I just had to record this for all of my readers. My oldest started singing after she brushed her teeth, and my youngest took it from there while she was showering. I love to hear the girls sing about the Lord! Makes my heart smile! :-)

I would like to think we are a little green. I do have to admit, we don’t buy any Green products. They seem to be at least 50% more then the conventional products. We simply cannot afford that kind of increase on a single income. I take that back we do buy Arm&Hammer’s essentials refill units. But that is as far as it goes regarding our purchases. We do take other steps to reduce our Carbon Footprint. Like unplugging things we don’t use all of the time. Walking or riding bikes when we can, instead of driving. I only mow the lawn when it absolutely needs it, unlike the neighbors that mow twice a week. Recycling, although it is kind of joke, a lot of the times the garbage man just throws the recyclables right in with the regular trash. That actually disgusts me, why should I go through the trouble to separate if it is all going to the same place.

Do you purchase items, or take actions that are considered Green"?

Here is to being Green:

Possibly A New Tenant from bryan hill on Vimeo.

Waiting at the gym class for Bethany and her fellow classmates. It is hot in here.

Here is our contribution to 2009’s Fort Building Contest over at Tam’s Blog. If you don’t read her blog, you should. It is some great stuff and so is her husbands at in http://brentinworship.com/blog. Anyways, here is the video we submitted:

We had a bunch of fun doing this. 

Okay, well my game “What is this sound”, did not go so well. I have to thank Pastor_T and Pokinathca for playing along. If it weren't for them it would have been a complete game fail. So we do have a winner.

As for what we have done this weekend.
Yesterday:

• Brenda went clothes shopping
• I removed the snow plow from the tractor
• I installed the mower deck on the tractor
• I mowed the lawn
• I removed the fence that once surrounded the garden that we have not had in two years, because the deer wait until the night before harvest time and eat it all.
• My Dad came over just in time for a beer brat from the grill and a beer.
• He helped me clean out the garage and reorganize a little.
• We washed all of the saw dust off of the camper from all of the ripping of wood we used in the attic.
• We also inspected the camper and removed the moth balls from it. (No Mice)
• We watched the Penguins win the first series of playoffs Go Pens!!
• We had Chicken Salad for dinner, a nice cold meal since it was so dang hot. ;-P
• Then we had a little camp fire out back and roasted marshmallows. See below:

We got a lot accomplished and enjoyed a beautiful evening by the fire.
Today:

• My oldest threw up when she woke up, so her and I are home from Church.
• I need to service and clean both of our vehicles
• The boat still needs washed and vacuumed out.

So there you have it. Don’t forget to Thank God for great things. Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

My father-in-law (I call him the old man, but his real name is Gary) sent this on as a forward in an email. I could not pass up posting it here. It is a little long, but cute. My favorite part is Knee-Mail.

:: RECALL NOTICE

The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of The same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed "Sub-sequential Internal Non-Morality," or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed.

Some of the symptoms include:

1. Loss of direction

2. Foul vocal emissions

3. Amnesia of origin

4. Lack of peace and joy

5. Selfish or violent behavior

6. Depression or confusion in the mental component

7. Fearfulness

8.. Idolatry

9. Rebellion

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect. The Repair Technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required. The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R.

Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component. No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:

1. Love

2. Joy

3. Peace

4. Patience

5. Kindness

6. Goodness

7. Faithfulness

8. Gentleness

9. Self control

Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. ("Believers' Instructions Before Leaving Earth") for further details on the use of these fixes.

WARNING:

Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on Jesus.

DANGER:

The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility.

Thank you for your attention!
- GOD

P.S. - Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by 'Knee mail'. Because He Lives!

Thank You Old Man!

What sound is this?

Simple to play. Watch the video or better yet, listen to the video. Comment below, what you think this sound is  and you may just be the winner. This may a great big flop, but I am willing to try anything on here to get some interaction started. If i get no comments, I will label this as bryanfail. If I get a lot of traffic with this I may have include a prize in the next one. But I won’t be holding my breathe. Thanks for visiting, now GO!

..her with all of my heart!

…..Hockey

Go Pens!

