RAPS

2009-01-20T13:52:00.000-08:00

A recent trip to Myrtle Beach.

2009-01-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

Atlanta Family Christmas 2008: This means a trip to see Mother, Adrian, Kylie, LILY, RYAN, Aunt Lynne, Aunt Claudia and Uncle Jack. A visit from Carol is always welcome and we were glad to see everyone over the December 13-15 weekend. Here's Lily our lovely, inquisitive, and vivacious great-niece.

And the lovable Uncle Jack! Looks like Kate is zonked out too.

Christmas came early as gifts were given to the grandkids and grandniece and grandnephew. What fun!

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW.

2009-01-12T07:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2008: When you check out the slideshow you'll understand that for Poppy and Honey it was time with all six...yes, count them...six grandkids. The "S" in this blog (Simpsons) provided a place to rendezvous for the "P" (Power family). The beautiful and awesome Lake House (thank you Steve and Mary Jo) is a shelter par excellence and so we all got together there.

Todd and Diana and MADDIE, MCKENNA,

PARKER, AND SATCHEL Simpson from Hixson, TN (suburb of Chattanooga).

John and Lizzie and ELIOT Power from Louisville, KY.

By the way, I understand there are six or more ways to pronounce Louaville. Thar's my fav. Jessica Power from Chattanooga, TN and Keith and Becca and KATE Rocha from Chattanooga, TN.

We had a wonderful three days of just enjoying one another. Playing with the grandkids, card games with the kids and kids-in-law, basketball with the guys,

and lots of yummy food.

On Monday, December 22, we packed up, cleaned up, and headed out for the next stop on our Polar Express...Simpsons to Cincinnati, OH; Rochas to Glenview, IL; John Poweres to Loueyville, KY (Honey's fav way of pronunciation). We (Jessica, Honey, and Poppy) followed the aforementioned Simpsons to the Queen City aka Cincinnati.

It is always good to see the Cincinnati folks and we love them all. Steve and Mary Jo are wonderful hosts and I like to tease them about having the best "Bed and Breakfast" in Mason, OH. We got to see Nick and Anna (Todd's sister) Bogen and their delightful son and daughter, Baron and Malia. And we got to see Seth, the new baby boy born to Leah (Todd's younger sister) and Matthew Robbins. Honey was hobbling around on a bum knee and Steve's family was heading in on Christmas Eve so we headed to Louis ville (third pronunciation) to spend more time with ELIOT.

Lizzie treated us royally and JP comped (rhymes with chomped) us two rooms at the luxurious Marriott in downtown Louieville.

What fun! Two days and then back to Chattanooga. We loved every minute!!!

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW.

2008-12-31T04:46:00.000-08:00

Honey and Poppy were in Williamsburg, VA recently. We love history and this was a real treat. This is a picture looking across the James River.

The restoration and recreation of this colonial city is well worth a visit. We highly recommend this as a vacation spot. We went with our friends, Deb and Mitch Byrd, and hired a personal tour guide who enlightened and taught us about Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown.

2008-12-01T12:20:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a long time since we have posted to this blog. So here goes. First of all you might want to check out the slideshow.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW.

Now, having seen the slideshow, you have a good idea of how we spent Thursday, Thanksgiving day, and Friday with the Rocha and Hang families from Glenview, IL. We so enjoyed our visit and the days just flew by.

So here we are on TDay gathered in the studio around the tables.

Our very own Satchel Simpson!

Our baby's baby, Kate Rocha!

Our baby, Becca, with her baby, Kate!

The Manny Rocha family!

RochaPowerSimpsonHang Families!

I think we wore her out.

What a great time...and I'm still stuffed.

2008-06-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

Himmy II came to see Poppy and Honey. The "pound a week" boy seems to be keeping pace.

The Lovely Elizabeth II aka Lizzie with the BOY.

Is there any doubt that the BOY will know he is loved?

Check out the SLIDESHOW.

2008-04-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

Liz and Terry were able to spend a Sunday afternoon and Monday morning with our Atlanta family. Aunt Claudia once again hosted a birthday party and the food was terrific. We especially enjoyed the Carrot cake. Yummy. Here is a picture of Lily's gift to Aunt Lynne.

