Another snow day!

This makes 5 this year and it is only February 7th!

Wrestling

Noah's dual meet versus Marine City-

The middles school had their first dual meet Tuesdy night- Romeo won 52-27

Noah was the first boy to wrestle and he was nervous- since his first bouts back in Oxford he has not fared to well but he has stuck it out. Last night he was holding his own 5-3 but then got pinned. He was a little disspointed, but handled it real well.

I am doing a bit better on the videos but I think I need to delete some of the pictures on my camera and free up some more space, so I will try that before to long.

Road to Pinckney

The 8th graderes went undefeated and won the opportunity to go to Pinckney! An 8th grade tournament that their coach said at the begining of the year he would only take them if they went undefeated. you can find their scores on the left of the screen under Aarons basketball season. Anyway~ Pinckney is officially on for RMS and we depart the 14th of March

A couple of shots of Aaron warming up, then a team shot in front of the Road to Pinckney banner, then I forgot to change the setting and wanted one of Aaron alone in front of the banner but you have to see it in video form however he is not moving or saying anything worthy of a video, remeber a few posts ago I said I was still learning how to use it. This is one of those examples.

Thanks for the heads up Karla

Just asking for a click (once a day through the end of Feb. if you have time) for Children's Hospital in Detroit.....

Click on the link at the bottom of this e-mail to vote. (Detroit's Children's Hospital is currently in the lead with 40% of the votes.) You can vote once a day.

We are all so fortunate if we do not have to have a child hospitalized.
Children's Hospital would greatly benefit from this! !

Please vote for Children's Hospital of Michigan to receive a fun center from Colgate!

Follow the link attached. Please vote and forward to your friends.Thanks so much!http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/Corp/CommunityPrograms/show-the-love.cvsp

Superbowl - Road to Pinckney party 2008

another Micah video

Micahs basketball video

I am just figuring out how to work the video part of my camera that is now two years old, so bear with me but enjoy! This is from Micahs game this past Saturday.

Noah's Tournament

Noah in his warm ups





















Noah in his singlet getting ready to wrestle




















































He took 3rd place overall in his weight
class, 95 pounds. It qualified him for a medal.

He also had his first pin, pinned the guy in
the first minute and a half.

Not bad for his first tournament!

Micahs first basketball game 2008

What kind of world do you wish for?

Family and Friends,

The band, Five for Fighting, is generously donating $0.49 to Autism Speaks for *each time* this video is viewed. The funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure for autism. When you have a moment, please visit the link below to watch the video and pass it along to your loved ones. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.


http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/408214

re-check

I go back to the doctor tomorrow for a re check and evaluation from the Gynecologist regarding the dense mass she found last month. Right before Christmas I had an ultra sound and mammogram but have not heard any results. Assuming I will get those tomorrow at this follow up appointment, please be in prayer for me and with me, knowing God has it all in control. I have felt a release of hope and joy because I know without a shadow of a doubt that, if I'll trust Christ and let Him help me every step of the way, I have the victory. I am more than a conqueror!

To Know Him and Make Him Known

Your Heavenly Father sent Jesus so that you “can have real and eternal life, more and better life than [you] ever dreamed of” (John 10:10, MSG).

Happy New Year!

What an opportunity to start discovering God’s dream for your life, to turn your focus to the future, and to be excited about who you’re becoming in Christ. Make a commitment to Christ to serve Him in the new year and make His name known among the people. Ask God to show you what it means to be fully committed to Him in 2008.

