Been thinking about Psalm 23:1-3 this week a lot... -Enjoy, Ali

The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.

Caleb's talent show 2009 -Enjoy, Ali :)

We are so proud of Caleb, who sang at his middle school talent show.

He was the last act of 12 acts, and was right before the Christmas dance, so the kids were pretty hyper. It was fun to hear them excited, raising their hands...but it was a bit distracting for Caleb.

Hope you enjoy!

Pat and Ali

Even Darth Vader likes a gift now and then! -Enjoy, Ali :)

It's Christmas Time...Enjoy, Pat :)

A taste of the McKinnons:

1. Christmas tree is poised and ready to be decorated (pic above is from last year)

2. Advent Calendar is up and running

3. Greens are up

4. Charlie Brown's Christmas is playing

Hope you are all finding yourselves in the Christmas spirit!

Faith

You need to see something in order to go through something...

Terence Erlenbach

How fun! Enjoy, Pat

Thanks to Carla for this link

An interesting discussion on parenting leaders....take a listen....

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

My Tree - by Chris Rice

On a hill far away stands a tall mighty tree
Where a boy and girl used to take
turns pushing the tire swing
I remember the pocketknife in hand
And her name in my heart
And thinkin' there ain't no way for a boy to contain
The love that he feels inside
So I carved her name into my tree
Then I carved a heart around her name
Then I carved an arrow through the heart
Just to say "I love you"
Now on a hill far away stood an old rugged cross
The emblem of suffering and shame
I remember the nails through my hands
And your name in my heart
And how in their wordless way the nails explain
The love that I feel inside
As they carved your name into my tree
Where I wrapped my heart around your name
Then I took your arrow through my heart
Just to say, "I love you"
Just to say, "I love you"
Now I can never forget how much you mean to me
'Cause I will always remember whenever I see
Where I carved your name into my tree
Where I wrapped my heart around your name
Then I took your arrow through my heart
Just to say, "I love you"
Just to say, "I love you"

Enduring faith is one quality Christ demonstrated as he walked through those lonely hours from the olive garden of Gethsemane (lit. translated "oil press") to Golgotha, (lit. "the place of skulls"). In the garden of Gethsemane, he prayed and anguished so hard that he was sweating, and sweating blood. And, that was just the beginning of his endurance. He endured more hardship than many of us in western civilization could ever imagine -being whipped and tortured, abandoned by his closest friends, mocked by a whole city, bruised and beaten and then hung on a cross for all to see.

Through all of this, Hebrews indicates "for the joy set before him, he endured the cross..." In the midst of all this mockery and brutality, the Son of God had in his mind all of us, and his Father. He had me, he had you, at the forefront of his thoughts. It was for you and me that he was being tortured, whipped and forsaken. He saw the joy of knowing that we could be in close relationship with God, his Father, because of the cross. He was full of joy knowing that his life sacrifice was enough once and for all to make us right before God.

There are many things we can take from this enduring faith Christ demonstrated. Is it that I need to have the same enduring, joy-filled faith in God for a situation, knowing what is coming on the other side? Or, is it that I need to see God's plan for my life more clearly so the situations I encounter are only viewed through the glasses of God's plan for me? Or, is it that I haven't yet encountered Christ, the one who can make any situation an opportunity to be joyful?

Whatever you take, talk to Jesus about it. He's on the other side of the hardship, filled with joy to know you and I can talk to him about anything and he'll understand.

The power of forgiveness

2 Corinthians 2:10
If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake"


Tonight at the Marriage Course, the topic was forgiveness. It was a wonderful time to reflect on the power forgiveness has in our lives.

The power to forgive someone who has wronged you, and be forgiven for wrongs you have committed to others, is significant. The release that comes with forgiveness can be likened to cutting off shackles because when we don't forgive, or ask for forgiveness, we are the ones who become bogged down/burdened/embittered. So, forgiveness is choosing to let something not affect you any longer. Resentment is remembering a hurt done to you again and again. Forgiveness is the opposite.

I am so grateful that forgiveness is in our vocabulary. And, so much more grateful that I know what true forgiveness is. It is easy to forgive others when you remember how many times you have been forgiven.

C.S. Lewis:

Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.

Anne Rice

I was most pleased to find out today (don't know how it took me this long to find this out - but what a pleasant surprise) that Anne Rice, famous author of the Interview with a Vampire series, gave her heart to Jesus in 1998.

There are many points to which this is of interest to me:
1. The weekend I became a Christian I was in fact reading Interview with a Vampire and was coming to a realization that what the book subscribed to was a glorification of something that stood in direct opposition to Christ - to be eternally damned on this earth, devoid of all light, empty of community, destined to feed off the life of others till their destruction...It's amazing to consider how much I was hungering for the supernatural in my life at that time, and Interview with a Vampire was so powerfully set aside in favour of eternal life.
2. God is a redemptive God. Anne's history is a childhood in a Christian home, with a 38 hiatus from the Lord. She called herself an agnostic during that time, and she relates her books deeply spiritual and supernatural bent to her own search for meaning in a dark time. Praise God that he brought Anne to the crossroads of faith once again.
3. She has not renounced her books (click here for her essay on this), which I believe is not wrong. I look at all those who read these books - they are obviously hungering for something more than the natural, as I was, and are happy to consume literature that offers something more to consider. I myself am grateful because even as I was reading her book back at the end of the 80s, early 90s, I was so hungry for eternal purposes. I'm just so grateful that she, and I, didn't relent until we found the eternal God. And, those avid readers of the Vampire Chronicles are poised to read the rest of her works, which are filled with faith, and redemption. What an opportunity!

Too Funny! Enjoy. Pat

I saw this video on my friend Gene's blog, and I thought it quite funny so wanted to share! There are days when I feel like this myself but I don't have any excuses as to why!!!

Is it time for school????

Let's just say that today, of all days, I truly empathize with Calvin's parents. Sheesh - you'd think my kids had lead in their behinds for all the cajolling it too for Ali and I to get them out the door. I'm sure I'll miss them, but for now I'll just have a good laugh at Calvin and Hobbes whilst I enjoy my cup of coffee.