The adventures of Scott and his family. From SlangsFamily part 1 - Scott and Krystene (who is grown, graduated from college and living as an adult with a full time job, her husband Jeremy and their newborn Jaxon) along with three other special ladies in SlangsFamily II - Cherilyn, Brittney and Carissa
Had to make sure to celebrate Brittney's favorite holiday, St Patrick's day. It's all about the green!
Home ec - kids made green clover pancakes for breakfast, Scott make
green Cajun chicken Alfredo for dinner. Did you know you can dye Italian
cheese green? Both tasted great, but it's just odd eating food that is
green but isn't supposed to be.
Art- dye your horse green
Earth Science/Geology- finding fossils in the driveway.
PE- ride horses, especially the green one.
Social Studies- learn about the foster child system and adoption by watching the hilarious movie Instant Family.
No school today so we did a service project. The girls and their friends
cleared out the ditches and removed the debris causing the dams so the
water could flow in the ditch instead of all over the road. It was a
good work out and fun to see instant results of your labor. Now if it
would just stop raining we could go riding!
Myself and many of my friends and family proclaim to be Christian. I have thought much on the subject as I have seen myself and others struggle with that from time to time. To be Christian is not to be perfect but it is to be striving to be better. To do the things that Christ did. To develop the attributes of Christ within us. This is where we are all different and must take that into account when dealing with our fellow man. Each of us is on our own path and we are each in our own level of development. Being Christian is a process and that process begins with finding Christ and then learning about Him and then striving to live like Him all-the-while trying to build enough faith in Him to let go and allow Him to carry us through that which we cannot navigate on our own.
While studying the life of our savior we can find many attributes of Him that we might want to develop in our own lives. We may find that we need to ask "what are the attributes of Christ?" "How can they be developed in ourselves?" James 1:5,6 gives us great advise as to how to start - Pray!
5 aIf any of you lack bwisdom, let him ask of God, that cgiveth to all men liberally, and dupbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him aask in bfaith, nothing cwavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
We can pray and ask our Heavenly Father for assistance in where we can start. We can pray for answers to questions that may develop along the way. As we study the life of Christ to find attributes we wish to develop, we should continue to pray for help and answers and the strength to continue to change and be more like Christ.
Mark 5:21-43 contains one my favorite examples of how Christ acted. For me, so many things can be learned about our Savior in these verses. Setting the scene we must back up to chapter 4 and understand that the multitudes were surrounding Him all day and He preached unto them until the evening had come. At this point, He sailed to the other side. I imagine Him to be tired after a day of long preaching and he must have been because the scriptures tell us that those on the ship had to wake him because they feared the storm.
Now to bring some context to this, we understand that those whom He called as Apostles were on board with Him. He had called them and set them apart to perform sacred duties. They had been with him for some time and had seen the miracles and presumably been taught that they too had the ability to call on God for assistance in creating miracles when appropriate. At this time the storm arose and they did not think to do anything about it themselves, only to give in to fear, but luckily they did think to ask Christ who was physically on board with them.
Here is what I find thoughtful and profound about this:
Men called and taught by Christ himself were fearful - This lets me know that it is OK for any of us to be fearful if these men were. If Apostles of the Lord can struggle, we should not be so hard on ourselves or others when any struggle occurs
Christ did NOT get mad and furious with them for waking Him to handle what they could have themselves. This tells us that Christ cares about us at ALL times in our lives
Moving into chapter 5
Once on shore, presumably in the early morning, Christ is immediately called on again to perform a miracle. He is asked to free a man of the demons that posses him. He does this and then gets back in the ship and sails back to the other shore where He is once again enthralled by the masses. At this point He has had twenty four hours of preaching and miracle working with what appears to be very little rest. Here we pick up at verse 21.
Jairus catches up to Christ and explains that his daughter is dying and he would like Christ to come and heal her. Our Savior agrees to the request and sets out to the house of Jairus. Not long into the trek and fighting to get through the crowd of people so tight it is impossible to take a step without bumping into someone else, Christ stops and asks who touched Him. His apostles almost seem to laugh at Him because they think it is impossible to differentiate one touch from another in the crowd and yet He does.
