Category Archives: For Family & Fun

Share Your World 2015 Week #32

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It has been four days since my last blog. FOUR!!! I keep trying to get back to wordpress but just reading has been a stretch. Tonight I know I have a sermon series I need to complete but in the interest of time I am opting to break back in by answering Cee’s questions from her Share Your World Blog. You can find the blog

HERE

and here is what we are trying to accomplish in Cee’s own words.

I sincerely hope you enjoy my questions for this week and find the questions interesting enough to play along.   If you ever want me to ask anything specific, please feel free to contact me.  You don’t think a lot about these questions, unless of course it is FUN for you.  Simply dream and just let loose, or you let your alter ego answer if you want.   Have a fabulous week everyone!!

Even though I oftentimes will add photos to my answers, it is not a requirement to participate in Share your World.

See poll results to the right. I am making a slight change to Share Your World from your responses.  Here is the basic change to the standard format.  Since most votes were leave it the same I am going to continue with at least three random questions each week, special fourth questions and the standard Bonus Questions.

Here is the basic format.  I will ask you:

  • To answer three random questions each week.
  • Respond to a fourth item (I will randomly chose from this list)
    • Making a List out of a topic
    • Completing the sentence I start
    • Answering a Would you Rather question
  • Bonus Question is always the same  “What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?”  Because we all need to be reminded that there are many things in our lives to be grateful about.  

Now onto the questions for the week!

Are you a collector of anything? 

I am a collector of Bibles. I know that must seem apropos ( the name’s Pastor J after all what else would I collect…right?) Truthfully while I do have a few very old Bibles most of the Bibles in my collection are left behind at church. They sit on a shelf outside the sanctuary waiting to be retrieved and if they stay on the shelf too long they eventually make there way to my office which has become “the land of misfit Bibles”. I feel kind of bad for these little books because I know their owners are not really missing them which truth be told is even sadder for the people who left them behind. They don’t know what they are missing!

Really folks a Bible is a terrible thing to waste!

What is your biggest fear or phobia? (no photos please)

I have a really serious issue with being late. I am trying to relax a little bit about it but I was always taught “Early is on time. On time is late and late is unacceptable.”

Do you prefer reading coffee table books (picture), biographies, fiction, non-fiction, educational?

I of course love the Bible. I own at least 60 copies (land of misfit Bibles remember?) But I also love reading fiction. It relaxes me. That said I am currently reading “The Community of the Future” an old study by the Drucker Institute and I just finished Primary Purpose a study on the focus of the church. So little to no relaxing reading going on in my house right now.

Complete this sentence:  If I Must Be Reincarnated, In the Next Life I Want to Be…

OK obviously as a Christian Pastor I do not believe in reincarnation but I will play along. I want to be a Christian Pastor who writes and sings for a living. By the time I’m done this life I figure I will have it pretty well figured out how to do it right.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful I got to go to Walden Pond with my son Joe after picking up his VISA. He leaves this Sunday for his new job posting in South Korea. I am not sure if I am looking forward to that exactly but I am pretty proud of him!
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Share Your World 2015 Week #31

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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Time to SHARE MY WORLD again. Each week I try to answer five questions posed on Cee’s Photography site. You can check out Cee’s site and the sites of her other contributors by clicking the “SHARE YOUR WORLD” icon above.

Here the questions for week 31

Would you rather take pictures or be in pictures?

I don’t mind having my picture taken but I do seem to have kind of any angry face. I don’t usually feel angry but most candids of me have me looking a little grumpy.  I do like taking pictures though. So if I had to choose I would probably be behind the camera rather than in front but either way is just fine.

Where do you like to vacation?

Any place where people cannot contact me.

If you had to describe your day as a traffic sign, what would it be?

“65 MPH” or “Beware merging traffic”. Life is as usual full speed ahead and lots of things are coming together making life’s traffic patterns a little confusing just now. It’s a real good time to be paying attention.

List at least five favorite first names.

I like Joseph (surprise! surprise!), Malachi, Isolde (I really like that one), Nathaniel, David and Abigail

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful we had two great services on Sunday and that my sermon came off without a hitch. I am also grateful I got the next edits of my book to my editor. This next week I am looking forward to taking my son to pick up his VISA at the Korean consulate. Two weeks and counting folks and he will be in Korea!

