Devin's Impersonation of "The Joker"

What Can We Change This Christmas?

Food for Thought...

"The history of a man is his character."

~W. Von Goethe

Some Knock Knock Jokes

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Ben.
Ben who?
Ben standing so long, my feet are killing me.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Dishes.
Dishes who?
Dishes the Pilot speaking.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Rita.
Rita who?
Rita good book lately?

This one is for Mercy and Anna -
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Abby.
Abby who?
Abby birthday to you!

Turkey Trouble...

Latest News...

Yesterday was the Jr. Speech Tournament. It was fun and I think everyone had a fantastic time... I did anyway. I watched some Duos, Impromptus, and poems. The competitors did wonderful.

I realize that the bigger tournaments for the older children are close at hand. Finally, I have chosen a duo for my sister and me. We'll be doing the classic, "Cheaper by the dozen." Yeah, that should be fun to act out. My plan is to write it and perform it Tuesday night for our Speech Club. This speech will be done soon. So long now.

Thank you for listening (reading?).

Brian Regan

Give up Yourself

"Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in."

~C. S. Lewis

Mere Christianity

Happy Birthday Emma!

Note: Emma's on the left and cousin Ellie on right

Today is Emma's Birthday. Wow! She's twelve years old. My, time has flown. I'm so glad Emma's my sister. She is really fun to be with and...what's really special about this year, is that she now is old enough to compete in the NCFCA speech tournaments. In fact, I get to do a DUO with her actually so you can all cry about not getting to. Ha ha! I've been honored to be her brother all these years and hope I still will be, Lord willing, many years from now. Happy Birthday Emma Victoria Kruse!

-Your big brother, David

2 Cor. 6:4-10

2 Corinthians 6:4-10
"...As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything."

This verse has so many things in it and it would take some time to explain all of it. But I will say that this certainly isn't what the Prosperity Gospel teaches. The Prosperity Gospel would most likely take part of the last verse ("as poor, yet making many rich") and then misinterpret it.

Now, I believe that what Paul is telling us is that though we are persecuted, though we are thought of as impostors, we have so much more in Christ. Though we die, we live (in Christ). Though we are poor, we are rich (in Christ). Though we nothing, we have everything (in Christ).

After reading this passage, read it again. You are sure to get more out of it a second time.
If you don't have time for God's Word, you may be too busy. I encourage you to study and read the Bible and, if need be, to change your priorities.

Prayer

"There is no true prayer without the study of the Word of God and there is no true study of the Word of God without prayer."

~R. A. Torrey

Poll Post

I've added a poll to this blog. It will be going for a long time so vote over and over (I guess). You need to scroll down to see it. It'll be on the right hand side. Then move your mouse over and click, okay? I hope the directions are easy to follow.
Also, you can leave a comment if you want to tell me why you "clicked" on some instrument. Yes, it's an instrument poll. Have a great day! Bye now.

Books for Young Men

Books are needed terribly
In every man's younger days.
I find it quite extremely important
In, well, actually several ways.

First and foremost,
It increases character.
If you have none, well,
You'll have it when mature.

It doth also strengthen and help
Our weak & troubled vocabulary.
Seeing as how we're not the brightest,
Nor smartest, when we but only query.

And yet another thing I do know
It doth enhance.
Our intellect! 'Tis true.
Ha! Is it not somewhat new?!

Yes, indeed books are wonderful,
But are they good? Do they teach love?
Well, depending on the book that you buy,
I wouldn't plan on the behavior said above.

~David Kruse

The Triune or Three Personal God

"An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God –that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God is the thing to which he is praying-the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the thing inside him which is pushing him on-the motive power. God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. So that the whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually going on in that ordinary little bedroom where an ordinary man is saying his prayers. The man is being caught up into the higher kinds of life-what I called Zoe or spiritual life: he is being pulled into God, by God, while still remaining himself."

~C. S. Lewis

Mere Christianity

Fireproof...

What kind of Instrument is this?

88 keys stand in a row,
Black and white are they.
One thing that's great to know,
Is each one sounds in a quite different way.

True, all make music together,
When played correctly and in proper order.
But one thing is that they work as a team,
Not separate, but united, they sound as a dream.

At one end, a key is high.
Down yonder, another is low.
When put with each other,
Well, music's made & I think you know why.

Don't get stressed as to what it is
I'm sure you really know.
This ain't exactly a very hard quiz,
You just gotta keep guessing to and fro?

