daughter, next to her is Kelly (our niece), and far right my sister Linda. It was the day after Thanksgiving and we actually all got along. Everyone knows Thanksgiving is a time for family and stress, but we really had a good time. Linda made the traditional Thanksgiving meal and it was fantastic!

Missing something?

I kid you not, when Kathy picked up the adds for groceries this is what she got. It was an absolute riot. I thought I was going to die laughing. The expression on the guys face, on the adds, is fitting as well. Interestingly enough I began to think how most Christians feel there are missing parts in their life. What am I supposed to do? Why isn't "this" or "that" working out for me? I have said before that every morning when I wake up and thank our heavenly Father I also remind myself I have an enemy that comes to steal and destroy. I knew of a young man who was beaten terribly by his grandparents and had to go to the hospital. That was a turning point for him. He was trying to protect someone else and took the blame for something he had not done. In essence he was trying to rescue someone else. The result was a wounded heart that left an impression that God has left us on this planet to fend for ourselves. When the boy grew up and became a man someone took him aside and walked him through that scenario all over again. The man was asked to explain what happened except he had to imagine Jesus standing there when it happened. The man began to cry as he imagined his Savior crying as well. Then the man was asked to imagine himself as the father of himself when he was a boy. He was asked to act as a father would toward the boy. This powerful healing scenario began to heal the missing parts of God in his life. This story is powerful. When we think of the missing parts remember try and understand that Satan will steal and destroy any belief of God in you. God loves you and does not want us to suffer this way. But Satan will do anything to get us to lose heart and just give in to disbelief. When I wake up I thank the Lord, out loud so my ears can hear it, and mentally put on my spiritual armor. "It's real war right outside your front door..." - Dan Hill

Our place ~

Well...I imagine it is time to put some photos up of our dwelling place. We love what our Lord provides. Can anyone see Shasta in the driveway?
The first two is our living room.
Here is one of the Dining Room

Hey, how about the hallway?

Oh, wait...it gets better. The Office.
We have a Guest Room too.
We have a basement. Score!
We have other rooms: Our bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, garage closet, car port, the back yard, closets, a half basement...you get the picture.




Oh, we love our tree. We have flowers around the base of the tree now (it's an older pic).
The front porch is a nice place to read and a cup of joe (coffee).

It is always great when family drops by. This is Kathy's mom (Mrs. Pat Zeleznak), sister (Mary Concha) and neice (Bethany Concha).

Sunset ~