Share Your World 2015: Two Weeks (29&30) In One

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Cee is on a retreat this week (teaching and training I think but you would have to read all her work to know for certain). You can find out more about that by clicking the “Share Your World” Icon below.

Now, because of the teaching/ training retreat, Cee has consolidated week 29&30 into one set of questions which equals out to 2 1/2 questions a week. Since it is really hard to answer 1/2 a question (although some would say I do that with some regularity) I have opted to answer all five questions at the beginning of week 30. There ya’ go! That is my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

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As a young boy I wanted to be a zoo keeper. Then in eighth grade I had a rather sudden shift. I remember going to my mother and telling her I was going to become a minister. I didn’t even go to church at the time, but I just knew that I was called… and well… I guess it was my first genuine God moment because today I am Pastor J.

What was your favorite food as a child? Do you eat it now? 

Macaroni & Cheese with hot dogs. Yes I sometimes still eat it, though it is not one of my “favorites” now.

If you were invisible, where would you go?

Invisible wouldn’t do it. I would also need mind reading ability to see what people were really thinking. But then if I could read minds maybe it wouldn’t be necessary to be invisible because then I could get more out of a hand shake than I ever would out of skulking around in shadowy corners. Until then I will just content myself with the knowledge that “God knows”.

Was that 1/2 an answer? Oh well I can’t tell you where I would go because then the people would be expecting me and never share, even in darkened corners, the things I want to know. Tthat would negate any benefit of being invisible (should I ever get the power). You see, mind reading is a much more beneficial skill!

Would you rather forget everyone else’s name all the time or have have everyone forget your name all the time?

I have a hard time remembering everyone else’s name (sometimes including my own). I hate that and would gladly trade it for everyone forgetting my name. I have found though that if you can remember people’s names they generally remember yours.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am very grateful for a great trip to get my son in NJ last week and I am also grateful that his contract in Gyeongbuk was approved. Below are some picture of the area he will be heading to.

I am looking forward to preaching this week at Cornerstone a new message entitled “Unintended Consequences” from Genesis. 2.

Share Your World 2015 Week #28

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It’s time to share little bits of my world with y’all again! When you’ve done with my world shoot on over to Cee’s by clicking the icon above and see how the rest of the world is sharing!

Here are the sharing questions for the week posted by Cee herself:

What is your favorite comfort snack food?

I love nutty buddies, peanut butter ice cream and peanut butter sandwiches (with or without spaghetti sauce). I think peanut butter is the key. What do you think?

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If you had to spend one weekend alone in a single store but could remove nothing, which store would you pick? (except food or beverage)

Barnes & Noble of course. I could get through a couple of books in that time and I could nap in their big comfy chairs. I think they sell Peanut Butter cookies so I would be all set there.

What was the largest city you have been to?  What is the one thing you remember most?

I think the largest city I have been to has to be Manhattan NYC. I remember there were so many people on the side-walk I couldn’t stop because I was being carried along by the crowd. If there had been a peanut butter sandwich on the ground I could not have rescued it without being trampled to death myself.

Finish this sentence:  It has recently come to my attention that ….

I have a thing for Peanut Butter.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up

I am very grateful for the opportunity to spend a day in Boston with Evangelist Dorsey Ross and missionary Brenda Lillie. This week I am looking forward to further editing the chapters of my book.

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Me at Boston Harbor

Share Your World 2015 Week #22

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This week I feel the need to start this post with Cee’s fifth question which is always…

  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am so grateful to serve a God who walks with His church through the deepest valleys (we have had some deep one’s this week read about it  HERE ). No matter what we go through we always find Him not just waiting at the other side but walking with us through the fiery trial. God is so good and so faithful and He is an “ever-present help IN  trouble.” Psalm 46:1

This week coming I am looking forward to getting back on track with my blogging and writing schedule.  During the last month or so I have been rather spotty because of the pace of life and ministry. But I feel like I am getting on top of that and launching into a new phase of writing productivity!

Here I am, beginning that new phase by sharing my world and inviting you to share your world with others by clicking the icon above and flying over to Cee’s blog to read about other parts of the world that intersect there.

