Nov 25, 2007
The new place
Time to catch up and give you a tour of our new place!
Michele and I move into a condo in Naperville, and we found alot of favor - approximately 1200.00 a month WITH FREE UTILITIES! Yep, that's right, we got such a great deal on this place - 2 bedroom/2 bath condo with very nice hardware decor and a spanky kitchen.
Check out the living room...
...and the kitchen, my FAVORITE..
and our living room other view - uh, yeh the living room's configuration is so weird the only place to put the tv was at the backdoor area. Work out well, I suppose, because we don't use the patio too much.
Nov 24, 2007
God the perfect husband
Been doing some reading over Thanksgiving in the book of Jeremiah and it struck me, God was revealed in many facets that I never quite seen. The biggest one is if God was on Oprah - I think many women would fawn over him as incredible.
Incredible in the manner that unlike most husbands and men in general, God LISTENS:
The book of Jeremiah is a book of charges against an unfaithful people and in bringing a case against his people God states what his people have been thinking, saying and doing - and in many cases it was regarding adultery:
God, could be in Law and Order - he never brings a case without evidence that we said ourselves, that we did. He listens intently to what his people say, and then reminds them, "You said this."
27 They say to wood, 'You are my father,'
and to stone, 'You gave me birth.'
They have turned their backs to me
and not their faces;
yet when they are in trouble, they say,
'Come and save us!'
One can also see the winsome heart of God, wooing an unfaithful people. It's like a wife who spurns her husband, but his endurning spirit and patience waits with open heart for his people to come back.
You also read into God's heart - I want nothing more than... - the heart of God is for our best.
19 “I thought to myself,
‘I would love to treat you as my own children!’
I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land—
the finest possession in the world.
I looked forward to your calling me ‘Father,’
and I wanted you never to turn from me.
Another passage struck me, and painted a picture: God said, "my heart weeps for my people, I cannot stop crying." The irony of an all sufficent, all powerful God weeping over the wayward heart of his people is truly remarkable. Remarkable in the fact that he ENDURES with people. We say one thing, but do another, we constantly break his heart, but he constantly woos us.
THE IRONY IS THIS: God is all powerful yet desires the loving heart of a faith, loving people. God actually aches in his own heart when we stray away, and the most convicting thing is God actually HURT AND ACHE when move away from him.
Michele and I talked about this: we move away because we want to simply do what WE WANT TO DO. The mere ackowledgement of God means there is ACCOUNTABILITY. But many people don't know God isn't interested in a relationship of accountability - he's interested in us not living broken lives.
Incredible in the manner that unlike most husbands and men in general, God LISTENS:
The book of Jeremiah is a book of charges against an unfaithful people and in bringing a case against his people God states what his people have been thinking, saying and doing - and in many cases it was regarding adultery:
God, could be in Law and Order - he never brings a case without evidence that we said ourselves, that we did. He listens intently to what his people say, and then reminds them, "You said this."
27 They say to wood, 'You are my father,'
and to stone, 'You gave me birth.'
They have turned their backs to me
and not their faces;
yet when they are in trouble, they say,
'Come and save us!'
One can also see the winsome heart of God, wooing an unfaithful people. It's like a wife who spurns her husband, but his endurning spirit and patience waits with open heart for his people to come back.
You also read into God's heart - I want nothing more than... - the heart of God is for our best.
19 “I thought to myself,
‘I would love to treat you as my own children!’
I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land—
the finest possession in the world.
I looked forward to your calling me ‘Father,’
and I wanted you never to turn from me.
Another passage struck me, and painted a picture: God said, "my heart weeps for my people, I cannot stop crying." The irony of an all sufficent, all powerful God weeping over the wayward heart of his people is truly remarkable. Remarkable in the fact that he ENDURES with people. We say one thing, but do another, we constantly break his heart, but he constantly woos us.
THE IRONY IS THIS: God is all powerful yet desires the loving heart of a faith, loving people. God actually aches in his own heart when we stray away, and the most convicting thing is God actually HURT AND ACHE when move away from him.
Michele and I talked about this: we move away because we want to simply do what WE WANT TO DO. The mere ackowledgement of God means there is ACCOUNTABILITY. But many people don't know God isn't interested in a relationship of accountability - he's interested in us not living broken lives.
Nov 22, 2007
Questions about Spain
My baby sister asked my thoughts of Spain so instead of mere pics, I thought I write a few thoughts:
1- What did we like about Spain? I think the culture and the opportunity to see new things.
2- What was the most intriguing aspect of the trip? For Michele and I it was the monastery at Mount Serrat. It was isolated and built around 1000 A.D. and some of the most beautiful landscapes in a mountainous region. Set at 3000 feet plus elevation it was really clean, modern and historical.
3- Interesting observations - being clean is a suggestion not mandatory. Michele noticed only 50% of the women actually washed their hands. The men are even worse.
4- Emissions standards are not the same as the U.S.
The food was great though - seafood is very common and done very simply. The lifestyle is very culture, and very arts oriented. The best thing about Spain is people are not nearly as violent as America. It was very safe there. Not once did Michele and I fear mugging...or being held up.
Overall, as we reflect for next time, my wife and I will do something more active. Something like rock climbing.
1- What did we like about Spain? I think the culture and the opportunity to see new things.
2- What was the most intriguing aspect of the trip? For Michele and I it was the monastery at Mount Serrat. It was isolated and built around 1000 A.D. and some of the most beautiful landscapes in a mountainous region. Set at 3000 feet plus elevation it was really clean, modern and historical.
3- Interesting observations - being clean is a suggestion not mandatory. Michele noticed only 50% of the women actually washed their hands. The men are even worse.
4- Emissions standards are not the same as the U.S.
The food was great though - seafood is very common and done very simply. The lifestyle is very culture, and very arts oriented. The best thing about Spain is people are not nearly as violent as America. It was very safe there. Not once did Michele and I fear mugging...or being held up.
Overall, as we reflect for next time, my wife and I will do something more active. Something like rock climbing.
Nov 8, 2007
From the archives -
A few of photos from archives
* That cute girl with the vibrant smile - is my niece Ella - hard to NOT smile huh?
* Me on a hike...being goofy.
* A photo of me at Mnt. Serrat in Barcelona...
