Not a false potty alarm!

Katie, by herself, has sorta announced several times she has to go "stinky". Mostly because I have asked her as I watch her face grimace or smell her diaper-you parents know what "look" I am talking about....(And so I remember, I have not officially tried to start potty training yet, she is 20 months old.)

But tonight...

THIS IS BIG PROGRESS. Tonight on her own, while she was standing and playing, she said, "stinky". I am amazed that she is picking this up.

We have been putting her on the toilet before her bath time for a few months now and she knows to go "tinkle" on the potty, but stinky?? That has been a different story. It has been a literal mess trying to every once in a while get her to understand, stinky goes IN the potty. Yuck!

But tonight, on her own, she was standing playing and said, "Stinky".

I picked her up and moved rather quickly back to the bathroom, where she went! (On a side note, it was hysterically funny-she was so animated and dramatic!)

Yeah for Katie...

Now I am ready for all the "false" alarms that I know for SURE to start coming...before naps, while in the car, during dinner... :) I think I better start to read up on potty training!

A Precious Friend...

 
 
 

Laney Carson and Katie Hime...a friends photo shoot.

We prayed for Laney today as she is sick. :( This is one of Katie's favorite people. ...Plus Hollie(mom), Hugh(dad) and Daisy (the doggie). We prayed for everyone today in the Carson household...we hope you all get better soon!

I hope you feel better very soon LaLa. Love, KK

This melts my heart...

 

I think photos like this can only melt a mothers heart and make her think of the preciousness that a little one brings from the grace and greatness of the Lord.

Thank you Lord for this blessing in my life. May I never take for granted your gift, in difficult times or joyful ones.

We LOVE you KATIE GRACE!

Meet Anna and Melissa too!

 

We are blessed at our house to have three college (SEBTS) girls living with us for the semester!! Melissa has been here last semester as well, but Anna is new to our home! :) She is a "precious" southern GA girl with a great desire to learn about Jesus and have a blast doing it.
So WELCOME Anna. We are SO glad you are here for these weeks. We hope to glean much wisdom from you as well as share our lives.
(ps-more to come on Sarah!)

Katie loves her "Quiet Time", what a blessing!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What do I know of Holy

By Addison Road...

IT SNOWED!!!

Snow, Snow, Snow....NC has gotten a few inches of Snow~7 inches! We are getting ready to go out and experience the SNOW! Katie does not quite get it, but our college girls-especially Melissa, can't wait to get out and do something in this snow!

A Roast Post

You've gotta try this roast recipe! Many of you might have great recipes, or maybe not, but give this one a try next time you are going to make a roast...and be warned, you might not go back to your old recipe. :)

A Roast Post Recipe

2 lb Roast (sirloin is best)
1 t. black pepper (or to taste
1 t. sea salt (or to taste)
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1 c. water (use empty tomato sauce can)
1/2 c. dry red wine or any wine (for those worried, alcohol cooks off)
1 chopped onion
3-4 chopped potatoes
3-4 chopped carrots

Place all ingredients into Crock pot-allow to cook for about 8-10 hours on High. I have never had mine be anything but fantastic!

*for leftovers make hash! Place leftover meat (which you have chopped up), potatoes, carrots and onions into saute pan. Stir everything together until warm and ingredients begin to mash together. Serve over toast with ketchup drizzled on top. A childhood favorite of mine. :)

Pronuncation by a 19 month old...

One Cute Story...

While checking out the house next door for a family-Katie desperately tried to get my attention to go and get something...here goes...

Katie, "Mama, Fok?"

Me, "hummm, say it again Katie."

Katie a bit frustrated, but excited, "Fok!"

Me, "Fok?"

Katie's head is tilted slightly as she looks me in my eyes, "Fok, Yes!"

Me, "Oh, Would you like to see the fox stuffed animal?"

Katie, "Yes!"

Me, "Oh Whew...I am glad she didn't pick up another word!"


And another sweet story...

I was getting dinner ready for Katie and I had her in her chair. My back was turned, but I heard... "God, blab, ehid, lirgti, thankyou, amen" As I turned around I caught Katie with her hands folded and head bowed. She was praying on her own for dinner. I guess she figured she could eat as soon as I set her plate on her tray if she went ahead and prayed by herself-otherwise she would have had to wait for me to come and pray with her. :)

Thoughts about reading....take a minute and read this!

This sure helped me think through my thoughts about reading for 2009!

taken from spurgeon.wordpress.com

Tip 3: Read With Purpose in Mind

The political satirist P. J. O’Rourke has a piece of advice for readers: “read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.”

It may impress the coroner to pull your face off the drool-stained pages of War and Peace, but in this post I’ll be arguing that to improve our reading efficiency we should choose books, not based upon their impressiveness and size, but for how closely their content correlates to personal interest and immediate need.

