Well, one week early we have the gift of Faith. Faith Adelaide Mills is with us! All in a swirl of cleaning, organizing, disinfecting, and counting contractions this peaceful little bundle of joy came. We had her here at our house and I loved every minute of it! Heidi labored for just over 3 hrs and ended up having Faith in the tub. Praise God for big garden bath tubs! Faith came out with her eyes wide open (under water) and ready for life. Everyone is doing great. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for the Mills family. Every day I wake up and realize I am truly a blessed man!
This year I have for the first time ever considered doing something that was unthinkable up to this point. I want to buy a minivan. Well, there have been several vans that have struck my fancy, but something about the whole minivan society just gets me a little. Maybe it’s my Texas roots, but minivans are chick cars, right? So with all these thoughts cruisin’ through my mind Randy Bohlender’s words echo in my memory “the 2002 Suburban, long wheel base, leather, Sirius radio and heavy duty Secret Service Edition window tint…”and I’m hooked! That’s a man’s vehicle! So I went on the search. Lo and behold much to my chegrin the mother of all suburbans is sitting across the street from ZHOP in a marine and automotive supercenter. This beauty was just waiting for me to come and lay claim. Now let me keep things straight here. I’ve never been a name and claim it kind of guy, but boy I was namin’ and claimin’ like it was my job when I saw that 2004 Z71 new wheeled, tired, and painted hass of a machine. So, without getting into covetousness I did what a responsible man of God should do in this situation. I took it for a spin! What a truck. That was yesterday, so today I’ll drive by the sales center and stare yet again. So, I guess I’ve jumped from the kid totin’ mommy-mobile to the V8 Z71 4×4 family extravaganza on wheels. It just feels right. Thanks Randy for showing me the light.
You have to see this! If you haven’t ever been to IHOP or have never been around IHOP type events this will mean nothing to you. Sorry.
Today I destroyed a desk that some poor carpenter spent long meticulous hours buliding. It probably took this guy more than 15 hours to make and install this elaborate piece of electronic casino art. It took Luke Ahrenholtz and I about 4 minutes to completely destroy it. I wonder about stuff like that sometimes, but only after the fact. I think the need for men to create is just as strong as the need to destroy. Kinda funny huh? Do you think that is an after “the fall” characteristic or a “made in the image of God” attribute? Well anyway, I had a whole heap of fun smashing that desk to pieces with my hammer and hands and feet, and several of the other random tools I found lying around. I have a swollen elbow to show for it too. Just another successful day here at ZHOP.
I’ve been studying Malachi 3:3 for the past few weeks. God brought me there and had me start praying it for myself because I consider myself a modern grafted-in Levite. It reads ”He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness.”
NASU
Here at ZHOP we have been having several interesting spiritual manifestations. One that has been rec curing is gold fillings appearing in people’s teeth that were not formerly there. The ”Divine Dentist” you ask? I don’t try to understand them, I just report what I’ve seen. I like to say that a man with an opinion is never at the mercy of a man with an experience. That’s all beside the point. The point is, God is showing us here at ZHOP what He wants to do in our hearts. Stoke the fires Lord! God is continually pouring out judgment not because He’s angry, but because of His amazing mercy and love. Proverbs 13:24 states that ”He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.” NASU What wisdom God is to purify His loved ones before it’s too late. People often get so offended at the idea that God will judge sin. The two extreme concepts of the Father being “strict and unapproachable” or “lovey-dovey, sin isn’t that big of a deal” type of God rarely come to the biblical middle ground. God is strict because He’s holy, but approachable because he desired us so much he sent His son to die on a cross so we could be with Him forever. He’s “lovey-dovey” because God is love. He’s not casual about sin in anyway because like the answer to His approachability He sent His son to die on a cross to defeat sin. I would hardly categorize that as “not a big deal”. I thank the Lord that he chastens me. It’s like I tell my children I don’t spank you because I’m mad at you, I discipline you because I love you. Sin is a killer!!!!! God does not want me to die forever because of it. So, He disciplines me like a loving father should. Lord purify the sons of Levi and make our offerings pleasing in your eyes. Amen and Amen!
Here’s the first of many posts.
I can’t believe I’m actually doing the “Blog thing.” My wife Heidi told me that I should start, but she’s really the one with stuff to say that’s worth listening to. I’ll just read her Blog and rip off the good stuff so everyone will think i’m just as cool as her. Yesssss! I have content now!
