The boss is out today for the 4th of July so Lilly is holding down the fort.

 

 

Family Fun Calendar

 

Friday

 

Rodeo of the Ozarks

Date: July 3^rd & 4^th

Time: 6:00

For more information: 479-756-0464 or www.rodeooftheozarks.com

 

July 4^th Extravaganza! At Arvest Ballpark

Date: July 3^rd & 4^th

For more information: www.nwanaturals.com

 

 

Saturday

 

Fire in the Sky at Siloam Springs Municipal Airport

Date: July 4^th

Time: 6:00pm

Food, parachutists, fireworks

 

Celebrate America Event at Cornerstone Assembly of God in Rogers

Date: July 4^th

Time: 6:00pm

For more information: 479-621-9858

 

Fun & Fireworks at Phillips Chapel in Springdale

Date: July 4^th

Time: 6:00pm

For more information: 479-445-4503

We are reading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan as a staff. One of the concepts that he raised in the book is that we should approach God as our Father. I’ve heard that many times before. But, for the last week or so I can’t get the thought out of my head about God as my Father. And I’ve wondered…. what does that really mean?

I started thinking about my kids. Especially when they were little. How they acted around me. I loved it when they would run up to me and grab my legs, just because they wanted to be near me. I loved how they wanted to tell me about everything, because there wasn’t any part of their life that they wanted to be separate from mine. I loved how they would call my name whenever they saw a spider, or the lights went out, or it thundered, because they knew that I would protect them and keep them safe.

I loved that they loved me. I loved that they needed me. I loved that they wanted me. I loved that they trusted me.

And I wonder, can God say those things about me.

Time changes everything and it definitely changed the way my kids act towards me.  Teenagers now they are developing their own personalities, discovering their own opinions. Gone are the carefree days of loving and laughing. Now there are moments of eye rolling, whining, complaining, pulling away, keeping secrets, talking back, arguing, and doubting that my way is the best way.

Do they still love me? Sure.

Do they still need me? Yes. But don’t tell them that.

Do they still want me? Sometimes. Sometimes not so much.

Do they still trust me? Maybe, depending on the situation.

It’s made me question my actions towards my Father. In my relationship with Him do I act like a little child, or a teenager?

Am I willingly obedient, or willfully defiant?

Do I need His presence in my life? Or can I take care of myself?

Do I want Him always? Or just when I’m in over my head?

Do I trust Him when it requires me to step out in faith? Or just when His plans is easy and comfortable for me?

The truth is: God is my Father. Nothing can change that. The variable is: am I acting like His child?

Mark 10:14&15 Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.

Today Lilly got to see the Bomb Shelter. She was kinda scared at first, but then I showed her all the Third Day CDs. Now she likes it out there.

We took Lilly on a tour of JBU. I think she enjoyed the fresh air.

Weird Wednesday continues….

Sells for $55 a bottle. Really?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who’s smarter than Mark & Keri?

Anyone like Hamachi?

Yep… It’s sushi….

Maybe you could have some Bling H2O with your Hamachi.

So what do you think about “unplugging” from Social Networking? Could you do what Bill is doing… take 6 weeks off from Facebook, Twitter, etc?

 

Welcoming a New Week

By Holley Gerth

Swirling around me are sounds of a new week beginning. I hear the whoosh-whoosh of the dishwasher, the tumble-tumble of the dryer. Outside twilight descends and closes out the weekend like curtains on a stage.

Already I feel the rush, don’t you? My heart beats faster, my mind races, my hands move from one task to the next. This is to be a day of rest and yet by the end of it I’m usually pushing the pedal to the floor and zipping into another week.

I look out my window and see my trees are also getting ready. One has a calendar, another a Blackberry, a third is already checking e-mail.

“No, no,” you say, “such foolishness!” And of course it is, because trees don’t plan their days. They don’t stress out about meetings. They don’t worry over their limbs.

And, I’ll let you in on a secret, they grow anyway.

That is what I fear, I think–that if I stop all this madness, this rushing, that I will become small and stale. I will stay the same forever.

But this is not true, the trees know. For growth comes from roots and not leaves. It comes from being grounded firmly in the soil of God’s love and then clinging to Him, drawing from Him, dwelling in Him each day.

So I pause, whisper a prayer, and begin anew. Surprised, I find that when I empty my heart of all I carry I’m free to lift my arms toward heaven.

We stand there for a moment, the trees and I, hands raised in welcome and feeling as if this week we might just touch the sky. 

 

Lilly’s tour continues with a visit to the MyPositiveEdge studios.

I think she misses Jeremy….

 

Lilly begins her tour of the studio with the important stuff… the snack machine!

 

Congratulations to the staff of Crafty Cottage in Bentonville. Winners of the Office of the Week. They won a nugget tray from Chick-fil-A and a balloon bouquet from the Balloon Closet.

Brokenness. Everywhere. In our jobs, in our relationships, and most of all it’s in our hearts.
This week feels like my world has been invaded by the heartbreak of broken marriages… first there was the media frenzy around Jon and Kate. Next came the awkward questions from my little girl as we were innocently looking through old photos… now including extended family members who are no longer in the picture. Finally this weekend I read an interview with the wife of the South Carolina governor (the star Republican, family values champion , and “good Christian man” ) who’s choices have left his bride and their sons devastated. I can’t help but keep asking myself what will really make a difference in the non-stop flow of brokenness! It hit me when I read the words of the Governor’s wife when she said, “I didn’t think he had it in him”.

Maybe that’s where our whole problem lies. We want to think we will be the exception… that “they” are somehow different than us, and that we surely won’t end up like “their” story. The truth is that each of us is born with a natural bent toward selfish stupidity and we’re all just a short slope away from disaster. I know the Governor’s wife meant well when she said she didn’t think he had it in him, but I wonder if their tradjec story would be different if each of them had lived with the reality that both were capable of the unthinkable. I wonder what extra lengths they would have gone to protect themselves… from themselves. I wonder what would happen if we all began living with the realty that we “have it in us”.

It’s hard to admit, but we’re all prone to do anything to satisfy our soul’s desires. Whether it’s tell a little lie, spread a little gossip, or entertain a little flirt, we’ve all got the capacity for stupidity. So here’s the hope: that same space in our souls that is so tempted by our selfishness is also waiting to be filled by the strength, purity, and humility of Jesus… the one who passed all of temptations tests… only to die and then tell about it. So what if today each breath were filled with the sober reality that we really do “have it in us”, but also with the hope that Jesus is waiting to fill that space in our souls, and save us from ourselves.

-Mark

FRIDAY

Today between 11:30 and 1:30 stop by Clement Financial in Bentonville. Ansen from the KLRC Drive home will broadcast live and give away free KLRC water bottles to help keep you cool. Plus be sure to register to win a family fun pack from FastLane.

Creation Science Seminar at the Jones Center
Date: June 26th
Time: 5:00—8:00 pm
For more information call 479-756-8090

Wilson Park Pool in Fayetteville will hold Dive in Movie
Date: June 26th
Time: sunset
For more information call 479-444-3471

SATURDAY

Fayetteville First Assembly of God will hold their 3rd Annual Car Show
Date: June 27th
Time: 8:00 am—3:00 pm
For more information call 479-443-5633

SUNDAY

Celebrate America at the Downtown Bentonville Square
Date: June 28th
Time: 7:00—9:00 pm
For more information call 479-530-6447

Pea Ridge Assembly of God Fireworks Show
Date: June 28th
Time: 5:00 pm
For more information: 479-451-8153

Our new office buddy needs a name…..

Weird Wednesday continues with the many (strange) uses for Duct Tape

For example, Prom Attire