I suspect that due to task-driven thinking, and possibly to our books-as-assignment educational experiences, we fall into a trap of referencing books in the coldest of terms. We say things like:

My goal is to read this book.

My goal is to read this stack of books.

I’m feeling guilty because I bought all those other books that I need to read.

I’m feeling like a failure because I’m only halfway through that book, yet there is sits, unread.

Notice a problem?

This language often exposes that our perception of reading progress and goals have become mechanical. How many of us admit that our primary reading goal is to COMPLETE a book rather than to LEARN from it, to finish it rather than enjoying the progress of learning? Beware of this tendency.

Our reading goals must enlarge beyond a desire to see a stack of completed books accumulate. We want our heads and hearts filled with God-glorifying truth, not just information, but the kind of truth that lives and breathes and kicks and bears direct influence what we think, choose, and speak.

But reading books mechanically, or keeping on in a book because it needs to be finished, is a lot like enduring a 40-minute mundane cardiovascular workout. Mechanical endurance reading kills the reading appetite as surely as the anticipation of a split pea soup dinner kills my appetite for food.

But protecting ourselves from this will require forethought and planning before we begin our reading.

Ask, and it will be given to you

The key is asking the right questions. Before you begin any book—before you step into the bookstore—I’d recommend that you ask yourself: “What 5 things do I want to learn?” The answers to this question will focus our book purchases and, as we will see later, establishes a threshold to determine if the books we are reading are helpful or not.

Before I begin books, I ask myself these questions. Sometimes I write the answers on paper or just keep a mental list. Instead of telling you more about this principle, let me show you some recent examples as I planned my reading:

Question: Within one of my specific ministry initiatives I’m struggling to identify its specific vision and direction. But I’m having an even more difficulty communicating to others how this initiative lacks vision. So how can I communicate this lack, get everyone to see the problems, and to position others to help sharpen the vision?
Book: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam.

Questions: With young kids, my wife and I have been majoring on authority and discipline. But now our son is growing up. So what should I be striving to instruct him in? And I recently read that spanking is only for children who refuse to repent for their sin. Is this true? If so, at what age?
Book: Instructing a Child’s Heart by Ted and Margy Tripp

Questions: (1) Why do the Dutch theologians like Bavinck spend so little time defending inerrancy and so much time defending organic inspiration? (2) Where in their ethics is the priority on re-creation (grace restores nature) reflected? (3) How do these guys so naturally mix systematic theology and ethics together? I’d like to follow this model.
Book: Concise Reformed Dogmatics.

Question: Most of my sporadic periods of creativity occur during my mornings (6-11 am). Is it possible to structure creativity? If so, how can I schedule this time for focused creativity?
Book: The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp.

Question: What in tarnation is Twitter? And why are marketers all frothy about this narrow social networking platform?
Book: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin.

The point is that before diving into books, I’ve already raised specific questions that I’ll be looking to answer. I know that if I walk into Barnes & Noble without first establishing similar questions, I’ll walk out with a few books that captured my attention but will likely sit unread because they are not targeted to my specific needs. It’s not the book’s fault. It’s mine.

With these questions written out on paper, I now approach books with clear intention. I surround myself with books and begin reading from the driver’s seat with my foot on the accelerator, taking a turn when necessary, stopping or accelerating at will, know when to continue reading a book, when to chuck a book, and when to replace a book. In those moments when a book answers a specific personal question, I experience the small combustive explosion, generating the horsepower to pull me along into a more disciplined, faithful, and consistent reading schedule.

Questions and Scripture

The similar principles can be applied to our reading of Scripture.

This year my wife Karalee has begun reading the Bible in 12 weeks (she finds it beneficial to read the entire Bible in a couple months than trying to sustain a schedule to read the entire Bible in a full year).

But while it’s not uncommon for folks to begin a “read through the Bible in a year” plan in January, my wife’s plan is unique in that she is reading Scripture to focus upon and isolate every reference to humble self-sacrifice and every story that demonstrates the theme. And if her list of notes from the first half of Genesis is any indication, it appears she will learn a lot on this top by the time she reaches Rev. 22.

Karalee’s approach to Bible reading is especially fruitful because her reading time is especially focused.

When is a book “done”?

One of the critical reading skills is to know when a book is “done.” This goes back to what I was saying about a mechanical view of reading. I think too often we assume that the back cover marks the completion of a book. Not so.

Especially in business, leadership, and marketing books authors often begin repeating themselves over and over and over and over… Noticing this repetition—not hitting the endnotes—is when you know the book is done.

And if the book is not hitting your purposes/questions after about 100 pages, it may be time to move on to another book or skip to a later section.

Time is a precious commodity and as readers we need to invest our commodity in excellent books. In the words of Mark Twain: “The man who does not read good books, has no advantage over the man who can’t read.”

If the book you’re reading is not helping you, move on to another. By asking the questions you have established a threshold to determine what is helpful and what is not. So get quickly to the useful books and quickly get past the less useful ones.

