Kimmi riding her new horse.
click on the picture to enlarge
Saturday, December 25, 2004
Monday, December 13, 2004
My Story
I was born August 8, 1974 in Joliet, IL. My life didn't start out picture perfect. My mom was 16 and my dad 19. I was a date gone bad. They married and divorced six years later, right after my brother was born. After that I lived with my mom and never really saw much of my dad. We kind of jumped around for awhile. I moved from one school to the next. It made it very hard to make friends and during this time I felt alone.
Then after my second grade year we moved to Coal City, IL. We lived in a duplex outside of town. One day, we had new neighbors move in next to us. It was another single mom with two kids; a girl a few years older than me and a son about the same age. His name was Mike. We became best friends. Mike and his family went to a church in the town next to us, and one Sunday my mom decided that we would go with them. It was not what I expected church to be like. This was my first time to church. It was in an old run down youth center building. It was ok. My mom, on the other hand, loved it. So, we went back the next week, and the next, and the next, and the...well you get the picture. I was pretty indifferent about going myself. But then, on a Wednesday night they had a special meeting about a organization called "Royal Rangers". It was like Boy Scouts except you also had bible studies. I loved to camp and fish and stuff so I joined up. Mike and I both got involved. We worked together on advancements. It was fun. Our first big camp out was the POW WOW. That's what they called it. It had a different theme each year. That year was "The Greatest Show On Earth". (a circus theme obviously) It was during one of the evening camp fire services that I met God. It was after the speaker was done talking; he asked if anyone wanted to except Christ as their savior. My heart was pounding. I wanted to go down but I was scared. Then my senior commander, Norm Turek, leaned over and asked if I wanted to go and that he would go with me. So, I went. I prayed that Jesus would forgive me of my sin and that we could enter into a relationship together. And He did! 6-5-86. To find out more for yourself click here.
It's been a long time since then and a lot has happened to me because of that decision. I felt called to leadership in the church and went to bible college, I met my wife in college, we have had two beautiful daughters, Rebecca and Kimberly, and I am now working as an Elder in my church; Cannon Valley Christian Church in Cannon Falls, Minnesota.Monday, November 29, 2004
A Reason for Thanksgiving
This weekend I had the privilege of meeting my new sister-in-law. My brother Jeremy and his wife Christina eloped this fall and we had a reception for them this weekend. It was a lot of fun seeing family and friends, and it was most enjoyable meeting our newest family members. Christina and her daughter Mary fit right in and I must say that I was a little nervous about the marriage but having met her and seen the two of them together I think they make a great couple. May God bless you both.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
I was at home yesterday with the girls and I happened to look over at Kim and she's lying there with her head in a box. She was just laying there as still as could be. I thought it was funny and thought I'd share it with you. I have no idea what she thought she was doing.
click on the picture to enlarge
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
My Scariest Moment
Last night I was in the house when I heard "the scream". You know the one, the one that raises the hair on the back of your neck. The one that makes you feel sick. The when that tells you that your child is not ok. I rushed to the door to find Becca holding her head and when I open the door she says through her tiers, "I'm bleeding". She then removed her hand and blood poured from her head down the front of her soaking her hair and shirt. I rushed her the bathroom and tried wiping the blood away so I could see what was damaged, but the blood was flowing so fast that I couldn't see anything. I applied a compress and then tried clean the blood off of Becca. Becca was freaked out about the blood. When I removed the compress blood sprayed out toward me. At this point I was probably the most scared I've ever been. I immediately called Kari, who was at work, and we rushed to the ER. On the way we prayed, and by the time we saw the doctor the bleeding stopped, the swelling went down and Becca's biggest concern was that she didn't want to see the doctor. On the way home we bought her ice cream and I sat and watched a movie with her and she seems to be fine. This morning see was up torturing her sister as usual and the swelling has really dropped. It does look like she's going to get a black eye. I just praise God for His ever present help in times of trouble.
Friday, September 10, 2004
A Hard Lesson
Well, many of you may have already installed Microsofts new gift to the world SP2 for Windows XP. I did and it was the worst thing that ever happened to me (that is technically). I lost everything. After installing the computer wouldn't reboot. After flipping out, it took two weeks to get my system up and running. I was able to retreive some files off the hard drive using Linux before reinstalling windows. It has been frustrating to say the least. But I learned a valuable lesson. Backup! Backup! Backup! If you don't regularly backup your important files you are asking for trouble. We almost lost over a year's worth of digital pictures. Luckly I was able to get them with linux one file at a time. That was fun!!! Hundreds of pictures. Needless to say they're on CD now. When I have a bit more time I'm going to add an article how to back up your data. Make it a regular part of your PC maintance regement and you'll be glad you did.
later...
later...
