Happy Mills

Out with the new in with the old...

2009-01-15T19:39:00.000-08:00

So my old blog was hacked into and littered with viruses. Since school began I stopped posting to it. I've become so active on Facebook and most of our family and friends are on there, so that defeats the purpose of the blog.

Happy Mills is moving

2005-09-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

Not far. Just drop the ".blogspot" from url. www.happymills.com

I will keep this site as an archive because I don't want to transfer everything.

Joe Carter's Statement of Beliefs

2005-09-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

If I never get the chance to write my own statement of belief's, I would gladly replace Joe's name with my own. You can read them here. I would also encourage everyone to read the Evangelical Outpost regularly. He is an excellent and thought provoking blogger who caught my attention last year.

Never Forget

2005-09-11T23:37:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of plemeljr via flickr.

New Pics Added

2005-09-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

You can see the rest by clicking on the photos in the sidebar.

Could be our new home...

2005-08-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

We are still not sure we want to go through with it. This is a new McCaffrey Home in NW Fresno. We have secured the lot but still have about 14 days to back out of it. There are more pictures from inside the model on Flickr (see sidebar).

Ugliest Dog with owner

2005-08-15T14:47:00.000-07:00

Sinking City

2005-08-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

I was exploring Flickr and came accross this awesome picture.

Pool Shark Carrie

2005-08-10T21:59:00.000-07:00

We went to my mom's house tonight and played some pool. The current score is 4-3 in Carrie's favor. I won't mention that 2 of her wins came from me scratching the 8-ball.

Sleeping like a baby

2005-08-09T23:25:00.000-07:00

A picture of mercy

2005-08-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

2 Chronicles 33:1-13 contains the story of Manasseh's reign as king of Judah. During his reign, Manasseh turned the nation astray. After a lifetime of disobedience, God allowed him to be captured and in captivity Manasseh cried out for God's help.

This is a picture of every one of us who knows the Lord. We were walking in disobedience, which makes us just as evil as Manasseh, and yet God had mercy on us. Manasseh deserved swift and severe punishment for leading an entire nation to worship other gods but, one act of humility and repentance brought about God's mercy. How are we spared from destruction? By repenting and believing. After a lifetime of disobedience God still wants to give you an eternity of blessings.

The home we let go

2005-08-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

We absolutely loved this home when we looked at the model. It was even affordable but it was only in our price range because of the location. When we drove through what would have been our future neighborhood we were pretty disappointed.

Blogging every meal

2005-08-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

BusinessWeek had an article about how blogs are so boring that some people actually take a picture of every meal before they eat it.

So here it is! My meal coming back from the CAMB in San Diego. It's a grande mocha from Starbucks and a Tornado from the gas station food mart.

You can thank me later for not doing this 3 times a day.

How will they know?

2005-08-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

Is the name of Christ important? Can a person be saved apart from knowing Jesus?

"9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved...14 But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:9-15

11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:11-12

Mommy & Lauren

2005-07-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

Awwwweeee

Just the 4 of us!

2005-07-24T15:08:00.000-07:00

Carrie's mom, Liz, left last Thursday after taking off a week to help out while Carrie was adjusting. That was a huge blessing that delayed Carrie's stress of taking care of two kids, while I am at work. The bad thing about Liz leaving is that now Carrie expects me to replace her. One of the first things Carrie pointed out was how well the kitchen was wiped down (the toaster oven is actually white!). She even suggested that I take notes before Liz left. It's amazing how you can never find a notebook and pen when you need it. Thanks a lot for raising the bar Liz!

Another blessing has been the family and friends that have brought food to the house. We have enjoyed every meal!

Exposing Sin

2005-07-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

How do you get around people saying, "Who are you to judge?" when discussing sinful behavior? This is something that comes up in conversation just as much as the idea of tolerance. Christians are seen as judgmental and intolerant. We are considered judgmental when we label someone's actions or attitude as sin, and we are considered intolerant when we claim that Jesus is the only way.

There is really no way around the argument of intolerance other than maybe clarifying what "tolerance" means. Dictionary.com defines tolerance as "The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others." The assumption is that people will disagree. Tolerance means that we recognize people will disagree and can still "tolerate" one another. Tolerance does not mean that you can't have any opinions of your own. I've talked about this before regarding Spongebob and homosexuality.