Happily we were able to celebrate Lynne's birthday. Click here to see the slide show of some of our favorites.

2008-04-23T03:34:00.000-07:00

Grandson #3 - John Eliot Power, Jr.

The road to Louisville is becoming a road well traveled for lots of reasons. 1. Lizzie and JP, Sr. and it's always wonderful to see them. B. The need to deliver Aunt Lynne's remarkable generous gift of her 2003 Toyota Corolla to the above mentioned Lizzie and JP. And (3) THE BABY BOY! What a baby!

For those who want to see lots of pictures of JP 2 CLICK HERE.

2008-04-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Family! Honey has published the pictures from our Louisville trip. Here is an image indicative of what you will see when you CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW.

2008-04-01T04:43:00.000-07:00

Post from Terry:

Staying close to God should be our desire no matter what comes our way. Good times or bad times, we should desire to "draw near to God," James 4:8. However, when life's major disappointments come our way, it is to the Lord, Himself, we need to cling. Here is the lesson from March 30, 2008. I pray it will be a blessing to you all.

“Stay Close to God” – Genesis 34:1-36:43 – March 30, 2008

Jacob has moved his family to the city of Shechem. He is back in the land promised to his father, Isaac, and his grandfather, Abraham. At the close of Gen 34, he erects an altar to El-Elohe-Israel, meaning God, the God of Israel thus demonstrating his desire to stay close to God.

Being where God wants him to be, Jacob begins to experience some of life’s major disappointments. His now grown children make decisions that result in horrific consequences. His beloved Rachel dies as well as his cherished nurse, Deborah, and his father, Isaac. Despite these major disappointments, Jacob draws near to God and leads his family to do the same (Gen 35:2-4).

There is a need to stay close to God “despite life’s disappointments.” Jacob demonstrated this when he experienced:

I. DISAPPOINTMENT FROM TRAGIC EVENTS IN THE LIVES OF HIS CHILDREN, Gen 34.

A. Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, is raped, Gen 34:1-4. “Avoidance of the Canaanites would have been much safer.”

B. Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, plunder the city of Shechem.

C. Jacob’s oldest son, Reuben, is incestuous with Bilhah, Gen 35:22.

II. DISAPPOINTMENT FROM TRAGIC EVENTS IN THE DEATH OF LOVED ONES, Gen 35.

A. Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, dies, Gen 35:8.

B. Rachel dies, Gen 35:16-21.

C. Isaac dies, Gen 35:27-29.

III. DISAPPOINTMENT IN THE MIDST OF BEING IN GOD’S PLACE, Gen 35.

Disappointment: River of Disappointment: Sir Alexander Mackenzie is a Canadian hero. An early fur trader and explorer, he accomplished a magnificent feat when he led an expedition across Canada from Fort Chippewyan on Lake Athabasca to the Pacific Ocean. His incredible journey was completed in 1793, 11 years before Lewis and Clark began their famous expedition to the west. Mackenzie's earlier attempt in 1789, however, had been a major disappointment. His explorers had set out in an effort to find a water route to the Pacific. The valiant group followed a mighty river (now named the Mackenzie) with high hopes, paddling furiously amid great danger. Unfortunately, it didn't empty into the Pacific, but into the Arctic Ocean. In his diary, Mackenzie called it the 'River of Disappointment." Our Daily Bread, July 1, 1990

Abe Lincoln Lost: In 1858 the Illinois legislature, using an obscure statute, sent Stephen A. Douglas to the U.S. Senate instead of Abraham Lincoln, although Lincoln had won the popular vote. When a sympathetic friend asked Lincoln how he felt, he said, 'Like the boy who stubbed his toe: I am too big to cry and too badly hurt to laugh." Source unknown.

How did Jacob handle the disappointments?

1. He called his family to repentance and faith, Gen 35:1-4.

Seven Rules for Growth: A person who is 'born again" starts a new life similar to that of a newborn infant. Seven rules that promote good health in babies can be adapted and applied to a Christian's spiritual growth.

