Good Friday

Well, it's Friday. Actually, it's Good Friday. The grand crew is wrapping up Spring Break and they will return to school on Monday morning, but there is still the week-end and it's Easter!
This will be a big week-end and Nana and Pawpaw's house.
Yesterday Nana picked up the three younger grand kids and took them to see Horton Hears a Who. They spent the night with us. Since the oldest grand daughter will celebrate her 12th birthday Saturday, she is having a few friends in for a sleep over at her house tonight. That means the three little ones will spend another night with us. WOOOHooo!!! My Dad will be coming in this afternoon to spend the week-end, so we will have four generations of family in the house at some point. I think I feel a photo op coming on. I think tonight may be Easter egg dying night. Trying to keep three avid Easter egg decorators under control will be fun. I know there is a photo op in this event.
Tomorrow we are taking the oldest grand daughter to her favorite restaurant, Catfish John's. It's a local place and she has loved it since she was two. She even likes the pickled tomatoes! While the rest of the grand crew might prefer a national chain restaurant, "Scooter" prefers the local cuisine. Ya gotta love that!
Of course Sunday is Easter and that means we clean 'em up as best we can and start the day at church. After church, we will come home, take a few family photos in our Easter best and then its time for the big Easter egg hunt in the back yard. There will be a combination of real eggs, colored tonight, candy eggs, and plastic eggs with candy and money inside. The kids hide and hunt the eggs several times. Once the real eggs have been dropped so many times that they are cracked, we gather at the edge of the ravine and throw them at rock and stuff. Even I like that part. By the end of the day, the eggs will have been hunted, we will have watched a little NCAA basketball and everyone will be ready for a little rest and relaxation. But then it will be Monday!!

Since it is Good Friday, I will post two songs today. If you want to know why I celebrate Easter, see yesterday's post. Just like Christmas, Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Enjoy the music.

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief of priests and to the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.
Matthew 20:18-19

Arise My Love - Newsong



For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condem the world, but through Him, the world might be saved. John 3:16 -17

Oh, What a Savior - Signature Sound


Thank you Lord for your Son and my salvation. Thank you for the truth of the Gospel and the Spirit that lives within me. Happy Easter everyone.

Thrusday Thirteen No. 21/100!!!

While this is my 21st Thursday Thirteen, it is my 100th post!!! I started blogging a little less than a year ago and I had no idea where it would take me. I wanted my 100th post to be special, so this Thursday Thirteen is dedicated to the thirteen reasons I celebrate Easter.

1. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

2. Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief of priests and to the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.
Matthew 20:18-19

3. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted ans spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again. Luke 18:32-33

4. Arise, shine, for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
Isaiah 60:1

5. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 1 Corinthians 15:20

6. ....Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!... Luke 24:5-6

7. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:2-3

8. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

9. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy, I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantantly. John 10:10

10. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 1 Timothy 1:15

11. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. John 3:5-7

12. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

13. And this is the promise that He has promised us --eternal life. 1 John 2:25

I celebrate Easter because of the truth of Christmas. I celebrate Easter because Christ is who He said He is! There is truth, and there is absolute truth, and Christ is that absolute truth. The one fact about absolute truth, it does not require you to believe it in order for it to be true. Christ is the risen Son of the Living God regardless of your belief. The truth is presented in these two videos. Enjoy.

The End of the Beginning - David Phelps


Rise Again - Dallas Holm


Thank you Lord for your Son and my salvation. Thank you for the truth of the Gospel and the Spirit that lives within me. Happy Easter everyone.

Second Element

Last month I finished my first online class in PhotoShop Elements 5.0. Wednesday, I will begin my second class (the advanced studies). I really liked the first class. I liked the format and the instructor had written the lessons in such a manner that many of potential problems were anticipated and the answers provided without having to go to the discussion area. The discussion area was helpful and questions were generally answered within 4-8 hours.
I have always bee interested in photography. With the introduction of digital photography, the amateur photographer can create great photos from mere snapshots. Darkroom techniques that were once the exclusive domain of the pros and phot0 labs can now be done by the average interested amateur. There are still techniques and processes in the full version of PhotoShop CS3 that I will never learn, but I can make myself very happy with the capabilities of Elements. In fact I have ordered three books on PhotoShop Elements techniques to supplement what I have and will learn in the class.

This will make the hobby of photography so much more exciting that I can't wait to get out and shoot some more pictures, bring them back, download them and manipulate them in the program. Here is a very basic example. The first photo is the original snapshot. The second photo is the result of a little cropping and color enhancement. There were no significant techniques involved here. I might play with some other techniques later, like adding snow where the grass is showing.

