Welcome to Cali!

Sorry its been awhile since I've posted, things have been pretty busy around here, a good busy tho I'll explain more later about that! Last week my dad came to visit Ben and I here in Anaheim. He had a lot of vacation time saved up and either had to use it or lose it. My mom was unable to come since she started a new job awhile ago and hasn't built any vaca time yet. We took my dad all around Anaheim and the surrounding towns. Showed him around IKEA, Whole Foods, El Super, Farmer's Market in LA and the local farmer's market, went to the beach, of course we went to the San Diego Zoo and walked around Old Town San Diego, ate at Bruxie's Waffle Sandwiches, drove around LA and went to the La Brea Tar pits AND of course we took him to Bookman! It was a pretty busy week to say the least but we had a great time! We love having visitors so if you ever come out to Cali give us a call!

Huntington Beach

Waffle Sandwiches from Bruxie's!

Trolley @ LA Farmer's Market

Page Museum

San Diego Zoo

Speechless

As ya'll know I got a sewing machine for Christmas this past year. I've been working on some sewing projects and have been trying to find good fabric that doesn't cost a ton! Wednesday Ben and I found M&L Discount Fabrics online and decided to check it out. All I can say is W.O.W! We walked in and I was speechless. Fabric of all types, styles and patterns were everywhere. This is the BIGGEST fabric store I've EVER been to. Best thing is that they have really great prices, sure there are some that are rather pricey but they have a lot of fabric that is affordable. Needless to say this store and I will become quite good friends! :) Just a pic to show you what I saw when I walked in.

Down By The Bay

This past Saturday Ben and I went with my cousins Sara, Jake and his family to Sea World in San Diego. We had planned on going in February the weekend of Jake's birthday but things came up and we had to rearrange the plans. Good thing too because that weekend in February was a cold and rainy one! I've only been to Sea World once in my life and that was when I was 9 or 10 I think. My parents took us kids, well Jedidiah, Meredith and I down to Sea World in San Antonio (Naomi was still really little so she stayed @ Granny & Grandpa's) Ben on the other hand has been to every Sea World except the one in San Diego, so we were both super excited! Saturday was a pretty nice day to go, not to cool and not really hot! We had lots of fun and got to see some really cool animals! Here are a few pictures of what we saw:

Sea World Sign!

Sea Lion taking a nap

Dolphin Show

Polar Bear snoozing

Shamu!

Ben touching a Star Fish

Mary (Jake and Molly's little girl) Isn't she super cute?!?

We had a great day and were SUPER tired by the end but had lots of fun!

Popeye Ain't Got Nothin On These

In honor of St. Patrick's day next Thursday I decided to send a little treat with Ben to the youth tonight. The past couple of months Ben and I have been trying to eat healthier and not eat out as much as we have in the past. Since eating healthier I have found quite a few blogs with great healthy, yummy recipes! Today while looking at www.greenlitebites.com I discovered this great cupcake recipe and thought I should make these and see if their good or not! The thing I love about this recipe is that its really easy, doesn't make a huge mess, has only 3 ingredients, is super yummy and has SPINACH in them! (You wouldn't even know it, can't taste it at all!) So if you're looking for a easy, yummy, GREEN snack to take to work or school or just have at home for St. Patty's day these would be perfect! To check out the recipe click here!

Here are a few pictures of my afternoon of baking! Enjoy!

SPINACH!!

Blending!

Yep, its GREEN!

Ben enjoying his cupcake!

READY, SET SEW!

In high school I took Home Ec., well it was either that or Ag. (no thanks!) Starting our Freshmen year we started learning to sew! Freshmen year we had to make a clothing article and then Sophomore, Jr. and Sr. year we made quilts. While I'm not an expert or amazing at sewing but I really enjoyed it. Recently I decided that I would like to start up sewing again! I now have everything that I need to get started with so here it goes, wish me luck!

Rotary cutter, ruler, pins, seem ripper and thread

from Ben for my birthday!

Amazing Book from Bookman!

Sewing machine I got for Christmas from my parents!

Argh!

Thursday and Friday Ben's Aunt Cindy and two boys(Steven & Andrew) came up from Camp Pendleton to spend Andrew's birthday with us! Our plans were changed a few times but we still had a great time! Thursday morning we went and visited the Page Museum and La Brea Tar pits. Ben and I have really been meaning to go and check this place out but just haven't had time.

