DUH

Today I went to the New Balance store to get a new pair of shoes. I was kind of in a hurry because I really had to go pee and they didn't have a bathroom. Soooooo, I asked the guy if they had a pair of 12's in the shoe I wanted. Then he said, well let me measure your foot first. So I took my shoe off and he measured my right foot. Then he said, let me see your other foot, so I gave him my left foot. Well, after he seemed to take forever to measure my foot, he said; "looks like a 12 will fit you just right". I was like, DUH, that is what I told you, but I just kept quite.
Let me say this, It is really kind of uncomfortable to let another guy put your shoe on for you. And when I say I want a size 12, just get me a size 12. I'm 33 years old and I'm all growed up so I know what size shoe I wear!

Okay, I'm done.

BBQ

Now I know I'm a little crazy when it comes to putting hot sauce and bbq sauce on pretty much everything I eat. BUT, what I found out today really ticked me off

I went to McDonald's to get a grilled chicken sandwhich for lunch and after when they handed me the bag I said, "can I get a couple bbq sauces?" Then the dude said, "You have to pay 10 cents per bbq package if you don't get chicken nuggets." I was like, "are you serious? I didn't realize that Chicken nuggets had ecxlusive rights to bbq sauce." I mean if I order little fake fried chicken chunks they give me bbq sauce, but if I order a piece of grilled chicken breast I have to pay for it. Two things come to my mind.
1. What are they trying to hide with those nuggets that they will give you anything to dip them in so you can cover up the taste.
2. Since when do you have to pay extra for codiments!? Are they going to start charing for napkins too, come on now.

Okay, so I'm a retard about this, but does anyone feel my pain?

Praise God

I just wanted to take a second to praise God. A couple weeks ago we found out Derek had some kind of growth on his leg and they sent us for x-rays. We then had the privileg of waiting for over a week to see the specialist at the Children's Hospital. It is amazing the different things that go through your mind while praying that God would heal your son and that this would be nothing serious. It was also amazing to have so many people praying for us and for Derek.

Well on Wednesday we found out that it is just some kind of growth on the bone and they will just leave it there. Derek was hoping for surgery so that he could skip school for a while, but then I told him he would have to miss basketball for a while too and he wasn't quite as excited to have surgery. The growth is something that will just be there for the rest of his life and unless it begins to cause him pain they won't mess with it. We go back to the doctor in 6 months just so they can check it out again.

We want to thank all of you for praying for us, and we want to praise God for being in control of the sitation, and that our prayers were answered.

God And I

There are 2 thigns I want to challenge you to do this year:

1. I want to challenge you and myself to spend more time with God. Just you and God! Try reading a chapter of Proverbs every day. Like today is, January 29th so read Proverbs 29. If you have a hard time spending a lot of time praying without being distracted try a prayer journal. Maybe even an on-line prayer journal. Or just one on your computer that no one will read. Try and spend more time with God this year than ever before. Maybe you can subscribe to the Bible Pod Cast and listen to the whole Bible this year. Most of you could listen to the daily readings on your way to school every morning. This would be a great way to focus your day on God.

2. Pray for each other. We all have so much junk in our lives that we have to deal with, so spend some time praying for others. Sometimes when you focus on praying for others who are in need your problems don't seem to be so big.

Love you guys,
Michael

Year In Review

Man God is Awesome! This has been a great year and it has been really cool to see how God provides. We had decided to give more to missions this year and like an hour after I turned in our comittment we got a letter in the mail that had a gift card in it that was almost as much as we had decided to increase our offering every month. So, we decided we had too little faith so we doubled the amount that we were going to increase every month. It has been really cool to see how God has provided all of our needs and then some this year.

We had been working hard to get out of debt so Misti could start working part time, which God allowed us to do this year. We also had to replace our Washer and Dryer, which someone gave us a nice dryer so we just had to buy a washer. Then we had to have the plumbing in our bathroom replaced, then we had to have the hot watet heater replaced, then the refrigerator, and just this past week our dishwasher quit working, so I went into the kitchen and told her to get back to work....okay that last part was a joke but the actual diswasher appliance did quit working. So we bought a new one and then they told us they couldn't install it because the plumbing wasn't the way it should be so the plumber will be back out for more work!

It has just been really cool to see how everytime something went wrong God had just provided the money for it right before or right after we needed it. It is amazing when you are out of debt and trying to be a good steward of the money that God has provided for you how much he really does provide and how much easier it is to see. We have been able to replace all these things and not had to go into debt for any of it. I also have been able to replace my old truck with a newer one, although I still have to get up at 5:45 every morning to drive a bus to pay for that, but God provides!

Just wanted to share with you how God has blessed this year. Don't be afraid to step out by faith and give to God. God will owe no one anything!