I remember a story A.W. Tozer tells in a booklet called, Total Commitment to Christ. “One time a young man came to an old saint… and said to him, ‘Father, what does it mean to be crucified?’ The sage replied, ‘Well, to be crucified means three things. First, the man who is crucified is facing only one direction.’”
Tozer explains, “If he hears anything behind him he can’t turn around to see what’s going on. He has stopped looking back… [and now looks] in only one direction… the direction of God and Christ and the Holy Ghost.”
The sage continued, “One thing more, son, about a man on a cross—he’s not going back.” Tozer again expounds on the man’s wisdom, “Get a man [or woman] converted who knows that if he joins Jesus Christ he’s finished, and that while he’s going to come up and live anew, as far as the world’s concerned he is not going back—then you have a real Christian indeed.”
Finally, the old sage finished, “Another thing about the man on the cross, son; he has no further plans of his own.”

To be crucified with Christ means you’re facing one direction. You cannot turn around. And because it’s no longer you who lives but Christ who lives in you, your own plans must go (Galatians 2:20). Such focus leaves no time for regret.

God has a dream for you. He sent Jesus so that you “have real and eternal life, more and better life than you ever dreamed [possible]” (John 10:10, The Message).

Make a commitment to discover God’s dream for your life in 2008!

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, I pray You would begin to show me the dream You have for the life You’ve given me. Open my ears and soften my heart to hear and accept Your plans for my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.


Friday: Galatians 2:20
Saturday: Jeremiah 29:11
Sunday: Matthew 6:21

Happy New Year!

Thank you!

http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/fullmovie.php#

Set Apart 07

Something that could only be orchestrated by God himself.....Zach was able to set off with a group of about 30 other students from around the East Michigan district and head to Orlando for the next 5 days. Over the next several hours, (24 for E. MI.) thousands of teenagers, youth leaders, and young adults from across the United States and abroad will be getting into church vans, chartered buses, and airplanes and converging on Orlando, Florida for what promises to be an experience like they've never had before.

Please Pray....

you can click on the the following link to find out more about Set Apart and how to pray specifically for the next 5 days.

http://setapart07.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1


Thanks J for all your hard work and for allowing Zach the privilege...I am praying Great things!

Christmas changes everything

Have you ever noticed how a change in light can transform the world around you? You see it especially at this season, indoors and out. Look around you. Ordinary houses and yards emerged as illuminated wonderlands. Downtown lights become decorative sentinels. Strings of white lights wink on porches and dip from eves, while colored lights cast multi hued reflections off snowy sidewalks, candles glow in windows. No wonder people drive around just to see the sights even though we have seen them millions of times during the previous 11 months. Everything look completely different when the Christmas lights are on.....even indoors houses have been transformed.

In our own home Micah stares with wonder at the difference. Tiny lights twinkle on the trees and above the windows the mantel and the book shelves. Tree lights casting a glow o the ceiling and the walls Candles glow on stove tops, bathroom sinks and in the Windows. Fire light dances on the hearth.

Our world seems somehow warmer, more beautiful, more joyful when the house is lit for Christmas, dust disappears, "kid proof, battered furniture looks new again, even the clutter of four children and two adults living under one roof seems lovely instead of annoying. to me the whole process is captivating...... to me it brings the reminder that the light of Christmas is suppose to change everything. The light of the world has conquered darkness, life has overcome death. The coming of the Christ child has transformed the universe and we are just now in the process of trying to catch up.
Christmas afternoon we spend time as a family, the room looks like a gift wrap display exploded, the floor is strewn with wrapping and presents paper, ribbons and bows, the pile is high and the boys love the mess, we will pick up enough to find the floor but now is time for the afterglow.

We were new clothes we breathe the December air, we listen to the chatter of the boys about there new gifts, listen to new music, play new games , we enjoy the after glow. After we have talked to all our family, the phone stops ringing, and daily demands like laundry come to a halt. so enjoy this afterglow of Christmas choose to resist the culture a bit , leave your tree up, the lights on and take time out just to be- it is worth the effort, Savoring the after glow!

Merry Christmas

Contrary to the Christmas critics, Christmas is a time fore extravagance.

"For unto us is born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord" went the greeting from the angel Gabriel.