A Fun Game for Anyone...

Okay, you try and guess as many small words as possible from the BIG word below. Good Luck! An example: SPEECH

INCOMPREHENSIBILITY

Another Blog?

Okay, so I got another blog. Big deal, right?
Well you can check it out HERE. Tell me if you like it. Or not. I don't really care either way because I'm not up-tight about your feelings or thoughts against me. Anyway, just thought I'd let ya all know in case you find out ten years later and get all upset about me for NOT telling you.
I guess that's it then. Bye now! Have a blessed day.

This is a Shocking Interview

Martin Luther

"Let God be God."

~Martin Luther

R.C. Sproul

"When we are aware of the presence of God, we become most aware of ourselves as creatures. When we meet the Absolute, we know immediately that we are not absolute. When we meet the Infinite, we become acutely conscious that we are finite. When we meet the Eternal, we know we are temporal. To meet God is a powerful study in contrasts."

~R.C. Sproul

The Holiness of God

How to Sneeze

Absolute Goodness = God

"...We know that if there does exist an absolute goodness it must hate most of what we do. This is the terrible fix we are in. If the universe is not governed by an absolute goodness, then all our efforts are in the long run hopeless. But if it is, then we are making ourselves enemies to that goodness everyday, and are not in the least likely to do any better tomorrow, and so our case is hopeless again. We cannot do without it and we cannot do with it. God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies. Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again. They are still only playing with religion. Goodness is either the great safety or the great danger - according to the way you react to it. And we have reacted the wrong way."

~C.S. Lewis

Mere Christianity (We Have Cause to be Uneasy, pg.31)

Destiny and Me

An Old Piano...

Okay, so I'm not the best artist.

Visitors from Arizona!

Yes, my great uncle John and aunt Ginger are here from Phoenix, Arizona. It is pretty cool. We have already got to play tennis with them, sing for them, and have them at our church. They are both so much fun and we thank God for them.

One thing they do well is smile really big and bring lots of joy wherever they go. People are constantly around them and you just can't seem to not like them. Anyway, enough said. I hope some of you can meet them soon. Alright, bye now.

Picking Blackberries (A lot of 'em!)

8 members of our family went out today and picked blackberries. It was fun and, obviously, quite hot too. We picked a lot and should be having them over the next few days. I took some pictures for any who would wonder how the trip went.

Here are some smiling faces.

I took this picture and that's why I'm not in it.

My Dad took this picture because I am in here.

My dad stomped down many blackberries to get to many more.

The outcome: More Blackberries! Hurrah!

It was a bright and sunny day.

Jonathan decided to keep lots of blackberries to himself.

He wandered off and hit lots of 'em! Here he is, reaping the rewards.

He might of ate a few...

We had our little car and the kids kinda just jumbled all together.

Here is a blog on chess

I recently started this blog on chess. We should get some great ideas. Anyone who is struggling to win a game of chess may hopefully find tips and tricks on it. So come check it out and I'll see you at the board (or somewhere else). Click Here for blog.

It's actually also a blog for some of my cousins to post on as well. We can each post stuff about chess and learn a lot. It should be fun. Bye for now. "To infinity and beyond!"

-David

A Beautiful Sunset

Another Voice Lesson...

We had another voice lesson this week. That is, many of my cousins came over and we all found some new songs to work on from our teacher, Mrs. Wulff. She is very good when it comes to singing matters. Anyway, it was great and I hope we can all improve so that we won't sound like old goats when singing something like "Happy Birthday."


But, yeah, it's fun.

The Goldmans were with Us Last Night

Last night the Goldman family came over and we had a wonderful time with them.

I went around and took some wacky pictures afterward. (Nobody's black either)

Grandpa's Dog/Puppy

This is Amber, Grandpa's Dog. She sure is cute as well as a lot of fun!

Happy 14th Birthday Collin James Goldman!

Collin is one of my favorite cousins (not that I don't like the other ones or anything) because he is so fun to be around and funny too. We get along well (I hope) and I am so blessed, as you all are, to know him. Happy Birthday Collin! May God Bless You through the coming years. Take it easy...

Some "Not So Fun" Summer Stuff...

Hey everyone!
I'm sorry that I haven't posted for a while. It's just that I have been so busy recently. I really shouldn't even be posting when I think of all the stuff I got to do. But then I realized that we have to sleep and eat so why not post too?

