Welcome to Friday - 5.29.15

There is no wisdom, no understand, no counsel that can avail against the Lord - Proverbs 21:30

Welcome to Friday! 

Shout triumphantly to the LORD , all the earth. - Psalm 100:1

Shout with triumphant.  Be bold, excited, joyful, and unceasing in praise and childlike anticipation.  Today is Friday and today is going to be an absolutely stunning and captivating day.  I am expecting something good today, and praying that something even better than the blessings of all of our many yesterdays will come to pass on our behalf.  I'm praying that God's unmatched and tremendous favor will open doors, tear through our trials, demolish all obstacles, and set us up for victory and triumph.

So, how are you doing?  How have you been over the last week or so?  I really meant to write to you last week, but the time just seemed to fly by and before I knew it, Sunday was here.  How did last week go for you?  Did the good breaks, goodness, and joy from last week carry over into this week?  How was this week for that matter?  Did you manage to make and achieve all of your goals, enjoy time with those you love, and get time to recharge and re-energize?  Tell me, how are things going for you and your family?  I hope that you are doing well.  I hope that the last two weeks have featured a tremendous flood of love, grace, and unexpected favor in your life.  I hope that during this week, in some way small or large, you were able to see, feel, and to know just how much God loves you.

My first thoughts about this week was that it was challenging.  That is the word that popped into mind initially.  Challenging came to my because of how hard it was to come back from vacation and an exciting and worship filled weekend.  It is hard enough to get back into the mindset for work after a normal day off, but add a spirit packed weekend, birthday and Memorial Day to the picture, and back to work was a bit of a challenge.  Secondly, challenging came to mind because of just how high the bar was set by the previous week.  The high bar from last week  included such joys and blessings as:

• lunch w/ Trish
• time w/ the girls at the mall 
• free Aunt Annie's pretzel
• Going to my first rodeo
• A fun and funny visit from my nephew Matthew
• It was a joy to have him at the house
• He even stayed for dinner
• Ava enjoyed him tremendously, especially for not telling on her a few times
• Emma put on quite the show
• Gabbi's birthday cake and birthday dinner
• Working out w/ Paige in the morning at the YMCA and then having breakfast
• Sydney's concert at school and her solo during the concert
• worship service on Sunday and the title "Drop it like its hot!"
• preparing and then attending a 72 hour men's event from Thursday - Sunday
• making new friends at the 72 hour men's event
• completing a very emotional talk about our lifelong walk in faith
• competing in all of the basketball games during the week
• winning more than we lost
• Even winning when we played 30 and over versus 25 and younger
• finishing key assignments at work

When I went to bed last night my word for the week was challenging, but this morning I woke up and I had a different word: blessed.

Blessed!  I thought about how many wonderful and amazing things happened this week and I began to realize that this week was as they say, "blessed and highly favored!"  How many people can have back to back weeks of fun, family, friends, faith, and great food.  This week started with the conclusion of the 72 hour men's event.  It was a weekend complete with moving testimonies from men who spoke about feeling, seeing and receiving God's love for the first time, or for the first time in years.  I got to see hard hearts that arrived on Thursday night, thawed into smiles and laughter.  Not to mention that I was able to celebrate my birthday with cake, ice cream and family after it was all over.  

Monday was a great day of rest, and I really needed it more than I imagined.  I was worn out from all of the late nights running around at the camp and the early mornings trying to get things ready for the men's event.  I think I woke up Monday about an hour later than normal and then stayed in bed for another half hour.  Once I got up, Trish took me out for my birthday and to pick up some presents.  I went around and  picked up all the free birthday offers that I could.  We got a free dinner at Fatz, a free burger from Ruby Tuesdays, and a free coffee from Starbucks.  I will probably pick up my birthday cookie from Panera tomorrow, and try to use my coupon for Denny's too.  I had a lot of fun cashing in on free stuff, and then crashing on the couch for a short nap before going out with Trish to run errands.  We also had a great time cooking out.  We had hotdogs, grilled chicken, veggies, and some shrimp for our pescatarian (Sydney).

The rest of the week was blessed with excitement from the girls and polishing off the rest of the cake from two birthdays, a dash out for 1/2 price shakes during an exam study break, and rounds of laughter. 

Sydney and Paige had concerts, performances, school reports, talent shows and award performances.  Gabbi and Cassarra were keeping us on our toes as we had to remind them about exams.  They both have finals, re-takes, and end of the year projects to complete before the last day of school.  Sydney and Paige have awards programs today.  Paige received all A's and so did Sydney.  