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Saturday, June 19, 2004
I went fishing with men's ministry from our church, called Ironmen, today. After about 20 minutes I caught this 36" Northern. I caught it on a leach on a ultra light rod and 4lb test line. it was a blast! Unfortunitely, that was about it for the day. It was our first time to the lake but I think some evening adventures would prove productive for walleye.
click on the picture to enlarge
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Daddy's Little Girl
Today Becca made this picture while I was at work. I asked her, "Why did you draw a heart with your name above it?" and she said, "Because I love you so much." Needless to say, my own heart burst with as much, if not more, emotion than I did on the day I said "I do". This is one of the first times Becca has expressed her love to me so vividly, purely and most of all, on her own. It made my day :)
I wonder...
How does it make God feel when we completely express our love to Him, through our worship, our relationships, our thoughts or our time with Him?
later...
I wonder...
How does it make God feel when we completely express our love to Him, through our worship, our relationships, our thoughts or our time with Him?
later...
Saturday, June 05, 2004
FREE PDF Creation for All !!!
I've tried a lot of PDF software and most of the free software is fine, but one thing that always bothered me was the advertising that was added to the document and you had to pay to get it off. Until I found PrimoPDF that is. It's a great program that works as a virtual printer. In any program you're in you just select Print... in the File menu and then change the printer to PrimoPDF. The software will ask you were to save the PDF file and it makes it. Easy and reliable and with no advertising.
Check it out. www.primopdf.com
later...
Check it out. www.primopdf.com
later...
Friday, June 04, 2004
We've been having themed game nights at church on Wednesday nights. We've been doing them for three weeks now and the kids are having alot of fun. We're having them all the way through till August when we have VBS. This past week was "Snow Blast" Theme and the picture above is of the snowman "frosting" contest. They had to use whip cream as the base and then use candies to decorate the face.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Good Friends
One of God's greatest gifts is friends. Monday was kind of a bad for me. I was tired, work was....well, work. And all of life's problems seemed to be reminding me that they were still there in force. I felt like going to be bed and wake up when life became perfect. But, since that wasn't an option we ended up going to dinner with some friends. We had so much fun. I felt so good after we had come home. I even had a better day today. Hey, they even treated us with paying the check.
Thanks John and Sharon. All God's Blessings.
later...
Thanks John and Sharon. All God's Blessings.
later...
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Friday, May 21, 2004
GAYS AND MARRIAGE
This week the state of Massachusetts made it legal for gays to marry. Unfortunately, this is not much of a shock. It was really only a matter of time. We are now the fourth country in the world that allows gay marriage. The gay marriage thing really bothers me. I believe it is a symptom that shows how bad our society, and how corrupt our culture, has gotten.
The courts and legislatures that allowed this law to be signed are wrong and if other states follow with no intervention from Washington I believe we will see the downward spiral of our country.
What bothers me most about the marriage law is that it is a recognition that we as a society are supposed to except the gay lifestyle as a norm. They have "justified" something that God has called sin and "wicked". Everywhere you look the media is trying to convince America that homosexuality is Just another choice and that it's who they are; God made them that way. The TV is filled with shows about gay couples or have gay hosts that make it seem like they're everywhere and its perfectly normal. Well, its not. We were not created by God for this and it is a perversion to say otherwise.
They say that gays are born that way and that they can't help to be that way. They say it is wrong for society to tell people that it is wrong to act on those feelings; that they are not being allowed to "be their true-self". First of all, biblically homosexuality is listed as a sin.
With that said, the argument that homosexuality is genetic, therefore OK, is false. They haven't been able to prove that it is genetic. But lets say it is, for arguments sake. The pro-gay side says its who they are, that they were born that way, therefore its the right way for them to live. Ok, I believe that they really do feel this way and I believe that their feelings are completely legitimate, but just because they feel a certain way it doesn't mean they can act on that feeling. If a person is angry, they aren't justified in attacking and killing someone. Are they? OK, this is harsh and not a good parallel, but it is a point. Lets take something that is a bit more parallel. They have proven that pedaphiles are genetically pre-disposed to be attracted to children. Is it wrong for a person to feel this way? No, I don't believe it is, we can't control how we feel. But if they act out on that feeling toward a child we would lock that person up without a second thought. Because it's wrong, regardless of how they feel. Homosexuality is the same way. The feeling may be real, but it doesn't change that the acting out of that lifestyle is wrong in God's eyes.