Here are five of my "busy things" -

1. Memorizing my cousin's play
2. Memorizing a speech (DUO) for a Super Regional Event on July 25 http://wellnessshow.blogspot.com/2008/06/super-regional.html
3. Practicing singing A LOT!
4. Tending a garden
5. Learning business stuff

Do we ask, "If God wills," or "If I will?"

In today's culture, it is easy to put on a type of humanistic worldview. Saying things such as, "I can do that," and "I'll be there," or "I will make a difference in this world one way or another," is basically putting our ways, man's ways, above God's ways. We tend to go about as if we are God when we are only helpless sinners.

We want to be in control and have it our way rather than give it up to God and follow His way. I am not saying to go to the other extreme by thinking God must do everything and we must do absolutely nothing, but rather to follow God's plan and His purpose for each and every one of us.

Consider James 4:13-17
"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'-Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.
What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."

We do not know the future. God does. It is useless to trust in ourselves when we have Him, the God of the universe, the One who created all things. I urge you to think about this and start applying it in your lives today because "all such boasting is evil." It may be hard to pray "if God wills it," but how much lighter will our burden be now that God is with us and He has taken it?

Jared in the Garden

This is my brother.

He has one good smile.

White Rabbit!

White Rabbit to those of you who know what I mean.
Oh, by the way, MY SUNSET!
See y'all laterz!

Don't feel bad that I'm not there because I won't be.
(what was that above?)

[For those of you who wanted to know, I had a great piano lesson :) yup.]

Devin & Jonathan

Yup, these are my buddies.

This is my favorite fruit

What is this?

What is this?

Have any ideas?

Stuff and more Stuff

So much has been going on since I last posted. Something fantastic is that I am now getting piano lessons from a really wonderful teacher. My Grandma is paying for them. She is really nice to all of her grand kids including me. So, yeah, that is totally cool.

What else? Well, there is a big colonial performance that is happening in a couple of months. I get to be in that and it should be very fun seeing as most of my cousins will be in it as well. Of course, it will take some time to memorize the many lines I have but it will be worth the effort when everything is over and done with.

Lately, I have also been busy with schoolwork. It is tough but I am learning so much and I know that in the long run it will pay off quite satisfactorily. Learning never is actually finished though. There are many adults who are still learning things even when they probably know ten times as much as I do.

Speech has been keeping me on my toes too. I am diligently looking for some subject to share with others so as to continue my speech skills. In fact, I already have much to give and should start by sharing what I already know. Yeah, that seems logical enough.

Okay, gotta' go now,
Bye.

Time

I am sitting here in my Grandpa's office just getting ready for bed (it's late, I know) and I was contemplating time. Yes, time. What is time? I looked it up in Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary. Believe me, there are different meanings of the word time.

1. A particular portion or part of duration, whether past, present, or future
2. A proper time; a season
3. Duration
4. A space or measured portion of duration
5. Life or duration, in reference to occupation
6. Age; a part of duration distinct from other parts
7. Hour of travail
8. Repetition; repeated performance
9. Repetition; doubling; addition to a number itself
10. Measure of sounds in music
11. The state of things at a particular period
12. In grammar, tense. In time, in good reason

But not only did I want to give different meanings of time. I wanted to say that we often think of how much time we have, or, as I often think, how little time we have. I have been quite busy lately (as we all have been most likely) and thinking things like, "I don't have enoungh time!" Now I am just realizing how little time we have before we are gone and out of this life. It will come soon enough and we must be ready for it. We must do well with the time God has given us. God Bless.

The Go-Giver

If you are searching at this time for something to read then

this is the book for you. Especially if you are having trouble in business. It is one of the best books that I have ever read.

Bob Burg and John David Mann tell a story of a someone who cannot seem to reach his goals fully. With someone's help he finds that business is more than he had ever imagined.

Have a wonderful time reading!

The Dog & Cat Poll

Vote on the poll to the right if you would please. I sure would appreciate it. I can't figure out which animal is better and so I did a poll to get some numbers of different people. If you have or are voting than leave a comment to show who you are. I doubt this will work very well but a few are better than nobody right?

