Big Weekend

We are heading to our first candidating weekend on this Friday evening.  It is about a 3 hour drive straight North.  We will be staying with a member of the search committee.

Saturday involves an open house from 10-noon.  This will provide a time to meet and be met by the people from the church.  Later in the afternoon we will meet with the Elders of the church to talk business and religion, I am assuming.  Then, once we come to an agreement, we can go out to supper.  I hope our combined hunger will make us all agreeable:)

Sunday involves me preaching during the worship service.  This is followed by a carry-in meal.  Followed by a question and answer time.

The following Wednesday with be a church meeting, and the following Sunday will be time for the church vote.

We are excited!  I am looking forward to meeting more people of the church and progressing in discernment.  Please pray with us that God will lead in the discussions and in the quiet.

Post Lent

As you may recall from my earlier posts about lent, I had forsaken the use of non-school and non-candidating internet access on Mondays through Saturdays during the 40 days of lent.  Well we celebrated Easter yesterday!  He is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!

This has been a good learning/growing experience.  My intention for lent was to reduce the amount of time and energy that I was spending doing less important things, so that I could spend that time and energy doing more important things.  Was I successful in resisting the temptation to use internet?  Was I successful in becoming a spiritual giant?  The answers are no and no.

But I was successful in reorienting my priorities and connecting with God.  It goes like this:  spend less time on the computer, get my school work done earlier, spend more time with my family, feel more connected with people and less rushed, drawn to reflect on my relationship with God, talk to God about that = success.  Isn't that the whole point?  To connect with God!  Plus there were all the side benefits of relationships with people and being less stressed and disconnected with myself.  Finally, I have realized how less important it is to know what is going on in the internet.  This has been a good discipline, but it isn't complete.  It is a continuous process of refinement.  Just like our relationships with God.  It isn't a one time prayer or commitment.  It is all about everyday, moment by moment, being transformed into the image of Christ.

Do you have conficker worm?

I decided this might be the easiest way to disseminate information, partly because if you are infected, then the worm keeps you from getting to security sites that can help you out. Hopefully everyone is clean.
Here is an explanation of what we are talking about.

Here is a test to see if you are infected:

McAfee detection tool, you may have to use another computer to download it.

According to some reading I did, AVG should detect it and remove it.  Some other antivirus should do that as well.  However, if you're antivirus is out of date, then you probably can't update it if you are infected.  So back to using the test at the link above entitled, "here is a test to see if you are infected."

Microsoft site has the patch that would have kept you from being infected, the tool to remove it, and instructions on how to manually remove it.  However, once again if you are infected, you probably can't go there.

Additionally, James (in the comments) added a link to the Sophos detection and removal tool.

Our snow fun!

Here is a picture from March 17th. Playing soccer in the shade, because it is too warm.

Then we woke up Saturday morning March 28, and took a sled ride to the college to have brunch with Suzanne. Here the girls are sitting on the road on the way back.

This is the area that I shoveled out before we went on our walk. It had another 3 inches 2 hours later.

The girls stayed outside for quite a long time. Emberlynn decided to take a break to warm up. This light provided a way to warm her hands and feet.

With all the fun we had in the snow, I had to do some work to open a path to the road.

This little path took a lot of effort. The snow was very heavy and wet, and it had been plowed into our driveway at this end.

Here is the culprit for our heavy slush pile at the end of the driveway. This is what they use to plow the streets.

Success! At least for one side of the driveway. Suzanne did most of the other side. Then a couple minutes after coming inside, a friend from church drove up with this plow and cleaned out the end of the driveway. I guess I could have left more for him.

Here is what the girls worked on while I played in the driveway. They did an awesome job.

A beautiful winterscape in the backyard. So long snow.

Some times you get what you deserve

Since I have been bragging about the nice weather we have had since January, here is a video from a local weather station of this weekend's snow festivities. We just had mid sixties and sunshine last week. Enjoy and laugh at us. Actually, we are looking forward to playing outside!  We'll be back in the fifties and sixties next week.

In coming blizzard

We are forcasted to have blizzard like conditions throughout the day.  Maybe a bunch of snow.  I guess it is about time:)

Lenten Intentions

I have been giving up all extra internet access during lent.  I give it up Monday through Saturday and then use it a bunch on Sunday.  It has been going pretty well.  I cheated yesterday evening.  Suzanne and I were doing some planning for the future.  My intention has been to replace the time spent on the computer with time to connect with God.  I have had some great success and some great failure.  I think what I have found is that this is a good practice for year round.  To give up frivolous entertainment and trade it for time with God and my family.  This should be a continuous evaluation that we do on our lives.

Intentional living.  When we don't live intentionally, we end up wasting a lot of the good moments of life.  So, I must practice what I preach.  I am going to post this blog, make some popcorn and watch America's funniest videos with three of my four favorite girls.

God bless you and yours.

We miss you all, wherever you may be.

Still here

We're still here, in Kansas.  It is just about windy enough today to blow us down the street.  Suzanne worked one of her two last weekends today, so I took the girls to church this morning by myself.  They matched mostly, except for Emberlynn's socks.  Their hair was combed, but I didn't worry about it too much.  I knew the wind would remove all evidence of combing by the time we got there.

I attended the youth sunday school class.  I will be teaching their class the next two weeks.  

The sermon was another hard hitting one by John Murray.  I have appreciated all the learning that has been provided by everyone at Hesston Mennonite church.  John has been an especially diligent teacher who seems to ask the right questions and provide some answers when they are needed.

Weather and Candidating

Let me just say this.  Kansas weather is awesome!  Yes, this is this weeks forecast.  For those of you who may want us to move closer to Ohio after Kansas.  It's gonna take a miracle:)  We have sunshine literally everyday.  The temperatures are lovely.  The wind isn't really that bad.  It hardly ever rains or snows.  I've gone soft.  I can understand Stan Miller's sentiments of Ohio weather.  Your weather stinks:)

So, it's gonna take a miracle, but we have a God of miracles.  Anything is possible.

(For those of you who like to read into cryptic messages.  This blog post is not one of those.  I am not announcing or hinting at anything.  I know very little more about our future after Hesston than you do.  End of comment.)

How is everybody?

Hello, it has been a few days since I have used the internet for reasons of lent other than school or candidating.  That means no facebook, no blogs, no google reader, no email just for fun, etc.  That has actually been going very well.  I have had more time with my family, and gotten more sleep.  Now for the harder part of creating a rhythm that connects with God.  That is the challenge that I have been giving to the chapel at Hesston College and a local church here this morning.  I am going to be selfish, this message is for me first, then for you.