The Weekend In A Nutshell

What a great weekend!!! Saturday my wife spent the afternoon and evening together and went out to dinner to celebrate our 25th anniversary. First we drove to petoskey and went to what is fast becoming one of our favorite stores, County Emmet Celtic Shop.  There we purchased a small book of Irish quotations. It is full of quotations from famous Irish folks such as Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Jonathan Swift, etc. In reading some of these quotes particularly Oscar Wilde you get a sense of not only the wit but also the wisdom of some of Ireland's best.  I think one of the ones I liked the best was this one from Oscar Wilde poet/playwright.

         Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that
         nothing that is worth knowing can be taught"

Is this wit or wisdom?? you decide. In one way this is a cynical remark about education but in another way it is a wise statement in the fact that what we learn in books is important but what we learn from experience can be so much more useful in our lives.

Anyway after we left the store we drove down to the waterfront. This place holds a special place in our hearts as it is the place of our first kiss and the place where we made it known to each other that this relationship was moving on from just dating to possible marriage. It was then that I popped the question! What question you may ask, I asked her if after 25 years she would do it again. She said yes!!! and more importantly she didn't hesitate even a little bit. I think I was more nervous and excited than the first time around. I told her the same thing it's good to know that after all this time you both feel the same way today as you did back then. After we sat there awhile talking and laughing we drove to Elk Rapids to what is becoming one of our favorite restaurants Pearls New Orleans Kitchen . This place has great Cajun and creole food and the atmosphere is fantastic. If you are ever in northern Michigan and have a hankerin' for Cajun this is the place to go. These people also own the Red Mesa Grill in Traverse City and Boyne City their speciality in these restaurants is Caribbean food once again it is great food.  This was just a great day spent with my wife and I hope we many more days like this in the future. Anyway that's it for now until next time

                                                                                             God Bless,

                                                                                                            Jay
                                                  

Today Is The Day

25 years ago today my wife and I were married. Looking back it doesn't seem like it's been that long. My wife has been my biggest cheerleader, my confidante, and best friend. She has stuck with me when I have given up on myself and been there to help me pick up the pieces when I have wrecked. Without Vicki in my life there is no telling where I have ended up, I do know it wouldn't have been where I am now. She has lifted me up when I needed it and held me back when I needed it also. I guess the best way I can describe my wife is using scripture.

                                   Proverbs 31:10-31

                                 

¹⁰     ^jWho ³can find a ⁴virtuous wife?

     For her worth is far above rubies.

¹¹     The heart of her husband safely trusts her;

     So he will have no lack of gain.

¹²     She does him good and not evil

     All the days of her life.

¹³     She seeks wool and flax,

     And willingly works with her hands.

¹⁴     She is like the merchant ships,

     She brings her food from afar.

¹⁵     ^kShe also rises while it is yet night,

     And ^lprovides food for her household,

     And a portion for her maidservants.

¹⁶     She considers a field and buys it;

     From ⁵her profits she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷     She girds herself with strength,

     And strengthens her arms.

¹⁸     She perceives that her merchandise is good,

     And her lamp does not go out by night.

¹⁹     She stretches out her hands to the distaff,

     And her hand holds the spindle.

²⁰     ^mShe extends her hand to the poor,

     Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

²¹     She is not afraid of snow for her household,

     For all her household is clothed with scarlet.

²²     She makes tapestry for herself;

     Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

²³     ⁿHer husband is known in the gates,

     When he sits among the elders of the land.

²⁴     She makes linen garments and sells them,

     And supplies sashes for the merchants.

²⁵     Strength and honor are her clothing;

     She shall rejoice in time to come.

²⁶     She opens her mouth with wisdom,

     And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

²⁷     She watches over the ways of her household,

     And does not eat the bread of idleness.

²⁸     Her children rise up and call her blessed;

     Her husband also, and he praises her:

²⁹     “Many daughters have done well,

     But you excel them all.”

³⁰     Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

     But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

³¹     Give her of the fruit of her hands,

     And let her own works praise her in the gates.

The New King James Version. 1996, c1982 (Pr 31:24). Thomas Nelson: Nashville

 

So here it is Happy Anniversary to my Proverbs 31 wife you complete me in to many to list here so I will just say I LOVE YOU and I wouldn't trade any day of the last 25 years if I had to go through them again without you by my side. Heres to another 25 years until we are old and gray.                 

 

                                                                      God Bless, Jay

Wednesday Mental Wanderings

Last night we found out Sean will be getting bumped up to varsity for the District wrestling tournament tonight. This is a good opportunity for him to help his team and have some success, he should be wrestling a kid from Ogemaw Heights. IF he is wrestling the person I think he will be he can beat him. In other news we found out that Adams cancer hasn't spread beyond the tumor location, this is great news as far as it starts giving them a game plan on treatment and is an answer to prayer. As a person who has walked through cancer with my wife I think that initial time of not knowing the facts is the hardest. Once you have that plan of treatment it seems to make things a little easier. Adam still has along road to go down but at least he can now start the journey with plan and more importantly with the confidence of Christ. Last sunday in sunday school we looked at the letter to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2. The Lord pointed out all the good things that they were doing but, he did tell them that they had lost their first love HIM. This served as a reminder to us all that we can't become so involved in DOING things that we forget the reason we are doing them. We are called by the Lord to do good works but we are never supposed to take our eyes off of him and allow the "things" to replace him. Gotta head to work.

                                                                          God Bless,

                                                                                          Jay

Thursday Morning

Well after snowpocalypse 2011 I am getting ready to head into work. Due to the storm they shut down the freight system Tuesday night and Wednesday. Good news is because I didn't work yesterday I was able to go watch the wrestling team capture their 5th or 6th straight conference wrestling title against Traverse City West High School. Sean had a tough day yesterday but Tuesday night he had a great night beating a kid from Mancelona and pinning a kid from Elk Rapids. His matches are done for the season unless he winds up bumping up to varsity for a match during team districts next week. He improved so much over the season, he is technically a better wrestler than I ever was and that killer instinct and confidence in his own abilities is starting to show itself. I think he will be very successful on the mat over the next couple of years. Even if he isn't I couldn't have asked for a better son. He is smart, thoughtful and kind to others what more can a dad ask for?
  
      On another note we are going to be studying the letters to the churches in chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of Revelation in Sunday school over the next couple of weeks. Once again God has proven one of my favorite sayings "You want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." Just 2 weeks ago I said to the adult Sunday school class I lead that I didn't feel comfortable leading a study on that book of the Bible. Well apparently God thought that this would be a good time to take me out of my comfort zone so here we go. I know with prayer and study he will lead me through it and I will be all the better for it and he will get the glory. 

                                                       Gotta go  God Bless,

                                                                                     Jay