But what about the charge that Christians are judgmental? How is anyone to defend against such an accusation? There are so many angles that can be taken for a Christian to argue here. I think one of the answers is in Romans 7:7-13. In this passage Paul explains the purpose of the law. It reveals sin. By pointing sinners to the law, the judgment comes from God rather than man. The best approach is letting someone condemn themselves. Rather than telling someone that they have broken the commandments of God, allow them to come to that conclusion on their own. Check out "The Good Test" from Ray Comfort's ministry, LivingWaters. It perfectly illustrates my point.

Ugliest Dog Award

2005-07-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

Meet Sam, the Chinese crested! Carrie and I couldn't stop laughing when we read this article in World Magazine:

"For the third year in a row, Susie Lockheed can return to Santa Barbara, Calif., with a rather inauspicious award: Ms. Lockheed owns the world's ugliest dog. The pooch, Sam, a 14-year-old Chinese crested, is almost ugly beyond description. What the dog lacks in hair (and it has almost no hair) it makes up for in warts. Below its neck hangs a droopy fold of flesh, and Sam's smile is crowned by a set of snaggle teeth. The judges were said to have recoiled in horror at the sight. "People are always horrified when I kiss him. He may turn into a prince yet. He's definitely a toad," Ms. Lockheed said during the World's Ugliest Dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin fair. "I always thought he'd be great on greeting cards or on a commercial for Rogaine."

As Carrie said, "That's GREAT journalism!" The comments left on World Magazine's Blog are pretty funny too. He looks like a cross between Yoda and James Hong from Big Trouble in Little China.

Daddy and Maddie at the Zoo

2005-07-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Maddie and I went to the zoo yesterday to give Carrie some extra time in the morning to rest. We got to the zoo right when it opened hoping to beat the heat, but it was still very hot by the time we were leaving. The heat is ridiculous right now and it is expected to get ridiculouser with 3 days straight at 106 degrees. Unfortunately, our home doesn't stay as cool as the office at work does (which John likes to keep as close to freezing as possible without losing all productivity from the staff).

We made it around the zoo twice, hoping to see the Hippo out of the water and the elephants in the water (none of which panned out). The tigers were play fighting in the water and it got pretty intense. I've never seen them play so rough. That was the first time that the tigers scared Maddie. There wasn't too much excitement anywhere else. I think all of the animals are dying from the heat. Most of them were just laying in the shade or water and barely moving. The monkeys of course were as loud as ever. They were the most active. Their is a baby monkey that is becoming a little more daring. It came right over to where everyone is standing and climbing all around the fence. They were pretty fun to watch.

Maddie Meet Lauren

2005-07-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

Home from the hospital

2005-07-09T22:49:00.000-07:00

The picture is actually from the hospital this morning. I will take some more pictures tomorrow and upload them to Flickr.

Carrie is recovering incredibly well and Lauren Elizabeth is getting acquainted to her new home. Maddie has been interested in Lauren but not overly concerned. When we first got home she wanted to stay right next to her, but by the end of the night she was playing with her toys like normal.

We are so thankful for everyones prayers and concern. God had grace on Carrie and allowed this delivery to be very quick, she pushed for maybe 15 minutes. She is also recovering much faster than she did with Maddie. Lauren is very healthy, especially for being 3 weeks early. She is feeding well which is always a concern for newborns.

All cleaned up

2005-07-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

It's a girl

2005-07-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

She scored a 9.9 (that's out of 10 for those of you not in the know) on the APGAR test, which was better than Maddie's score.

Still no baby...

2005-07-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

Carrie is getting some rest right now and progressing along very slowly. The doctor came in around 8am and decided that if her water has not broken by noon he will come back and do that. Once that is done things will speed up...hopefully.

We're Admitted

2005-07-07T22:58:00.000-07:00

She is going to stay. The good news is that she will probably be having this baby early tomorrow. The bad news is that Carrie really wants a cheeseburger but all the nurse will let her eat is ice chips. ICE CHIPS...WHO EATS ICE CHIPS WHEN THEY'RE HUNGRY!