Michigan Excursion

Good day to you all! Here is the first post about my trip to Michigan. It was an amazing trip. The main reason for driving the 14 hours was my aunt. She had been sick for over a month and needed help catching up with household necessities. Her husband also desired assistance with many outdoor chores. Before we went, I made the special request that our to-do list would be long and posted prominently! :)

First, here are some photos from the trip there.

Doesn't that look like I have a spoiled rotten little sister with heaven in the back seat? hehe... Nah, it is because we love Kayla and allowed her to have all the blankets and pillows for her tent construction project. I must say, she was very creative!

When we arrived, the list had been written on a marker board halfway from floor to cealing and written in about 24 point font. We set to work after a good night sleep and a nourishing breaking of the fast. :)

It is time to introduce the family and my excellent helpers!

Of course, we have to introduce Kayla my dear younger sister!

The oldest child in the family. His name is Joel and he is 12. Let's see how can I describe Joel? He is very talkative and works very hard when not under the influence of his younger brother Austin. ;)

Then we have the before mentioned Austin. He can be a little rambunctious and is the one that would greet you with a pile of stuffed animals being thrown in your face. ;)

This is Nathan and he is also a very hard worker. Kayla and Nathan were almost inseparable at times during the vacation. The loved working and playing with each other.

Lastly, but not least. We have my adorable cousin Calvin. Calvin is a very unique child. When he is told by an authority to do something he will obey and continue obeying until he is told he may quit. He is one that will not quit until the job is done!

I wish I had time to write in more extensive detail everything we did, but here is my general work schedule.

Wednesday
- Tore out fence from the forest and made tree cages to deprive the deer of their delicious snack

Thursday
- Power washed caulk and rust from pole barn window frames. (I was soaked from head to toe!)
- Joel and I moved several hundred pounds of industrial strength electrical boxes in the barn
- Played capture the flag with my four cousins and Kayla (A favorite tradition among the cousins)

Friday
- Primed the barn window frames with oil based primer and a couple very enthusiastic helpers! :)
- Swam in their mosquito infested pond in the afternoon with the cousins

Saturday
- Painted the final coat of latex paint on the barn window frames
- Caulked the window panes in the barn on the South side of the building (Caulking is an art in which I am not yet proficient!) Yes, there is a story here...

Sunday
- Attended a wonderful Father's Day church service straight from Psalm 127 and 128

One can tell that reformed church was alive and well. One of the more recent characteristics of a church body  fully committed to the Lord is the attendance of young people and college students. The statistics are frightening how many people my age leave the church and never return. This is a testament of the families that
make up this segment of the body of Christ.

- Had a family picnic at a local park and played tag and capture the flag with the cousins again!
- Attended the evening service at the same church building

Monday
- Dug a trench around the perimeter of the north side of the barn. This would later be used for adding some steel siding.

- Went to a neat thrift store in town called Hidden Treasures where I found some slacks and shorts
- All the work and activities had finally worn me out, I developed a whopper of a headache and needed rest.

I was asked to make a funny face. :)

Do you trust them to do your banking??

Tuesday
-  Cleaned bathrooms really well or until my aunt begged me to stop! (Another story here) :)
- Watched children while my aunt had a doctor's visit
- Played capture the flag and had a water balloon fight
- Went to Nathan's baseball game
- Grandparents arrived from northern MI

Wednesday
- Researched how to send HTML code with Thunderbird
- Attempted setting up a scanner to communicate with the computer properly
- Departed for home after lunch about 1:00 p.m.

Before we departed though, we had a stowaway! :D

Before I conclude, I must add a few more pictures of my adorable cousin Calvin. :D

The excursion back was quite an adventure! I will try to include more detail in that post. Stay tuned!

New Post coming soon...

Some of you know that I have been in Michigan the last week and had some exciting adventures... Stay tuned for a more complete report in the next few days! :)

Marooning and Exhileration

*newspaper warning* hehe... First one this summer.

It is a good thing someone has time to write a blog post every once in a long while. hehe... ;)

Yeah, I thought K did a great job with the door. I still don't know exactly what "modge podge" looks like beforehand, but it seems the possibilities are endless.

The last couple days for me have been rather exhilarating!

Monday, the TCS team, minus me, went storm chasing in western Nebraska. They left around noon and left Mrs. T, Heidi, and me at the office.