Ava and Emma are doing well.  As always the two of them keep us busy and manage to keep things lively.  Ava is so excited that school is coming to a close.  She has been to the girls awards programs and you can just sense that she knows the summer is coming.  I hope the older girls are prepared for an all day play-a-thon with Ava and Emma.  

Trish is doing well.  She was able to hold down the fort while I was gone at Emmaus.  She listened to me gush with excitement over the weekend events, good food, and jokes that were shared.  She was glad that I enjoyed things, and I was glad that she was able to make it through the weekend without incident.  I'm also glad the other girls helped, and that the little ones seemed to behave.  The time away also helped me see more clearly that Trish is an amazing woman, and that her faith is powerful and effective.  This week she has been very busy between school shows and performances, pictures and photo albums, and getting ready for summer.  She has also helped encourage all of us w/ her Bible study reading and journal entries.  I tell her all the time that she has a great witness, powerful story, and very amazing spirit of understanding.

This week's blessings include:

• birthday cake and ice cream
• lunch w/ Trish
• freebies (burgers, chicken tenders, and coffee)
• extra sleep on Monday
• two days off from work
• time w/ Ava and Emma
• fixing some issues at work
• working on my writing
• milkshakes w/ the girls
• an exam breaker w/ the high school crew
• The Cavaliers winning their series
• safe travel
• making new friends at the Emmaus men's event
• delivering a devotional at the weekend
• I managed to stay under 15 minutes
• I managed not to cry
• I only lost my place once
• being encouraged by friends and family
• prayers of friends
• working out w/ Paige at the YMCA
• breakfast w/ Paige
• splitting the week series in basketball 1 and 1
• taking the high road w/ a co-worker at work
• great homemade dinners from Thursday - Wednesday
• watching the girls reap the rewards of hard work in school
• spending time dreaming
• hearing good clean jokes over the weekend
• touring office spaces in Columbia and getting to see the city from a penthouse view

Maybe the week would be challenging if I only looked at it once, and only looked at it from one angle.  But, upon further review - this week was blessed.  I hope that you have had a wonderful week and that you are doing well.  I hope that you weekend will bring with it blessings, refreshment, renewal, and loads of fun.  

God be with you to bless and nourish you.

God be with you to shine his light upon you.

God be with you to give you wisdom and strength.

God be with you pouring out his love and grace upon you.

God be with you to make this Friday fantastic!  

And above all - God be with you always!

Welcome to Friday!

But the unfailing love of the Eternal is always

 and eternal for those who reverently run after Him. 

He extends His justice on and on to future generations, 

To those who will keep His bond of love and

remember to walk in the guidance of His commands.  

Psalm 103:17-18 (VOICE)

Welcome to Friday! - 5.15.15

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:4 (ESV)

Welcome to Friday

Happy Friday!  How was your day?  Was it indeed filled and overloaded with grace and mercy.  How are you doing?  How have things been going for you this week?  What have you been up to and what kind of neat and amazing things have you accomplished during the past week or two?  

I'm sure that you have had a very fulfilling, exciting, very successful, prosperous, and enjoyable week.  I pray that things went according to your plan, and if they didn't I sincerely hope that things went better than expected or that they will begin to pick up in a mighty way shortly.

As for me, I am fully convinced that this has been a wonderful and jam packed couple of weeks.  And I am firmly fixed in my opinion that this week in particular was awesome.  It started with an awesome Friday night date with Trish.  The older girls volunteered some of their time to give us a quick night out.  We were able to enjoy some good conversation and a really nice meal.  We spent most of Saturday getting ready for Mother's Day.  We both had some shopping to do and some finishing touches to put on.  I managed to get some time in the yard to get it back into shape.  I even had three little helpers come out and cheer me on, travel to pick up supplies, and coach me on what needed to be fixed.  I had a number of small victories including repairing a weed eater, fixing a sprinkler head, cleaning out the garden, and staking my tomato plants.  Fixing the sprinkler was a big victory and a lesson on the value of clear instructions and YouTube "How-to" videos.  After all my hard work Trish took me out for a bite to eat in between a trip to pick up the last items on her list.  

Sunday was a wonderful time spent with family celebrating Mother's Day in Georgetown. It was good to spend time with our family.  We all enjoyed the time together and missed seeing Alex and his family on this trip.  The  food prepared was great.  As usual I snacked a bit too much and was stuffed by the time dinner rolled around.  Even our trip back from Georgetown, while later than planned, was good.  The little girls went to sleep for part of the trip, and didn't get to worked up when they were awake.

