I couldn't resist putting this pic on our blog for all of you to see. This is Haddon Troy Hicks the second son of Tyler's brother, Blake & his wife Brooke. His smile just makes me smile and I hope it makes you smile too!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Sweet nephew smile
I couldn't resist putting this pic on our blog for all of you to see. This is Haddon Troy Hicks the second son of Tyler's brother, Blake & his wife Brooke. His smile just makes me smile and I hope it makes you smile too!
SNOW SNOW SNOW!
Well, the Lord blessed me today with beautiful, white snow here at work, in Bovina. This is a picture I took with my phone from my classroom, looking out my windows. I have enjoyed watching it fall and cover the ground. I love when it snows and this is the first snow we have had this year, when we normally get 3-4 snows every winter. I am thankful for this one, though! It's such a sweet gift to get to see something you don't get to see on a regular basis. Thank you, Lord for causing it to snow and thank you for being in control, of the weather and every single thing that has or or ever will happen. You are so magnificent!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The New Calvinism
Time magazine just published an article stating the top 10 ideas that are changing the world. To my surprise, the #3 idea that is changing the world is... drumroll please:
The New Calvinism.
I never would've guessed that Time magazine would say something like this. Here's the article if you want to take a look for yourself:
http://bit.ly/112jm1
This idea of the new Calvinism is important to me. That could very well be the understatement of my life. It has made a huge impact on me personally, as well as my closest friends and family.
For us, it all started in 2000, with an event called OneDay (put on by the Passion movement... thank God for Louie Giglio and his idea to put John Piper in front of college kids). My college friends and I went to this outdoor Christian camping event (kinda like a God-glorifying Woodstock thing) just thinking it would be a great time of hanging out with Christian friends, hearing some great teaching and worship, and having fun.
Then, as my friend Jerod and I sat on a grassy hillside among a sea of college students, we saw some old guy with big glasses come out on the stage, and we thought, "Who is this guy?" All of a sudden he started preaching with conviction and passion like we had never heard. We got out our notepads and tried to jot down notes as fast as we could, and when it was all over we thought, "I'm now going to have to rethink alot of things. I'm not even sure what all that meant, but I think I'm going to have to be a missionary or something."
Here is that sermon if you are interested (read or listen):
http://bit.ly/2KRRj
We later learned that the old man's name was John Piper, and we spent the next few months trying to figure out what he was talking about, what we needed to do about it, and how we could learn more about the stuff he said. At this point, Napster was still legal, and with our 56k modems we stumbled upon some downloadable sermons from Piper that we downloaded (it only took a few hours ha!).
We listened to those sermons. Again and again... until it was embedded in our minds (I can still quote most of them!) And then I made my brother, Blake, listen to one. I'll never forget him sitting on my twin-size bed, listening to Piper, and when the sermon was over, he went in his room, shut the door, and didn't come out for a few hours. His world was turned upside down. From there, Blake, me, and Jerod began to experience what Piper had called the offing of a "Copernican revolution."
That was the beginning of the New Calvinism in my friends and my life. Since then, this idea of pursuing our pleasure in a God-centered God has taken hold and spread through my family and most of my closest friends. It is my prayer that this life-changing theological movement continues to grow. I thank God for John Piper and how he has invested in the coming generation.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a good place to start:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/EssentialResources/
I would recommend the following sermons (vintage Piper- no particular order):
1. Passion for the Supremacy of God (parts 1 & 2)
2. Doing Missions When Dying is Gain
3. Boasting Only in the Cross
4. Is God for Us or Himself?
5. Glorifying God through Joy in Suffering (not sure where to find this one - I think Jerod has it?)
And the following books (both free online: http://bit.ly/12nsRN):
1. The Pleasures of God
2. DesiringGod
Also, here are some of Mark Driscoll's thoughts on Time's article:
theresurgence.com/new_calvinism
theresurgence.com/time_magazine_new_reformed
You calvinist friends of mine in Louisville, Austin, Fort Worth (yes i'm talkin' to you) - you should write your version of the story on your blogs... you know you wanna!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The Weekend
We had a great time this weekend with Tyler's parents and Mitch. They came for his birthday which was on Sunday. It is always such a treat to get to spend time with them. They took us out to eat and we shopped at the mall and then I got to cook for them which I never get to do so that was a pleasure for me. I slowed cooked my first brisket! I wasn't sure how good it would turn out, but with the help of my friends Jan and Ali and Tyler's mom, Peggy, it ended up being awesome! I made it with Claudes marinade, so if you ever want to make a brisket taste real yummy try Claudes.
Also, we picked up our baby bed on Sat. from JC Penney's and since there was a big sale going on they gave us 30% off what we would have paid, so we got $138.00 back! We were so excited about that! The Lord always does things like that for us. He is so good and we were so thankful for the lower price. The hostesses of our shower at the church at are actually buying us the baby bed so it made it cheaper for them I suppose.
Anyways, we got it and Tyler, his dad, and brother put it together on Sat. night! It is so beautiful and sweet! Thank you Tyler, Mr. Steve, and Mitch! It didnt take them long to assemble it, and Tyler was thankful for the extra help.
I don't have a matress for it yet so I haven't put the bedding on. I need to wash the bedding first anyways now that I think of it...
So, the only think left are the glider, shelves, and curtains. It's coming along...so is my son growing inside me. :) Just about 8 more weeks to go!
Also, we picked up our baby bed on Sat. from JC Penney's and since there was a big sale going on they gave us 30% off what we would have paid, so we got $138.00 back! We were so excited about that! The Lord always does things like that for us. He is so good and we were so thankful for the lower price. The hostesses of our shower at the church at are actually buying us the baby bed so it made it cheaper for them I suppose.
