But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:18

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas!



Merry

Christmas!


Praying each one of you has a VERY Merry Christmas!


"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:11


"And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

Luke 1:33

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Tomb of the Unknown Solider

Hi all! Someone sent me this in an e-mail and I thought this was REALLY cool! Sorry I couldn't get the pics. to go with but it is still worth reading! This would be something to read to your kids!
1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why?

21 steps: It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.



2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?

21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1



3. Why are his gloves wet?

His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.


4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the timeand, if not, why not?
He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.


5. How often are the guards changed?
Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.



6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?

For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10' and 6' 2' tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30. They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform or the tomb in any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin. The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt.
There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform.. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length
mirror.
The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery . A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe Lewis {the boxer} Medal of Honor winner Audie L. Murphy, the most decorated soldier of WWII and of Hollywood fame.
Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty.


ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.
In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC, our US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb ofthe Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!" Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guardingthe Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can beafforded to a serviceperson. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.



IN GOD WE TRUST
The discipline these men have to honor a grave of someone who is dead! No alcahol, no filthy language, obeying the rules for the rest of there lives, no dishonoring the tomb. Memorize the notables, always dressed in a manner of respect. What commitment, what patriotism! And we as christians can't even be that disciplined to our Savior who died for us and is alive today! Wow! This just REALLY convicted me in my day to day christian life! How am I honoring my risen Lord?!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Sunday

The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Psalm 24:1

Monday, December 14, 2009

Caleb's Coming!

This is a movie of Caleb's train passing our house! Since we live right next to the railroad tracks it was REALLY fun to have a train go by that you actually new someone on it!

(Did you see him? ;)

He had a VERY exciting trip! He had a lay over right at the start and left at about 7 in the morning as opposed to midnight the night before. So he played cribbage all night with a nice older lady in her 70's, which he travelled with as far as Chicago. Then when he arrived there he had another layover all night! But not to worry about our poor traveler. Amtrack put him up in the Hyatt Regency hotel on the 22nd floor with an awesome view of Michigan Ave. and 2 queen beds! They also gave him money for his meals so he had Chinese for breakfast! (But that's not all!) That day he had some time to spend so he went to The Field Museum and guess what! It was a free day! Well, to top it all off on his way from Chicago to Bloomington he led a college student to the Lord!!!! It's so neat how our Father works. If Caleb hadn't had all those "delays" he would have missed witnessing this young man. Please pray that Gregory grows in the Lord.

Thank you for all your prayers and your comments! He REALLY enjoyed them!

Weekend Fun

Well, Caleb arrived home just in time to go to Silver Dollar City with us and te Comstock family over the weekend. We had a great time even though it was rainy. They have over four million Christmas lights and a HUGE tree in the middle of the park. We are soooooo sorry we didn't get ANY pics. of SDC because our camera was out of battery! So if you want to see some pics. of it you'll have to go to the Comstocks blog, cool-com-collected. But we did get a few pics. of Bass Pro.


Four Wheelers!!!!! YES!!!!!





Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Caleb's Coming Home!

Caleb's Coming Home!!!!!
Caleb is coming in on the 8:00 train this evening from MN!!!!! We are sooooo excited and looking forward to having him here for about a month. Stay warm!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

"For the beauty of the earth,

For the glory of the skies,

For the love which from our birth,
Over and around us lies:

For the wonder of each hour,


Of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale, and tree and flow'r,
Sun and moons, and stars of light:

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,

Friends on earth, and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild:

For Thyself, best Gift Divine!
To our race so freely giv'n,
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth, and joy in heav'n:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise."

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
May the Lord bless you!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Mennonite Madness

What is this madness?!!!!

Look below for how to play! ;)

Mennonite Madness

Mennonite Madness... our friends in MN taught us this game last year and it has been a real favorite ever since!
Ok, here's how you play... You have two dice, one pen, and everyone has a sheet of paper.

You start with the pen in the middle of the table and any one person rolling the die. Then it's the next persons turn going clockwise around the circle. When someone gets doubles, like two ones, two threes, etc..., then that person that rolled the doubles grabs the pen and starts writing on their sheet of paper one to one hundred. They keep writing while everyone else is taking their turn rolling until someone else gets doubles then that person grabs the pen from the first person and starts writing to 100, and the game goes on. the first one to write to 100 wins! You won't believe how exciting it can be to write to 100!

Oh! When you get doubles the second time you just start right in where you left off writing before, you don't have to start over. Hope you all enjoy! It's a great group game!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Praise the Lord




"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
"

Colossians 3:16-17