Hey friends....I am feeling under the weather and will be taking a few days off from blogging. Hope you understand. For now- please feel free to read older posts or check out our blogroll.
THANKS for reading and contributing to this blog!
Click Here to read a great post from the Internet campus blog called "Would Jesus Twitter?"
Burdened
As I write tonight I am burdened.
Burdened for hungry and alone kids out there.
Burdened for adults who are unhappy.
Burdened for people who have lost their homes in recent tornadoes,
cyclones and earthquakes.
Burdened for the fighting happening in South Africa.
After watching footage of kids who have lost both parents, my heart is broken.
Broken for a lost and hurting world in a need of a savior.
Broken because I have a very blessed life and still find room to complain or ask for more.
Broken because I feel helpless.
I want to see change happen NOW. The hopelessness leaves me dead in my tracks doing nothing. NOTHING. It is not up to me to solve the worlds problems. It is not even up to me to offer hope to them- because I am not the giver of life and hope. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is. Why not offer Him to them? That is what they need. That is their only hope. Instead, NOTHING.
Lord, help my unbelief! You carry our burdens. You love the lost and hurting. Reach out your hand like only you can. Help me to do SOMETHING, unless doing nothing is where I need to be. AMEN
Burdened for hungry and alone kids out there.
Burdened for adults who are unhappy.
Burdened for people who have lost their homes in recent tornadoes,
cyclones and earthquakes.
Burdened for the fighting happening in South Africa.
After watching footage of kids who have lost both parents, my heart is broken.
Broken for a lost and hurting world in a need of a savior.
Broken because I have a very blessed life and still find room to complain or ask for more.
Broken because I feel helpless.
I want to see change happen NOW. The hopelessness leaves me dead in my tracks doing nothing. NOTHING. It is not up to me to solve the worlds problems. It is not even up to me to offer hope to them- because I am not the giver of life and hope. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is. Why not offer Him to them? That is what they need. That is their only hope. Instead, NOTHING.
Lord, help my unbelief! You carry our burdens. You love the lost and hurting. Reach out your hand like only you can. Help me to do SOMETHING, unless doing nothing is where I need to be. AMEN
Liberty on the Lawn?
Original story from BBC news
A 56-year-old man from the Midwestern US state of Wisconsin has been arrested after shooting his lawn mower in his garden because it would not start.
Keith Walendowski was charged by police in Milwaukee with disorderly conduct and possession of a sawn-off shotgun.
He could face a fine of up to $11,000 and a maximum prison sentence of six-and-a-half years if convicted.
Police officers said Mr Walendowski had told them: "It's my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want."
Police found the shotgun, a handgun and a stungun, as well as ammunition, when they detained Mr Walendowski in the basement of his house.
Witnesses told police that he appeared to have been drinking.
The lawn mower was found sitting outside Mr Walendowski's house, which he shares with his mother, with the rubbish on Friday.
A local retailer said that Mr Walendowski might now have difficulty getting his lawn mower repaired.
"Anything not factory recommended would void the warranty," said Dick Wagner, of Wagner's Garden Mart in Milwaukee.Kind of funny....huh? I wonder if shooting your mower IS factory recommended? ha ha... Thoughts??
Get in touch with someone you love...
This is a great video to watch. Makes me smile :)
HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!
Camp W-O-W!!
We had a fabulous time last night! I can't tell you how proud I was of our Kids dept. They really know how to reach kids for Christ! Here are some pics from the night...the above pic is right after Merrick was baptized. We are so proud of him:)
Here is Brandon and Merrick entering the lake for baptisms
Right after Merrick came out of the water! WOO HOO!
Reunited and it feels so good....
They had a bomb.com firework show after camp ended. It was awesome!!
Merrick and Terry. Terry has an excellent pirate accent by the way
Merrick and Ketric (another one of the pirates and a great friend:)
Merrick and his amazing leader, James. We were so happy Merrick was in James' group. He had an excellent time! See you next year.AAARRGGGG!!!
What's up?