Anyways, we got it and Tyler, his dad, and brother put it together on Sat. night! It is so beautiful and sweet! Thank you Tyler, Mr. Steve, and Mitch! It didnt take them long to assemble it, and Tyler was thankful for the extra help.
I don't have a matress for it yet so I haven't put the bedding on. I need to wash the bedding first anyways now that I think of it...
So, the only think left are the glider, shelves, and curtains. It's coming along...so is my son growing inside me. :) Just about 8 more weeks to go!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Birthing Class pt.2 (from Tyler)
Ok. So I went to birthing class again yesterday. That's twice in one week. I endured, I learned, and I'm in good with Haley. So... success! Time well spent.
The funny thing was that this time around, I guess the teachers figured that we had already been to one birthing class, and so we should be in the know about everything - like birthing lingo. Birthing terminology. Birthingology. That's what i'm going to call it. So to be able to communicate and participate in the world of birthingology, there are a few important terms you should know (which I quickly picked up having learned from all my language classes... English, Spanish, Greek, Hebrew... that one must consider the context clues when one does not know a term... ha!). Ok enough. here are the terms:
void - to releave yourself. defecate. pee. poop. you get the idea
vag - short for vaginal. it seems that this word must be shortened so that you can use it more frequently. not sure that it will form it's way into my vocab. enough said
cath - short for catheter. a flexible tube inserted through a narrow opening into a body cavity, particularly the bladder, for removing fluid. let's move on before I actually feel the pain I'm describing.
circs - short for circumcision. A good thing and a painful thing. Glad they do this when you are young so you don't remember it.
latch - this is the point when the baby "latches" onto momma's nipple. A guy in our class said he watched a mom who was still breastfeeding a 10yr old boy. disgusting.
footballing - a certain position to hold your baby while breastfeeding. I don't think that you should run while doing this, or try to juke anyone, or fumble for that matter. But... stiff-arming might come in handy?
well. that's all the terms for now. let's see if we can use them in sentences:
To help her void, they inserted a cath. The baby came out the vag, and it was now time to breastfeed; so, she quickly footballed the baby so that he could latch. Soon, they would perform the circ.
That's all I got. I can't believe I wrote all that down for public consumption.
The funny thing was that this time around, I guess the teachers figured that we had already been to one birthing class, and so we should be in the know about everything - like birthing lingo. Birthing terminology. Birthingology. That's what i'm going to call it. So to be able to communicate and participate in the world of birthingology, there are a few important terms you should know (which I quickly picked up having learned from all my language classes... English, Spanish, Greek, Hebrew... that one must consider the context clues when one does not know a term... ha!). Ok enough. here are the terms:
void - to releave yourself. defecate. pee. poop. you get the idea
vag - short for vaginal. it seems that this word must be shortened so that you can use it more frequently. not sure that it will form it's way into my vocab. enough said
cath - short for catheter. a flexible tube inserted through a narrow opening into a body cavity, particularly the bladder, for removing fluid. let's move on before I actually feel the pain I'm describing.
circs - short for circumcision. A good thing and a painful thing. Glad they do this when you are young so you don't remember it.
latch - this is the point when the baby "latches" onto momma's nipple. A guy in our class said he watched a mom who was still breastfeeding a 10yr old boy. disgusting.
footballing - a certain position to hold your baby while breastfeeding. I don't think that you should run while doing this, or try to juke anyone, or fumble for that matter. But... stiff-arming might come in handy?
well. that's all the terms for now. let's see if we can use them in sentences:
To help her void, they inserted a cath. The baby came out the vag, and it was now time to breastfeed; so, she quickly footballed the baby so that he could latch. Soon, they would perform the circ.
That's all I got. I can't believe I wrote all that down for public consumption.
Government approved prayers?
If you are a Christian, and you don't know who Albert Mohler is, you need to check him out. He he is president of SBTS in Louisville, KY, and is one of today's leading theologians and cultural commentators. He has his own radio show, Albert Mohler Radio, which I think is pretty much amazing.
All that to say, he wrote: Dan Gilgoff of U.S. News and World Report reports that there is a "new tradition" established by the administration of President Barack Obama. As Gilgoff revealed, "In a departure from previous presidents, his public rallies are opening with invocations that have been commissioned and vetted by the White House."
In other words, our government has decided to be less secular, but not too religious. They want to pray, but they want to make sure that they control the prayer. Mohler believes this to be a huge deal, and so do I. One of the things that seems to be taken out of a "government approved prayer" is the name of Jesus. Let me say this: if you are a Christian pastor asked by the government to pray in a certain setting, and you do not pray a Christ-centered prayer (in the name of Jesus) because the government tells you that you cannot, then you have just bowed down to Caesar rather than Jesus. You can read more on this at:
http://bit.ly/E4cOo
All that to say, he wrote: Dan Gilgoff of U.S. News and World Report reports that there is a "new tradition" established by the administration of President Barack Obama. As Gilgoff revealed, "In a departure from previous presidents, his public rallies are opening with invocations that have been commissioned and vetted by the White House."
In other words, our government has decided to be less secular, but not too religious. They want to pray, but they want to make sure that they control the prayer. Mohler believes this to be a huge deal, and so do I. One of the things that seems to be taken out of a "government approved prayer" is the name of Jesus. Let me say this: if you are a Christian pastor asked by the government to pray in a certain setting, and you do not pray a Christ-centered prayer (in the name of Jesus) because the government tells you that you cannot, then you have just bowed down to Caesar rather than Jesus. You can read more on this at:
http://bit.ly/E4cOo
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