December 31, 2006

December 30, 2006

Through the Bible in 2007

I'm more than a little embarrassed to admit that at the age of 35 I've never read the Bible through in a year. (Maybe not completely through ever.)

Anyway, I've decided that 2007 is the year for me to do this and thought I'd invite any family and friends (or any other of my 3 readers) to join me in this quest. If we are reading together it would serve for some accountability and motivation as well as opportunity for discussion.

Apparently you can read through the Bible in a year by reading three chapters a day and five on Sundays. (This schedule actually gives enough cushion to read Psalm 119 on it's own day. :-))

If anyone is interested in accepting the challenge reply in the comments and let me know.

I'm planning to start with Genesis since this a last minute deal. Whoever wants to participate together could help decide if we go mostly straight through or if we jump around some. I'm open-minded though I would like to stick with whole chapters.

Join Me!

The schedule for Genesis would be:

Jan. 1 Gen. 1-3
Jan. 2 Gen. 4-6
Jan. 3 Gen. 5-9
Jan. 4 Gen. 10-12
Jan. 5 Gen. 13-15
Jan. 6 Gen. 16-18
Jan. 7 Gen. 19-23
Jan. 8 Gen. 24-26
Jan. 9 Gen. 27-29
Jan. 10 Gen. 30-32
Jan. 11 Gen. 33-35
Jan. 12 Gen. 36-38
Jan. 13 Gen. 39-41
Jan. 14 Gen. 42-46
Jan. 15 Gen. 47-49
Jan. 16 Gen. 50 + ? (2 chapters of a new book)

Revival Hymn

December 29, 2006

Peggy Noonan on Gerald Ford

I always enjoy Peggy Noonan's way of expressing herself. On Gerald Ford:

...when he pardoned Richard Nixon, he threw himself on a grenade to protect the country from shame, from going too far. It was an act of deep political courage, and it was shocking. Almost everyone in the country hated it, including me. But Ford was right. Richard Nixon had been ruined, forced to resign, run out of town on a rail. There was nothing to be gained--nothing--by his being broken on the dock. What was then the new left would never forgive Ford. They should thank him on their knees that he deprived history of proof that what they called their idealism was not untinged by sadism.

December 25, 2006

No Peeking

We've had a little "peeking at presents" incident! Grammy in Texas had sent several items in UPS boxes, and one of the boxes was in our bedroom. It has taken me multiple conversations with Chandler to get him to admit that he might have seen and recognized what was in the box.

Here is the story in three parts.

Peeking - Part 1
Peeking - Part 2
Peeking - Part 3

Mezuzah

These were made for us as a gift from a Jewish friend of Tammy's brother Glyn. This decorative box is used to contain passages of Scripture affixed to the door post of a home as referenced in Deuteronomy 6:9 and 11:20.

Apparently the word "Mezuzah" (which literally means `doorpost') can refer to the protective box or the rolled up scripture inside.

December 24, 2006

Mount Fuji Amazing Garden

Let's try this again, I was having trouble getting my updated pictures added correctly...

My business partner, Terri Russell, gave this "Mount Fuji Amazing Garden" to Gabrielle (4) for a Christmas present. (Gabrielle is greatly enamored of all things related to gardening.) This top photo shows what it is supposed to look like and then we have progressive shots as it went.









December 23, 2006

Facing your Giants


I'm in the middle of some trying circumstances and have found this new book, Facing your Giants, by Max Lucado to be greatly encouraging. I just happened to see this on the new release shelf at the library, but I'll be getting my own copy to re-read.

December 22, 2006

Free Audio Bible

I've just ran across a cool site, www.audiotreasure.com, where you can download the entire Bible for FREE for use on an iPod or other mp3 player, or your can listen on your PC or burn to CD.

There are some versions that are intended for personal use and others that you are free to burn and give away as much as you would like.

Another site, just for listening online to the famous Alexander Scourby reading of the KJV is located at: www.audio-bible.com.

December 20, 2006

Pat the Rat

When any recording is being done it must be done by both Chandler and Gabrielle. :) Here is Chandler reading "Pat the Rat."