Here are the questions:

Complete this sentence:  Never In My Life Have I…. 

Never In my life have I been to Africa or Australia or New Zealand or Alaska or Asia or…. well that should keep me going for however long I am to remain on this spinning orb of life.

Complete this sentence:  My neighbour wants me to help her…..

My neighbor wants me to help her… Actually I do not think my neighbors want me to help them do anything. I live in the midst of a pretty huge DIY neighborhood and I seem to be the only one who cannot do most things himself.

Complete this sentence:  When I was little I wanted…

When I was little I wanted to be a superhero. I would spend hours pretending I was Superman, Green Lantern or the Flash. I have learned though that being heroic is not about the grand sweeping gestures. It is about  the commitment to walk a path of little faithfulnesses everyday. Without that commitment, no superpower no matter how awesome will make you a hero.

Complete this sentence:  Will you come here to…

Will you come here on a regular basis? If so I commit to doing everything in my power to introduce you to a world of encouragement, hope and light!

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The underside of the clock on the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft

 Please click the Share Your World icon at the top of the post and it will take you to Cee’s blog so you see other people’s shares.

Share Your World 2015 Week 21

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Last week was absolutely massive! With our Fellowship Network Council Sunday through Tuesday, teaching on Wednesday and speaking engagements Friday and Sunday, add in a wedding, visitations and pastoral appointments and I come to this Memorial day pretty knackered but very happy to be participating in week 21 of Share Your World! Check out how others spent their weeks by clicking the icon above and going  to Cee’s site.

Our hostess addressed the questions a little differently this week. Cee says :

 I came up with a new way of doing Share Your World for this Week.  Begin making four lists and have at least four items on each list.  You can choose your lists out of the ones I have listed below.  Have fun.

  • Favorite Songs
  • Favorite flowers or plants
  • Favorites types of tea
  • Favorite types of animals
  • List of favorite blogs
  • Stuff that makes you laugh
  • Movies to cheer you up
  • Favorite actors/actresses
  • Good restaurants to eat at
  • Best desserts
  • Games to play with friends
  • Fun things for a rainy day
  • Books I want to read
  • Things I want to have in my home (paintings, hot tubs, book cases, big screen tv etc)
  • Places worth shopping

Favorite types of tea:

We were actually discussing this just this evening. Summer is upon us and most of my family switches over to ice coffee in the heat but I just can’t do it. Coffee should be hot! But I can do iced tea. I especially like herbal sun teas. My favorites are:

Lemon Balm or Lemon Grass

Mint

Lavender (although you should not drink this very often as lavender can become toxic in the body)

And Chamomile

List of favorite blogs:

This is a really hard one. I read so many blogs and each for different reasons. I will pick four this week and if we ever do it this way again I will pick four more. I suppose I could just list them all but that would be a veeeeeeerrrrry long list.

I love Cee’s Photo Blog. I participate in so many of her challenges and they do really challenge me.

One of my favorite haunts in the blogosphere is Rochelle Wisoff-Fields Addicted To Purple. I especially love her Friday Fictioneers segments.

For devotional reading two of my favorites are Another Red Letter Day and Tom Raines, Affirmations of God.

My favorite dessert:

I love a homemade cheese cake anytime.

And in the fall there is nothing like pumpkin roll.

One of my all time summer favorites is Orange fluff

And at Christmas, Shtollen or fruit cake!

Movies that cheer me up. 🙂

I love movies that inspire heroism and teamwork. I also have a thing for superhero movies.

I loved Avengers: Age of Ultron. When the Scarlet Witch made her choice to be part of the team and to  help Hawkeye, I shed a tear.

I laughed a lot through Guardians of the Galaxy. “We are Groot!”

Sahara doesn’t qualify as a superhero flick exactly but what a rollicking ride that was

And I think National Treasure has to make this week’s list.

 

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful for so many wonderful opportunities to preach and teach last week. I am also grateful for the many wonderful connections I made at Network Council. This week I hope to get some time to work on the gardens and to start my next writing project in earnest.

