2 BIG Goals from 2010

Within a 2 month period, there were two big goals in 2010.

Great Verses from 2 Chronicles

A recent reading of 2 Chronicles resulted in some great verses to be documented:

After Solomon had successfully built the temple, the Lord appeared to him with these familiar words in 7:14:

"If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

His son, Rehoboam, followed him on the throne but did not follow the wise counsel of the "old men" who provided the following guidance on how to treat people as a leader (10:7):

"If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants forever."

Abijah, Rehoboam's son, realized a great military victory (13:18):

"the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers."


When Jehoshaphat was feeling hopeless about his current situation, he turned to the Lord (20:12):

"neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee."


Uzziah followed the Lord which resulted in great blessings (26:5):

"and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper."


When Hezekiah became the king, he immediately made positive changes (29:3):

"He in the first year of his reign, in the first month..."


He also realized how much the power of God meant when he said in 32:7-8:

"Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed...for there be more with us than with him...with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles."


Josiah followed the Lord at a very early age (34:3):

"while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father"


The Lord does provide multiple opportunities to us to live according to His word (36:15):

"And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place."

Taking the Annual Christmas Card Picture

Things to remember for next year:
1) Do not bring the dog
2) Only 1-2 of the 30+ pictures we take are worthy enough for the annual Christmas card
3) Remember that any picture can be edited

This year's theme was to remember the Blackhawks Stanley Cup victory!

The Kids - 10/8

It was good to have Julia home for the weekend. The kids went out and took some pictures.

German Trip - Day 10

We drove to Mannheim to attend church http://www.fbg-mannheim.de/ with two families who we got to meet in Dallas - their sons were exchange students last year. It was good to see Manuel and Moritz. The service was great and the people were very friendly. We spent the afternoon with the Frankes who graciously took care of us during the afternoon - lunch and a tour of Schloss Mannheim. http://www.schloss-mannheim.de/en/palace-mannheim/Home/268156.html

We made it back to Kiki's house to watch Bayern lose to Dortmund. We then had one final excellent meal at Wagners http://www.apfelwein-wagner.com/htdocs/english/index_d.htm before our departure on Monday morning.

German Trip - Day 9

We got up early and took the local train into downtown Frankfurt. The hardest part of that journey was trying to figure out how the self-service ticket machine worked. We spent the morning shopping and visiting the old historic part of the city. There was some type of festival going on so there were many people and much action.

We had another wonderful dinner - we ate with Kiki and Aunt Doris.

German Trip - Day 8

As we made our way up to Frankfurt for the weekend, we stopped at the former concentration camp in Dachau. http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/index-e.html

We made it to Frankfurt in time to have a wonderful dinner (lamb) with cousin Chris (Kiki) and his wife Mai.

German Trip - Day 7

We took the train from Garmisch to Munich. We spent the whole day there - although we did not make it to the area where Oktoberfest was being held.

German Trip - Day 6

We spent the day in GAP and then headed over to Mittenwald for a few hours. We attended Garmisch Baptist Church http://www.garmischbaptistchurch.org/ and spent the night at the Alpenhof in Kruen. http://www.alpenhof-kruen.de/index-en.html

German Trip - Bavarian Alps

The clouds lifted for a few minutes providing us with a glimpse of the beautiful Bavarian Alps!

German Trip - Day 5

We used the morning to travel from Rastatt down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Once we got to GAP, we spent a few hours in Garmisch shopping before we met up with Uncle Lo and Aunt Lee. They provided us with a little tour of the village - Ski Stadium http://www.skisprungschanzen.com/e_index.htm?/ger/gere_garmisch.htm, previous residences, and the Partenkirchen cemetery. GAP is hosting the 2011 Ski World Championship in February http://www.zugspitze.de/en/winter/skigebiet/garmisch-classic/ski-wm.htm and also would host the ski events of the Winter Olympics should Munich be successful in winning that bid. We had a very nice dinner in Partenkirchen at the Drei Mohren. http://www.dreimohren.de/e_index.htm

German Trip - Day 4

Today, we traveled south from the Cologne area down to the Black Forest. Once we got to Bonn, we drove along the Rhein River. We continued down the autobahn until Baden-Baden. We then drove on the Schwarzwald-Hoch-Strasse http://www.schwarzwald.com/hochstrasse/ Although the skies were not clear, the drive within the mountains of the northern part of the Black Forest was beautiful.

Before we stopped in Rastatt for the evening, we spent some time driving into and through Strasbourg, France. We had another wonderful meal at the Park Restaurant in Rastatt - http://www.park-restaurant-rastatt.de/index.html

German Trip - Day 3

Today, we visited an outdoor museum where old historical houses were displayed http://www.freilichtmuseum-rlp.de/Default.aspx?tabid=892. This gave us a good sense of how people lived several hundred years earlier in the Rheinland area. We ended the evening eating another wonderful meal at a restaurant in Erftstadt with some Croatian specialties (Germania).

German Trip - Day 2b

We also spent a few hours in Aachen, Germany. This is another very old city with lots of great history. In the cathedral (built in the 9th century) is a throne of Charlemagne - http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/aachen-cathedral

The famous city hall also has tremendous history about it - http://www.citymayors.com/cityhalls/aachen_cityhall.html

I also had my first schnitzel of the trip!

German Trip - Day 2a

We spent the morning in Maastricht, Holland. This is the home city of Andre Rieu - http://www.andrerieu.com/

German Trip - Day 1

After arriving at Frankfurt airport on the morning of 9/24, we headed up to the Cologne area to spend a few days with Chris and Helga. We rested a few hours and then headed to downtown Cologne to see the famous cathedral which began construction in 1170 -http://www.koelner-dom.de/geschichte.html?&L=1

There is a Roman-German museum near the cathedral. One of the famous articles in this museum is a tapestry/mosaic dating back to the 3rd century - http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/cologne-roman-museum-photos/slides/dionysus-mosaic

We finished the night at a wonderful Italian restaurant (Fioretto).

Integrity - Quote from Thomas Jefferson

In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current.

Sportsmanship

What a great example of sportsmanship. This is titled "Touching Them All" on You Tube.

Testing 1-2-3

The dog is helping me figure out what this blogging stuff is all about....