"Melody in F" (The Prodigal Son)

Feeling footloose and frisky, a feather-brained fellow forced his fond father to fork over the farthings, flew far to foreign fields, and frittered his fortune feasting fabulously with faithless friends. Fleeced by his fellows in folly and facing famine, he found himself a feed flinger in a filthy farm yard. Fairly famishing, he fain would have filled his frame with foraged food from fodder fragments. "Phooey, my father's flunkies fare far finer," the frazzled fugitive fumbled, frankly facing fact. Frustrated by failure and filled with foreboding, he fled forthwith to his family. Falling at his father's feet, he forlornly fumbled, "Father, I've flunked and fruitlessly forfeited family fellowship favor." The farsighted father, forestalling further flinching, frantically flagged the flunkies to fetch a fatling from the flock and fix a feast. The fugitive's faultfinding brother frowned on fickle forgiveness of former folderol. But the faithful father figured, "Filial fidelity is fine, but the fugitive is found! What forbids fervent festivity? Let the flags be unfurled! Let fanfares flare!"

~Laughter From The Pearly Gates, Pg. 151 (Written by Bob Philips)

We were in the Jacuzzi...

They are leaving us...

I'm sitting here in my room waiting for inevitable. Yes. Destiny, Natalie Emmons, My Mom, & Grandma-Dot are flying out for Alabama today. 'Tis sad but we must all live with it.

What I guess I mean is that although they will be leaving we will see them again.

That's all.

New Header!

Yup, Destiny made me a header for my (this) Blog! It's awesome. She made it just in time too. You see, she is leaving for Alabama to go to a National Speech Competition.

Well, thank you Destiny!

Jonathan's Haircut

Jonathan got a haircut a couple days ago and he looks like another child!

I just wanted you all to see how cute he is and not be shocked the next time you see him :)

Devin (My Brother)

Here is Todays Activities -

Today I...

• got a wonderfully, well done, fantastic, awesome, cute(?), & handsome haircut which my Grandmother paid for.
• went to the Grower's Market and saw the Goldman family (as they were packing up).
• went out to eat with my Grandma-Dot, Uncle Troy, and Alexander Goldman.
• played music with Alex which was great fun(!).
• did a singing lesson.
• had a lot of FUN!

Amazing Basketball Coach/Player!

Of Singing...

OK, so what do I post about?

Hmmm...

Oh yes. Well, I like to sing.

Actually, let me make that clearer.

I like to sing but others don't like it when I sing. But...really it depends on what I sing. Of course...Even if I sing a song when I do, the one who's listening must enjoy it too.

You see, someone might like the song that I sing but not like how I sing it. Others might like how I sing the song but not like the song themselves. You now can see that it is very hard! to please everyone. In fact... It's impossible!

One more thing to add is that even if they do like the song & how I sung it, they might not like the time that I chose to sing that song at!

Life is full of obstacles but we just gotta' keep on movin' forward.

See ya around.

P.S. Do you LIKE to sing?

Annoying Spittlebugs

We have a problem with spittlebugs. They continue to spit or make this stuff and put it on our plants. I am tired of wiping this (spit) off my hands when checking plants and pulling weeds. If anyone knows of a solution, I'd appreciate the help. Ta ta for now.

The Pitbull and Porcupine

This Pitbull appears to have an encounter with a porcupine.

It seems that he did not give up on the porcupine until it was dead.

It's very amazing to see this kind of endurance.

Pitbulls are quite different from all the other dogs & in many ways.

This is one of them.

The Schedule...

Here it is. One BIG Schedule.

The post before this talks of this picture.

Scheduling?

Okay, so here's the dealio. I woke up today feeling very sore (from running yesterday). So I woke up at about 7:45. That is quite late but don't bother. Anyway, after that I shuffled to breakfast. After I had gorged myself, I discovered my mom staring at a (quite large) schedule. "What's that mom?" I asked casually. "It's our new schedule." she replied. "Oh, right. Well, what do I do first?" "Chores." "Okay."

After I had done my chores, I found myself staring at lots of schoolwork (which I need to finish after this post). However, I did pull through and I am actually almost finished with it all. Although it was a challenge, I am looking forward to Friday (I like challenges I guess) and will post then. That post will be better than this one. But I guess that's just me.

The Goldmans at Market...

Yesterday our family went to the market to see the Goldmans play music.

They are one great band! You should see them play some time.

And here is a picture of Jebediah. With Destiny posting so many I had to post one.

Cool Brothers!

Devin and Me just got out of the hot tub and were playing around with our hair.

Just trying to look cool for the camera and, of course, all of you. Ta ta for now!