Update

Hank: He was cleared after 6 weeks of rehab. He will always have arthritis in that joint, but at least we got the pebble out!

Trixie: Well...she is lucky that she is so cute.

Eric: Working on that thesis.

Theresa: Enjoying not having school work.

Hank's OCD

Hank was diagnosed with OCD (not obsessive compulsive disorder). He had a couple of cartilage flaps in his hock (ankle) joint. He had his surgery this week and came back looking like this:

Grandma

Sister, mom, aunt, grandma
Cousin, friend, neighbor, in-law
Gladys Manthei fit them all
Now she’s heard the final Call

Aggressive cancer
There was no answer
Left us wondering
What’s the meaning

To cause such great pain
How could He gain
From taking her up
Away from us

But that’s where we stumble
For we are not humble
It is not right
That we should lose sight

For Jesus has taught
The way that we ought
To come before Him
Confessing our sin

Our Father in heaven
YOUR kingdom come
YOUR will be done

This is true comfort
That God has the reigns
When we are troubled
He tells us to pray

Now that she’s gone
We will go on
Not by ignoring
Nor by forgetting

The only way to
See this life through
Is to know Jesus Christ
The only one who
Gave up his life
For me and for you.

Lost on Gilligan's Island trying to avoid T-Rexes and King Kong

Theresa and I recently visited the island where several box office hits and other shows have been taped (Kaua'i) and here are some pictures.

We really enjoyed our time there and were never Blue (in) Hawai'i.


Us at a Luau.


Sunset on Poi'pu Beach. (yes I made it black & white...your eyes are not failing you)


The beginning of the Na Pali Coast.


Dolphins being dolphins.


A rainbow on the first day -- God welcoming us.

Doing Dishes

This is how doing the dishes works in our house...Theresa gets the pots and pans and Trixie does the rest. For those of you who have eaten at our house lately -- sorry we didn't warn you.




At least we save some money this way because our "dish washer" doesn't require electricity or a water connection!

:)

Tithing

ESPN's Outside the Lines show recently aired this video on televangelists and professional athletes. You can say a lot about the problems with the "prosperity gospel", but that is not the point of me posting the video. What I am interested in is the state of mind of some of the "ministers" interviewed as well as some of the athletes, as well as ESPN itself. Most impressive in this video is Evander Holyfield and the way he responds at the end of the video when the reporter is asking him, now with his 109 room house being forclosed, if he had the choice to make his mortgage payment or tithe, which he would do. Holyfield said he would tithe because it would be better for him in the long run.

It is very interesting to me that some "non-reformed" Christians understand this perhaps better than some "reformed" Christians. Granted the "paying off in the long run" part may look different in our minds, but you must admit to being a little humbled by the sincerity and frankness with the response. While prosperity gospel teaching organizations will continue to undermine Christ's true aim for how we should live and why, some of them at least have this much right on the button. God gets dibs first, period. Hearing him say that can be a tough pill to swallow when we are willing to shine that penetrating light back on ourselves.

The Porch and Patio are FINISHED!

We have finally finished the porch and the patio.  We want to give a big thanks to all who were involved.  We still have a little clean up, but I think Trixie will miss playing on the big piles of dirt.  Thanks again for all of your help!