Summer Pics

A few quick summer pics

Bella (EJ & Forest's American Bulldog) poses by my new friend
on the front porch of the Ponderosa


Mia practicing surfing with her CA cousins in town...goggles and all!


McKenna and Brady enjoying an afternoon at the pool.
This is a typical summer day.
Brady LOVES to swim.


Lake Waco at the peak of the flooding rains.
Our lake rose over 23 feet.
Here you can see the pavillion almost totally submerged.

They Surf - We Shoot!

It seems that I cannot keep up with the "current events" here at Scottwood but better late than never. You may or may not know that my mother grew up in Southern California. My dad was stationed in the navy in Long Beach and met her and the rest is history. So, half my family is still in SO.CAL. I have been out there recruiting for Baylor for the past 8 years and I put enough bugs in my cousins ears (and enough shirts on their backs) that Shane (class of 2009) decided to seriously consider Baylor as a college option. So my cousin DeeDee and Ron, Shane (17) and Austin (15) came for a Sic'em Day on campus. After the official recruiting tour, I gave them the real tour. Here you can see some of the time we spent together.

My nieces, McKenna and Mia met Shane and Austin in the pool and immediately formed the "crush." The boys were really sweet and cute in how they played with the girls.

My dad took the guys to shoot pistols and then later skeet. They loved it. I don't know if Baylor sold them or my way cool dad who let them shoot guns but I think the trip was a hit.

One little serious thought: Because we did not grow up together, without making the effort, we would have never really known them other than brief holiday visits. Some of my family, like DeeDee and Ron's family, are believers that are experiencing the "abundant life" that Christ has designed for them. Many of my family out there are not. It really brings many things in to perspective when you have family members that you love and care about who do not know him. It highlights the scripture "they will know we are Christians by the way that we love one another" which causes me to ask the familiar question, "how then should I live?"
Do I live like I love them? Can they tell a difference?
Besides the fact that they surf and we shoot?

POTTER-Mania

It is hard for me to believe all the hype over the Harry Potter book release. Parties at midnight, pre-sales, dressing up like the characters. Men, Women, Children alike have been taken captive by this fiction writing. What is hard for me to believe is that there is a book that has been out for centuries, it has been on the best-seller list for as long as it has existed. It comes in most every language spoken. It is not fiction, but rather chronicles tales of the great adventure of history through the eyes of heroes and villians. It tells the story of redeeming love, supreme sacrifice...it shows the power and majesty of the Creator of the Universe and His desire to be in relation with those He loves and has created in His own image. The Bible tells the story of Truth. Yet very few get excited about the Bible. Very few celebrate the telling of The Story (HIStory). Very few will buy-in early and even fewer will "dress themselves" like the main character. They will know we are Christians by the way that we love one another...so "PUT ON love." Colossians 3:14

Here you can see a little Muslim lady in a little village in Morocco. She is a potter. She has no spinning wheel, she has no kiln, she has no electricity or running water. But from May of 2004 when I visited until today, she has had many encounters with vessels. Our church has taken on Morocco as one of our "people-groups" and have made numerous visits to this little family and their village. Pray that those of us who call ourselves vessels, created by the Master's hand, will pour out love on this family and one day they would meet THE POTTER.

GWC, Backpacks & Crosses

Today I got a big shot of empathy. I wouldn't say it is my number one strength (thank goodness for the difference that Jesus makes!). I leave in just under a week to go backpacking, rock climbing, and whitewater rafting in Colorado with 40 incoming Baylor freshmen. Do I have a great job or what? To prepare my legs and cardiovascular system, I have been walking a few miles five times a week and last week I started carrying a backpack with 10 pounds in it.

For three days, I stayed at 10 lbs. Then two days at 20 lbs. Today I added another 10 lbs to total 30. As I started walking, it donned on me that I was carrying the same amount of weight on my back that Elizabeth, my good friend and sister in Christ, is carrying in front as she is GWC (Great With Child - 25 weeks great!). Within the first 100 yards I could feel the difference in my knees and ankles. I have a whole new appreciation for what she is going through as her body changes and "Baby Walker" grows.

I am reminded that we all have burdens to bear. Some are like pregnancy and have a blessing beyond the pain. Some are like backpacks and we load stuff in and carry it around until we hand it over to the Lord to carry for us. Some are like crosses that we are asked to carry "for our good and His glory." In each of those situations, we will come to the point of thinking that our load is unbearable only to realize that it was made just for us - He designed it to fit who He designed us to be. When Jesus says in Matthew 11: 28-30, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." As I put the backpack on, I realize that it "fits me" just like the yoke Christ asks us to carry. Because it "fits us" it will seem easy and light. So whatever your cross, backpack, or burden...just know that He chose you and you will never walk alone.

Sparklers

The 4th of JULY is my favorite holiday. It highlights FREEDOM in every sense of the word...we are free to go where we want, to think what we want, to worship the Lord God Almighty as we choose, even express ourselves as we desire. Freedom gets many people in trouble because they have no filter or discipline but it should not be taken for granted. Many men and women gave their lives so that we might live in freedom each day. Christ Jesus gave His life so that we might be free from sin's power and penalty.

Here you can see our safe celebration of the 4th of July with sparklers. Both McKenna and Mia enjoyed lighting up and drawing in the air with the sparklers.

The Newsboys have a song that is appropriate for the day: I AM FREE.
I am free to run, I am free to dance; I am free to live for you, I am free.....through you the Kingdom comes, through you the battle's won, through you I am not afraid, through you the price is paid, through you there's victory, because of you my heart sings...who the son sets free is free indeed...

Rain Rain Go Away

Rain has been in the forecast and on the ground for the past few months. This is the wettest spring/summer we have had in years....like over 15 years since the rivers and lakes have been this high. By now the normal Texas summer climate is called the "dog days of summer" because it is usually over 100 degrees...last year we went 31 consecutive days over the century mark.

Ok so here are some shots of my dad and his new (Father's Day) John Deere Gator Utility Vehicle...he loves it and has used it over and over again. He checks the Middle Bosque which runs about a mile behind our houses...but as you can see, the river has overrun its banks and has started up the road. Brady is doing as a Golden Retriever does...swimming. She loves the water be it pool or river or lake or sprinkler.

One good thing that happens when it rains...the indigenous plants take a hearty drink and bloom like never before. Here you see a native plant - the evergreen, purple blooming Texas Sage. This one is enjoyed by few because of its location behind the SLC on the BU campus.