Turkey Day and Beyond

This is the final product of the art project my wife organized for my recent Activity Camp that included tennis, golf, fishing, and art. We held the camp the day before Thanksgiving and had sixteen participants. It was a very successful day, all in all...!

Our Thanksgiving was good. I smoked Turkey and it came out fantastic. All Monica's side dishes were excellent, too. It was a feast that we will long remember...!

The weather turned cold for Thanksgiving to give us more of a holiday atmosphere. I didn't as I normally have on previous holidays. I spent time hanging out with Elijah and Connor. We watched some movies and generally just had a good time. We also spent some time on a couple of home improvement projects we've been working on for awhile.

I've cut back on this blog to one a week or every couple of weeks right now because I have so much other stuff going on. I am trying to be faithful to my prayer journal and Elijah's photo blog, trying to update those daily.

Today Monica and Elijah are sleeping in because Elijah was up most of the night last night. he house is normally not this quiet at 8:30 AM and I'm enjoying some uninterrupted writing time.

I'm going to work on marketing upcoming programs all morning and then spend the afternoon with Elijah so Monica can work on her projects later today before we have church tonight...!

That's it. My mother and father in law are coming to visit next month for Christmas and I'm very much looking forward to that...! YEA!

I'll post more as soon as I can...!

-Coach Sam

WHO is on your Christmas List this Year?

Oops... I was supposed to post this on my prayer journal blog... Oh well, we are getting pretty close to the holiday season. It probably won't hurt to leave it here...

In all my years (42) I've never really thought of 'Giving God a Gift' at Christmas. I have always thought about God and used his birthday as my reasoning for giving gifts to others.

Have you ever heard the phrase question: What do you get the person who has everything...?

Well, Cere answers that very question in his current series: Wise Men Still Bring HIM gifts.

Cere spoke two weeks ago about the number one gift we could and should try to bring God this season is His favorite thing: Souls. Wouldn't it be nice to bring someone to salvation this Christmas?

But what else could we bring HIM...? Well, Jesus is pure and he loves gifts of Purity!

Where is Your heart? What do you dwell on...? What are your fantasies? Are they impure, ungodly, and self, or Purity, Godly, and Kingdom minded?

It's our warfare to cast down imaginations and abstract things that stand against our knowledge of God and to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ... 2 Cor 10:5

Those are two things I'd like to give God this Christmas: a pure heart and mind! But I'd like to really go all out on gifts to Jesus this season so this discussion is not over. (although I'm out of time this morning...)

More tomorrow.

Haven't posted in a while...

I'm a mess again. I'm barely keeping things together these days. I'd love to blog more but I can't prioritize an hour of blog time above more pressing matters. It's all I can do to keep up with my prayer journal right now. Beginning today, this blog is going to have to be reduced to a single weekly posting over each weekend. I'll pick it up again as the Lord blesses me with more time.

My major news at the moment is that I've been facing severe heal issues lately. It's never been more physically difficult to go out there and earn a living on the tennis court like it is right now. At the end of many days I can hardly walk. Off the court I'm constantly icing and elevating my feet.

I've seriously been contemplating a career change, or at least a 'sabbatical' in order to allow my body to recover from a life time of physical punishment on the hard tennis court.

Now I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me or anything like that. I'm just reporting the facts.

I know everything will work together for Good. (see today's prayer journal entry for more detail on that...)

In spite of all the seemingly insurmountable obstacles I'm facing, I'm still optimistic. I serve a God who is capable of anything. -He's a God of miracles. And I face a future as bright as the God I serve...!

That's Coach Sam's Life Today... Check in again for another update by Sunday, November 18.

My Favorite Cool, Refreshing Beverage These Days...

This is my favorite drink now. I do add a little organic sugar, but only enough to sweeten it a little. I think back to when I used to consume all sorts of bad drinks. I've given up all sodas and any alcoholic drinks. I'm really limiting the amounts and types of sports drinks I consume, too. I'm getting rid of all the excess sugars in my diet.

Oh, I'll have an occasional dessert here and there, but for the most part I'm watching my caloric intake very closely these days. It's very important that I lose weight, I haven't been under 200 pounds in over seven or eight years!

My family deserves a thinner and more healthy daddy and husband... -And I owe it to myself, too! Hopefully switching to mainly water and an occasional herbal tea for my fluid consumption will make a difference....

That's it for now... More tomorrow...

-Chadwell Out-