HARMLESS THOUGHTS

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;       you have stolen my heart       with one glance of your eyes, Song of Solomon 4:9 (NIV) 16 years ago today she stole my heart and never gave it back.

I love reading stories to my boys. I have lots of fun with it. And I think that I have the most fun with a little Dr. Seuss. So, I decided to post one of my favorite readings. The audio quality isn't the best, but I hope that you enjoy it. Marvin K Mooney (mp3 audio) (It might be best to right-click and save before you listen to it.)

I have noticed several different blogs with these nice little e-mail icons. So I found the site and decided to share it with you. Here it is!

I have been reading a book called How To Overcome Evil by Jay E. Adams. It is an interesting book, but it isn't what I expected it to be. I thought that it was going to be a book on how to overcome the evil in our own lives, I wouldn't say that is exactly what this book is about. For starters, it is an exposition of Romans 12:14-21. This always makes a good book. Anytime someone takes the time to exposit a certain passage of scripture, they are bound to uncover some excellent truths. The reason why I am sharing all of this with you is because I was reading in it recently, and I ran across a very profound thought concerning the turning of the other cheek , as described by Jesus. I have always liked the idea of turning the other cheek, but for some reason, in the back recesses of my mind, it never seemed quite right. Are we just supposed to let people walk all over us? If someone takes our cloak, are we really supposed to offer our coat also? But the real problem was my understa...

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesaistes 4:12 (NIV) Yup. Three is definitely better than two.

Everyone is at home and safe tonight.

I am hearing voices... OK... not really. I spent the entire day Saturday and all afternoon today, working on my car . That wasn't really what I would have liked to do on a weekend, but that is what I did. In fact, the entire time that my family has been gone, I have been extremely busy. It was for the best that they weren't here because of all of the stuff that I had to do. And in my free time, I have been trying to get ahead in my school work. I am hoping that when they return, I will have lots of time to spend with them.

I am on the 8th day of being alone, and I am very much looking forward to my wife being home. I love my boys very much, and I am looking forward to seeing them, but it is my wife that I miss the most. She has become part of me, and without her, I don't feel like a complete person. This morning I was thinking about her and these two verses came to mind: "The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil All the days of her life." Proverbs 31:11-12 (NASV) I think that it was the first phrase that stuck in my mind the most. In the NIV it says, "Her husband has full confidence in her..." and I do. Even though I worry from time to time that something might happen to her, I never have to worry about her. I don't have to worry about what decisions she makes, I don't have to worry about how she is parenting the children, I don't have to worry about how she is spending money, I don't have to worry abo...

At our church we have been going through the book of Hebrews. It has been very interesting, and I have learned a lot about the book. We are almost at the end now, and the book has several different thoughts that we are going to be covering. The verse that for tomorrow is: "Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." I am looking forward to this verse because this is a thought that I really love. I love this planet. I love my family just the way it is. I love both of my boys, with all of their perfections and imperfections alike. I love my wife and could ask for no other. But . This city doesn't last. No matter how I build it up and no matter what kind of walls of protection I put up around it, it won't last. The sands of time wash over my city, and eventually it will be no more. And "...here we have no lasting city..." So, along with all of my brothers and sisters in Christ, "...we seek the city that is to come." A city tha...

One of the few nice things about being a husband staying alone, is that people feel sorry for you. Then when they feel sorry for you, they invite you over for food. And even if they don't invite you over, they don't feel awkward if you invite yourself over. All of that to say that I am going over to my sister and brother-in-law's house tonight. I think that we are going to our favorite place to eat. I would put the name of the restaurant up here on the blog, but I am not quite sure how to spell it. I am not quite sure what we are going to do after that, but I am sure it will be fun. I am guessing that it might include some kind of gaming or movie watching. Well, only a few more days left. I can't wait to see them again.