We have been out of pocket so I apologize for the delay in posts. I will be posting throughout the day.
THANK YOU for reading and contributing to this blog!!
THANK YOU for reading and contributing to this blog!!
Boom-chicka-boom!!
(far left: head lice check. Middle: the long line for check in. Far right: our place in line)Hmm- OK, you guys know I have been having butterflies in my tummy since last week knowing that my baby (well, he's really not a baby, he's 8 but we will say "baby" for the story) was going away for camp for 5 days!!
I packed him up Saturday night and decided that if 600 other kids' parents are OK with it, then why shouldn't I be? I mean, as a mom, I tend to worry and think "Will he fit in?", "Will he be able to keep up with everyone?", "Will he like it or get homesick?","What if......"....you get the point.
Is it normal for us to think that way or is that being overprotective? I've decided that I trust my little man. I know he will enjoy it. I trust the Jesus in my little man to help him too! I just saw pics from the first day and there were 2 of Merrick and he looked like he was having a blast!
So- all this time spent worrying was for nothing! Guess I better get off of the computer and make sure my other baby (my now 6 year old) hasn't broken a bone in the street or been kidnapped!! (Wink)
Enquiring minds want to know!
If you had to listen to one CD over and over all day- what would it be and why? (and if you only use your I-pod, still play along with a favorite artist)Hmmm, mine would be UNITED, (with Phil Wickham or Gavin Degraw as a tie for second).
How about you?
Friday follow-up #6
Hmmm, it's been a busy week so it all sort of runs together! Here is an attempt at catching you all up:)- Brandon officiated a funeral on Monday for a little baby. So sad. God has blessed the family with peace. Please continue to pray for Chris and Lisa. Read about their story HERE.
- Had a camp parent meeting this week and Merrick leaves for camp on Sunday. I am a nervous wreck- can someone say "overprotective"? The great thing about the meeting was hearing everyone else's questions and knowing I am not the only one who's nervous.
- Planned Ethan's party at Pump it up- he is PUMPED! ha ha
- Brandon got to see the Foo Fighters live (he'll have to tell you more about that later)
- Our good friends John and Bre are moving today...sad day. We will miss them being down the street, we will miss them at church, we will miss them at work....pretty sure we are going to miss them.The picture above was taken at their farewell dinner. I had more to add but can't figure out our new camera software. I think I need a tutorial :)
Ethan will be 6 in 2 days!
Our little baby is turning 6 on Saturday! What a joy he is to us on a daily basis. He is hilarious. He makes the BEST facial expressions you have ever seen. He is also a little cuddle bug.Ethan loves Curious George (from PBS). He also loves whatever his big brother Merrick is into. So, when Merrick changes, so does Ethan. He is our little social butterfly. He's got several friends at school.
Ethan can make you see the positive side of any situation. One example would be at McDonald's. They have been pumped to get the Transformers from the happy meals. The last time they opened them up Merrick got a new one and was so excited. Ethan opened his only to find the same yellow bumblebee transformer he has at home. While I know he was disappointed and got a sad look, the next thing that came out of his mouth was "oh well, now they can be twins or better yet- they can be brothers!" I love that he admires his big brother so much:)
Ethan means "strong, and firm". We are praying that over him. We want him to be a man strong and firm in his faith!
(The pics were taken tonight as the boys were making a HUGE treasure hunt map. It was very detailed. Do we have some engineers in our future?)
RSS Feeds
(watch this video to learn more about feeds)
If you are fairly new to the blogosphere, you may not know how to "subscribe" to your favorite blogs. This is a huge time saver! You are able to have posts from your favorite bloggers delivered to you rather than going to all of their sites individually to see if they are updated. Plus- you don't have to try to remember blog addresses.
We have several areas in the upper right corner to subscribe to our blog. Currently, Christi and I are subscribed to about 50 blogs each.
How many are in your "reader"?
(click here to add "Embracing the Friction" to your reader, if you'd like.
Do you twitter?
(Here is a video to show what it is)
Are you on Twitter? I recently signed up on twitter. Follow my tweets HERE.