Share Your World 2015 Week 20

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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Hey folks! Here we are at Share Your World once again. Do you realize we have shared over 1/3 of 2015 with each other already? Time flies when you are having fun! If you click the icon above it will take you to our hostess Cee’s site and from there you can have your world enlarged by entering into the community of sharing she provides.

Here are this week’s questions and my answers.

What is the most important thing that you ever learned? (I bet it’s not something you learned in school)

The most important thing I ever learned was, that God so loved the world ( and me) that he gave his only son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for my sins ( and the whole world’s sins) so that if I would believe in Him  I would not perish but have everlasting life ( and that also goes for every other man woman and child on the face of the planet). Every other lesson in life is defined by what we do with that truth.

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What feeds your enthusiasm for life?

9But if I say, “I will not mention his word

or speak anymore in his name,”

his word is in my heart like a fire,

a fire shut up in my bones.

I am weary of holding it in;

indeed, I cannot. Jer. 20:9

 

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What’s your most memorable (good or bad) airplane commercial or private flight?

The first time I visited my sister in The Netherlands I flew Iceland air into Keflavik. Our lay over was about two hours and I remember looking out at the beauty of Iceland and thinking that someday I would return to explore this place that looked a bit like the moon to me.

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If you were a great explorer, what would you explore?

Iceland.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am so grateful for the wonderful Network Council I just came from. I am looking forward to teaching my class in the Minor Prophets tonight and preaching on Sunday morning a message called “For God and Country.”

Share Your World 2015 Week #19

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Here we are again at SYW! Each week our hostess, Cee asks five questions. As we answer them our worlds collide (gently of course). Read my answers below and then click the Share your world icon above and it will take you to a whole new level of sharing over at Cee’s blog!

Here are the questions!

Would you prefer a one floor house or multiple levels?

My home is a multi-level Edwardian style. I would love it to be a one level ranch.

If you have a TV, would you prefer the TV in the living room or another room?

The Living Room. I used to have one in the bed room and I find I am not a big fan of that.

When you leave a room, do you turn the lights off behind you or keep the lights on throughout your house most of the time? Explain your answer.

I try to turn the lights out except at night when I am making several trips from the living room to the kitchen ( because I am making snacks while I watch television of course). Then I leave the lights on in the kitchen.

What’s your favorite room in your home?

I think my favorite room is my bedroom. I do a lot of thinking, studying and napping there. It is my refuge from the world

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

 I am very grateful to have been able to go to my son’s Masters graduation in PA last week. Here are some photos

Joe and Joe
Joe’s mom and grandparents and Joe at the BBQ
My son, a teacher in South Korea
Joe at Longwood

Next week I am looking forward to our annual church network conference in Connecticut,

Caddo’s Seven Word Sunday 5-10-15

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SPENDING TIME WITH THE BOY IS GOOD!

Share Your World 2015 Week 18

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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I haven’t had much time for blogging lately and my brain is a little numb from the work load. I am thankful for challenges like Cee’s that help me focus in and keep a foot in the blogging community during these busy seasons.

Hey! why don’t you support Cee and her other contributors by taking a jaunt over to her page after you are done here and reading some other share your world blogs. All you have to do is click the “Share Your World” icon above and it will magically take you to this week’s STW post.

Here are the questions and my answers:

What type of pets do you have or want?  Or do you not want pets?

I have two little Maltese dogs. Mercedes, the female, is about six and a half pounds. Jacopo, the male, is about nine pounds. Their son, Snug is also currently living with us as my sister itinerates for her mission throughout New York and New England. He is eleven pounds.

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Hot Raggamuffin

What was or is your favorite cartoon?

I love the Spider Friends and Xmen

When you’re alone at home, do you wear shoes, socks, slippers, or go barefoot?

Usually socks.

Are you a traveler or a homebody? 

I love to travel but I am really a homebody because of my schedule. Work keeps me from going far afield unless I have a clearly spelled out purpose to hit the road.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful that one of my hands is feeling almost normal again. My right hand is just a little tight now. Thank goodness! Tendonitis is a pain in the thumb!

This next week I am looking forward to travelling down to PA for my son’s graduation from his master’s program in TESoL (Teaching English as a Second Language). I imagine I am coming back with a van load of stuff he will store when he goes over seas to work (that’s his dream anyway).