Some Journey

The Voice of Truth
by Casting Crowns

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Mark 9:24
"I do believe; help my unbelief."

Zoo School

We have started attending a preschool class that meets once a month at the zoo. We think it's great, but we are grateful for it's lack of popularity. Today it was only us, and we had a blast. After learning about nocturnal animals and making our bat masks (pictured above), we went to visit some of the nocturnal animals in the zoo. The highlight was definitely the kinkajous. Since it was just my two boys and not a large group, we got to go into the cage with them and feed them and pet them. Joseph and Noah each fed the kinkajous several grapes, and got to pet them. It was a rare treat. Carley, the girl who teaches the class, even gave the boys some extra surprises today. They had just gotten a baby opossum in and was still being quarantined, so it couldn't be in the zoo yet. So Carley brought it out to us to see and pet. She also took us to see a new exhibit that is not finished yet but will be opening up in a few weeks that is all bugs. She knew Joseph loved bugs and wanted him to get a sneak peek. He loved it. You would not believe how excited this kid gets over tarantulas and four inch grasshoppers.
Definitely a $10 well spent, as far as I'm concerned!

Uncle Chah-lie

We had an enjoyable visit this evening with some of the "Yankee Ibachs". Stephen's Uncle Charlie and his wife, Aunt Paula, and sister Aunt Judy, are in town for the night to pick up Nelie. The four of them are going to spend some time at my brother in law's condo in Fla. Our kids have not met any of them before, though Sam has wanted to meet Uncle Charlie for a long time, since he so frequently gets told that he is "just like your uncle Paul, who is just like his Uncle Charlie". And the three of them certainly enjoyed each other's company. Quiet is not the way one would describe their interaction. Uncle Charlie is one of these truly unique individuals who is loud and boistrous and you just can not get enough of him. He is a constant stream of jokes. The kids actually cried when they had to quit playing with him. I've posted a few more pics on my Flickr account. (No, I haven't forgotten about posting more pics from the picnic, I just haven't had time to wade through them all and make selections).

Off to a field trip in the morning early. Fun.

A brief history of my television addiction

I no longer rewatch every episode of Alias. I know, that just makes me semi-normal, but it's a significant marker of the stage of this show. I do still tape it, but just in case the phone rings or one of the kids interrupts and I miss something. These days, if I rewatch an episode of something, it's Lost. I will be very surprised if Alias makes it to a sixth season. It has me thinking back to the history of my television addiction (yes, Lynn, I know. I'm sick.) Since about 9th grade, I have almost always had a show that I was addicted to. What I mean is that I have had one show that I never missed, taped if I was out of town (or in labor as it so happened), etc. There was a brief time during college where there wasn't really anything that great on, but Lynn and I watched The Improv and Saturday Night Live together consistently. So as I went to bed last night pondering the demise of Alias and grateful that Lost is there to pick up the pieces, I tried to recollect the various shows that I have traveled, so to speak. And here they are, in order of addiction:
Tour of Duty
The Young Riders
E.R.
The Pretender
Alias
Lost

Is there a pattern there? Cute guys, maybe. No Little House on the Prairie, for sure. No Lifetime for Women, either (sorry, Amie).

Alias Season ONE!

Finished my book and couldn't sleep so I started flipping channels. Lo and behold I spot Sydney Bristow. It took me a good 30 seconds to recognize it as season one, then another 45 or so to identify it as the first episode, "So It Begins". I looked it up, on TVGuide, and apparently they are starting to air Alias Season One on Saturdays at 11:30 pm. Folks, this is when Alias was unstoppable. Someone asked me the other night what the best season was. I said, "Undeniably season two, but season one was very close." It's on rather late, though, so I recommend taping it. Hey, it's cheaper than the DVDs!

I Give Up

I decided to play around with my template again and messed it up again. I have wasted the better part of an afternoon messing with it. Is this like the grandma of the last decades who can not program a VCR? Am I destined to become victim to my lack of technological savvy? I am tempted at this moment to make a list of all the things I am not good at, but that could take hours. I started working on the blog to avoid the discouragement I'm experiencing trying to clean a house which will never be clean. Perhaps I'll change my name to Algernon.

Maybe if I take a break, the content/left margin info I need will magically pop into my head. Perhaps I should go mess up dinner, I mean, fix dinner.