Thoughtful and profound:
Christ was tired and surrounded by many when He was able to hear the plea of one individual and set out to help him
While focused on the errand to help Jairus He notices someone else who needs assistance and takes the time to speak with the woman who touched His garment in order to be healed.
Finally at the home of Jairus, He finds the family distraught and in tears. He tells them the little girl is not dead and they laugh at Him. At this point, Christ sets the scene for the miracle to take place . He charges everyone to leave the home so peace my abound, then He brings two of His Apostles and the parents of the little girl into her room where He commands her to arise. When she does, Christ tells her parents to feed her.
Thoughts and profound:
Emergencies aside, it is always appropriate to set the scene or prepare oneself and the area in order to have the spirit. By removing the loud individuals from the home, peace could set in so a miracle could take place
Christ brought in the parents. Not only does this allow for witnesses to the miracle but it show how thoughtful He is. The daughter of Jairus was only twelve, can you imagine her waking up to see three strange men standing in her room? With her parents there, she awoke to familiar faces that would keep her calm.
Christ gave instruction to feed the girl. He knew she needed nourishment straight away. Once again showing how He knows us and our needs, most of the time better than we do.
He brought in Peter James and John - He trained them. Showed them how to perform such things for they would need to be able to so when He was no longer with them
So from this set of verses we can see many attributes of our Savior that we might want to work on ourselves.Our Savior was:
compassionate toward others
aware of the needs of others
aware when someone needed Him
not quick to be angry when someone "disturbed" Him
patient
teacher
able to help others even when on the way to another assignment
These are just a few of the things to be gleaned from these verses, there are many more. What do you find?
Once on the path to knowing Christ, our faith begins to build at a pace that is correct for us and our circumstances. As our faith builds we will have many opportunities to strengthen it as we come to depend on our Savior. Depending on our Savior can be a tough thing at times. We tend to think we know best for ourselves but many times what we think we know is not what our Heavenly Father has in store for us. He knows us better and will try to guide us in the path that is best but we need to let the Savior steer without fighting the direction. This can be hard but I know that as we do attempt to let go more often, the easier it will be when we really need to completely trust in the Lord.
The Man From Snowy River. A great movie with a great story and recently I discovered that it has a great analogy concerning our ability to let go and allow the Savior to carry us. I heard a talk by Terence M. Vinson -Meekly Placing Our Total Trust in God - Where he likens the Man From Snowy River's big ride to how we should allow Christ to carry us through whatever it is that we are needing His help with. Take a few minutes to listen to this talk to hear the analogy. I cannot do it justice so please listen, I know you will enjoy it. The analogy begins a few minutes in after some introductory words and will end before the entire talk. The whole talk is worth the listen but if you only have time to get through the analogy, you will enjoy that.
For reference, here is the clip of the big ride
And if you would like to read the poem that inspired the movie
Click HERE
The day one gets married is supposed to be and usually is, a fantastic day that leaves lasting memories on the bride and groom. This was the case for us and we still look back on the day with joy and fondness.
Being married is a wonderful thing and I do really enjoy it. I am especially blessed to be married to someone so wonderful as Cherilyn.
May 2018 DM concert Tulsa
Over these past years we have been able to do many things together that have been fun as well as strengthening for us.
In 2014 we got to go zip lining on our anniversary to have a celebratory date.
This year, our eighth anniversary arrived knowing we were nearing the end of a VERY busy time with the business and family activities. We were unable to plan any sort of getaway but we thought we might be able to at least take some time to ourselves and if nothing else, go out for lunch on our actual anniversary. We had been so busy between our business, Cheer for Carissa and Marching Band for Brittney that we knew there was little time this year for any big celebration.
When the day of our anniversary rolled around, we planned that we would take half the day for ourselves. In the morning we had to get the girls off to school, do the morning chores and prepare two puppies to go to their new homes, the latter consisted of bathing the pups and doing some paperwork. I was hand delivering them across the country so I had to pack as well. As the morning rolled on, it came time to bathe the puppies when I noticed an issue with the washing machine. Fortunately it was not a fatal issue, nor was it an issue that required a professional to be called out who wouldn't arrive for a couple of days either. However, it was an issue that would take over an hour to fix, the hour I had set for bathing puppies. Once the machine was up and running again I got the pups bathed and dried. [-PLUG- In case you were wondering, we use a line of breed appropriate products by Crown Royale. They are great products!] While this was all going on, Cherilyn was dealing with more potential clients as well as the ones expecting their puppies the next day. ..........
