road trip 09 part 1 (aka the continued adventures of mr. strawberry and mrs. orange)

Misty and I celebrated our 13th Anniversary on December 21st. This year we celebrated yet again by taking a road trip. This year we went to San Diego, California. We have spent our anniversaries traveling to see family. This includes our honeymoon which consisted of traveling from Texarkana, Texas to Eureka Springs, Arkansas (honeymoon spot)then to Hope, Arkansas to spend Christmas with Misty's family.
This was by far our best road trip yet. We think that is mostly because we took our time getting there (and because Sebastian got to go with us). Instead of driving straight through we took in some sites along the way, hope you enjoy reading about our adventures (btw Mr. Strawberry & Mrs. Orange were also along for the ride).
We started our adventure with a short jaunt from Ft Sill to Dallas to celebrate an early Christmas with Memaw, Maw-maw & Paw-Paw, Melody, Danny, and of course little Nathan.

Our first destination was Carlsbad, New Mexico. As we were traveling we saw road signs for Ranger, TX home of Ranger College. Ranger College ss the college which Misty's dad attended before enlisting in the US Marine Corps. So we made our first unscheduled stop and explored the very small town and college campus.

After our adventure in Ranger, TX we continued our journey. Here are a few pics of the sites along the way to Carlsbad, NM.

After arriving in Carlsbad we found a hotel to crash at for the night. This was our 13th Anniversary so we celebrated with dinner at a local place called "The No Whiner Diner". Then we grabbed a movie from a "Redbox" and hung out at the hotel the rest of the evening.

adventures of mr. strawberry and mrs. orange

Back in January 2008 we began a series focusing on the adventures of Mr. Strawberry and Mrs. Orange (actually it was only one post and then I forgot about them).

When we packed our house in June of 2008 to prepare for the big move, I thought we got rid of, I mean lost Mr. Strawberry and Mrs. Orange. However, when we began to unpack at our new home at Ft Sill in March 2009 I discovered them in a box. Mr. Strawberry and Mrs. Orange had been in storage from June 2008 through March 2009. Needless to say they had a great adventure, but they were ready to be back home with us again.

Their adventure began in Corsicana, TX where they were packed in a moving box by one of our helpful family members. That box was then loaded on to a truck and transported to a storage facility in Frisco, TX. Once unloaded at the storage unit their adventure continued as they spent the next nine months protecting our household goods in the storage unit. In March the box was was then transported to Ft Sill in Lawton, OK. A few days after arriving at Ft Sill Mr. Strawberry and Mrs. Orange were discovered. We were all exuberant with joy?
As you can see in the pictures Sebastian was especially excited to be reunited.

Mr. Strawberry and Mrs. Orange are now in their new home with us and hopefully will continue their adventures for years to come.

what is church?

Finally another blog!
I am not sure who reads this silly thing, but it gives me a chance to post my rambling thoughts of nonsense out there for anyone crazy enough to read.

For a few years now my idea of "church" has been evolving.
I realized a few years ago that my view of church has been all wrong. I attended church because I felt like I should or to see what I could get out of it. I only wanted to attend big churches that had a style of music that I liked or activities that would benefit me.

A few years ago we ended up at Memorial Baptist a small church in Corsicana, Texas. There was not an orchestra, a band or even a big choir. There were no special activities or programs to attract us. This was not my idea of the church I wanted to attend. However, for the first time since I started attending church, I felt like I was a part of something. I was a part of a "church body". I was actually a part of the "church" not just sitting in a building every week and soaking in the music and preaching.

During those few years that we were at MBC I began to read and learn what God has told us the "church" should be and how it should function.

Now we are in Lawton and trying to find a "church" to be a part of. After visiting multiple Baptist churches we went out of our "box" and visited Dayspring Community Church. During one of our visits the sermon was on the same subject that I have been studying for the past couple of years: "what is the church". On the wall at the front of the church the following statement was written (in black permanent marker) "This is not a church". A couple of weeks later the pastor wrote on anther wall (again in black permanent marker) "U R the church".

I believe many people in the world view "church" as just a building and going to "church" as a required Sunday morning event. I feel that many who do attend "church", simply go to a church building, sing a few songs (that is if they actually sing), pretend to listen to a guy in a suit tell them how they should live their lives, and then go home. They go home not changed by their "church" experience. It is just a routine that they do. I believe that many are not even sure why they go to church. If this is how Christians view the "church" then why would a non believer want to even consider going to "church"?

The "church" is not a building, it is not a denomination, it is not singing music or being involved in the music program, it is not going to "Sunday school", it is not the preacher or other staff members. The "church" is a body of believers. All Christians, regardless of background or denomination are a part of the "body" or "church".

God does not even tell us that we must "go to church". We are told to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul (Matt 22:37). I believe that because of this relationship with God, we will want to be part of a "fellowship of believers". It was not until we got involved with Memorial that I realized the importance of fellowship with other Christians. The fellowship we had at that time helped me to grow in my faith and relationship with God. It even helped improve our marriage, because we were both motivated to walking with God more closely.

This blog post has been rolling around in my head for a while. I actually started writing this post in May 2008. I finally wanted to get it out because of a "church" experience I had this past Sunday. We were out of town and visiting a very large church in a large city. The music was awesome and the preacher was pretty good. During the service, I was looking around the large sanctuary and noticed that the people there seemed lifeless. There was no joy or excitement in their faces. I truly felt sorry for them and wondered why are they even there.

I pray that I never again just attend a "church" service. I pray that I will remember that "church" is not about a routine or a building. I pray that I can share with others that God does not care about our religions or denominations, but simply wants a relationship with us. He just wants to share His love and mercy with us.

free time

It has been a month or so since my last blog. It is not like I am real busy. I actually have more time on my hands than ever. I have not had this much free time since I was in high school ( a long time ago) and I am not sure how to manage it yet.

My first goal was to practice everyday for a couple of hours. (that actually does happen occasionally). I planned to read a little more, but reading is so boring. Then I decided to start some correspondence classes through the Army to get some promotion points. (I have completed 3 so far and started about 10 of them) . Then I got addicted to Facebook and watching online TV and Youtube. The one good thing is that I don't play much Playstation anymore, but mainly because I sold all my good games.

I know God has allowed me this time so I can better prepare myself both musically and thru the classes I have signed up for. However, the last nine months of being on a very strict schedule makes me think I have earned this free time.

Maybe this next week I'll do better. We'll see.