Last night we finished up our G.R.O.W. (Get Renewed On Wednesdays) program at Church. Our most recent Small Group Bible Study concentrated on leadership and what we could do as individuals and as a small group to reach the lost people of this broken world. If you have read my blog before, you know by now that I am an introvert and reaching out to someone, especially a stranger is way outside my comfort zone. But being faithful to God’s will, I am trying to work on this hesitation I have to reaching out. There are several reasons that one does not reach out:

• Confidence/Courage
• Knowledge
• Don’t recognize the lost
• Not around enough lost people
• Not feeling a sense of urgency

There may have been more, but I don’t need them. I know that the first two sum it up for me.
First, I lack confidence and courage. I work on this constantly. An event last year, completely influenced me to change the way I interact with those around me. It actually gave me more courage. It was at the beginning of this school year. My niece, Rachel was staying with us for a month. So the house was a little more chaotic then it usually is. We had a horrible wind storm that knocked power out for thousands. We actually went for seven days with out power. But during the first part of this outage, I was frequenting the 7-11 a couple miles from the house for coffee at around 5:30 in the morning. I would arrive at the store to find the same cashier crying at the counter each morning. By the second morning I felt the need to ask what was wrong, and she filled me in on her life. She was pregnant and her boyfriend(the father) was in jail, and her pregnancy had complications. I was  immediately compelled to ask her name and told her I would pray for her and her baby and the baby’s father. She told me  her name, “Tracy”.  Something happened months later that inspired me. Tracy saw me at the store and recognized me and thanked me for praying for her. I was actually surprised that she remembered me. She looked good and was still carrying child. Opportunities may often happen like this, but do we recognize them? In this day an age it seems the norm just to stand by or turn the cheek because of what is going on in out lives. I could have been overwhelmed with the  fact that all our frozen meat in our freezer was going to expire, or the fact that I had no running water to shower with or even flush the toilet. In fact she even asked why are you smiling towards the end of the powerless week. I simply said to her:

“I have hope that things will improve. Things could be a lot worse. I have two healthy kids, a loving wife with a job and a roof over our heads.”

If you are a close friend you may have heard me refer to it as our camping trip in the largest tent in Valencia at the closest camping ground to home. It was camping without having to go anywhere. I have not seen Tracy since, but still include her,  her baby and her baby’s father in my prayers.
I help my father with a project he started at our Church. It is called the Medical Lending Closet. We take donations of medical equipment, clean/fix them and then turn around and lend them to people in the community that need them. I discovered that this is a perfect opportunity to share more of God’s love. When meeting someone at the church to get them a walker or a wheelchair, I always ask for the name of the person that needs the equipment, so I can include them in my prayers. This past week I decided that this opportunity is the perfect one for me to practice what I have been learning in Worship service and our Small Group and ask if I could pray out loud with these people in need of equipment. Let me remind you, this is way outside my comfort zone. Anyways, I did have a chance to do it with someone, but actually chickened out. I blamed it on lack of confidence, but in short it was the devil. I often forget that he can squeak into our lives in some of the smallest ways.
As far point two in why we may not reach out to the lost, Knowledge. With every scripture I read (okay maybe not every scripture, I am a little slow…) and Bible Study I attend, my knowledge of our Savior is growing. I think we don’t need the details to be a witness to the lost. This is where My Story comes in to play. We don’t need beat them over the head with the Bible. Just tell them your story, of why god makes a difference in your life or how you found God.
To wrap this up, because I really need to do dishes and get painting. I really like the way our worship service and small group has challenged us to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. Thanks for visiting and please pray for all of God’s lost people.

Here is some rambling by me about my week. You will see why I titled it:

“Talking with my Hands”

But Sunday Don’t Stink…..

A spin off of Brody Harper’s Stats Suck Sundays. I had to change Sucks to Stinks so my 6 year old did not have to say Sucks. Only logistics, Stats still Suck on Sunday.

“I Forgot Something”

We decided last weekend to texture the walls and ceilings of the attic.

My brother is coming this morning to help me with this process.

I masked everything off yesterday to make clean up a little easier. Thanks for visiting and have a safe weekend.

