Various topics

Israel

2011-05-13T23:22:00.004-04:00

It seems with all the turmoil in the Middle East the USA needs to strengthen our bonds with Israel and not try to make her sell out to her enemies with the road map to peace. Now with the Palestinian government combing Fatah and Hamas(a terrorist organtion), Israel needs to stand up since Hamas wants to take over Israel. A good website to check out Israeli issues is christianactionforisrael.org. I learn a lot from that website. I need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Movies and bad language

2010-07-12T22:25:00.002-04:00

I enjoy to watch movies however it is hard to find a clean movie to watch. I have only went to the theatre once in the last year and that was to see The Christmas Carol in 3-D. I would have liked to watch Avatar however I read that it has cussing in it. I have used the following website to get movies where they take out the cussing, sexual scenes, and violence. That website is www.cleanplaydvds.com. I have purchased Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan from them. I appreciate that I can watch the movie and not worry about seeing sex scene or hear cussing. Both movies happen about real life events so I have learned things from watching the movies. I lived in Godollo, Hungary in the Spring of 1996 and saw Schindler's apartment. I then went to Aushwitcz and will never forget the rooms of eyeglasses and suitcases.
I need to pray that Hollywood will produce movies that would glorify God.

Mandalyn

2010-01-30T17:14:00.002-05:00

About 4 weeks ago on Wed. morning, Jan. 6th around 12:45am, we had a new daughter Mandalyn Joan Cook. She weighed in at 9 pounds, 4 ounces. Labor went well. Deana didn't use any drugs. I had to drive about 75 to 80 mph to get there. Here is a picture of the little dumpling. God was good to us. We are thankful.

pokagon state park

2009-10-11T14:35:00.004-04:00

We went to pokhagon state park and really enjoyed it. The temp was a little cool however the Potawatami Inn was nice and clean. We went fishing at the pond near the inn and caught catfish. We rented a paddle boat on the lake. The picture is of Lake James.

summer ending

2009-08-11T12:35:00.001-04:00

The summer is quickly ending. School starts this week for some people. My kids start on August 24th. The summer flew by. This week you can see star showers. Should be neat. I will have to put down more posts.

Baby Chicks

2009-04-13T20:09:00.005-04:00

We got 12 chicks last Thursday. 2 roosters and 10 hens. There are 6 yellow chicks and 6 brown/black speckled chicks. The breeds are

Buff Orpington and Silver Laced Wyondotte. There was a mix up though and we might have different breed mixed into that. Will be interesting to see how the chicks grow. So far in 5 days they already have feathers on their wings. We bought a 45 gallon container at WalMart then got a waterer as you can see in the picture along with a feeder. They are growing well. We are keeping them in our dining room.

Where's Obama

2009-01-26T12:17:00.002-05:00

I was at church yesterday eating lunch with my 4 year old son on my lap and he asks me out of the blue "Is Obama here?" I told him that he was not and the person sitting next to me got a kick out of that. I wonder what made my 4 year old ask that question.
I pray for Obama that he can have strength in office. I am disappointed though in him taking the Mexico City policy out of effect. That now allows the US to pay for abortions overseas. Clinton did the same thing when he was in office. I am not against Obama just his policies. I will continue to pray for him.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T21:58:00.002-05:00

We were at my mom's this past Thanksgiving and took some time to play football. I decided to play in the full gear hurting my wife's elbow with the helmet so then I took it off. Thanksgiving is a great time of year. Went to my mom's then the next night to Deana's parents then my nana's on Saturday. Played football a couple times. As I think what I am most thankful for there are many things I am thankful for family, faith, job, healthy, etc. The most important thing I have though is my salvation through Jesus Christ. Someday all the other things will be gone, Jesus though will last forever.

Hummingbird eating from feeder

2008-09-08T12:00:00.003-04:00

I was at Turkey Run State Park this year and they had hummingbirds eating from the feeders. Really neat. That inspired my family and I to buy a hummingbird feeder on our way home. We stopped at Lafayette Meijer and bought one for around $8. We have tried this before and never saw one eat from it however this year we have seen a couple. The past week they have really been feeding from it. Here is a picture of a hummingbird eating from it. If anyone has any ideas on how to keep hummingbirds coming back let me know.