1. Daily Food. Take in the 'pure milk of the word" through study and meditation.

2. Fresh Air. Pray often or you will faint. Prayer is the oxygen of the soul.

3. Regular Exercise. Put into practice what you learn in God's Word.

4. Adequate Rest. Rely on God at all times in simple faith.

5. Clean Surroundings. Avoid evil company and whatever will weaken you spiritually.

6. Loving Care. Be part of a church where you will benefit from a pastor's teaching and Christian fellowship.

7. Periodic Checkups. Regularly examine your spiritual health. Source unknown.

2. He remembered God’s promises, Gen 35:9-12 (cf. Ps 75:1; 78:35).

Zakhar; to remember. There are three basic sets of meanings to remember:
1. to remember, recollect , to reflect upon
2. to mention, declare, proclaim
3. to record, commemorate.

3. He renewed his commitment to God, Gen 35:14-15.

Renewed commitment to God: The need for “markers.” Gen 35:14. After “God withdrew from him’ ending the second appearance at Bethel (v. 13), Jacob set up a marker, the third of four markers he erected (28:18; 31:45; 35:20). Markers were used to identify the spot of a special event or as a sign of a covenant.
Jacob set up two markers at Bethel, one on each of his visits, to commemorate the Lord’s appearances to him. He previously had erected a marker as a reminder of his agreement with Laban, which also served as a border that both men agreed not to transgress (31:45-53). The fourth marker Jacob erected during his lifetime was at the grave of his favorite wife Rachel, who died giving birth to Benjamin just north of Bethlehem (35:20),
The drink offering and anointing oil Jacob poured on the marker consecrated the sight as sacred. The drink offering appears only here in Genesis, though it is attested frequently in the Book of Numbers.
Verse 15: That Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel was significant. The Lord’s appearances to him there completed the revelation of the covenant God had made with the patriarch Abraham. Jacob referred to this special place alternately as Bethel or “God of Bethel” (v. 7).” Explore the Bible, Adult Leader Guide, Lifeway, Spring 2008.

Olympic Gold Medalist, Wilma Rudolph: Wilma didn't get much of a head start in life. A bout with polio left her left leg crooked and her foot twisted inward so she had to wear leg braces. After seven years of painful therapy, she could walk without her braces. At age 12 Wilma tried out for a girls basketball team, but didn't make it. Determined, she practiced with a girlfriend and two boys every day. The next year she made the team. When a college track coach saw her during a game, he talked her into letting him train her as a runner. By age 14 she had outrun the fastest sprinters in the U.S. In 1956 Wilma made the U.S. Olympic team, but showed poorly. That bitter disappointment motivated her to work harder for the 1960 Olympics in Rome,and there Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals, the most a woman had ever won. Today in the Word, Moody Bible Institute, Jan., 1992, p. 10.

2008-03-22T04:09:00.000-07:00

Post from Terry:

“The Way to God’s Blessing” – Genesis 32:1-33:20 – March 16, 2008 I originally titled this "The Way of God's Blessing." My hope is that this will bless you!

Pr 14:12 (Pr 16:25) (ESV) There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

Pr 12:15 (ESV) The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

Gen 24:27 (KJV) And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren.

God’s way is better because it:

I.RELIES ON DIVINE INTERVENTION, Gen 32:1-8. Note Jacob’s desire to seek reconciliation. “Jacob had sought reconciliation with Esau (vv. 4, 5)." (The MacArthur Bible Commentary, John MacArthur).

II.RELIES ON DIVINE INTERCESSION, Gen32:9-21.

Intercessory Prayer: Eph 6:18; Phs 4:6.

32:11 – “…for I fear him,” 2 Tim 1:7; 1 Jn 4:18

III.RELIES ON DIVINE INTERACTION, Gen 32:22-30. Wrestling and prevailing (v. 28). Deliverance (v. 30).

What happens when self-will and pride get in the way of God’s blessing (Gen 32:26-29)? “Self-sufficiency is incompatible with the work of God in any age. Faith alone overcomes the world.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Old Testament. Dallas Seminary Faculty. This is probably the commentary I most often use.)

(Cf. 1 John 5:4 (KJV) For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.)