About 10 minutes to five, Mrs. T looked at me and asked me whether I had a key to lock up the office. Umm... no... Then it dawned on us that Michael and Ben had taken the only two keys with them and they were 3 hours away.

hehe... So, we tried contacting the leasor but was unsuccessful reaching him to bail us out.

As 5:00 loomed, Mrs. T and Heidi went back to the house and fixed some supper and brought it down to the marooned one at the office.

Mrs. T called Michael and found out that he had lost his phone but would return as soon as it was found.

About this time, I just couldn't keep from laughing at how God had worked things out. :D

As you already know, God miraculously showed the team where Michael had lost his phone.

I was at the office that day until about 10 p.m. when Michael returned with a key to lock up. Before he came I was tempted to use whatever I could find and make a bed for the night. lol

The next day brought even more excitement!

The boys decided at about 4:00 p.m. that they were going on their first bike trip of the year. The evening's events were planned like this.

Josiah: We should go biking to the Platte again.

Ben: Let's go tonight!

Josiah: Great!!

Everyone returned back to the house at about 5:10 and with only a couple minutes warning, Heidi had an impressive array of delicious food packed in a cooler ready to go! You can tell she has had some practice in the past... ;)

Michael had previously arranged to visit a foreclosed house that had some old computer junk the realtors wanted to discard. We picked up Rance, and the three of us went in this house that had previously been owned by a cat lover and still wreaked!

We found an old mac computer that, if it worked, would sell for four grand! It was in pieces though and the chances were too slim that we didn’t bother rescuing it. Most of it, was just as it was advertised – junk!

After picking up Peter to come along on our bike ride and dropping off Rance, we drove to Josiah and Micah’s house and got ready to begin what would become a very memorable evening…

The bike ride began innocently enough. The only exception was that Peter’s bike was made specifically for BMX racing and was very low profile compared with the mountain bikes everyone else was riding. Consequently, Peter had a hard time keeping up. I was also lagging farther and farther behind.

I thought my recent 2.7 mile morning runs had given me the strength necessary to ride the 10.5 miles to the Platte River. I managed to keep up with Peter most of the time and appreciated everyone else who waited at stop signs for us that lagged behind.

After crossing 25^th in Kearney, Michael declared that he wanted Peter to ride his bike and Michael was going to suffer on Peter’s tiny bike for the remainder of the trip. After a handle bar fell off while crossing the tracks, Michael handed me the water bottle and we were off again! Upon reaching Coal Chute Rd, I just really struggled keeping up with the crew and kept falling farther and farther behind.

It got to the point where I could barely see Michael’s bike ahead of me. I was crawling along as fast as my legs could peddle in the wind, yet I was gaining very little ground. Convinced I was just weak in the legs, I kept going and finally got to the Platte at least 10 minutes after everyone else.

The other guys had already shed their shirts and were swimming in the Platte when I got through the weeds and across the half submerged railroad tie bridge. Michael soon returned and declared it was supper time! After a nice dinner of apples, granola bars, peanut butter sandwiches, nuts, carrots, and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies everyone except me swam for at least 20 more minutes.

I put the food away and just relaxed after the long hard ride. I knew that I would have a difficult time riding back if I tired myself out swimming. About 8:05, Michael announced we had better begin our return trip. Knowing I would quickly fall behind again, I decided to start back while they were packing up.

Before I left, another interesting group of people came hauling flotation devices and a large 12 pack of beer. I was not disappointed we were leaving. J I got back to my bike and made sure it was in working order for the trip back. Feeling the rear tire, I found it was completely flat! No wonder I had such a hard time keeping up with everyone!

Micah also discovered that his front tire was flat. Great…. Unless we put two people on two bikes, a couple of us would need to find some alternate transportation. Michael resolutely decided he was going to run Micah’s bike all the way back. (Yes, the whole 10.5 miles.) I knew that I would not have the energy to run such a long distance, so Peter’s dad came and picked up Micah’s and my bike and Peter and me. We drove past Michael huffing and puffing down the road but he refused to ride along.

Michael continued running and Micah road Michael’s bike beside him all the 10.5 miles back to the starting place. Benjamin and Josiah rode leisurely back since they both still had fully functioning bikes.