The Page Museum houses the Earth's richest and largest and important Ice Age fossil collection. We were able to watch paleontologists at work and see scenes showing Southern California and North America how they were thousands of years ago. One thing that I learned was there are NO dinosaur bones here, the dinosaurs were extinct way before the tar pits were formed! Here are just a few things we saw:

Later Thursday evening we went to the Pirate Dinner show! Last summer when Ben's Nanny and Papa and his cousin Grant came to visit we all went to the Medieval Times Dinner show and had a blast so we were really excited to see the Pirate Show! We couldn't decide which we liked better and agreed that both were really fun! The Pirate Show was very interactive, Ben, Steven and Andrew got to play parts in the show!

Ben and I LOVE having his Aunt Cindy, Uncle David and cousins so close, they are lots of fun and things are never boring! So if you're in Southern California for a few days I definitely recommend checking these places out, ESPECIALLY the museum!

**Melissa**

Bookman

This perhaps is my favorite place in Southern California! I know right I actually have a "favorite" in California! Ben and I happened upon this wonderful bookstore a couple of months ago when we were out driving around. Bookman sells used out-of-print and unique books. Books ARE EVERYWHERE! Ceiling to floor and door to wall everywhere you turn books! Its a readers paradise! AND the kicker is that its inexpensive which makes my heart happy. I think that one of the highlights about the store is that outside in front they have 4 or 5 racks of books which costs 92 cents so plus tax its a dollar! *sigh* I love this place! Ben and I have spent countless hours here, sometimes I just park myself in the floor and read! So if you ever come to visit I promise that we'll take you to visit!

Here are a few pictures so you can see how wonderful it truly is!

Move on over Mr. Clark

If you haven't noticed yet Ben is not a very consistent blogger. I love the man to pieces but he needs a little help when it comes organizing and getting things accomplished. Since we've been married I've been teaching him a few things, like writing out lists and prioritizing tasks so that things will get done, instead of doing them the night before or the day before an event is to take place. He has gotten a lot better and hopefully by the end of the year will be a pro!

We haven't had a post for a couple of weeks due to the fact of Ben procrastinating and putting off doing his field practicum which he has to do 90hrs. by Feb. 13th. I know, I know baby steps, he is getting better I promise! :) Since Ben will be indisposed for a couple of weeks I decided that I'll try my hand at this blogging thing! Now, I'm not a writer like Ben, I don't like to write down my deep thoughts and I'm definitely not funny but hopefully I can find a few interesting things to post about while Ben is away!

*Melissa*

Matthew 13

There are a lot of parables today because my reading plan took me through Matthew 13. Which is 7 parables. Most are pretty short. The amazing thing is I believe they are connected to give us all one glorious picture which I can hopefully bring together at the end.


The First of these parables is Matthew 13:1-23, the Parable of the sower. This is a parable that I have heard many times. I know that the seed on the path was the word of God falling on hard hearts and wasn't received. The seed on the rocky soil was the word of God immediately received with Joy but had no root so it died. The seed that fell among the thorns were people that received the word of God and got beat down with the pressures of this world. The good soil is the word of God that took root and produced a crop, the sign of a person truly restoring their relationship with God.

What really stood out to me today in this parable was when Jesus was explaining to his disciples that some people although they hear they do not listen, and all though they see they do not perceive. I see this a lot as a pastor, and I'm pretty positive that I'm not the only one that does. There are times that I'm talking to students, or even giving a sermon to an entire congregation and there are always some people that have just blank stares on their face. You can tell it's going in one ear and out the other. This can be discouraging and I know this is just how it is sometimes. A parable takes on new meaning when you see it come to life. I don't have the answer for this problem, and I'm not sure there is one until Christ returns. Just persevere and keep doing what God has called me to do. Spread some seed.

Matthew 13:24-30: The Parable of the Weeds is next. I have to admit I have never really looked at this one. I think it is easily looked over following that sower guy. But it's interesting and the explanation says a lot. Pretty much it is saying that the farmer (God) is planting His field (the world) and he is planting wheat (righteous people ). During the night an enemy (Satan) planted some weeds (unrighteous people). Instead of directly taking all the weeds out the farmer says lets wait until harvest so that we don't pull out the wheat with the weeds. So they wait until they can separate the weeds and wheat easily.

The first thing I see is that we are meant to grow in the world among some nasty stuff. The second thing I see is that it is not our job to pull the weeds, that is God's job when it's time to harvest everything (this is seen in another upcoming parable).

The Parable of the mustard seed and the yeast found in Matt. 13:32-35 is a picture of the Kingdom of God growing. It may have started out small but it will grow large and be a safe place. These processes take time, and I think it's still growing.

The parable of the hidden treasure and the merchant in verses 44-46. The Kingdom of Heaven is so important that we should give up everything to gain it.

And the Parable of the fish nets in verses 47-52. Once again only God has the right to separate the righteous and the unrighteous. We just do the catching.