Yes, I am still here, and I am still alive. There is a cat that keeps coming to the house. It started coming a few weeks ago, and the boys loved it, especially Josiah. They were giving it food and letting it come into the house. They loved petting it and loving on it, probably because the only cat that we had ever owned before was Willow, who was a hairless cat. My boys just weren't used to these furry cats. Well, since they have been away, I was thinking that the cat would get the picture, and stop swinging by to mooch off of us. Unfortunately tonight when the cat came around to see if anyone was home, I caved in and gave it a little snack. A little bowl of milk and a bite of meatloaf. I just couldn't help it. Darn Cat.

Food. My meal choices are much, much different when I am alone. That's all I have to say about that.

I couldn't resist putting this picture on the blog. Click on the picture for a larger version.

Nobody calls me. I am a very happy Vonage customer. I love all of their extra features that come free with the service: call waiting, call forwarding, voice mail, voice mail sent to your e-mail, etc. But there is one service that I am hating this week: the call record. If you look back over the last month, there are literally dozens upon dozens of calls each day. Some lasting as short a minute, some lasting much, much longer. But you can mark the day down that my family left the house. There has been one call each day. And both of them are from my wife! Nobody has been calling the house! I don't know why I am surprised by this, when I am home, and I answer the phone, they never want to speak to me. They usually just say, "...oh hi Matt, is your wife there?" I think that Sam even gets more calls than I do! ... But wait. Why am I complaining about this? I don't really like talking on the phone anyway.

Well, another soccer season has come to an end. I don't have alot to say about it, but I did want to do a post just so I could have a good excuse to put this little soccer guy on my blog. I do enjoy coaching, but I don't like being away from home so much. Especially with little ones. If I stay for practice, then I only get to see my boys for about an hour or two a day. And if there is a game, then I won't get to see them at all. As they get older, I am sure that things will change, and it will be me at home while they are out and about. But for now, I am going to try to enjoy their littleness for as long as I can.

Alright, today I noticed a new I'm all alone behavior: I talk to nobody... out-loud ! That's right. I have caught myself talking out-loud to nobody. There I am, having a one-sided conversation with... the air. And it is one-sided. I am not actually answering myself, but I do occasionally answer nobody . It sounds something like this: me : I wonder what I should watch tonight nobody : me : Yeah, that is what I was thinking, but I don't know if I want to stay up that late, I mean... nobody : me : I know, I know, but I never get to bed early! I don't care how lame it sounds. nobody : me : Sure, I guess I could watch that tomorrow, but what about... nobody : me : That would work. nobody : me : I'm hungry too, what should we have? and so on...

Fear. Twice today my mind began to drift. Actually it drifts all of the time, but today there were two very specific drifts that occurred. Both of these drifts really stuck out in my mind, because they were both fear-based. Two times today I began to contemplate the loss of my family. I hadn't really thought about it, but I suppose it is because I am alone right now. So my mind drifted off to a reality where I had lost a member of my family. How would it feel? What would I do? Could I handle it? There are a lot of people in this world that I have close contact with on a weekly basis, and many of those people I truly care about. But there are only three people that I can't imagine being without: my wife and my two sons. Losing any one of them, or all of them, is my greatest fear. If I allowed myself to think too long about, I could almost get panicky wondering where they are and what they are doing. Are they safe? Are they being careful? And then... God, are you watching out fo...

I genuinely do not like being alone. I used to think that I was a loner. One of those people who could survive on a deserted island, and actually like it! You know how it goes: I have my coconut dishes, my bamboo plumbing, that goes to my completely fortified tree house, and my only concern is how am I going to get food for the next day. But as I get older, the more I have realized that I don't do so well being alone. I get lonely. Now, I don't need alot of people. There are some that are like that, they need people around them all of the time. I am not like that, which is why I was originally led to believe that I could do well alone. And even as I am typing this, I am realizing that it isn't that I need people, it is that I need people to need me. I love serving and working for my family. There are jobs around the house that I genuinely don't mind doing, because my family needs it. But put me alone, and those jobs become tedious and boring. The things I do, when I am ...