Chapter recommendations

As an aside, my friend C.J. is a skilled reader and a master of book recommendations. What makes his so skillful in his recommendations is the care he takes to isolate specific chapters in books. When talking about spiritual disciplines he often references one chapter by Don Whitney in a book about the life and theology of Jonathan Edwards. Admittedly that’s an unlikely place to look for help in the spiritual disciplines, but the chapter is excellent and oftentimes unfortunately neglected.

After watching C.J.’s example I think I can say that pastors will better serve their people if they could call attention to specific chapters in books rather than assigning full books. This makes for a more realistic goal for non-readers and a less daunting assignment than wading through an entire book.

Just a thought.

Series Conclusion

So those are 3 tips to reading more effectively. In the final two tips—marking in my books and in asking the right target questions—I am reminding myself that my library is a toolbox. I can read a book if I choose, put it away after the first 50 pages if I don’t find it profitable, cross out what I disagree with, and be liberated from viewing books as assignments. If a book isn’t working for me, I have too many other promising titles awaiting to invest time in finishing a mediocre book.

I could continue with more but I’ll stop here.

Please leave your own personal tips for reading effectively and efficiently. Drop those in the comments. Thanks for reading!

Congrats little BRO!

 

Dorian, Justin's Senior in HS brother, just received in November, Scholar Athlete of the month. WAY TO GO!
He is a talented basketball and baseball player, super student and just all around neat guy.

Dorian, We sure wish we could be around you more to see you walk in the path God has for you.

Amazingly he will be in college next year and already has many full rides to play sports. But we are proud of his hard work and all that he has accomplished in High School!

Check out the interview with Dorian!
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/nov/27/dorian-green-high-school-scholar-athlete-month/

Addison Road, Run

This is one of those songs, that as I have been listening to Pandora.com I have grown to really like. I had never heard of this band before. Then as I was listening to the radio in the car, I heard another one of theirs that I like as well. This one keeps me running towards Jesus as the only option in life.

Hi Sweet Friends!

 

These are our friends who now are in Asia, but are stateside as they await the arrival of their first baby! David and Justin used to work together at the Benson's property and are great thinkers together, having shared many conversations while they spreaded (is that a word?) pinestraw for hours on end. Or while they picked up sticks in the woods. Yes, the woods was SO clean! David and Justin also attended SEBTS together for a year or so. Erica is a fantastic friend who I have been able to get to know as a wonderful woman of hospitality, care and fun. She brings a lot of honesty to our relationship-she is so down to earth that it is refreshing. They both speak the Gospel with their lives! They now are career overseas and love it.

Hi friends!
Thank yo SO much for making our home a stopping point on your journey through NC from China! It was ENCOURAGING to our hearts to hear about your life and to be able to share fellowship together. It is a priviledge to call you friends and to hear about all the ways the Lord is using your calling-ultimatley to be spent for the Gospel. We are so glad you love where you live, that you love the people and also soon you get to love the little one you have coming! You make us want to love Jesus more!
We are praying for your time here in the states to be sweet and a wonderful time for you both to grow in your marrage.
Stop by ANYTIME and maybe someday we will be stopping by your home too. We'd love to!
Hugs and smiles,
Justin, Gi and Katie

Isn't this the funniest thing you've seen?

 
 

So we get back from our KS trip and we were greeted to this on our dining room wall....yes, you see correctly, our three college girls photos in LARGE 11x14 black and white prints.

Super funny..we love all three of you!

Congrats Jenny, Camiryn and Bill! December 6, 08

At the beginning of December we headed back for an early Christmas celebration and Justin's sister Jenny's wedding. We had a great time and look forward to many more fun times as we get older. I can't believe we already have 30 years of memories....here's to many more!! :) It was a delightful time and as you can see by the photos, Katie loved it-especially the dancing.

And Jenny you looked beautiful, what a blessing that the Lord allowed us to be with you all. Where ever you and Bill end up we would love to keep in touch-email, blogging or simply snail mail. We'd enjoy seeing you if at all possible and know we are keeping you in our prayers--that Jesus would continue to draw you all to himself with his lavish grace and mercy. We also can't wait to meet another cousin!

Enjoy the album.

Lots of love, hugs and smiles to ya!
Justin, Gi and Katie

PS sorry for the smallness of the photos, I can't seem to make it larger, but it still shows the great fun we had!

We got the BOX!

 
 

Thank you Nana and Papa for sending me the box. I was SUPER DUPER jumping for JOY EXCITED! It feels like Christmas all over again. :) Mommy and Daddy think that I have to learn to clean up better after myself, becuase I wanted it ALL OUT AT ONCE...But I told them I am only 19 months and need it all out for my imagination! :) I do not want to go to bed, but I have to, so I am sleeping with my doll babies. Yes!
Can't wait to see you soon.
Love,
Katie " Pippers" Grace Hime