365-#79 and #80

I don't know if you can see this, but my "Snake" here is in trouble with his dad (mom too)... Right now he is caught in a conversation about how he is only thinking of himself...can you see it?

"Moose" enjoys life thoroughly... He is waiting to see a movie here :)

365-#75, 76, 77 & 78

I am almost done posting my pictures from the Tennessee Aquarium... I just love this one... I knew something looked strange about this turtle...Then I saw the name. A pig snout turtle :)

And this strange looking turtle (from Australia I believe) is rightly called a long neck turtle.

Tough Question #3

Ok, here is the third question my friend Christina has answered for me (thanks my Fwend)...



What is the best way to council your children when they enter the work force when they are strong Christians, but the people they are around cause them to question what they know is Truth?

This is a tough question as I have not personally experienced this yet. However, I would encourage them to remain in God's Word. If your child is truly a believer, by remaining in God's Word, and being faithful to Him, God will continue to reveal His truth to them. We become swayed by the world when we are not faithful to the Word and begin to compromise our convictions. It starts slow and then fear and doubt creep in. Often times when I doubt, it is as simple as getting in to God's Word and pressing into Him for the answers and without fail, He always reveals His truth.

Remember to keep the conversation going through the comment section if you would like to..

Cafe Chat

Is there a situation in your life that you feel ill equipped to handle? If yes, would you be willing to surrender this situation to God, and let Him work through you? If no, why not?

I asked this question this week, because I have a situation that I definitely feel ill equipped for... But as I started to feel this way, I realized that God is fully capable of equipping me to do the work He has purposed in my life. Now that is encouraging! Blessings, Kim

(I will post my answer later, but feel free to leave yours now. Make sure to click over to the Cafe for more interaction)

Check out this video (Plastic Jesus)

Click here to go to video.... Let me know what you think of it...

Another Tough Question Answered...

I think I will have to come up with a good Title for these posts... Again, my friend Christina is helping me to tackle some of the questions that you (bloggyville) asked. Please feel free to dialogue back and forth in the comment section of this post.

An anonymous person asked this question. I hope the person that asked this question gets to read today's blog...

Why didn't God just forgive Adam and Eve and let them carry on?


Because God is perfect and holy, it would go against His nature to allow sin into heaven. He cannot go against His nature. Because man sinned, he became separated from God forever. A price had to be paid to satisfy God's wrath. In the Old Testament, the sacrificial system of sacrificing animals was a picture of what was to come in the New Testament-Christ's final payment once for all on the cross. Christ satisfied God's wrath on the cross, and the debt was paid. Many people believe that Christ's death pays for the sins of all mankind no matter what. But the Bible clearly says that in order to be saved, we must repent of our sins, recognize our total bankruptcy and lack of ability to follow God's law, and put our faith and trust in Christ, and live for Him. There is so much more to this answer, and would be happy to answer more.

365-#72, #73 and #74

I know these pictures are pretty much the same, but the sun was so beautiful this day. I actually took these pictures while moving in a car over 60 MPH...

A New Thing...

A couple of weeks ago I did a post where I asked you all (whoever reads my blog) to come up with your tough questions about spiritual matters... I didn't have a huge response...well that is because only a few people stop here on a regular basis :) But the questions I did receive were so good, and way challenging and tough.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the questions, but my best friend is going to take on the challenge of answering these questions based solely on God's Word. God has gifted my friend with the ability to teach, so I think she will do a wonderful job tackling some of these tough questions.

For now, maybe about once a week I will post a question with the answer my friend has researched. Then I want you to feel free to keep the conversation going through the comment section of that particular post.

I will publish the first question later today or tomorrow...so come back here to check it out...especially if you left a question on the original posts.

Thanks Christina (that is my friend)...You are the best!!!

Here is our first question...

What is Christ's chief interest on earth?

By this question I assume you mean what is Christ's chief purpose for the Earth now, as opposed to when he came 2,000 years ago. God's ultimate purpose throughout the entire Bible is consistent. It always has been and continually will be to glorify Himself. Our purpose on Earth is the same; to glorify God. I love The Westminster Shorter Catechism . It asks the question, "What is the chief end of man?" Many of us know the answer. "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." While this is not a phrase drawn directly from Scripture, the wisdom behind it surely is. The Bible tells us with great clarity that man was created in order to bring glory to God. Thus the chief end of Christians and of the church is to bring glory to God. There is no higher calling. I also love how John Piper answers it: "The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever. Another great quote from John Piper is: "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him." We fulfill Christ's purpose in our lives when we fully commit ourselves to bringing Him glory, no matter what the cost.

Remember keep the dialogue or more questions going through the comment section :)

365-#69, #70 and #71

Moose acting silly in the top picture, and cool looking Jellyfish in the bottom two...

Update..

I just wanted to let you know that I have not forgot about the post I did earlier in which I asked you to come up with questions about spiritual matters... It is just you blew me away with the tough questions you asked... I am going to take my time to try to get a correct perspective on these questions... Thanks for participating and keep them coming...

Blessings

365-#67 and #68

How my Terminator celebrated his birthday last month (we were on vacation)... You just gotta blow out some candles on your birthday...

Cafe Chat

Jealousy...