32:26 – “God encourages persistence in all areas of our lives, including the spiritual.” (The Life Application Bible). In what areas of your spiritual life do you need more persistence?

IV.RELIES ON DIVINE INFLUENCE, Gen 33:1-20. The mercy and grace of God had changed both brothers. The events and circumstances of Jacob’s life had a humbling effect on him. What events in your life have had a humbling effect on you?

“All the Way My Saviour Leads Me,” Fanny Crosby. Here is a rather lengthy illustration but it really blessed me! "Divine Influence : Only Solace in Siberia:
Thirty young men, dressed in shrouds (and thus, nearly naked), were led to the scaffold. The morning was bitter, the temperature below freezing, as they were compelled to stand for half an hour while the burial service was slowly read.
Facing them stood the soldiers with their muskets. A pile of coffins was stacked suggestively in a corner of the yard. At the last moment, with the muskets actually at the shoulders of the guards, a white flag was waved, and it was announced that the czar had commuted the sentence to ten years' exile in Siberia.
Several of the prisoners lost their reason under the strain; several others died shortly afterward. Fyodor Dostoyevski passed courageously through the ordeal, but it affected his nerves; he never recalled the experience without a shudder, and he referred to it with horror in several of his books.
On Christmas Eve, 1849, he commenced the dreadful journey to Omsk and remained in Siberia 'like a man buried alive, nailed down in his coffin." On his arrival in that desolate region, two women slipped a New Testament into his hand and, taking advantage of a moment when the officer's back was turned, whispered to him to search it carefully at his leisure. Between the pages he found twenty-five rubles. The money was a comfort to him; but the New Testament itself proved to be infinitely more.
His daughter, Aimee, tells us in her book Fyodor Dostoyevski: A Study (1921) that during his exile the little New Testament was his only solace. 'He studied the precious volume from cover to cover, pondered every word; learned much of it by heart; and never forgot it. All his works are saturated with it, and it is this which gives them their power.
'Many of his admirers have said to me that it was a strange chance that ordained that my father should have only the gospels to read during the most important and formative years of his life. But was it a chance? Is there such a thing as chance in our lives? The work of Jesus is not finished; in each generation he chooses his disciples, beckons to them to follow Him, and gives them the same power over the human heart that He gave to the poor fishermen of Galilee."
Aimee Dostoyevski believed it was by that divine hand that the Testament was presented to her father that day. 'Throughout his life," she adds, 'he would never be without his old prison Testament, the faithful friend that had consoled him in the darkest hours of his life. He always took it with him on his travels and kept it in a drawer in his writing-table, within reach of his hand. He consulted it in the important moments of his life."
In Siberia, Dostoyevski discovered the beauty of the parable of the prodigal son. Siberia was the far country. It was there that he was the prodigal among the husks and the swine. His companions were the lowest of the low and the vilest of the vile.
'Imagine," he said, 'an old crazy wooden building that should long ago have been broken up as useless. In the summer it is unbearable hot, in the winter unbearable cold. All the boards are rotten. On the ground filth lies an inch thick: every instant one is in danger of slipping. The small windows are so frozen over that even by day one can scarcely read: The ice on the panes is three inches thick. We are packed like herrings in a barrel. The atmosphere is intolerable: the prisoners stink like pigs: there are vermin by the bushel: we sleep upon bare boards."
In the midst of this disgusting and degrading scene was Dostoyevski. At first glance he was by no means an attractive figure. He was small and slender, round-shouldered and thick-necked. He was clothed in convict-motley, one pant leg black, the other gray; the colors of his coat likewise divided; his head half-shaved and bent forward in deep thought.
His face was half the face of a Russian peasant and half the face of a dejected criminal. He was shy, taciturn, rather ugly and extremely awkward. He had a flattened nose; small, piercing eyes under eyelashes that trembled with nervousness; and a long, thick, untidy beard with fair hair. The stamp of his epilepsy was distinctly upon him. You could see all this at a glance, and the glance was not alluring. But Nekrassov, the poet, gives us a different picture, the scene as the convicts saw it. In this picture Dostoyevski appeared almost sublime. He moved among his fellow prisoners with his New Testament in his hand, telling them its stories and reading to them its words of comfort and grace. He seemed to them a kind of prophet, gently rebuking their blasphemies and excesses, and speaking to them of poetry, of science, of God and of the love of Christ. It was his way of pointing the prodigal to the path that leads to the Father's heart and the Father's home. For this was the treasure he found in that New Testament. This was the beauty of the story of the prodigal son. It revealed the way to the Father.
'One sees the truth more clearly when one is unhappy," he wrote from Siberia. 'And yet God gives me moments of perfect peace; in such moments I love and believe that I am loved; in such moments I have formulated my creed, wherein all is clear and holy to me. This creed is extremely simply: here it is. I believe that there is nothing lovelier, deeper, more sympathetic, more rational, more manly and more perfect than the Saviour: I say to myself with jealous love that not only is there no one else like Him, but that there could be no one."
On his bended knees, Dostoyevski blessed God for sending him into the Siberian steppes. For it was amidst those stern and awful solitudes that he, a homesick and penitent prodigal, found the road that leads to the Father's house. The parable that had opened to him a paradise in the midst of perdition was in his thoughts through all the years that followed.
