Another blog... another blogger

I've created another blog entitled "Vacation Views" where you can keep up with our preparation and time spent in Tennessee and Florida. Check back often as we will try to keep it updated often.

Looking for me?

Please follow my "new" blog Grace Dependent. I rarely will post here anymore, but will keep it open for family related items.

s'more fishin'

It's been just over two weeks since I last posted. That can be explained. I spent about one week without internet, and then spent one week in 5 different states: Indiana (of course), Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. Attended two funerals, one wedding and a Creation Museum. I was supposed to take a vacation in there as well but that never materialized.

I went out fishing today at Center Lake in Warsaw, IN and caught a small mess of bluegill, one largemouth bass and one perch. All were not really keepers, so they all went back to their homes. The pics below are of the bass and perch.

largemouth bass

perch

Fishing Time!

On Tuesday, July 29th, my father-in-law gave us a jon boat with all the "stuff". Trolling motor, fishing poles, vests & seat cushions, etc, etc. Not having gone out on a boat in a while, you can imagine how excited we were to be able to fish the lakes around us. And we have!!
Here's my eldest daughter as we cruised Saturday morning in search of fish. We were on Center Lake in Warsaw, IN. She had a ball - and she's one of them cutest fishing partners I've ever had!
Patrick & I went out Saturday night after dinner to see if we could improve on our fishing luck. We caught several nice bluegill and he caught this nice largemouth as we floated over to the boat launch on Center Lake. Below is a video of him dealing with his catch - I still laugh over it.

Church campout - Chain O' Lakes

Wow. Does our church know how to eat or what? God has definitely blessed us - not only with an abundance of food, but people that know how to cook. We had around 130 people out at the campground for dinner on Saturday night.

Not only can we eat, but we traditionally play a huge euchre tournament after dinner. While it no longer lasts into the early morning hours, it's still a lot of fun and a lot of competition. The Netzleys pulled off a huge win this year!

I love speaking at the campground on Sunday. I wish I could do it every year. In fact, I wish every service was this way, but then it wouldn't be special would it? I spoke on "Servants must share the message of hope" based on Mark 2:13-17 and the example of Jesus as the servant of God, giving hope to Levi / Matthew.

This was the first year for me to enter the horseshoe tournament. Jason Stover and I were paired together and went undefeated into the championship round (beginners luck). We then were promptly beaten twice by Mark and Eric. It was a great time of fellowship with these guys and their families.

If I would have approached the championship game a bit more seriously perhaps we would have won! What a great weekend we had heading out to Chain O' Lakes state park in Albion, IN.

Tree of Life

Today I took my wife on a "date". It was to the Tree of Life bookstore & cafe in Winona Lake, IN. You must check out their site and go grab a cup of joe there! They have wonderful drinks!!

Our barista was Sherrie, our former church secretary. She is one of the few people that understands that if you're going to drink coffee then it must be strong coffee!! No sock-water coffee here! She seems to really be enjoying this job and did a wonderful job on our drinks.

Here's the menu, but you can read it online better by visiting their site! My wife had a raspberry and banana smoothie while I had the "after dinner mint" - a coffee drink with Irish cream, Oreos and whip cream. Yeah, it's not necessarily a 'healthy' drink... but it was very good!

If you're in the Warsaw / Winona Lake area, I strongly suggest that you go to the Tree of Life bookstore on the campus of Grace College & Grace Theological Seminary. You will find a wonderful bookstore with a ton of books, clothing and gifts available at reasonable prices as well as an over the top great coffee cafe.

I didn't catch his name. His name is not important, after all he was just "hired help". But the way he responded to his task caught my eye. Not only did he do exactly what his boss wanted him to do, and he did it well, but he did it totally relying on God. He demonstrated exactly the way I want to live. You can read all about it here.

He was Abraham's servant. This is what he did that I want to do:

• listened carefully to the task.
• asked good questions to clarify the task.
• committed himself to the task, taking everything he would need for the task.
• then he prayed specifically about the task - asking God for divine guidance.
• he got involved in the task - "putting feet to his prayers".
• in the midst of the task, he watched, fully expecting God to answer his specific prayers.
• upon realizing God's answer to the task, he gave God praise for His guidance.
• he told others about how God allowed him to accomplish the task his boss asked him to do.
• finally he reported the task completed to his boss.

Some nameless servant "out there" showing all of us how to live. I'm good with that. Now... how can I put this into practice?

I'm sipping on some of the last fine grinds of my whole bean Mocha Java from Gevalia. Even though the sun is shining brightly, the temps are down a little and drinking the joe isn't uncomfortable.

Smack down in Youth Group

Here's a fun game to try in youth group: "Smack-down". I think it's self-explanatory! We did it while we were waiting on our parents to get done with their meeting: