27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. [7] 31 But if we judged [8] ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined [9] so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

33 So then, my brothers, [10] when you come together to eat, wait for [11] one another— 34 if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.

The bold section was the daily feed.  I included the surrounding text for context. 

This is great for Thanksgiving.  Jenn and I (Callista too, of course) are having my parents and a few friends over for dinner tonight.  It has always been important for me to have an open home for the holidays.  I always seem to have people close who, for whatever reason, don’t have family to spend the holidays with.  Don’t have or don’t want to. 

In this piece of scripture the body is the congregation.  The Corinthians were being selfish and allowing their to be a hunger disparity within their body.  Some were eating well while others were going hungry.  When food was served people began eating as soon as the food hit the plate, not waiting to see if there was enough to go around.

I wonder if that is where the tradition of waiting until everyone sits down before eating.  To make sure that there is enough food to go around, and to pray together of course.

Then there is the practical advice from Paul.  “if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment.”  Don’t come to the social gathering so hungry that you don’t respect the body as a whole.  If you are starving, eat before you arrive.  Today we are blessed to have snacks and appetizers before our meals. 

Today I am thankful for Jesus and him reaching out to me.  He has done all of the heavy lifting in my life.  He picked up my heart of stone and turned it to flesh, opened my eyes to His light and glory.  Brought me from a boy who just wanted to play and sin, to a man who loves Him first and wants to raise my child(ren) and family to know and love Him.

We hoped that he/she was just sleeping but it never came up for air.

Here is a Clean & Sober Barber, get it Clean Cuts:)

If your acting asleep aren’t your eyes closed?

From Dictionary.com:
Zeal, noun- fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor.

Fervent, 1. having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm, etc.; ardent: a fervent admirer; a fervent plea. 2. hot; burning; glowing.

Boldness comes to mind.  Boldness while at the foot of the cross.  How do I bring the light of the Lord into my day and let it be fervently visible to those around me?  Living by example is sometimes not enough.  If I am not careful I will allow ego and shame to act as a basket covering the light of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 4:4
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Blinded, campaigned for and ensnared is what I call it.

Well that being said I am starting 3 new Blogs for the Promotional Product Industry.  They are still in their infancy but soon to be a hit.  No hurry but check em out and once I have amassed a few posts I would love to hear a little critique.

Here are the Promotional Product Blogs:

www.HumanResourceIncentives.com Like the name a blog for Human Resource Managers.

www.MarketingWithPromos.com Ditto but for Marketing Professionals.

www.SafetyWithPromos.com And you guessed it more but for Safety Managers.

All three at once is just like a Bull Dozer.  I will focus on them intermittently once I have some Case Studies up and running

We (OK Jenn is) are at 19 weeks and found out today that we are having (95%) a girl.  Healthy as far as they can tell and full of energy the way she was moving.

I didn’t really have a preference for the sex of our first child.  We are having more, so no pressure. 

Jenn and I agreed on more boy names than girl.  We actually had the name, if it was going to be a boy.  As for a girl name we are a little less decided.  But we have plenty of time.

 Jenn just bought her first outfit.  A little number with “Mommy’s little girl” on the chest.  I gues I will have to lay my claim as well:)

Solemn.  Good Friday at Mars Hill is more like a Funeral than the name implies.  As we approached the church, two men dressed in black stood at the door.  With guarded smiles on their faces they opened the doors for us.  As we entered they handed out little black cards that read “Jesus died for my sins.  My sin is:_____________”  The normally bright entrance was shrouded in darkness and a thick quietness, enforced by several signs reading “Please enter in Silence.” 

The music was dark and the reading of the crucifixion was emotional.  It was a very moving experience.  This was the first Good Friday service I have ever been to.  Easter didn’t have much meaning, besides dying eggs, in my childhood.  Today as a Christian I am faced with the reality of my own sin and knowledge that our Lord and Savior was hung on a tree for them. 

As we walked outside with solemn faces and thoughts, a good friend said “brighten up guys it has a happy ending, He comes back!”  Yes, he does.  But the sullenness in my heart was for my casual attitude towards my sin, not towards the service.  Jesus died for my sin.  My sin. 

I have been blessed with great transformations in my life.  It’s really the stuff movies are made of, maybe I’ll write about it sometime.  I am miles away from who I was ten years ago.  I was ripped from being a tool of the deceiver, and placed on the long path toward God.  All of those miles and I am still filled with sin and inequities.  I will be for the rest of my life.  But it isn’t something for me to take casually.    

We don’t have a TV, but watch a little streaming video from abc, nbc,and fox.  Ok so what we really have is a laptop that plays like a TV with less commercials.  I have been lost lately in the Kongregate; mindless games that absorb my life without giving much back.  I want to have my time filled with activities that give back.  So here I am confessing and doing it publicly, kind of, not many readers here.  I will devote more time to blogging, less time on Kongregate.

Before I spent most of my writing energy on G2SRE and less here.  I would like to divide my time up more evenly.  With only 5 months left till we bring our first child into the world I want to have the habits of personal blogging ingrained.  I am so envious of the posts with beautiful pictures I see of my friends children, their lives filled with joy. 

Jenn and I are so happy to have had God open our eyes to him and led us to each other.  We just got back from Ocean Shores for our 2nd anniversary.  We had a blast.  We played Safari in the sand dunes.  Here is Jenn, laughing harder than ever, pretending to be a lion crawling through the grass.

I spent a little time reflecting on our last two years of marriage and what my life was like before.  I had always known that I would marry, someday.  But at the pace that I was going it would have been two weeks after never.  I was absorbed in filling my life with selfish joys.  Hiking, Climbing, Cycling, Ambition, Drive, Perfectionism, Self Esteem, these can all be great things, but it was all I pursued.  Without family what lasting value can those pursuits have. 

Meeting Jesus has changed me and how I look at life in so many ways.  I still do all of the things I used to, moderately, but with “right motives.”  My ultimate focus is more towards God, Family, and Community instead of Me, Me, and some Community.  Every time I take a non-Christian to Mars Hill and Mark preaches Jesus, Marriage, and Babies, I smile deep inside.  Praying for their blinders to be lifted and the light to shine in.

Our doctor said that the test was normal. We asked about what could be done if the test came back positive. Abortion. She said that we should get the test unless we were “in the camp” of people who if they knew they were going to have a child with Downs wouldn’t get an abortion. CAMP, wow I forget that we live in Seattle and abortion is considered a normal treatment for selfishness. I guess we are “in the camp.” I googled it immediately when I got home. From wiki:

A 2002 literature review of elective abortion rates found that 91–93% of pregnancies with a diagnosis of Down syndrome were terminated.

I am just shocked.  We didn’t get the test.