After his return from Siberia, he found life anything but easy. Through voluntarily taking over the debts of his dead brother, his finances had become involved. Moreover, he had fallen into the clutches of an unscrupulous publisher, for whom he had contracted to write a novel on the understanding that, if it was not finished by a certain date, all the author's copyrights would fall into the publisher's hands.
As the date approached, the impossibility of the task became evident, and ruin stared him in the face. Somebody advised him to get a stenographer, but no stenographer could be found. There was, it is true, a girl of nineteen who knew shorthand, but lady stenographers were unknown then. And the girl doubted if her people would consent to her taking the appointment.
Dostoyevski's fame, however, removed the parents' scruples, and she set to work. On her way to the novelist's house, she told her daughter afterward, she tried to imagine what their first session would be like.
We shall work for an hour, she thought, and then we shall talk of literature.. But Dostoyevski had been seized by an epileptic fit the night before. He was absentminded, nervous and peremptory. He seemed quite unconscious of the charms of his young stenographer and treated her as a kind of Remington typewriter. He dictated the first chapter of his novel in a harsh voice, complained she did not write fast enough, made her read aloud what he had dictated, scolded her and declared she had not understood him. She was crushed and left the house determined never to return. But she thought better of it during the night and the next morning resumed her post.
Little by little, Dostoyevski became conscious that his Remington machine was not only a charming young girl but also an ardent admirer of his genius. He confided his troubles to her, and she pitied him. In her girlish dream, she had pictured him petted and pampered; instead, she saw a sick man, weary, badly fed, badly lodged, badly served, hunted down by merciless creditors and exploited by selfish relatives.
She conceived the idea of protecting Dostoyevski, of sharing the heavy burden he had taken on his shoulders and of comforting him in his sorrows. She was not in love with this man, who was more than twenty-five years her senior, but she understood his beautiful soul and reverenced his genius.
She determined to save Dostoyevski from his publishers. Begging him to prolong the hours of dictation, she then spent the night copying out what she had taken down in the day and worked with such good will that, to the chagrin of the avaricious publisher, the novel was ready on the appointed day. And, shortly afterward, Dostoyevski married her.
And then, fifteen years afterward, Dostoyevski was dying (the funeral was on the anniversary of the wedding). 'He made us come into the room," his daughter recalled, 'and, taking our little hands in his, he begged my mother to read the parable of the prodigal son. He listened with his eyes closed, absorbed in his thoughts. 'My children,' he said in his feeble voice, 'never forget what you have just heard. Have absolute faith in God and never despair of His pardon. I love you dearly, but my love is nothing compared with the love of God. Even if you should be so unhappy as to commit some dreadful crime, never despair of God. You are His children; humble yourselves before Him, as before your father; implore His pardon, and He will rejoice over your repentance, as the father rejoiced over that of the prodigal son.'"
A few minutes later, Dostoyevski passed triumphantly away. 'I have been present," said Aimee Dostoyevski, 'at many deathbeds, but none was so radiant as that of my father. He saw without fear the end approaching."
Russia, which has witnessed so many tragic and dramatic happenings, never was a funeral like that of Fyodor Dostoyevski. Forty thousand men followed the coffin to the grave.
'When I heard of Dostoyevski's death," said Tolstoy, 'I felt that I had lost a kinsman, the closest and the dearest, and the one of whom I had most need." Clearly, we have here a man among men; a man who stirred the hearts of thousands; a man who, through his books, still speaks to multitudes. What is the secret of his deep and widespread influence? It is rooted in the story of the prodigal son.
Take up any of his books, and you will catch fitful glimpses of the battered volume in which he learned of the Father's love for His most wayward children. Near the close of The Possessed, Stepan Trofimovitch is taken ill, and Sofya Matveyevna sits by his couch, reading. What is she reading? Two striking passages from the New Testament.
And in Crime and Punishment there occurs a particularly poignant scene. It describes Ras-kol-ni-koff, the conscience-stricken and self-tormented murderer, creeping at dead of night to the squalid waterside hovel in which Sonia lives. Sonia was part of the city's flotsam and jetsam. The relationship between these two was one of sympathy. Each had sinned terribly, and each had sinned for the sake of others rather than for self.
On a rickety little table in Sonia's room stands a tallow candle fixed in an improvized candlestick of twisted metal. In the course of earnest conversation, Sonia glances at a book lying on a chest of drawers. Ras-kol-ni-koff takes it down. It is a New Testament. He hands it to Sonia and begs her to read it to him. 'Sonia opens the book: her hands tremble: the words stick in her throat. Twice she tries without being able to utter a syllable." At length she succeeds. And then, 'She closes the book: she seems afraid to raise her eyes on Ras-kol-ni-koff: her feverish trembling continues. The dying piece of candle dimly lights up this low-ceilinged room in which an assassin and a harlot have just read the Book of Books."
This is in the middle of the story. On the last page, when Raskolnikoff and Sonia have both been purified by suffering, Raskolnikoff is still cherishing in his prison cell the New Testament which, at his earnest request, Sonia has brought him. There is Raskolnikoff, most prodigal of prodigal sons, and there is Sonia, most prodigal of prodigal daughters, bending together over the living page that points all prodigals to the Father's house.
The candle in Sonia's wretched room burned lower and lower, and at last sputtered out. But the candle that, in a Siberian prison, illumined Dostoyevski's soul, grew taller and taller the longer it burned.