After being dropped off at the T’s, I received a call at about 9:30 asking where Michael and Micah went. Oops! I told Ben that Michael was still running back. Ben wisely decided to pick them up in the van. By the time, they found Michael running, he was less than a mile away and said that he would persist and go the rest of the way.

Needless to say, Michael’s g-chat status the next day was the following: “I feel weird”. LOL!      

ChatVille - Red flags anyone?

I thought a recent email I received about a new Facebook game was absolutely ridiculous yet representative of the present post-modern culture.

We're excited to announce the launch of ChatVille, a brand new Facebook game for discovering cool new people! ChatVille lets you video chat with random Facebook users in a safe environment while earning compliments, unlocking badges, and leveling up in a race to become ChatVille Champion!

You can even video chat with all your Facebook friends for the first time ever right from the Facebook website. Take screenshots of your adventures, make classy filmstrips, and meet fun new people in this addicting and engaging Facebook game.

(Emphasis added and subtracted)

So now, people around the world are connected in one place via Facebook video chat! While that can reap some benefits, I think the negative possibilities are alarming! What do you think?

So, you need a piano hauled?

This morning I had the day all planned out. But then God through some rather interesting twists in the day. It is further proof that life around the Tillotson's is hardly ever boring! lol

After finding another antique piano for K's studio at a garage sale, Michael got on the phone and the conversation went something like this...

Michael: Hey! Do you like hauling Pianos??

Victim: Uh, umm... yeah... SURE!!

So  that is how it went and off we went to round up a truck or trailer and a bunch of guys.

We hauled the piano and hired a couple human tie downs. :) Luke and me signed up for the job.

I felt like I was riding one of those convertibles in a parade waving at everyone. Most people whizzed past us wanting desperately to lose us. They weren't the only ones... ;) Some were kind enough to wave back.

We got the piano all delivered.

There it is, all secured in the back of the trailer.

The ordeal required much contemplation and careful consideration from many brilliant minds! :)

After it was all said and done, a suggestion was made to manually pull the trailer a couple miles back to its owner. Sadly, it didn't happen. It would have been fun!

Monocles for sale!!

Oops!

Bidding starting at $50!! :)

Don't hesitate! Offer will not last forever.

Okay, so I was working on school this morning and well... this happened. I am in the habit of pushing against the nose bridge to push up my glasses, and this time I heard a snap!

Maybe if you beg, TCS can take some pictures of me. Since I can only wear one monocle, the other eye has to remain closed in order to see to type this blog post. This can get very irritating for the other eye, so I figured out that if I blindfold one eye with a shirt, then I can work with my monocle. :)

"‘Nothing has more strength than dire necessity."  — Euripedes

The clay in God's hands...

This first couple weeks have been exciting! I have begun a new routine within the past couple weeks that I pray will not die when life gets busier. I have also developed a "study schedule" for lack of a better word to help keep my mind more focused towards growing in Christ likeness.


Again, this is not meant to be a boasting matter or a mode of comparison. If it becomes a snare in this way, I will stop these "public reports" immediately. It is meant to encourage rather than discourage. To help build each other up in the Lord and not tear one another down. I think you get the picture. :)


*New daily routine*


5:00 A.M. - Somehow stumble out of bed and take a shower


5:15 - Pray that God would bless my time in the Word


5:30-6:45 - Read and meditate on the Word. (Right now I am in Romans)


6:45-7:20 - Intercessory prayer


7:20 - Breakfast


8:00 - School or homework


The rest of the day varies soo much!


Along with the scriptures, the following is a compilation of other books/publications I read during the week.


"The ScrewTape Letters" By C.S. Lewis
"Discipleship Explored" By Greg Ogden
"Understanding the Times" By David A. Noebel
"What he must be... if he wants to Marry my Daughter" By Voddie Baucham
"The Journal" By Summit Ministeries
"The Schwarz Report" By the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade
"WORLD magazine"


Most of the reading happens on Sundays and on evenings.


The Lord has taught me much during the past few weeks, but this post will give you a small glimpse.


Some memory verses:

          Habakkuk 3:17-19 

"Though the fig tree should not blossum, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster with stringed instruments."

           Zechariah 11:17 

"Woe to my worthless shepherd who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!"