Now I know I didn't do these parables justice (maybe some other time). But what I really want to share is what I saw today. What I saw today was the Kingdom of Heaven coming all together.

First off let me set this part up...I believe the Kingdom of Heaven is here. I picture it like this, Jesus prepared for the Kingdom of Heaven during His 3 year ministry, when He died the Kingdom of Heaven came and when we give our lives back to Christ we are engulfed into the Kingdom of Heaven (which is a Kingdom that will continue to exist after this world has ended).

So bringing it all together....Imagine a man walking around in this world and one day he hears someone telling him about a city that will out live any other city and this world. That there is unending pure joy in this city and he was initially created to inhabit this city. There are no annoying neighbors, no piles of trash, and no traffic. There is a mayor (if you will) of this city who is the best mayor EVER!! People actually just sit around all day thanking and praising this mayor for all the good things He has done.

This man believes this mayor is real and decides he wants to live in this city with this mayor. He goes and sells his house, his car, everything he owns so that he can put all of his effort into this great city. He understands that he still has to live in the city he currently lives in and go to work with people that push him around and don't really care about him, but he shows them love, because he knows that is what the mayor of this great city would do.

He talks to the people in his current city, never judging (he knows he cannot do that, he was once like these people). A few of these people even believe him and they will live together in this great city. And one day his current city will crumble and decay; people will be left behind in this old city and die with it and be separated from anything good. This man will finally move to this great city that will endure eternity, and he will walk up to the mayor of this city. The mayor will say, "well done my faithful citizen, come and rest in my city"!

This is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Salt and Light

So I have decided to start a new project with this blog for at least two weeks. Melissa and I had a great Christmas. We got to spend time with family and friends back in OK. It was great to be home. Presents are not everything at Christmas but we got some cool stuff. One of things that I got is this bible software (that I love! Thanks Allen) and I am able to highlight certain things and instantly create a bible reading plan. I decided that I wanted to read through the parables of Jesus so I created a plan that leads me through the parables for the next two weeks. I decided that I want to share my thoughts on these parables on my blog. After all these are everyday happenings of my wife and I, and my bible reading should be an everyday happening (which it is not). So if I miss a day please message me and tell me to read my bible (you can even call me a heathen to get the point across).

By no means am I a theologian, so feel free to comment and correct me if I have made a theological error. I imagine most of the thoughts will be raw and just flow, and I don't always know how my mind will flow. I do hope that these thoughts are inspirational, challenging, and not boring. These thoughts might only be two sentences or two pages, I understand if you give up and quit reading in the middle of a particularly long thought (you might have already given up reading this intro). So with no further explanation his is my first parable that I have read today.

Salt and Light - Matthew 5:13-16

Salt was known for flavoring and preserving food. It's used for the same thing today. When I think of salt I always pair it with food. Whether it be boiling a pot of water and I throw a little salt in to give the water a little extra flavor, or it could even be sprinkling salt on some eggs and hash browns to bring out the flavor of morning on a plate.

As I sit here and think about salt and light I think about how crucial these two things are to our world. We need a certain amount of salt in our body to survive (I'm pretty sure), and we definitely need light so that we can see. There are some creatures that survive without light, like those blind fish that live in caves. They look creepy. It makes me think even if we did survive without any salt and light the world would be a pretty boring place. Food would be bland and not as enjoyable even if you only like a little bit of salt. It would also be dark and I imagine cold since our light source is from the sun. But lets say hypothetically even if the physical earth remained warm without the sun and it was just dark. We would never be able to see beauty. Nature, loved ones, art! We would be missing one of our senses. Sight! Jesus gave sight to the blind...I think it might be worth something.

Not even thinking of the physical world. Lets go metaphorical with this. Jesus tells us that we are the salt and light of the world. Not world as in the planet Earth (rock, grass, magma, etc.) but the world as in people (heart, soul, mind, and body). As Christians we are called to lead people to refuge. A city on a hill cannot be hidden so we are not meant to hide. We are called to a purpose. To give some flavor to the world, to preserve the world, and to guide the world.

Now I know that in the past Christians have tended to make a bad name for themselves at time. They haven't necessarily always given the world some flavor. And we know what has happened to this salt that has lost it's flavor....it got thrown out and trampled upon by men. It is important that we receive our flavor from God. Salt and light are created things...neither of these things have existed infinitely. They were created to fulfill certain needs....to make my eggs taste better, and to make sure that I can actually see that I am eating eggs. We are also created things that are meant to live life through our creator. When we are connected to our God, then we are flavoring, preserving, and guiding the world.