Adapted from The Prodigal, by F.W. Boreham (Epworth Press, 1941). Quoted in Prodigals and Those Who Love Them, Ruth Bell Graham, 1991, Focus on the Family Publishing, pp. 117-126"

2008-03-18T04:02:00.000-07:00

Post from Terry:

This blog is a chance for our families to communicate. I spend a lot of time preparing and presenting Bible lessons for an adult Sunday school class. Let me know if they are helpful.

“When It’s Time to Move” – Genesis 29:1-31:55 – March 9, 2008

How do you know when the timing is right for a move? How do you know when it is time to move to a new home, to a new area, a new job, new family, new friends, new culture, and new customs? Circumstances govern so many of our decisions. Decisions are often made for us. But since God is in control of the circumstances is it possible for us to recognize “the handwriting on the wall” and know when it’s time to move?

Some of the circumstances that led to Jacob’s decision to move were:

I. Marriage issues. Rachel and Leah’s unbridled rivalry for Jacob’s attention and love, Gen 29:15-30:25. Rachel tried to earn Jacob’s love – something she already had.

II. Spiritual issues. Spiritual failures in the family, Gen 29:31-30:24 (jealousy, anger), “…the spiritual failures of Jacob’s family later resulted in rivalries among Israelite tribes,” (Life Application Bible).

III. Family issues. Grumblings among the family over Jacob’s success, Gen 31:1-3. Laban’s sons were unable to rejoice at the success of their brother-in-law (see Romans 12:15).