Blueberry Festival 5K run, Ply

2008-09-03T19:42:00.003-04:00

On Monday, September 1st, Josh, Jonell, and I started the month off with a 5K run in Plymouth, IN at the Blueberry festival. Josh ran the race for his 2nd time and won his age bracket with a time of 21:42 and he got either 41st or 42nd overall and he won a prize. Jonell ran her first race and did a good job with a time of 33:10. I ran the race for my 3rd time. Josh was sick once and could not run with me. I ran it at 27:29. It was good weather. My legs by the end of the day hurt more than the previous races. I am getting older and next year I move into the next age group of 35 to 39. You can check out results at the following link: results.active.com.
Here are some pictures of the race:

Chicago Cubs

2008-08-08T21:35:00.003-04:00

Last Friday, August 1st I took the day off work and our family went to Chicago for the weekend along with my mom, and brother and his family. We stayed all night Friday night. During the day Friday, Josh, Jonell, Michaela and myself went to a Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field. I think the last time I was there is when I was 17 years old if I had to guess so it had been many years since I had been to Wrigley field. I didn't remember a lot of it. It was neat to see the big stadium. We left our house at 10am and due to traffic and detours and then going to hotel we didn't get to the game until about 2:30pm at the bottom of the first inning. They were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was fun to watch the game. I was able to give away a few tracts and Gospels. I enjoyed being with Josh, Jonell, and Michaela. Hopefully my wife will be able to come next time. Jason Marquis was the starting pitcher and the Cubs lost 3 to 0. We sat in section 407. It was high and we used the binoculars quite a bit. We bought hotdogs for $3.75 each(not to bad pricewise). Advice if going to a Chicago Cubs game is to give yourself plenty of time. Take a CTS train if you are able. That takes you right there to the stadium. It was very crowded though getting back on the CTS to leave. One neat thing is we got to watch Jeff Smarzda pitch. The pitchers pitch very fast. It is about the blink of an eye.

Turkey run state park - trail 3(picture of ladder on trail 3)

2008-07-16T21:24:00.003-04:00

This week we went to Turkey Run State park. 4 of us hiked part of trail 3 where the ladders are. It was beautiful trail walking. It was my family's first time to Turkey Run State Park. I would definitely go back. We tent camped 2 nights and then stayed at the inn for 2 nights. Highlights were Deana and Michaela going horse back riding, seeing numerous hummingbirds, seeing a ground hog that I just shot late last week. I could have stayed at least a couple more nights enjoying the sights. Where trail 5 meets trail 3 we got off trail 3 due to the 1.7 miles trail. Trail 5 was only .7 miles so we took it instead. I would definitely recommend Turkey Run State Park.

10 years and fun at Culver

2008-06-05T22:19:00.002-04:00

This past weekend my wife Deana and I went on a 10 year anniversary. Deana is a great wife, a gift from God. We went to a family life conference at Orlando, FL and then also spent a day at Epcot Center in Florida. It was a good time. We missed our children however it was nice to be alone. We also got a deal if we went to a time share meeting. That was tough, the salesman are very pushy.
We missed watching the space shuttle launch by one day. We went to Cocoa Beach and enjoyed the ocean.

Also we were at Culver, IN with Josh, Jonell, and Zoe on Memorial Day weekend. Here are some pictures.

Israel 60 years old

2008-05-27T23:28:00.002-04:00

It is cool that Israel is celebrating it's 60 year old birthday. There are several good websites on Israel. One link is the following: http://jimmydeyoung.gospelcom.net. It talks about prophecy. Today in the world many people are against the Jews. It is amazing what they went through to get their land in 1948. The Palestians voted against the UN partition plan where if they would have agreed to it they would have homes now. Then when Israel did become a nation in May 1948, right away the Arabs nations attacked them. When Israel won land fair and square they returned the whole Sinai pensula to Egypt. Every inch of land that Egypt wanted back they got back. Sadat was a mastermind. Assad from Syria is trying to get back the Golan Heights however Israel hopefully will not until Syria would sign a peace treaty, which I don't see happening. Any person would agree that if they were to spend a night outside on the street they would pick somewhere in Israel compared to the Hamas run Gaza Strip or the PA run West Bank. I am glad to be part of the mystery of the seed of Abraham. I hope all races(Palestians, Arabs, Jews, etc. will accept Jesus Christ as their personal saviour that they will be in Heaven someday.