I know, not a great choice of a word to start out our discussion today, but I think it is a good topic for a "Cafe Chat" question. One definition from Dictionary.com states that jealousy is
"jealous resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, etc., or against another's success or advantage itself." For today I think this will be the definition that we use to answer our question.

Jealousy is a sin that all people struggle with from time to time in their lifetime. Some will struggle greatly, and for some it can be something they might deal with in specific situations. In my past, I would categorize myself in the "struggle greatly" category, but now with the Lord's changing power I struggle with jealousy less often.

Today I would like for you to tell about a time that you dealt with the sin of jealousy. If you can, give details. Then I would like for you to share how you worked through the situation with God's help.

If you are struggling with jealousy ruling in your life, then I would like for you to write some reasons why you think that is. Would you be willing today to ask God to begin the process of destroying this sin in your life?

Again, always feel free to post anonymously. I will make sure to post my answer this week at my blog. If I ask you the hard questions, I have to ask them to myself. I hope this week's question will encourage all of us to seek God when it comes to the sin of jealousy, and any other sin :) Blessings, Kim

365-#65 and #66

My camera was shooting slow this day... I was trying to capture the kids when they were up in the air...I came close..

"Revelation Song"

Click on this link to hear this song... It is powerful and beautiful. Take a few minutes from your day to listen to this song and worship Jesus!!!

http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=c455e06ebd06647fc4de&utm_source=newsletter0817&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weeklytopvideos

365-#63 and #64

This was my favorite butterfly... It was so blue...you can't tell as much in the pic.

Them Boots...

This post won't really make sense unless you have read this post (click to read)...

I purchased the boots, and it was awesome!!! For about 15 more dollars than I would have spent that day (again see previous post) I got two more pair of shoes, and an awesome scarf... It is good to wait!!!

365-#62

Butterfly Garden in Tennessee....

365-#59, 60 and 61

My next series of 365 pictures will be taken from my wonderful vacation pictures...

Cafe Chat

I am back from my vacation, and my "Cafe Chat" break. For the last several weeks I have been re posting some of my previous "Chat" questions. Thanks to all who participated in this meme during my hiatus. I missed interacting with you weekly, but hope to start visiting your blogs/websites again weekly.

"Comfort Zone". Two words or a phrase that has become very popular in our everyday language for years now. I remember when people first started talking about going out of their comfort zone. It wasn't long after that I would hear that phrase in the everyday chit chat of my circle of friends, as well as using the phrase myself.

Today I want to use this phrase as part of my question for our community. However, I would like to add a word to the beginning of the phrase. Let's think in terms of our "spiritual comfort zones". Let me explain a bit further. We could use the phrase comfort zone for many things that don't really have anything to do with our spiritual lives, and when I say spiritual lives, I am specifically referring to our Christian walk with Jesus. It could be out of our comfort zone to attend a function alone, but that situation would really have nothing to do with our Christian walk.

On vacation I experienced something that I would say was out of my "spiritual comfort zone". When thinking about the question this week I came to believe that as a Christian I should almost always, maybe always, be out of my "spiritual comfort zone" when it comes to life. If I am operating out of my "comfort zone" than that means that Jesus can work through me to do something that either I can't accomplish, or at least something that fear holds me back from accomplishing through Jesus. When Jesus operates through me to perform something I cannot do, then He gets the credit and the Glory. That it how is should be.

So today I ask you to tell me about a time you operated out of your "spiritual comfort zone"? If you are finding it hard to come up with an example, why do you think that is the case?

(FYI: Today I used the term "spiritual comfort zone"... I am using the term lightly to ask a question, not to develop my own phrase) Blessings, Kim

PS. If you have time, look at the post below... I would love to hear your questions :)

Need Input...Please comment :)

I write a weekly meme for a Devotion site...it mostly consists of me asking a question...More specifically a spiritual question. I have always liked to ask questions, and I even started a Meme on my site (the Know & Tell) where I ask questions.

So, I would like for everyone who reads this to post a question in the comment box of this post... I will let you know right now that I probably don't have the answers to 99% of the questions, but together I believe we can work through some of the questions...What better way to do this, then through the blogosphere...

Specifically I would like for you to write a question you have about spiritual things. If you read my blog you know that I am a Christian, so I am asking for questions that relate to being a Christian... Having Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

If you come across this blog and you don't know anything about the Christian faith, I would welcome your questions. For the most part I am looking for questions about living the Christian faith out in everyday life... Or maybe even questions that you have always wondered about in the Christian Faith. Again, I know I will not have all the answers, but it will be great to tackle them together and seek Truth from God's Word on the questions posed...

So give it a go, and let's see where this goes...

Blessings

365-#58

This is probably my all time favorite picture of our family... This is the last of my old picture posts... I am back from vacation, so I can start posting normally again :)

I'm Back!!!

Back from vacation today... Had such a great time, but am ready to jump into the routines of my life :) Hopefully too, I will be back with blogging about the things that mean the most to me here.

If you didn't get a chance I had a pretty cool experience while in Florida... Go down my posts here about a week... The post is titled "Jimmy".

Blessings, and look for lots of vacation pictures to come!!!

365-#56 and #57

There is an extra picture on this post... Remember picture quality not good, but memories very good. What son do you think this is???