Test to see if this still works.

Things I learned or Relearned from Ken Ham

When listening to Ken I found that it was odd that some things that I take for simple facts others do not. This is a list of things I have found out recently or have been reminded of:

1. Creation happened in 6 Days. That is six 24hr days.



2. Noah's flood was a global flood and made most of the fossils we have found.



3. Lots of pastors (churches) and other christians think they can add the millions of years to the Bible and make it work. If we do not take the WHOLE BIBLE as God's word then it leaves room for debate on other parts.



4. There was no death before SIN. So no death and suffering before that. The world was good after God had created it.



5. All animals were created on the the 5th and 6th day (birds and sea animals on day 5 and land animals and men on day 6).



6. The only 2 races of people on earth are the saved and the unsaved. We are all descendants of Adam and Eve or Noah if you do not want to go back that far.



7. The legacy we should leave our children and families is that we are doing what the Son of God says we should. If we have questions we should look in the Bible for the answers. For our responses should be that of our Father: "It is written" and "Have you not read?" "The Bible says...." should be our response to all who ask.

Time and ability

Time you spend every day is worth a lot to the employer. It is what they pay you for. What do you value and what do you think your time is worth? Do you spend time with friends and family, playing, working out, reading, and most of all do you spend time with God?

I look at my typical day and I seem to be saying that I spend most of my time on my family, my job, and my sleep. So with my actions I am saying they are the most important and worth the most. I know we can't all spend hours reading the Bible and praying, but it is a matter of the heart. And if we do not make time with God a priority, it slips away and is gone just like our good intentions to tithe of our money. We have to work at all relationships, and if it is important then we will make time for it.

I heard a message once about a man and his wife. It said if the man only called his wife for about 5 minutes a day during the week and would only see her for an hour or two on Sunday and Wednesday, how long do you think that could go on before one if not both would start asking, "What is going on? Are we or are we not married?" The relationship would be damaged. During that time they would not be as good at knowing what the other needs or wants and not on the same team. In the same way, how can we expect to know God's will or have a close relationship with Him if we spend so little time with him?

I guess I was thinking about this after my vacation. Then I was playing basketball and found that I was not as good as I once was. And when riding my bike I might not forget how but my body sure was not fit to do it like it was at one time.

I know that my relationship is not where I want it and it was not God who quit spending time with me. I was the one to quit on Him.

I need to spend time with Him and truly know Him so I will know His will for my life and my family's lives.

My prayer: God, please forgive me for not making the best use of the time you give me. Help me to make you a priority so that we can have a closer relationship.

The List That Never Ends

Projects in Progress: My Ongoing To Do List
1. finish both bathrooms trim and get the base to stick to the tub
2. put up doors in bathroom and blue room
3. trim out the door way to the kitchen
4. move dirt to fill hole
5. clean and landscape front yard.
6. fix and or replace outside lights.
7. go through the check list for the foster program.
8. clean and organize the garage.
9.take family to the butterfly pavilion
10. play tennis with family
11. Take a break and play with family

New Job/ Old Job

After the first week, adjusting to the new location and new management, it seems like a new job even though the work itself hasn't changed.

I got a call from London the other night asking if Jim Crowe was there. We have a contractor named James Crowe. I assumed they wanted him until she said, "Isn't he the Chief Executive?" I was able to look him up and transfer her to the CEO's assistant. They obviously didn't need to speak to a new contractor. He just happened to have a similar name to the CEO of Level 3. Jim Crowe/James Crowe.

Games and Lives

I was thinking the other day about how our lives are like a Game. I have been playing Runescape and thinking of the Sims. In both of the Games you have your character work on a skill like body or mining and as they progress they move to the next level. When doing this you see them from the sky view or over their shoulder. Then it hit me. God is watching us all the time. We should be working on something in our lives. That something should be getting to know God better and sharing The Good News. I know if I look at my life and it had a status bar for how much Praying, Telling others about God, and Worshiping God it would not be as high as it should be. It would probably be near the bottom.

As I look at this I am trying to think of what I can do to make it better. I have asked my dad to help keep me accountable for reading the Bible everyday. That helped for about a week or so but not at the level of commitment I know I am called to have. Now I am reading The Power of a Praying Husband. That has helped me pray more for my wife and family. I have now slowly realized that I can not wait to have someone or something help me do this. Instead I must sit down and make the commitment to God, my self and my family to draw close to God and to do His will. We make commitments all the time to work, play games , watch TV, movies or something to fill our time but have we done the simple things God asks of us first. He wants us to know Him and to be friends with Him. I know I am not there yet but as I do play the games and stuff I now think of the fact that God is watching me play and I remember He wants me to be a light before all men. As I go through the days ahead I plan to regularly check my status bars and make sure that the ones that God would prioritize are filled first.

Step 2 is Finaly Here

We just sent our last payment to the credit card co. Now we have completed step # 2. I can now see light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to GOD! He has blessed us very much. Now we can save toward repairs and building our 3-6 months savings.

Getting out of debt

We have been working on getting out of debt for about 1 year and we are now able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Right now it looks like we will be debt free except for the house in less than 8 months. We will have payed off about $17,000 in less than 2 years. We have been working hard and having to tell ourselves, "Not now" for a lot of wants. During that time our car quit on us and we replaced it with our savings and emergency funds. It took a while to replace the emergency fund of $1,000 and now we are back to paying off the credit card debt but it is going down. I think the best thing for us was getting on a budget and seeing where the money was going. Then we could make adjustments and go from there.

Other than the budget we are trying to get the baby steps done.
Here they are:

$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund

Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball

Three to six months of expenses in savings

Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement

College funding for children

Pay off home early

Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate

For more info go to: DaveRamsey.com or click on the title of this post.
You can listen to the archives of his show at Dave's Archives

Stuff I found

This is going to be a list of links I have found that I think are cool.

To start it off is: http://www.howstuffworks.com/
How stuff works is what started me looking to the internet for info about anything.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/
Popular mechanics has to be my favorite magazine.

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/
Popular Science has to be #2.

This will be edited again as I find more links and just info to add.