Before

After

As mentioned in an earlier post, we are taking the family to Disney World in June. There will be more photo opps there than anyone can imagine. You're going to get sick of looking at the grand kids when we get back from that trip and I have the chance to post photos. That's OK. Like I said, this blog is mostly for my benefit anyway. I know where to come to see photos of the grand crew without having to do an extensive file search.
I am already planning to take a couple of online digital photography classes this fall. I think I have created a monster, and the monster is me.

The Tax Man Cometh

Last week my wife and I did our taxes. They weren't complicated so I went down to Wal-Mart and bought a copy of TurboTax Deluxe, brought it home, loaded it, and off we went. It took us about an hour to do everything. We filed them electronically last Thursday. Yesterday the state refund was deposited in our account and today the Federal refund was deposited! I love technology!

Almost An Idol

If you've read very many of the posts on this blog, you know that I am a fan of American Idol. I know that it sounds strange to some of you that a man my age finds this show entertaining. Well, I've always liked music, I grew up with the variety shows of the late 50's and early 60's, and I watch too much television. American Idol is a show that we love to hate. Many of the fans say they don't like the judges, they don't like the voting system, and they don't like most of the "Theme" nights when contestants must pick songs from a certain era or genre. Still, we tune in every week to see who will trash a Beatles song, who will get unfairly eliminated, and which undeserving contestant is safe for another week. So, I was thinking, why not develop another show.

Let's call it Almost An Idol. It would be made up of contestants that finished no higher than fifth place on the main show and a few of those that we believe got the shaft and didn't make either the top 24 or got voted off before making the top 12. We would get to see Sanjaya, John Peter Lewis, Haley Scarnato, Antonella Barba, Patrick Hall, Kevin Covias, Scott Savol, Melissa McGhee, Mikalah Gordon, and Chris Sligh again. Theme nights could include, Songs from the Partridge Family, The Best of th 40's swing music, Pop Diva tunes (only Mariah, Celene, and Whitney Songs), One hit Wonders, Music from Disney Movies, Commercial Jingles of the 70's and Songs from "America's Got Talent." One of the blogs that I read and link to, Dave the High Lord, has a great suggestion for a theme night. It is called "Screw Your Buddy Night". The contestants pick the songs for other contestants. Dave also originated the idea of "The Wheel of Death." There is a large wheel with songs from every theme on it. The contestant spins the wheel, and sings the song that they spin. That's way too much fun.

Judges should probably be former contestants who finished in the final four, but whose careers have never taken off. Judges might include Jasmine Trias, Justin Guarini, and Anthony Fedorov. Judges might also be second tier entertainers, just like the real Idol. Instead of Simon, we could get a former head judge from the Westminster Kennel Club Dog show.

On this show we will vote for the one person we want eliminated. When a person has been eliminated they must admit to America (similar to Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader) that they have had their fifteen minutes of fame and will not bother us with their lack of talent again.

The winner must admit that they have had much more than their fifteen minutes of fame, appear on Letterman's "Stupid Human Tricks", play themselves in a SNL skit, and sing the National Anthem at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Then, they must never bother us again.
Well, that's as far as I have thought it out. If you have any ideas, feel free to contribute.


And now our inspirational song for the week. I return to the master of the hymn, Tennessee Ernie Ford and a classic hymn "Rock of Ages." Enjoy.

Thursday Thirteen No. 20

Thirteen Favorite Photos of the Grandkids

When I started this blog, almost a year ago, I advised the readers (there were zero at the time) that one thing I would be doing is doting on the grandkids. I love 'em. The bring joy, excitement, and untold entertainment into our lives. So, here are thirteen of my favorite photos of the grandcrew.
Here's the most recent photo of the whole crew. Scooter (the oldest), Em (top), Big Blue (you'll see those eyes later), and The Big Guy.

You do realize this is only the beginning! There will definitely be more of this kind of post coming in the future.

Okay, so there's fourteen pics here. They're mostly for my benefit. I don't have to search my files and disks for the memories. I can just come here with the rest of you. So, have you got a favorite pic yet?

What Was I Supposed to Be?

I don't know what prompted me to write this post. It reflects what is and always has been my belief. I just never felt compelled to express it here until now. Our society spends a great deal of time demanding individual rights, but we don't seem to spend much time accepting individual responsibility.
This country was split wide open over the Viet Nam war, and the conflict in Iraq threatens to repeat history. In Viet Nam we mourned the loss of 58,000 Americans and demanded an end to the killing. Yet, every year we deny the right of over 500,000 Americans to be born, and no one sheds a tear. Somehow, that just doesn't seem right. This video asks a very important question. Every year, a half million unborn American babies enter into eternity asking the the question, "What Was I Supposed to Be?

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward." Psalm 127:4



To paraphrase the words of Dr. Billy Graham, If God does not judge America for the practice of abortion, He will owe Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. Forgive us Lord, for I fear we do not know what we have done.