One of the biggest highlights of the week was getting to go to lunch with Trish, Ava and Emma.  The rest of this week has been an adventure in love, grace, joy, laughter, and blessings.  We have enjoyed so many things this week.  We have enjoyed neat dinners, lunch together during a busy work day, family dinner at the table, success in AP testing for the girls, and walks during the cool of evening.  Paige and I enjoyed a workout together this morning, and Cassarra and Paige joined me on Thursday morning as well.  

Ava and Emma have provided some hilarious moments during the week. Sydney and Paige are counting down to the end of school and their end of school events.  Cassarra and Gabbi are taking AP exams and other end of year tests.  Cassarra hasn't been thrilled about all the testing, but she has enjoyed having the afternoons off after the test completes.  One day she went to a pizza joint with her friends and "recouped."  

Trish is doing well.  The trip wore her down a bit, but she is recovering slowly and will hopefully get some rest this weekend.  She did some amazing photos of the girls this week and over the past couple of weeks.  She has updated a new family album with photos from Easter, birthdays, and ordinary days.  There are some absolutely adorable photos of Ava and Emma.  

I have so much to be thankful for including:

• Having time and strength to cut the grass in the yard
• Short wait at the DMV (less than 25 minutes) to register the car
• Getting an unbelievable gift from my oldest sister
• Sprucing up the yard and fixing the garden
• Spending time w/ Trish
• Impromptu lunch date at Panera w/ Trish, Ava and Emma
• Going out on a date night w/ Trish
• Getting a great cup of coffee from Starbucks on Sunday
• Getting a free cup of coffee from Starbucks
• Save travel for Mother's Day
• Laughter at the dinner table last night
• Hearing the story from Cassarra on finding Emma under the bed playing the harmonica
• Ava trying to lock me in her bedroom at bedtime so I wouldn't leave.  
• Hearing Ava laugh as she said, "You'll never leave now"
• Hearing the other kids laugh at Ava too
• Making up a "Once upon a time" story for Ava and Emma
• We made up two short stories and one long one
• We added a lady bug to every scene in one of Emma's books
• Fixing dinner on Thursday night for the family
• Cassarra's band concert
• Sydney's honor choir award from last week's performance
• Workouts with Paige
• Still laughing from Rev. Dicks' first Sunday sermon on handling hard times
• What is a hard time: when you have times so tough that "Even the roaches are on strike protesting for more food!"
• What do you do: Keep your hands in the master's hands
• Finishing the first week of work under our new organization structure
• Paige's appointment at the doctor went well
• Last week Cassarra group received a Superior rating in their "Solo and Ensemble" performance

This has been a good week and I am looking forward to an amazing weekend.  I hope that you will have an absolutely blessed and joyful weekend.  I hope that Friday is fully favored, blessed, joyful, and the perfect compliment to end your week and kick start your weekend.  As always take care and... 

Welcome to Friday

--

May God with infinite and matchless brilliance,

awesome and undeniable power

go to work to deliver you, bless you, empower

and give you strength.  God, mighty and almighty, 

be the source of your joy - giving you a unshakable

hope, and the courage, confidence, and assurance

that flows freely from the fullness of His steadfast love

towards you.  Have a fantastic Friday!

Welcome to Friday - 4.24.15

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving

 let your requests be made known to God.  - Philippians 4:6

Welcome to Friday!

I hope you are as excited about the weekend as I am.  I am ready!  I am excited!  I am looking forward to an amazing end to the week and a fantastic weekend.  So, how are you doing?  How was your week?  What have you been up to this week?  What was your big breakthrough accomplishment this week?  I am praying that you had a really good, make that excellent week filled and overflowing.  I hope that you are doing well in all aspects of your life and your life's journey.  As always, you are in my thoughts and prayers that God will continue to look upon your with favor, love, and infinite compassion.  

I had a great week!  It was under girded and rooted all week in prayer and especially in the meditation on the verses from Philippians, "Do not be anxious... and the peace of God will guard your hearts and mind..."  What a blessing it was to have the peace of God guarding my heart, when our COO announced a surprise drop in (which typically means layoff), and I had to handle employee reviews at the same time.  Trish kept holding me to my word, that God would give me peace, and she also held me to the truth that God is opening doors... even when we don't see it.  In the end, I had peace, our COO dropped in, asked me to take on the next step in my job growth, and asked for my help in understanding employee morale.  I will stay prayed up as we transition yet again to new management and leadership.