2008

2008-05-07T21:51:00.002-04:00

So far in 2008 I have let my blog go the wayside. Right now 2008 is flying by. No new news. God has been good to my family and I. I need to be thankful. Also the Chicago Cubs are off to a great start. Israel is celebrating their 60 year anniversary. That is exciting. 2000 years have passed and now Israel has been a nation again for 60 years.

Rescued by John Bevere

2008-02-01T21:42:00.000-05:00

Something about the book Rescued by John Bevere caught my eyes and I tore out the book review in the newspaper and put it in my wallet. I finally checked out the book at the library and read/speedreaded it. I cried tears because of the message which I don't do a lot with books. It is fiction however true because we will all stand before God's throne someday. I cried because my own family members who live in my own house will be standing before God's throne. I need to pray with fervancy for them and myself first that I can lead them in the way of Jesus. The book is about a pastor who leaves his wife for another woman who says nice things to him then he talks about how it is God's will. Then he is in an accident while in a submarine and dreams about standing before God and his name is not in the book of life because he lived a lie. At the end he is able to repent and then become a gardener in Heaven. May God have mercy on us and may we stand for truth in these last days according to the Bible. Though we will be mocked when we stand up against sins it is best. We need to love the sinner and at the same time stand for truth. Hopefully everyone will read this book.

snow skiing

2008-01-26T14:50:00.000-05:00

Went snow skiing at Swiss Valley near Jones, Michigan. Good snow and not to cold so it was enjoyable time. Mom went with us also Chris Nuest, Braden, Madyson, Larry Nuest, and the Rayburns. Here is picture.

Flordia, dolphins, near drowning

2008-01-11T13:57:00.000-05:00

Went to Florida the week of 12/31. The drive was grueling with the rain in Georgia however we made it. Warm 80's on Monday, in the 60's the rest of the week it seemed. Lot of neat God's creation. Dolphins, shells, etc. Saw an octopus on the shore. Really neat. One thing we are especially thankful for is Zachary about drown and Deana jumped in and saved him. I was up in the room. Here are a few pictures.

Christmas picture of kids

2007-12-20T13:08:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-19T21:44:00.000-05:00

Here is our Christmas picture. Hopefully all are having a good December. May Jesus give you peace this season.

Feast of the Hunters Moon

2007-10-27T13:13:00.000-04:00

Went to the feast of Hunter's moon on Saturday. Mom went with us and then we saw Chris and Jen there. Neat time. One bad thing was they had a fortune teller there. That is a bad deal. It is a sin to use them.

I will post my top 10 best read books.

October has flown by timewise. I cannot believe next week is the end of October. No real new news. I am still learning my new job.
Things I am thankful for is the following:
Megan was pitching to me and I hit the ball and it hit her in the chest. She lost her breath. Thankfully she was okay.

LONG TIME NO POST

2007-10-04T18:52:00.000-04:00

I haven"t wrote for awhile. came home for Labor Day. Rod Steffen visited in September, hopefully next year we can go golfing. The children continue to grow. I worked in the fields a couple Saturdays. God has been good to me.
I predict Purdue to lose to Ohio State this weekend. However Purdue will still have a good year.

Time Changer and the Smokey's

2007-08-28T23:41:00.000-04:00

This weekend I went to the Smokey's. God's creation at the Great Smokey national park is amazing. We hiked up on one of the falls where it is about 2.6 miles round trip with the group. I got to stick my head in a waterfall.
I saw the movie Time Changer again. Great movie that talks about how far off we are from being like Jesus. With Jesus though we can be clean and forgiven.

pictures from Chicago trip to visit the Wongs

2007-08-06T12:21:00.001-04:00

Chicago trip was fun got to see Chris and Melinda. I was wore out however we had a good time. Ate at Chinatown, went to park and went to American girl store.

Cubs, work, family

2007-08-04T14:37:00.000-04:00

A couple days ago the Chicago Cubs were in first place in their division barely ahead of the Milwalkee Brewers. Today they are in second again however they got good momentum. Soriano is doing a good job, Zambrano is pitching well, and Kerry Woods is back.
Work wise I am struggling only selling 5 buildings in 10 weeks. I need to get back on pace or I could get let go. I have big decisions to make with God's guidance.
Familywise everything is going well, God has blessed us tremendously. Isaiah I thought had a knee injury however he is okay. Went to Lake Maxinkucee with Josh and Jonell last Saturday and had a good time. The water was great, good temperature.
Here is a picture being in Marengo cave.