Christi is not on Twitter (yet) but she subscribed to my page (www.twitter.com/brandonaldson) in the browser window to receive my updates.
Update from Christi: OK- I caved and joined. My addy is www.twitter.com/mrscdonaldson if any of you want to "follow me" (which sounds a little creepy actually)
What do you all think about Twitter? Is it a great way to keep up with others- or just another thing to take up time?
Nurture vs. Nature?
OK- if we can remember back in our psychology classes (maybe even science) they talked about kids' behavior either being formed by nature (just how they were born), or from nurture (how we train them to be).
Our kids are total opposites. One is independent, strong willed, smart. The other is dependent, easy going, and funny. Now, I realize that some of that is due to birth order. I still wonder if we have influenced it some in the things we say and do.
What do you think plays a bigger role? Why? Is it equal? They say most of who we are is formed from birth -5yrs. Do you think we, or our kids, can truly change negative behaviors?
Our kids are total opposites. One is independent, strong willed, smart. The other is dependent, easy going, and funny. Now, I realize that some of that is due to birth order. I still wonder if we have influenced it some in the things we say and do.
What do you think plays a bigger role? Why? Is it equal? They say most of who we are is formed from birth -5yrs. Do you think we, or our kids, can truly change negative behaviors?
Random #3
I usually use Friday for an update on the family but don't really have much to update. It's been a fast week. So, I thought I'd send you over to my bargain blog so you can read about how to get a FREE Slurpee from 7-11 today and also some FREE Chick-fil-A!! Why not get some free stuff before the weekend??We love to eat out at least once a weekend. So, here's a fun and easy question for you.....what's your favorite restaurant (dine in or drive thru) and why??
Please pray for our friends today
Please pray for the Campbell family today. They lost their sweet little 11 month old son last weekend. The funeral is today. We are rejoicing that he is in Heaven (fully restored), but mourning the loss of him here on earth. Please pray for rest, understanding, and strength for the entire family. Prayers are what is getting them through. Thank you.
Job 1:21 “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job 1:21 “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Pursuit of Happiness??
We just finished a sermon about the movie "Pursuit of Happyness". The question I have is this.Chris G., in the movie, says:
"Maybe happiness is something we can only pursue; maybe we can never have it"
What do you think about that statement? Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts.
Gotta brag on our friends for a bit (pt 5)
I wanted to highlight another friend of ours. Meet Josh Shipp.
Josh and his wife moved to Oklahoma to work at Lifechurch.tv right about the time we were leaving for California (which is their home state). Then a few years later, we swapped back and returned to our "home" states. It was kind of funny how we only saw each other in transition. Unfortunately, we did not get to work with Josh and Sarah firsthand but were able to admire their work from afar.
Josh has been a successful motivational speaker for a long time and travels around the globe to speak to teens. He has recently released a DVD and CD . He also has a popular site called "Hey Josh" where people ask him questions and he responds. (Some are serious and some are just hilarious- most are hilarious actually:)
Josh will be appearing on Total Request Live (TRL) on MTV today at 3pm (eastern time). Please tune in and see him and Selma Blair answer questions about teen dating and other topics of interest.
Visit Josh's myspace or facebook to leave him a comment. Or, visit his websites www.JoshShipp.com or www.HeyJosh.tv
Again, I can not stress enough what a great communicator he is.....maybe you should even book him for an event!!
At the Movies
Just wanted to mention a series we just started at church. The reason this one is different than the rest of the year is because you can only see it LIVE online or at a physical Lifechurch.tv campus. They can't archive these by putting them in podcast or webcast form due to copyrights in the movie clips.So, your LAST chance to see this weeks message about "Pursuit of Happyness" is tomorrow night at 8PM (central time). There is also a live chat area that opens up from 7:30 PM-9:30 PM (central time). The series "At the movies" will run through July 2008. The message this week is very powerful and will move you (I promise!)
