Ephesians 5:1-2.... Be Imitators of Christ, Walk in Love

Dr Charles Stanley's devotional this morning warned us against 'bad' relationships. He said that Christians need to be very careful with whom they intertwine their lives. He supported this statement by saying that because unbelievers lack an understanding of God's ways, their opinions and priorities can often lead us astray. He noted that this line of thinking applies especially to matters of marriage, choices of business partners and choices of organizations we join.

This devotional really hit home today as I inventory my experience with the consequences of bad 'life' choices on more than one occasion. I like what Ephesians 5:2 says regarding the matter...

Oh if only I could walk in love more often. There's no way I can do that on my own. And I really struggle with loving everyone. -There's a lot of people out there who are pretty unlovable, in my opinion... But when I run into those situations where I have trouble loving, that's where I really need to pray for the Holy Spirit to intervene.

I can't do it on my own...

Dear Heavenly Father,

It seems that every day now You are consistently showing me that I can't operate under my own power. Lord I want to be an imitator of You. Please Lord, help me to see things from Your perspective and enable me to walk in love like You. This is about leaning to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Father God, You seem to be showing me the same life lesson over and over again. I apologize that I am so hard headed. But Lord one day I will be just as hard headed for the cause of the Kingdom. It's a 'heart' thing, Lord. Help my heart.

Lord how can I say that I love You when I don't love others? I can't. I'm deceiving myself.

So Dear Jesus I've come to an impasse, and I don't want to continue in this condition. I'm pleading with You this morning to fill my heart with love and compassion. Going forward, I want my life to look different than it looks now. Lord, make it so. And let it be to Your Glory, Honor,and Praise.

I pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.

Catching Up with Coach Sam

Yea... It's not raining today! Unfortunately, January has been a very wet month... I'm surprised that I didn't have more time to blog this past week but I did have to get a Gran Prix administered.

I'm way behind on a bunch of projects right now. At some point I'm going to have to bite the bullet and stay up really late to get caught up. That's do-able but the real key is that once I get caught up then I need to stay caught up!

It's a New Day, It's a New Year!

Hello Friends,

I found this photo on the accuweather website... Isn't it spectacular...? Just gazing upon something like that just puts you in a good mood, doesn't it....?

I've got lots of new projects going on in 2008. They are just getting off the ground, much like the sun rising in the photo above...

I'm very optimistic about the new year. More details coming soon. Please check back in next week!

Coach Sam

Home Schooling Elijah...

Elijah likes to look at books. He is keenly interested in learning to read. In this photo he has scattered the bottom row of books from the book shelf and sitting in the middle of a pile of books. It appears as if he's prepared to spend the rest of the afternoon reading.

Although we haven't started a formal teaching routine with Elijah yet, we are always engaging him in learning activities. He seems very bright for his age, but what parent doesn't think that about their own children...?

I really enjoy my 'daddy time' with Elijah. We read together, watch TV together, play tennis, golf, and go fishing just about every day...! I love spending time with him. I hate it when I come home from work in the evening and Elijah has already fallen asleep...!

I am greatly blessed with a career that enables me to have flexible schedule allowing for quality time with Elijah.

Elijah's First Movie

We took a family trip after church yesterday to the mall for Elijah to attend his first movie...! We went to see Veggie Tales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything... It was a fantastic time for Everyone. I have a few more pictures posted on Elijah's Blog. He was so excited...!

So, this is my first blog entry of 2008. I simply can't keep up my blogging routine like I used to. There's simply not enough time... Here are my priorities for 2008:

1...More quality time in bible study: Completely read the bible in one year...!

2...Spend more time with my family.

3...Play more tennis and get in shape.

4...Retire from my position with HPTA and narrow my focus to my own local community.

Of course, the top three priorities are normally on my list every year. But this year it will really stick. I've never been more focused and determined to accomplish these goals than here in 2008.

The transition out of HPTA is a big decision, but it's the correct one. I'm sure of that.

So there it is... I press on...

By the way, I will try to carve out a little more time to keep this blog updated. It may just be a chronicle of events and photos for the time being... Don't anticipate any deep thoughts for awhile... If you want deeper thoughts then please check out my prayer journal...