We never went out for lunch - no time. A later than usual, shortened lunch at the house would have to do. The afternoon chores turned to be more involved than anticipated and took longer than usual. The children came home from school and time with them was to be had. Before we knew it, dinner time was upon us. Then, after dinner clean up and the nightly ritual of trying to keep the kids on task with showers and getting ready for bed. After all of that, time for nightly chores and getting packed. All in all, we did end up finished with the day 2 hours earlier than usual which was good because I had a 3:45AM wake up call. So that was it, our eighth anniversary. The busiest day we had had in a while, non-stop from morning til night. No day off for fun, that would have to be another day. Perhaps in another week or two LOL.
As I was gone for the next two days on pup delivery duty, I had time to reflect and enjoy the memories of the past and look forward to new ones in the future. We may have, in essence, canceled our anniversary this year but we have many more to look forward to and I'm glad of that! Sometimes you just have to look back and laugh. Not everything turns out the way we want or plan and that is OK. We need to try to enjoy what is and look forward to what is to come.
As I was driving the three hour drive back from the airport after my puppy delivery excursion to Providence and Manchester, I played my tunes and looked forward to seeing my beautiful bride. I still get the warm fuzzies and excitement of being able to see her again after being gone. I enjoy that! So, to my sweet wife who cares for me in spite of my shortcomings and whom I am glad I get the privilege to love her too -
Every time I see you something happens to me
Like a chain reaction between you and me
My heart starts missing a beat
My heart starts missing a beat
Every time
Oh oh oh, every time
Happy anniversary! I look forward to many, many more! I Love You!
It was a small affair attended by a select few. It was exciting and enjoyable. The private ceremony was held outside in Raleigh, NC on a hot and steamy afternoon on the campus of NC State. The clouds broke and a little sunshine shown down on the blessed event.
It's an interesting day as a father, to see your little girl all grown up and getting married. Somehow, even though you have witnessed the growing up, it's hard to not think of your little girl as just that. Your little girl was just yesterday growing up, enjoying good times with friends and participating in sports and band etc..... How could she be grown up now?
Yet, there she is! All grown up! Graduated from college, working full time in the profession she chose living on her own in a different city. Then one day she meets a nice young man and dates him and eventually marries him. - All Grown Up -
To quote a great 80's movie “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” I have enjoyed watching my little girl grow up and I am so very proud of her. It is a joy to be her dad!
For the first time I was able to see Depeche Mode twice on the same tour! The only other group I had that experience with was Aerosmith on the Get A Grip tour.
This time around, it was date nite with DM. Cherilyn and I booked a room in Tulsa directly across from the venue. Best trip into and out of a concert ever!
View from our room. The BOK Center
It was pretty fantastic to have to just walk across the street. I don't think I have ever parked as close at a venue even considering my mom and I use to get handicap parking.
The show was just as awesome as it was nearly nine months prior. The show had a slightly different set list than the earlier show we had seen, which added to this shows experience. The show was spectacular as usual!! Cannot wait for the next one!!
Back in our room we could see that there were still people leaving the show. I think I like being this close. :-)
Once again we headed out to enjoy our every 4 year tradition - a Depeche Mode concert. This time around, the weather in the Big D was better than it was on the last tour, which was cool and rainy. Dallas on September 22, 2017 was hot and steamy, as was the concert.
The experience this time around was a little different in that we brought the kids. Carissa was really into it, Brittney, not so much. Carissa has been properly indoctrinated to the music of Depeche Mode and has come to really love it! Since the song Precious comes from DM's 11th album, Playing The Angel, Carissa said she wants a "Precious" party for her 11th birthday. How can that be denied. :-)
It was another fabulous night with Depeche Mode!
It was really great that they put Somebody back in the set.
The family had a great time, even Brittney said she enjoyed the trip, though the concert was not the highlight for her as it was for Carissa, who rocked out the entire time!