I think the prayers of friends, family, co-workers, my own, and especially Trish's helped me be settled and enjoy the week.  My week was filled with laughs and amazement.  The girls amazed me with story telling, jokes, school days, and a near "riot and mutiny" over eating beans/soup for dinner.  I knew something funny/fishy was up when I received this emergency text "Dad pick up pizza!"  I laughed so hard that night watching the girls hold their noses, cry, moan, and beg for pizza.  It was hilarious.  The beans/soup was actually quite nice, but the girls were not fans.  

The laughs kept coming as Ava finally hit the tipping point with Emma and her annunciation skills.  "Dad," she said, "tell her stop calling me Amma."  This was after Emma told me that Ava (or Amma, as she calls her) should wash first.  Later that night, Ava decided to play a game of bedtime hide and seek.  She opened her door for what seemed like the hundredth time.  Only this time, she pretend to leave the room, and was instead hiding underneath the bed.  We called and called her name, but she was as quiet as a church mouse.  After the panic, and a proper ole-timey response to her bedtime antics, she went fast to sleep.  Later, much later, after blood pressure medicine, water, prayer, and lots of deep breathing we were able to go back to bed.

For the past couple of nights we have had the blessing of a sit down dinner on multiple weeknights.  Each night erupted into a fun laugh fest at the dinner table.  We would do Bible study, and then somehow the topics would trigger a highly unrelated story that produced much laughter.  Sometimes it would start with a story, other times it was a reaction by the little people, but each night it was good.  Laughter is such a blessing, we probably should do it more often.  

We also had really good news from a number of the girls.  Cassarra is being inducted into the National Honor Society.  Sydney wrote an amazing essay about why parents shouldn't be BFFs but disciplinarians.  Paige had a field trip that we almost completely forgot about.  She had a blast, although I'm still waiting to hear what they did.  So far she has only shared stuff about the bus driver going past the school, almost hitting someone crossing the street, and her getting mud on her new shoes.  Ava and Emma, well they were themselves (full on toddlers).  Emma was hilarious on Sunday sporting various bangles and jewelry from members of the church.  Trish and I were initially mortified when she started wondering off.  She seems to have it down to a science.  As soon as someone announces, "Let us pray", she wiggles free and heads for the nearest open exit, open purse, or open set of arms.  Gabbi is doing well, although she is not excited that her foot is still not fully mended.

We went shoe shopping and it was even more hilarious.  Trish always talks about the kids shopping habits and I wondered how bad could it be.  Well, I wonder no more.  In one incident we wanted the girls to pick out new shoes b/c the current ones have lived a long hard life.  At the first store, they immediately went to the items way, way out of their budget, then procrastinated for 15 minutes without looking at another shoe.  At the next store, I asked Paige if she found a shoe that she liked, and she said yes, but made no effort to show me the shoe or try it on for several minutes.

More blessings this week:

• We had a very good planning meeting on Monday
• A good meeting with the COO
• Approval to add a new hire to my current team
• A productive set of meetings with an area IT recruiter

• Hopeful leads on some job candidates
• The unexpected benefit of making a few others take notices
• Generated some opportunities and options for myself 
• Productive training at work
• Spending time writing and working on some new writing projects
• Sunday's service was great

• Trish's poem at church was phenomenal
• I knew she would be excellent, but she was even more amazing
• Ice cream run on Wednesday night
• Shoe shopping laughs with Paige and Sydney
• Pizza dinner w/ the girls and our surprise family guest, Britanny

• Lots of laughts
• Way too much Batman discussion

Welcome to Friday!  I hope that you have a great weekend.  I pray that you are able to get rested and recharged for the joy and thrills of next week. As always, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4:7

Welcome to Friday!

The Eternal and Gracious God make your paths bright,

 by the light of his presence the glory of his grace.

The Merciful and Loving God make your heart full,

 through the giving of His joy, hope, and peace.

The Mighty and Everlasting God make your days prosperous,

by His own awesome, triumphant, and limitless power

The Creator and Sustainer God, who is eternal, gracious, merciful, loving, 

mighty and everlasting make His home and presence with you.

The One who loves you, be with you and with those you love.  Amen.

Welcome to Friday - 4.17.15

Welcome to Friday!

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth Psalm 124:8

Join me in exhaling deeply, and exclaiming with great, tremendous and thunderous delight - Welcome to Friday!  I am so glad that today is Friday and that the week has drawn to an amazing and successful close.  

How are you doing?  How did things go with you this week?  How did you feel throughout the week?  Were you excited, amazed, thrilled, stretched, challenged, or all of the above?  What was the most amazing part of your week?  Tell me about that moment when you were taken aback, surprised, and/or overwhelmed with joy?  I hope that you are doing well and that you were able to experience excitement, thrills, challenges, stretching, success, blessings, prosperity, and the moments that made you joyful and grateful.