You may be wondering why I chose to memorize this verse. There were two reasons. One, it is representative of most of the prophetical books. Meaning, that the leaders/shepherds of the flock are held to a higher standard and will receive a greater measure of condemnation for every idle word that is not truth. Secondly, it was soon after the HeathCare bill was passed and I found comfort in this warning against such men.

           Romans 1:28-32 

"And since they did see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They were full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, worthless. Though they knew God's degree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but gave approval to those who practice them."

I found this list of lawlessness so revealing. I think it helps to answer the questions about why Satan entered Judas and prompted him to betray Jesus. Allow me to explain.


Satan has been completely opposite of anything "admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy" (Philippians 4:8) ever since God threw him out of heaven. Very soon after God created man and woman, Satan was resolved to destroy God's perfect creation forever. Sin did enter the world, but that was not the end of the story. Since the Lamb was slain before the creation of the world, (Revelation 13:8) God knew His people would fall. He had His plan of redemption for His people prepared in advance. When the time came, you would think that Satan's goal would be to prevent Jesus from being killed. But, yet we read that Satan aided God's plan. Why?
I only see two possible solutions to this predicament.

1. Satan did not know God's plan and didn't know the scriptures concerning His son.
2. Satan is the great deceiver and deceived himself into thinking He could somehow foil God's plan.

The first choice I find very doubtful in light of when Satan tempted Jesus. Satan himself quoted Psalms back to Jesus. I think that Satan knows very well the words that are written in the scriptures. I think that this passage in Roman's answers this predicament.


That long description certainly describes the devil. It begins with the right foundation. "And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God..." That is where Satan began right? He knows God, He even knows that he is powerless against Him, but He will not "acknowledge" God's sovereignty. The last verse I thought was also perfect. "Though they knew God's degree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them." Doesn't that describe Satan and his followers?
           Romans 8:1-4 

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

 A couple lessons:


While reading through the gospels, I compiled a list of qualities Christ exhibited. We are called to continually die to ourselves and take up our cross and follow Christ. The following is a non-exhaustive list.

• Jesus was a Man who thrived on his time with His Father
• Jesus knew the scriptures like the back of His hand
• Jesus constantly analyzed the culture with the eyes of His Word
• Exhibited immense patience (especially with his disciples)
• Jesus denied Himself and submitted willingly to His Father's will
• Jesus was a servant leader

Wow!! If only we could reach this perfect example here on Earth! :) The challenge for me has been that I see His example but it's impossibility drives me to inaction. That is the wrong approach! *hits head*


The correct response should be a humble reliance upon Christ to aid me every step of the way!


Another lesson that I am still learning is that I shouldn't wonder why I am not hungering and thirsting after God's word if I don't devote significant time fervently studying it! 


The rule is that, if you don't engage, you won't know what you are missing. The bible is not a magic book. If I only crave it's teaching in the hour of necessity, it is little wonder I don't understand God's will during those moments.


Lastly, I have posted the results of my recent biblical sewing project. hehe... :) I took the four gospels and harmonized the account of Jesus from the Garden of Gethsemane until His last breath. If you want to check that out.


I thought it was powerful looking at the entire story without flipping from one book to another. I hope you enjoy it too! I apologize for the strange formatting towards the bottom. :(


Quotes for thought:


I would like to conclude with some excellent quotes from various literature and sermons I have come across.

"If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions." --James Madison, letter to Edmund Pendleton, 1792

“God does not need you!! As a matter of fact, the only reason He called you was to have a greater handicap so he looks better in the end when everything comes out alright. God does not need you! But he does require obedience. – Paul Washer

"The legislative department is everywhere extending the sphere of its activity and drawing all power into its impetuous vortex." --James Madison, Federalist No. 48

"President Obama met with ten House Democrats opposed to the health care bill. He did all he could to get their votes. He promised to campaign for them in their districts and when that didn't work, he threatened to campaign for them in their districts." --comedian Argus Hamilton

“You’re not supposed to have a quiet time so that you can go out and be nice and moral. You see that? Christianity has morals and ethics, but Christianity is not about morality! You meet with God so that the fragrance of God and thoughts of God might stay with you all day!” – Paul Washer 

 "On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." --Thomas Jefferson 

 And one final one. :)

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it. - George Bernard Shaw 

Until next time... So long folks! If you would like to share what God has been teaching you or what you have been reading, than feel free!