We as a nation need to repent for allowing our country to get this far; so relaxed and comfortable with sin. To finish up I would like to say that I am not saying these things toward those that choose the gay lifestyle, but I'm saying it to the lifestyle itself. Other than their sexual orientation, their lives are normal and most of them are good people with good intentions. I have family that have chosen the gay lifestyle and although I think they are making a wrong decision, I still love them.
later...
"He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike, are an abomination to the Lord." Pr. 17:15
The courts and legislatures that allowed this law to be signed are wrong and if other states follow with no intervention from Washington I believe we will see the downward spiral of our country.
What bothers me most about the marriage law is that it is a recognition that we as a society are supposed to except the gay lifestyle as a norm. They have "justified" something that God has called sin and "wicked". Everywhere you look the media is trying to convince America that homosexuality is Just another choice and that it's who they are; God made them that way. The TV is filled with shows about gay couples or have gay hosts that make it seem like they're everywhere and its perfectly normal. Well, its not. We were not created by God for this and it is a perversion to say otherwise.
They say that gays are born that way and that they can't help to be that way. They say it is wrong for society to tell people that it is wrong to act on those feelings; that they are not being allowed to "be their true-self". First of all, biblically homosexuality is listed as a sin.
"If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination." Lev. 20:13
With that said, the argument that homosexuality is genetic, therefore OK, is false. They haven't been able to prove that it is genetic. But lets say it is, for arguments sake. The pro-gay side says its who they are, that they were born that way, therefore its the right way for them to live. Ok, I believe that they really do feel this way and I believe that their feelings are completely legitimate, but just because they feel a certain way it doesn't mean they can act on that feeling. If a person is angry, they aren't justified in attacking and killing someone. Are they? OK, this is harsh and not a good parallel, but it is a point. Lets take something that is a bit more parallel. They have proven that pedaphiles are genetically pre-disposed to be attracted to children. Is it wrong for a person to feel this way? No, I don't believe it is, we can't control how we feel. But if they act out on that feeling toward a child we would lock that person up without a second thought. Because it's wrong, regardless of how they feel. Homosexuality is the same way. The feeling may be real, but it doesn't change that the acting out of that lifestyle is wrong in God's eyes.
We as a nation need to repent for allowing our country to get this far; so relaxed and comfortable with sin. To finish up I would like to say that I am not saying these things toward those that choose the gay lifestyle, but I'm saying it to the lifestyle itself. Other than their sexual orientation, their lives are normal and most of them are good people with good intentions. I have family that have chosen the gay lifestyle and although I think they are making a wrong decision, I still love them.
later...
Monday, March 22, 2004
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Hello there! I know...I know. It's been forever since I wrote last. What can I say, I've been getting a lot of maintenance jobs on websites and I haven't had time for my own. but I'm going to be trying to keep up. :)
Let's see, there has been a lot going on but I'm not going to even try to put it all down here right now. My latest project has been trying to get our new computer up and running. I've been looking at getting a new computer for about six years now and I finally got one. i was having problems running software I needed for web design and it was just soooo slow. I decided to buy cheap and then upgrade it myself and it payed off. I got about a $1200 to $1500 computer for $500! It's nice. Athlon 2700 processor, 512 mb of RAM, 80gb Hard Drive, nvidia capture card and DVD burner. Very nice :) I'm currently putting together a movie of our Christmas this year. So I'm sure you will be seeing more of that type of thing soon.
Well, I've got more to say but I need to go clean up play dough and get the girls a snack before bed.
later...
Kurt
Let's see, there has been a lot going on but I'm not going to even try to put it all down here right now. My latest project has been trying to get our new computer up and running. I've been looking at getting a new computer for about six years now and I finally got one. i was having problems running software I needed for web design and it was just soooo slow. I decided to buy cheap and then upgrade it myself and it payed off. I got about a $1200 to $1500 computer for $500! It's nice. Athlon 2700 processor, 512 mb of RAM, 80gb Hard Drive, nvidia capture card and DVD burner. Very nice :) I'm currently putting together a movie of our Christmas this year. So I'm sure you will be seeing more of that type of thing soon.
Well, I've got more to say but I need to go clean up play dough and get the girls a snack before bed.
later...
Kurt