Answer to Prayer

Gabrielle (4) came breathlessly running downstairs to Tammy to tell her that God had answered a prayer for her. Apparently she was in her room trying to get her electric Christmas candle in her window to turn on and this is her version of the story.

December 18, 2006

Good use for a Concordance

These days when all your bible study resources are available on-line or on a CD, what to do with those three-inch thick Strong's and Young's concordances that are taking up shelf space?

This morning at around 5:30 am I was propping up the end of Cameron's truck bed with them, Strong's on one side and Young's on the other. He is sick with a cold and can hardly breath when laying flat. It seemed to help.

December 16, 2006

Just for the record...

I just wanted to let the Hobe Sound Blog readers know that I'm not really one of these prolific bloggers like my sister Jennifer or Tim Calhoun.

I just moved my blog to a new host and it reintroduced all my old posts to the blog feed as though they were recent.

December 15, 2006

Helping with the bedtime story

Chandler (6) is in telling Gabrielle (4) her bedtime story as they both "sleep-over" in his room. It is some sort of camping story involving "The Boxcar Children" as well as "Curious George" and the space shuttle.

Chandler has just hollered out to me in the next room, "Daddy, what is that kind of beef that comes from a deer?"

Me: "That's venison."

Chandler, a little further in the story, "What's the kind of beef that's found in the cow?"

Friday night at the Brown's

Here is a slice of our life on this mid-December Friday night.

What a blessing to have a six-year-old eager to take over Daddy's dreaded job of sliding the Rubbermaid tubs of Christmas decorations in and out of the attic crawl-space.

Gabrielle has been busy baking a "Birthday cake" for herself (her birthday is in May.) Mommy would want me to clarify that the fashion choices belong to the 4-year-old female in the house, not the 35-year-old.

Cameron, 20 months, is busy hammering in Chandler's homemade rocket ship. Fresh from the tub and distracted from getting pajamas on.

December 14, 2006

Confession, good for the soul?

Cameron (20 months), who knocked over the Christmas tree last week, pointed at the damaged tree yesterday and announced, "I done No-No!" I think this may have been one of his first sentences.

December 10, 2006

In Good Company

We've had a foster child, Shannon (11), recently move in up the street. (She of the "Holy Craft" expression.) Anyway, Chandler (6) and Gabrielle (4) have been more than a little bothered by Shannon's bossiness.

Tonight Gabrielle just told me out of the blue, "I don't have to mind anything Shannon says. I only have to mind you and Mommy and God. I'm only listening to you three. And I'll listen to Grandma when she comes over to visit."

December 9, 2006

The Way to Win


The Way to Win

I've just finished this book, The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008, by Mark Halperin and John Harris. I am something of a political junkie, reading Real Clear Politics dot com and such nearly everyday.

Although I assumed that the authors of this book would exhibit the usual liberal bias of the main stream "Old Media" press, I originally picked this book up because I love Mark Halperin's sense of humor. He is the author/editor of "The Note" which is emailed by the political unit at ABC several times a week.

Basically, the book explains the "Trade Secrets" behind the electoral successes of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and details the electoral failures of AlGore and John F. Kerry. I was especially pleased to see that they debunked the whole, "Bush is Stupid-Rove is his brain" theory. Naturally they give a lot of well deserved credit to Karl Rove, but much to Bush as well.

Anyway, I'm not recommending you buy it, but if you see it in the library and have some free time, check it out.

December 7, 2006

The Culprit

It's funny how you can have three little kids so different from each other. Chandler (age 6) is our little engineer, always trying to figure out elaborate ways to build new things. Gabrielle (age 4) is our prolific artist. From breakfast to bedtime she can be found painting, drawing, or cutting paper and gluing to make some collage.

The subject of this post however, is Cameron (20 months) also known as "The Culprit." Of course at his age he is practically required to be into something at all times. Earlier this week I was awakened at 4:30 am to the sound of the TV. Cameron had gotten out of his "truck bed" and was watching PBS while playing with toys. When I saw how awake he was, I just put a "Bob the Builder" DVD on to loop and crashed on the playroom floor for an hour.


Tonight, I came upstairs to the playroom to find that the fully lit and decorated Christmas tree was crashed on it's side. Cameron, of course, had long since moved onto something else.