Okay, our internet and phone has not been working well for a week. A guy came yesterday and did the exact same thing that the last guy did. When I suggested that it might be the modem, the guy looked at me like I was speaking a different language, then stated that these modems hardly every go bad and it was not the problem. Fifteen minutes after he left the internet and phone went down again, upon calling tech support again and mentioning that maybe it is the modem. Again the tech on the other end of the phone acted like I threw a stone at  him. “Sir, these modems are state of the art and have proven to be rock solid in 99% of situations, they don’t act like this when they go bad. They just quite working, they don’t gradually go bad.” Wow, what faith Armstrong Cable Company has with these modems. A good example of the kind of faith we should have in our Lord. On with the story, the last discussion I had with the tech on the phone was not a very pleasant one. I stated that the next tech to come to my house better come with a modem. I want this thing swapped for a new one. If this is not the problem then It is something on the pole. May God bless the next technician coming out here tomorrow. My patience is running a little thin. On the flip side, I have been a bit more productive around the house being my time is not being wasted online. This has helped me realize where some of my time has been going. With this I have decided I need to work on being more effective with my time. I will probably be trimming up some of the feeds in my reader and not spending as much time on twitter(I feel  a weight being lifted already. Here is to change.

Thanks for visiting and please have blessed day this Wednesday.

Happy Easter

True Love by Phil Wickham

Full Choas Chaos.....the good news....the rain stopped for the hunt.

This is what happens when posting from a phone. I wish they had spell check.

We had an awesome turn out, great fun for the kiddos. It was ran very well.

Glad to be a part of it….

This morning I needed to meet a gentleman at church to give him a wheelchair from our medical lending closet and decided I would practice my solo I'm singing on Easter Sunday. By the time I was done practicing it would be time to be here to help with some final set up for the Easter Egg Hunt. The girls decided at the last minute that they wanted to come help me. That works, it will provide Brenda with a much simpler process to get ready. So here we are waiting for a little direction coffee and hot chocolate are on. I took this shot to show you the before. Later I will try to get a shot of the semi controlled chaos and post it. Have a Good Friday. May god bless your day.

post this commercial I just watched. I’m still laughing a bit over this one. What can I say I am a simple man. Beer is good!

Funny Stuff

Here is to Stats Suck Sunday originally introduced over at Brody’s Blog. This video came from Rich. Thanks Man

My contribution this Sunday will be in bullet points:

• Yesterday we finished the third coat of drywall compound (mud) in the attic.
• I will start to sand this week.
• by this time next week hopefully we will be complete with drywall finishing.
• Things to do today:
  • Sunday School
  • Worship
  • Change oil and service both of our vehicles
  • If weather allows, get camper and boat out of garage get them ready. Camping season is right around the corner
  • Watch or listen to the Penguin Game, depending whether or not we are in the garage or the house.

Thanks for visiting! I should have a video update on the attic soon.

[Update]

Sending prayers for the three of Pittsburgh finest lost yesterday in gun fight.

I saw a link to Russ Hutto’s blog/website this week on twitter, thanks to Pastor_T. I have his background plastered on all of my pc’s and even my phone. I love great reminders through out the day. “God has given me a new song to sing” Psalm forty:three. I encourage you to go check out Russ’s blog/website it is full of some great creativity! So here is my contribution to Fun Finds Friday. Here is a direct link to April’s background.

This past Sunday our Pastor presented part four of Just Walks Across The Room Sermon Series, “The Power of Your Story”. He concluded with a request to email him our individual Story of coming to Christ. I figured I would use this as an opportunity to share:

My story is pretty simple. I grew up in a Christian family, we went to Church some, we practiced what was preached most of the time. I got married. We had kids. I went to Church because I felt the kids needed it. About six months into it, it hits me upside the head like a brick. I realized that this is what I had been missing. A genuine belonging, a sense of hope, a desire to be what God wants me to be. With this I know that there will be ups and downs on this bumpy road we travel on this earth, and I struggle with things in life just like the next guy. But what I have now is hope of an eternal or everlasting life in heaven with God. For me this hope is something that is tangible in this broken world. Something to live for, without it life could be pretty darn depressing.