I have to thank Tim for this link: I was a little disappointed in tonight's episode. No questions were answered, and there weren't any really new questions to ask. Which is usually my favorite part of the show; you know, answer a few questions and introduce enough new stuff to ask some more. I will say that I am probably drawn to the show because of the 27 connection . Every 108 minutes? Sure enough that is 27 minutes, 4 times.

Dr. Paul Tripp is coming to our church . I have heard him speak on two different occasions, and both times he was great. I have even heard part of this particular conference. He has great wisdom and insight, and he pulls some great stories from his own life to help illustrate different points. If you live anywhere near Greenville, SC and would like to go, drop me an e-mail. He will be here November 4-5, and I am sure that there is some small cost, but I would love to have you. You must register by October 30th, so let me know quickly.

My students were testing today, so I ended up with a study hall that lasted from 7:50 to 11:15. (That is a really long time to be in study hall.) So, while they were quietly sitting, I decided that it was time for a new template. I have been wanting to do this for quite some time, but just never had the chance. It still needs some tweaking, but I wanted to go ahead and get it up. Well, time to actually do some real work. Gotta go!

Well, I survived another Windy Gap experience. Some personal highlights : 1. Played on the Faculty Men's team against the Varsity, and only lost by one point. 2. Made a fool of myself again on stage, doing those teacher skits . 3. Drank a raw egg. 4. Ate some baby food. 5. Had another teacher crush an egg on my head. 6. Hooked kids up in the zip line, and I didn't have any of them fall to their death. 7. Helped organize the unloading of 4 charter buses in the rain. 8. Pulled a muscle in my leg. And many other interesting developments . I do love being a teacher, but sometimes I think that it would be really fun to work at a camp full-time. You would miss the opportunities to develop those long-term relationships with the kids, but man would it be lots of fun. I also think that it would be a great place to raise a family. But hey, that is just me. Talk to you all later. (After I recover from these last couple of days.)

Well, the school where I teach is off for Windy Gap tomorrow. It is a beautiful camp, there is lots to do, it is great being with all of the kids, etc. But... I miss my family. I really hate being away from my family. I hear about these dads that like to get away, but I really don't understand it. I love my family. My wife is the greatest! She is absolutely my best friend! She is fun to be around, she is funny, intelligent, and I just love her and love to be around her. I could not have asked God for a better wife, and my heart aches when I am not around her. My boys are great as well. I really think that they are about the greatest two kids that a parent could have. I might joke around from time to time about them being bad, but I really believe that they are about the best behaved kids. So, I hate being away from these people. I feel bad sometimes. If there is the option for a school event, I always opt not to go. If I can leave early, I do. If there is a way out, I...

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Man! I just want to have a normal life! I want to go to work, come home, play with the kids, watch some TV, and go to sleep!" Have you ever thought that? I have. Many times over. Every time something bad happens; the car breaks down, one of the kids is in the hospital... major life changes always seem to be happening to me, and there are all of these people who seem to be living these normal lives. So I sit there and I think, "I just want to have a normal life!" But as I get older, I start to wonder if there is actually anyone who exists, with the coveted normal life . Sure, there are people out there who might seem to be leading a fairly normal life, but as you get to know them... well, they're not. It seems that nearly everyone that I know has a messed up, trouble filled life! This normal thing doesn't seem to exist! It is all a big conspiracy! But consider Romans 8:18, 24-25, "I consider that our present sufferi...

Lately I have been reading through the book of Joshua. The other day I read through chapter 9 , and read the story of how the Gibeonites deceived the children of Israel. Right after the children of Israel cross over the Jordan River, they encounter the city of Jericho. Most people know that story. After that they set off for the city of Ai, which is much smaller, but they get defeated because there is someone in the camp that did not follow God's commands concerning the treasures of Jericho. Shortly after that the Gibeonites send a group to talk to them. The group that the Gibeonites send, disguise themselves like men from a far off country. They come to the camp of the Israelites and ask them for a treaty. The children of Israel are suspicious, so they examine the men, who came complete with worn sandals and moldy bread. Verse 14 says this, "The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD." When I read it, I had one of those, "hmm.....