A Whole Lot of Shaking

Ok, not really that bad. I can say, "I've been in worse" I was at work talking with Tim when it hit. Then, of course we got to evacuate the building. After all, my office is in a trailer that has been here longer than I have been. (So it's 22+ years old!) After the Northridge Earthquake this building had a visible gap where two of the sections connect. Of course, I took my laptop with me outside so I could surf the web and find out all the vital statistics on the quake.

This was Mark's first earthquake so I was curious how he was going to handle it. He seemed fine. Had lots of stories about how one little boy got under his desk as well. He said something along the lines as "He put his big butt in my face" He also talked about how one of his friends was crying and he kept telling him it would be ok and to stop crying.

This YouTube video was posted on the San Gabriel Tribune Website today. It's from the Bike Shop in San Dimas which is close to where we are. Pretty cool. (Only because no one was hurt.)

Thankfully no major damage at this point. Though, here at the University the Turner Campus Center is closed until further notice. This building houses the two main eateries on this campus as well as upstairs is where chapel is held and many other "big" events. There appears to be some damage on the "corners" of the building. Could prove to be an interesting kick off to the new school year.

All in all things are well in SoCal.

Championships!

Youth sports are a funny things. Mark is involved with Kare Youth League. Right now they are in soccer. I think they only won 2 games all season and tied like 3 games.

Tonight they played in the first round of the playoffs. They were playing the first seed team, that happens to be the other team based at the same park. They played to a 0-0 tie. So it was time for a shootout. Five boys from each team were chosen. (And no Mark wasn't one of them). Long story short they finished the first shootout tied 2-2. So five more boys were chosen (and no Mark wasn't one of them). Anyway, 2 of our first 3 shooters scored. When their 3 shooter failed to score the game was over!!!

The kids were very excited as were the parents. The boys play in the championship on Thursday night. They will be playing the 3rd seed team, so it's anyone's game!

The Daily Office

Today Pastor Tim spoke on one of my favorite passages, 2 Chronicles 7:14 - if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (NIV)

He was reminding us of the importance of prayer. He was also very honest, in the fact that prayer isn't easy and it goes against our nature. I'm not sure at the moment if he mentioned the "Daily Offices" or if as he was speaking I thought about them. But the Daily Office (or service) were an important part of the Early Life of the church. The Morning Office was a prayer service that took place early in the morning with the idea that people would attend on their way to work. Likewise, there was the Evening Office was to be attended on the way home from work.

As evangelicals we tend to discredit pre-written prayers and the type of liturgy found in the Common Book of Prayer, yet where would we be if no one wrote down the Lord's Prayer. Or if Paul hadn't wrote prayers in his letters. Much of the Psalms is David's prayers to his Heavenly Father. There is beauty and encouragement in these written prayers. I believe God can still speak to us through written prayers.

Being the geek I am I went searching the web looking for more information about the Daily Office. After all, Pastor Tim encouraged us to "have a plan." One of my favorite websites is www.heartlight.org they offer some prayer plans on their page: http://www.heartlight.org/prayerplans/index.html

Another sight that specifically talks about the Daily Offices is: http://www.prayerfoundation.org/dailyoffice/z_daily_office_000_index.htm

Under their "basics" section they suggest the following format to get started:
In the morning pray the Lord's Prayer, at noon time Psalm 23 and then then in the evening Psalm 117. The website gives more detail prayers that can be prayed from scripture.

Prayer is such a critical part of the Christian's life. Whether one prays scriptures or prays their own words, time with God talking and listening is critical to survive.

1 Thess. 5:17 reminds us to pray without ceasing. A tough thing, but I have to start one step at a time!

Legoland California

As a Legoland passholder we occassionally receive passes to bring a friend for free. This past May we had the chance to take Mark's friend, Matt, and his mom, Christie, to Legoland.

It was a great day. We finally rode Legoland's new ride, the Lost Kingdom Adventure. Very cute ride I look forward to riding it again and looking at more of the things. I was too busy shooting things and missed all the cool things that were built out of legos.

This is Mark and Matt outside the ride. I need to scan in the picture of us that was taken on the ride. As always I'm very intense on scoring points!

It was also a banner day in that Mark rode Knights Tournament at level 3! It was the first time he rode at that level, it was fun. We laughed a lot. Matt rode at 5 and Christie watched!

It was a great day to spend with friends!

Graduation 2008

June 17th, 2008 Tim finished high school, pretty hard to believe. The picture on the left is his kindergarten school picture from Glen Oak Elementary. Of course, the one on the right is his graduation picture. It was a nice, but hot afternoon. Tim got to walk in with his best friend, Brandon.




The graduation was nice and ended the way Tim wanted, with him directing the band. Mr. Sandt arranged it for Tim to conduct the Alma mater and the final song of the evening. We then went out to dinner with family and friends. You can see the pics at the end of this post by clicking the link.

From Graduation 2008