What an Outlandish, extravagant gift! A gift of life itself. A gift that would forever change the history of the human story. The incarnation is extravagant grace. We prepare. We shop. we again await the hearing of these familiar words we can almost recite from memory- because we are preparing a celebration of God's extravagant love. Yes, Christmas is a time to be extravagant.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas eve 2007

Silent night, Holy Night all is calm all is bright....Sounds like Christmas eve at your house? Not mine! at least not this year.

In a house full of boys two of them being teenagers it is still a time of simmering excitement. The day is almost here! The house has been decorated, the presents have been wrapped- well almost, We have been to church- this year Kensington Troy campus was the church of choice, we have read the Christmas story. Now all that is left is to climb into bed and drift off to a peaceful sleep and wait for morning.

But sleep that is the problem! Who can sleep on such a night?

I remember well trying to sleep as a child, that last minute drink of water or questions or something we forgot to say during the previous 24 hours.......It must have been a trial for my mom with just the two of us- I HAVE FOUR.......at one point we even resorted to opening one present on Christmas eve as a little preview to what was to come, (I am not sure it ever worked then- but it is a tradition I still carry and it still does not work today:))

Today Matt and I relish our shut eye -we finally fall into our beds about 1:30 am but we still tend to wake a bit sleep deprived our boys no less hyper than my brother Acey wake us at 6:45AM yet we don't seem to mind a little Christmas insomnia, it reminds me there was little sleeping done that first Christmas eve.

After all a woman was having a baby- hardly conducive to sleeping even with an epidural:) Surely Joseph was pacing- then later the Shepard's stirring about, animals baaing and mooing ......Surely everyone was to keyed up to sleep!

and yet there was peace....just as there is peace on this Christmas eve when every "mouse keeps stirring and wont go to bed for Santa to come"Amid all the noise and the hubbub of Christmas eve comes the shining moment of wide awake yet perfect peace. The peace of knowing that good news has come to earth. The peace of knowing that all is truly well, the light has shined in the darkness, that Christmas comes weather or not we get to bed at a decent hour. Sleep or no sleep it is truly a heavenly peace.

Gingerbread houses with Micah

whew.....

We wanted to alert you to a new movie that is coming out today. It has a strong anti-God and anti-church theme, and would not be one that we think would be acceptable for any person to support through attending or watching. The movie is called the Golden Compass.

The movie is based off a the first book of a trilogy called “His Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman, who is a renowned atheist. He said in 2003 that “My books are about killing God...” and in 2001 the he is “trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.”

Despite the exciting, harmless previews, Pullman presents Daemons (pronounced demons) as cool and neat. A daemon is a child's best friend, confidant, and co-adventurer in life. Every kid needs and wants one. A child and his daemon are like an invincible team. By contrast, children without daemons are unhappy, miserable and pathetic. They're like zombies without any personality.

The goal of this movie is to have kids watch the movie, then go to their website, or worse yet, ask for the books for Christmas. The website tells you “To discover your very own Daemon, look into your heart, and answer the following 20 questions openly and honestly. Your true character and the form of Daemon will be revealed, ready to be taken with you into your virtual world."

The real danger is in the books. In the books it goes farther explaining that “Yahweh” is the ultimate evil. It says that the Church is engaged in a conspiracy to separate children from their personal daemons. Look to the demonic for fun, excitement, companionship, adventure, and freedom. Pullman's work is about to bring millions of children into contact with the demonic. In the last book, the kids set out on a mission to kill God, which they succeed in, making the world a better place for all.

We want to encourage each of you to do more than not go to the movie. Talk to your kids about being careful with what the watch and listen to. Even though something may be entertaining, it may not be worth it if it promotes compromise or goes against what the Bible says. 1 Corinthians 10:23 says ""Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive." The Bible also teaches us to separate ourselves from evil. 2 Corinthians 6:14 - 17 says “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?... For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.”" Teach your kids how to determine for themselves what is right and holy, and they will rise to the challenge!