Standing with Israel

I have absolutely loved this book, Standing with Israel. It has opened my eyes to Jewish history over the past 2,000 years, specifically in regards to Anti-Semetism, as well as the Christian Zionist movement.

The book reminded me of the Jewish roots to my faith. It was the Jews who gave us the prophets, the commands, God's Holy Word, it is the Jews who are the pure olive tree, to which I am grafted in, and it is from the Jewish blood line that we have our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I read a Jewish Bible, serve a Jewish Master and Rabbi, and am adopted into His family.

Christianity finds its roots in Judaism, not the other way around.

All this to say, I'm crying "uncle" in regards to completing the book :)

I have loved it, yes, but I have lost momentum in it. The book is very much like a textbook, a discourse, or thesis you might say. Full of such wonderful knowledge, yet so much so it was hard for me to get through (made it about half way through the meat of it).

So, this being my 6th book of the year, I'm still on pace if I can select another and finish by the end of the month.

I'll let you know what happens...

Homemade Strawberry Jam

My wife and kids worked hard on creating this years strawberry jam today...

Sunday our whole family spent time in the afternoon picking fresh strawberries from a farm in Nancy, KY - Wilson's. What a grand time we had as the owner showed our kids how to pick a ripe strawberry, then let us loose to pick (and eat!)

So today, was jam day.

After a couple trips to the store for sugar, sure-gel, etc., we have two dozen fresh jars of jam, and we enjoyed some angel food cake with freshly crushed strawberry and whipped cream topping...

Shall I go on?? Delicious!

And far better, wonderful family memories!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my little buddy Caleb! A great encourager and a joy to all of us!

Love you buddy!

The Hobbit

Finished... now on to the next book.

First Days of Life

Now that we are starting to get settled in a little more, here are a few pics from Kaylie Jean's first days in the world...

What a beautiful blessing from the Lord!

What I'm [done] Reading

Being that it's the 1st of a month, it seems a good time to give an update on my reading progress for this year. This past month I finished two books, The Duggars, 20 and Counting, and William Booth's Amazing Visions, compiled by David Ravinhill.

Both books were excellent, and though different in topic they were similar in heart. That puts me ahead of schedule at four for the year.

This month, I'm on to a favorite movie of ours. That is, the book that inspired the recent movie - The Hobbit.

I've wanted to read this book for a while (I think I was supposed to read it as a young boy for school, but who knows how that went!) and since I received a copy for my birthday, seems like a great time to jump in.

Time for an adventure!

Happy Easter!

In case we have forgotten what Easter is all about...

Happy Resurrection Day!

[Pic from sermoncentral.com]