If you haven't checked out the Internet campus....this would be a great chance to start!! Go HERE and click on the countdown. Being married to the Internet campus pastor has it's perks, I know what the movies are! They are.......*&%^$@%#^*&^%#$%@....if you can't read those it's because they are top secret!Come to church to find out and let God speak to you through the movies!!!!
What are some movies you have seen that spoke to you? They don't have to be from this series, just all movies in general. Any movies that moved you? inspired you?
Happy 4th of July!!
We are heading out to spend time with extended family today. Will be back to posting on Monday. For now, here are a few short updates.....- OKC now has an NBA team!! I'm sure you've heard about it on the news. We are very excited even though it's been a negative process so far. We don't have any professional teams so please accept our enthusiasm :) The name and colors will be announced soon. Any ideas for the name of the team??
- Fuel prices in Seattle were anywhere from $4.40-$4.70 a gallon, back here in Oklahoma it's about $3.87 a gallon. That is a HUGE difference!! I think Oklahoma is the lowest in the nation. Not sure why we are , but I'm thankful. What is the average price where you live?
- Isn't it strange how you come home from "vacation" all worn out? We vowed we were not going to do that this time, but we did. I think there is just so much to see and do in a new place that no one wants to sleep. We are feeling a little more back to normal (although Brandon came home with a cold).
- Wimbledon women's final is Serena vs. Venus! Which Williams' sister will prevail?
Sights of Seattle (pt 4)
Taken on the drive to Anacortes. Just a beautiful morning view
Brandon and I on the ferry ride (first time on a ferry actually)
Brandon watching the bald eagles and the wildlife around the ocean
A family of seals
This was one of the orca's we saw. He got really close. He was a transient whale hunting for food. Most of the whales eat salmon, but the transient whales actually eat seals!
Another view of the Orca. He was following us. You can click on the pic to get a closer view of him.
Love this landscape!
The sun setting on our day. Brandon took this on the ferry ride back home.
Sights of Seattle (pt 3)
We ended up getting books for the boys for souvenirs (the other one is several pictures down). We searched the market high and low and ended up with these. They can be purchased in other places besides Seattle, but we knew the boys would love them. They still think talking about bodily functions is hilarious. Can't wait to hear them giggle:) If you ever want to borrow them ,let us know. They are very informative.
The Original Starbucks.....yah!
Brandon got a drink from there but said it tasted just the same as in Oklahoma. Good, now we won't have to wonder.
They had live music right out front. The blue grass band that played was so impressive that we bought their CD! (Wish we had live music at our Starbucks)
Enjoying the atmosphere (and the 'Bucks!)
The other souvenir for the boys
The famous Pike Place Market
Look at all those yummy fruits and veggies. Wish we had a huge market like this. I resolved to visit our local farmers market now!
And, you can't forget the dessert! They also had fresh donuts they were making on the spot. The line was pretty long though so we opted not to wait and try them.
The fish part of the market was impressive. We did get to see the guys throw the fish like they do on TV. We wanted to buy some and have it shipped (they do that!) but didn't have an extra $200 to spare.
More of the beautiful colors of the market. By the way, they did have lots more than food but these are the pics we ended up with :)Sights of Seattle (pt 2)
Taken from the top of the Space needle
The sign on the bathroom door at the Science Fiction Museum. They had memorabilia from Star Wars, Star Trek, Terminator and many more. They also had a robot exhibit with 200 robots which was my favorite!
A nighttime view the from the Space Needle. What a gorgeous city!
The sun is starting to set. The water quickly began filling up with sailboats wanting to watch the sunset.
This was taken at the Experience Music project, a really cool place where we spent hours. They had info and memorabilia on Seattle artists as well as many others. They also had an area where you could try to learn to play the guitar, drums, keyboard, scratching, and much more. This was us in the recording studio recording a Nirvana song.
On top of the Space Needle looking out over the city. We went during the day and at night.
A big screen from the experience music project. Do you see Christi standing at the bottom?
The Infamous Space needle. You can see this landmark from all over the city. It's pretty cool to be up there and be able to see the Seattle landscape.
One of the views of the sunset from the Space Needle.
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