IV. Work issues. Years of drudgery, affliction and deception. Jacob’s work ethic compared to Laban’s constantly changing his wages. “Jacob made it a habit to do more than was expected of him,” (Life Application Bible). When we are at work and do more than is expected we should understand that:
• “it pleases God.
• it earns recognition and advancement.
• it enhances your reputation.
• it builds confidence in you.
• it gives you more experience and knowledge.
• it develops your spiritual maturity,” (Life Application Bible).

V. Personality issues. Reaping the measure of his own (Jacob’s) duplicity. Superficial generosity (Laban), cp. Gen 30:28 with Gen 31:7. “…superficial generosity should not be mistaken for genuine goodness,” (The MacArthur Bible Commentary. John MacArthur). Laban was attempting to get Jacob to stay and he was once again being deceptive.

VI. Emotional issues. Feelings of indignation (cf. Ps 7:11 ESV “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.”)

Ultimately it came down to this. God said to Jacob, “Go back home where you were born. I’ll go with you,” Gen 31:3 (The Message).

I used the following illustration titled "Eagle's Nest." "Though many of us have seen pictures of a huge eagle's nest high in the branches of a tree or in the crag of a cliff, few of us have gotten a glimpse inside. When a mother eagle builds her nest she starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project. But then she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs. By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of the nest and the luxury of free meals make them quite reluctant to leave. That's when the mother eagle begins 'stirring up the nest." With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more of the bedding gets plucked up, the nest becomes more uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually, this and other urgings prompt the growing eagles to leave their once-comfortable abode and move on to more mature behavior. Today in the Word, June 11, 1989"

2007-11-30T06:11:00.000-08:00

This is our Atlanta family!

HERE IS A SLIDESHOW TO CLICK ON.

2007-02-05T09:39:00.000-08:00

Hey family...my friend Cam asked me to design his wedding album to surprise his wife Beth on Valentine's Day with it. I don't want to put it on my blog in the rare chance that Beth may look at it! So, I'm posting it here so that he can view it. Y'all are welcome to look at it too:)

Slideshow of Beth and Cam's Album

2007-02-02T06:05:00.000-08:00

From Bub and Liz:

We've had some snow the last two days. It's super fun. Check out these rad pics of the back of the apartments behind us (aren't they lovely?) and Lizzy (she's lovely):

2007-01-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

I guess I never said that the last post is from John and Liz.

2007-01-24T18:04:00.000-08:00

Louisville Power Family, checking in. Was that nerdy? Becca, thanks for the encouraging post! The Lord truly is merciful. We are all witnesses of his grace in your life both in the past and the present. I wish Lizzy and I could have been there to witness that public profession of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am excited that we can all now post about the goings on of our lives. This is surely no substitute for actual interpersonal communication (e.g., the phone, visits to Louisville, etc), but it will suffice for our current situation.

A brief synopsis: the break has been encouraging and tiring at the same time. The funeral for Liz's grandfather was Jan 15, and it was good; most importantly we were thankful that he didn't suffer for a long time at the end. He seems to have been a believer, so we can rejoice to know that though absent from the body, he is now present with the Lord. This pic is at Christmas, about two weeks before he died:

Our classes start, Lord willing, next Monday, and we cannot wait. I'll be in Advanced Greek Grammar, Church History 2 (covering the Reformation to the present), and Systematic Theology 3 (covering the doctrines of the Holy Spirit, salvation, the church, and last things; Liz and I are both in it). Lizzy has that one, Old Testament 2, and Contemporary Models of Counseling (Becca, 'models' doesn't mean those thin ladies who look unhappy and walk down runways).

Anyway, long post coming to a close - I love you all. Please post and update us!

Chew on this:
"Only one life, 'twill soon be passed; only what's done for Christ will last."

