trip to canada

Here are some pictures from out trip to Canada to see Emily's parents new land.

follow up

Just to follow up on our computer purchase, I love it! The Lord has answered our prayers that it would serve our family well. I'm especially like the iSight which is a built in camera that allows you to communicate via Skype or other video communication systems. My wife is in Korea currently visiting a friend with her sister and the computer has been a great way for us to talk with one another. It's free, and there's a live video feed so we can actually see each other in real time with hardly any lag time.

For you encouragement I have have a story about how the Lord provided for my needs. For months now I've been wanting a cell phone/PDA. I had been planning to buy a new phone in April, and thus had been saving up some money for the rather large purchase. Mid March my friends and I were at a gathering and I was mentioning how I was going to be purchasing a phone. My friend Kris offered me an extremely nice phone for free! How awesome is that! Two weeks before I was going to drop some money on a phone, the Lord provided a phone that exceeded my expectations. "And my God will do exceedingly, abundantly, more than all we ask or imagine." Then, to make the story even more amazing. One week after I got the phone, I accidentally dropped it and I noticed that the LCD has a small red blotch on it resulting from the fall. I was bummed about this, so I asked the Lord to remove the spot. I don't know how this works apart from asolute sovereignty, but the spot is gone, as if the spot had never been there. I actually watched it slowly disappear. The Lord is Lord over all.

Mac page

phil and em can't not see well now

Emily and I both had eye doctor appointments last week and we will be receiving our new glasses in the upcoming days. You all will be happy to know our eyes are healthy, except they don't see well. Some of you might be saying, "Emily doesn't wear glasses!" Well, you should have put two and two together a long time ago when we started dating. You should all be excited for the new look of Em and Phil. Also, Emily found some frames in Korea that are pretty hip. She's going to get lenses put in them. I'm actually really excited to see these new glasses.

oyster cracker forge a chowder partnership

I read this on the back of an oyster cracker box. It brought my oyster cracker experience to new heights.

"There's nothing quite like a generous bowl of creamy, rich New England clam chowder, and to truly appreciate the experience, oyster crackers must be on hand. Of course, the oyster cracker integration style is critical to the overall success of the meal. Some sprinkle the tiny crackers on top, a hint of salt, and a hearty garnish. Some prefer the time honored Alternating Bites Method whereby a spoonful of chowder is "chased" by a tiny cracker. This ensures a crisp cracker as well as a steady ratio of cracker to chowder.

Whatever your personal style (we encourage you to experiment), oyster crackers make great soup partners. Being avid oyster cracker fans, we set out to find the best-tasting oyster cracker combined with the best texture. If you're familiar with the hunt for a good oyster cracker, you know that some can be flat-ish with a dense, bland, and not flaky consistency. After searching high and low, we found what we think is a pearl of an oyster cracker..."

Thank you Trader Joe's!

exciting news

I'm proud to announce that my brother-in-law just played his first triple-triple during a Scrabble game today. He played the word "Picketer" and won 185 points. For those of you who aren't familiar with the game, a triple-triple is achieved when a word passes through two triple word scores on one play. So when you add up the points you triple the value of the word, then you triple the value of the tripled word. And, as in the case of any triple-triple play (usually), you get a 50 point bonus for using all your letters.

Great job Luke! We're all very happy for you, and want to be you (I've never had a triple-triple). Maybe someday...

oops

Yesterday on my way out of the house, I was half way to my car when I realized I was still wearing my slippers. I paused for a moment and considered going back inside to swap them out for shoes. After I preformed brief cost benefit analysis, I decided it would be more beneficial to continue on my way the YMCA. I was actually pleasantly surprised how well they functioned as shoes, and my feet were nice and toasty in the car.

work?

Anybody got any job suggestions for me?

scotts post

Check out this post by my dear friend Scott. Herein is the journal entry of our pastor on the night his father went to be with the Lord. Very sweet...

http://jscottalexander.wordpress.com/2007/03/07/john-pipers-father/

fish among fish

Our family is now officially a Mac using family. Luke, the beast has served me well, and may it serve someone else well (SPF) after you reapply the thermal paste. It's going to take some getting used to using a new operating system. I'm excited to learn more about how this new technological device can help our family serve the Lord in new and helpful ways.

think how we're saved and rejoice!

Today I was reading in Romans 5: 8-11

"...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for the us. (9) Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (11) More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

1. God saves us while we were still sinners. There was no merit or righteousness involved from our end in our being saved. Purely grace from the Father...amazing!

2. Notice whats happening in verse 8. God shows his love in that Christ died...this is almighty teamwork!

3. Since our justification is sure, God declaring us "not guilty," how much more sure is our salvation in the end! We can have confidence, because the work of Christ and God is perfectly effective. God accomplishes all his purposes!

4. Since Christ has reconciled us to God, how much more sure and sweet is our salvation in Christ! He reconciled us while we were still enemies...again, amazing!

5. Verse 11 stands out to me. Paul says "more than that [salvation in Christ]" is our rejoicing in God through Jesus Christ our reconciler. There must be some profound glory given to God when his saints rejoice in the work his Son did to bring us to himself.

I hope this encourages you today and spurs you on to rejoicing!