DEVOTIONS

One of my favorite parts of the job is doing devotions every day. Currently we are reading through the book of Esther and playing a version of "Where's Waldo" ---but instead playing "Where's God". Esther is the only book in the Bible that never mentions the name of God or even uses a pronoun to refer to Him...but as you read through the story of Esther, you see God working in the background throughout the entire story (and the girls try and identify places they see God at work).

A few weeks ago Jen and I broke the girls up into small groups for our own "church service" since chapel was canceled due to the flu outbreak. We had great discussions in our groups for well over an hour...and one girl in my group accepted Christ as her Savior! Today we had another great "God Moment" as we read about Esther and her willingness to lay everything (including her life) on the line...and looked for where God was working in that moment. That sparked a very long (over an hour) conversation about God and the role He plays in our lives today. Some of the questions they asked and we discussed were (you can see some are more serious than others hahaha):

1) How do we get to heaven?

2) What is heaven like?

3) Is there a hell?

4) My mom is a Jehovah's Witness and my grandpa is Baptist...who should I be going to church with?

5) My uncle died from an accidental drug overdose...is it possible he is in heaven?

6) What will happen to my mentally challenge cousin when she dies?

7) Where Adam and Eve black or white?

8) Are there animals in heaven?

9) What will my body be like in heaven?

10) What are angels?

11) How do you know the Bible is true?

12) Do you struggle with sin too?

13) Why would God let so many bad things happen to my family?

14) Why is it so hard to be like Jesus?

There were several others we discussed as well, but as you can see God is working on the hearts and minds of these young girls and Jen and I love to be used by Him in the process! We had a great discussion and look forward to where it will take us as we continue to discover "Where's God" in the midst of the only Biblical book that doesn't mention Him by name.

Playing Golf With Your Wife

Bill was playing golf one afternoon with his wife, Emma, and hit a nasty slice off the second tee – landing in an impossible lie in front of the greenkeeper’s shed. Being helpful, his wife suggested, “No need to take a penalty shot darling, just open both the front and back doors and push the tractor out. Then, you’ll can hit hit it straight through the shed with a 3 iron.”

“Brilliant idea darling!” and with that, Bill took a mighty whack at the ball, which struck the rear of the building – bouncing off and hitting his wife in the head, killing her stone dead.

A few years later, Bill was playing the same hole with his new wife… and by sheer coincidence landed at the exact same place in front of the shed. “No need to take a penalty shot,” said his new wife, “we can push the tractor out and open both sets of doors. You can hit straight through the shed!”

“No way,” he said. “Last time I tried that I ended up with a triple bogey!”

Consequences of Bad Choices

Well, it has been a while since I have done a "theological post" so I thought I would share a little bit of what I have been learning recently. We have been going through the book of Esther, and those of you who know the basic plot line remember a wicked man named Haman who attempts to wipe out all of God's people but his plan is thwarted by Esther and her cousin Mordecai (although it created a very tense situation for all involved). Here is a key verse about Haman:

Some time later, King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, making him the highest-ranking official in the government. (Esther 3:1)

What is so key in that verse? Haman's heritage...as a Agagite, he is a decendant of the Amalekites. Now flashback several hundred years earlier to King Saul. In 1 Samuel 15:2-3, Saul is commissioned by God to go to war against the Amalekites. He is told to totally wipe them out. But Saul had a "better idea".

Saul (verses 7-9) decided to allow the best parts of the land to survive including Agag and its people (where Haman descended from). Had Saul just been obedient to God and made wise choices, the story of Haman and his wickedness wouldn't have been an issue for Esther and Mordecai. Not following God had lasting consequences.

So are you following God? Are the choices you've been making in line with His desires? A stray path or unwise choice can have an effect on many generations to come (as seen in Esther). If you've already made unwise decisions, our loving God is always there to embrace us when we turn back to Him (woman at the well, Peter's denial, David's sin, etc, etc, etc). Keep on following Jesus!

The Blog Thief

Last night we went back to our apartment and downloaded all of our camera pictures from the past week of some of the neat things we've been doing. I had visions of blog posts about our 4th of July celebration with Jen's family in Lititz, our new hobby of geocaching, etc. When we returned to the home we are at for the summer, Jen was in the office for an hour or so that I assumed she was working --- turns out she took all the pictures, video, etc and put them on her own blog! I guess it's only fair though as I am the one usually stealing all the good stuff and posting it before she has a chance. So instead of reinventing the wheel, go check out Jen's Blog and several of her latest posts (and be sure to comment and tell her to quit stealing the good stuff!). Here is the link... www.jcatanzarito.blogspot.com

Fun in the Sun

New Ride at Hershey Park (our kid actually did pretty good with this thing except for his wipe-out at the end)...

Busy Week

Last weekend we went to DuBois to celebrate my grandma's birthday (April), Zach's birthday (May), Brady's birthday (June), Father's Day (June), and my mom's birthday (July). We took the adults out to a steak dinner, and the kids picked out a video game at their favorite store.

When we returned to campus, we were changed to elementary division for 1 week (due to flu restrictions which finally seem to be under control). So we spent the week with 4 boys...all in 4th grade. We had water balloon fights (Monday night), Home Run Derby contests (Tuesday night), Hershey Waterpark Trip (Wednesday night), kickball game and picnic with other homes (Thursday night), and lots of fun! They sent 2 couples to us throughout the week from the new training class to shadow us and learn from us...which is strange since we still don't really know what we're doing quite yet.

Also this week, Jen's sister and family came for a visit and we went to Hershey Park. We were only able to spend a few hours with them during our off time, but we enjoyed seeing them as always, and had a great time.