2007-01-23T17:52:00.000-08:00

A blurb from Keith and Becca:

Well...It's officially time for us to make our first post on this wonderful family blog. I don't really have much to say so I'll just ramble a bit. Things are great here in the Rocha household. We work, play, sleep, eat, and that's about it. We currently listen to the Dave Ramsey show every evening and my husband is obsessed. I flip through photography magazines or books and I am obsessed. Mondays we try to make our date night, Tuesdays are soon to be our business meeting nights with Liz Power Photography, Wednesdays are church night and we go to the Hebrews bible study and then on to see the youth; Thursdays are The Office at 8:30; and Fridays are whateverwefeellikewewannado. Saturdays we are hardly ever around...and Sundays are church!! Life is good. God has just blessed our socks off so much that we don't even know what to do...and it just blows our minds that the best is yet to come! This past Sunday I got baptised and I couldn't help but think as I was walking down those stairs into that warm water about how great God is. How he took such a crummy life and made it into something waaaay better. As the water washed over me I was reminded of His grace, cleansing, and promise. What an awesome God we serve. I have no pictures b/c mom forgot her camera:), but you can simply visualize the huge smile on my face as I obeyed my Father.
love you guys,
Becca (and Keith too)

We went on a hike to this coool waterfall before Christmas:

2007-01-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

Hello Family. Happy and Prosperous New Year to you all. God Bless each of you. May His face shine upon you and give you peace. You are so special to Honey and Poppy and we love you deeply. Honey and Poppy are resolving to deepen their friendships and relationships in 2007 and to be intentional and take initiative to show people we love them and care about them. No better place to start than at home.

No doubt this little guy's entrance into our family highlights what we experienced in 2006.

2006-10-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

Keith and Poppy had a chance to catch the first half of the Red Bank Lions High School game with Walker Valley. Here are some of the pictures from trying out our new Nikon D200.

2006-09-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hello, Family. Hope all is well with everyone. Just wanted to encourage you in the Lord. Reading Ps 4 in the ESV and my curiosity led me to Crosswalk.com to read it in The Message. I really like the phrase I italicized/bold...hope this blesses you.

Psalm 4:6-8 (The Message) Why is everyone hungry for more? "More, more," they say. "More, more." I have God's more-than-enough, 7 More joy in one ordinary day Than they get in all their shopping sprees. 8 At day's end I'm ready for sound sleep, For you, God, have put my life back together.

Much Love, Poppy

2006-08-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Simpson clan!
love the site so far and look forward to us all being able to share thoughts and stuff going on!

Honey and Poppy

2006-08-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

We are a "P" part of "RAPS" which stands for our families. Tonight we celebrated Honey's birthday and decided to do this blog. Liz and Terry Power (Honey and Poppy) have four children: Diana Simpson, Jessica Power, John Power, and Becca Rocha.

John married Liz Aaron, July 23, 2005. You're right! Two Liz Power's. But this is the "A" in "RAPS." Here is the Lovely Elizabeth II with granddaughter II, Mckenna Simpson.

Here are Keith and Becca Rocha. Becca graduated from Carson-Newman May 13, 2006 and she married Keith on May 14, 2006. Good plan, Becca. Anyway, Rocha is the "R" in "RAPS" Click here and you can see some of their pictures from the wedding photographed by an absolutely amazing young photography team. Make sure you scroll down their blog page until you come to the May 16, 2006 entry. You'll love the slideshow. Yes, it's the incredible Nathan and Amber Holritz.

Do you recognize our very beautiful, talented, gifted, gorgeous, Jessica? She is another "P" in "RAPS". Isn't this clever? Okay, it is a little hokey but what can I say?

Just a couple more pictures. Granddaughter I, Maddie Simpson, (Did you pick up the "S" in "RAPS?") pushing Poppy in Norris Lake. Oh, yes, many thanks to her other grandparents, Steve and Mary Jo Simpson for allowing us to stay at their beautiful lake house.

And this final picture is grandson I, Parker Simpson. Yes, Diana and her dynamic husband Todd, have all the grandbabies so far and they are expecting grandson II, October 20, 2006. We have the potential for a lot of grandkids.

The plan is for all of the families united to us by marriage to add to this blog whenever they want and then we can all keep up with each other since we live all over the place: in Illinois (Manny Rocha's); South Carolina (Steve Aaron's); Tennesse (Terry Power's and Todd Simpson's); Ohio (Steve Simpson's); and Kentucky (John Power's).

We love you all and hope you enjoy this slideshow from our summer vacation. Emma Pare along with Nathan, Amber, Austin and Addie Holritz blessed us with some time together while we were there. God Bless!