My most amazing moment of the week took place over the weekend when Cassarra came down for pictures before prom.  I was simply amazed that this young lady standing in my hallway was once the little girl that I could hold with one arm.  I was so overwhelmed by the realization that so many years have past and my baby girl is growing up.  Even though she is seventeen years old, I still can remember the day she was born, the days she dressed in "Blue's Clues" from head to toe, and the first day of school.  It just seems like it all happened in a blink of an eye.  Trish took tons of pictures and I caught a few on my phone to remember the moment.  After she went to prom with her friends, Trish and I, both thought about - when did we get a child old enough to go to prom?  While we waited up for Cassarra we laughed about our own prom date and laughed.  Sydney also stayed up with us too.  

The rest of the week took off from the excitement of Saturday.  On Sunday Trish and I took the girls to lunch to celebrate their report cards after worship service.  Ava and Emma were behaved during most of dinner and that was such a blessing.  Normally our dinners include one of us walking around with the little two, so that the other parent can enjoy their food.  This time it worked out better than normal and Ava and Emma behaved for most of dinner.  We sat around the table and talked about prom, the past week, church service, the upcoming week, and school.  Trish laid down the challenge to the girls to finish strong and knock it out the park in the final quarter.

Monday - Wednesday was a blur.  I was responsible for getting things setup for a conference in downtown Columbia this week.  The company I work for was one of the sponsoring companies.  I was given the chance to represent the company at our booth.  I thought it was going to be so much fun and a great break from work.  I was wrong.  This was no break from work!  It was a lot of work.  Monday was a day of getting things ready; preparing demos, updating systems, collecting marketing material, reviewing product information, purchasing gift cards and give away trinkets.  I had to round up a collection of ink pens, power cords, monitors, and extra laptops.  On Tuesday and Wednesday I had to set up and take down the booth, and that required a long day.  I had to get to the conference by 6:30 am for setup and stay until after 5pm to take it all back down again.  Not to mention manning the booth, taking resumes, talking with other companies, partners, students, and job seekers.  It was fun, but so exhausting too.  Not only was I exhausted, but so was Trish.  Since I had to leave so early, Trish had to get up extra early to get the girls to school.

Wednesday night Trish and Gabbi enjoyed a movie preview night.  They both enjoyed the time out together and the movie sounded really exciting.  According to Trish it is about a girl who stops aging.  I don't want to give it all away, but Trish gave Syndey and Paige the highlights this morning and I listened in.  Trish is a great story teller.  She remembered so many key details of the movie and described it so vividly that it felt like you were watching the characters in front of your own eyes.  You could feel the intensity and the suspense and see the drama.  The name of the movie is "Age of Adaline."

It has been a really amazing week and I am so thankful for

• Traveling with Emma without incident
• Getting new sofas for the house
• Cassarra enjoying the prom and coming home safely
• Trish and I capturing our daughters first prom on camera
• Feeling better after two weeks of fighting a cold
• The opportunity to represent the company at a local conference
• A busy, but very good work week
• Spending some time in a great venue in Columbia
• Learning about new technologies and job opportunities in the area
• Trish and I making it through sending our first child to prom
• A nice dinner on Sunday to celebrate grades and kicking off a final quarter
• Pizza night on Thursday with throwback stories of funny memories
• Playing a fun game of basketball on Monday
• Writing!  Getting back to writing this week
• Receiving some compliments on my work performance
• Getting some ideas, tips, and career advice from an old friend
• Planting my garden on Saturday
• Spending time preparing the lawn
• Finally starting to get over this head cold and allergies
• Coffee date on Sunday
• The Joyce Meyer conference on Friday night

It was a really good week and I nearly forgot about the conference that we went to on Friday. I really enjoyed the Joyce Meyer conference and the words of hope, encouragement, and truth she shared.  I really liked some of the phrases  (not necessarily direct quotes) she shared like:

• Change doesn't start at the top, but in the valley of nowhere, where no one knows your name, and no one cares. (I like this one as a reminder that dreams often start small, but they can grow quickly)
• Change is something we need and want, but it is not easy.
• If you'd stay on the attack, you wouldn't always be under attack.  
• If you ever want to be truly happy, you have to help someone else.
• If we don't worship God in the wilderness, we won't worship God on the mountain
• Be more excited about how far you've come, than you are discouraged about how far you have left to go.

Well, I hope you had a great week.  I hope that you have some plans for relaxation and rest this weekend.  Be sure to have a time to yourself and to enjoy your loved ones and friends.  God bless you and...

Welcome to Friday

--- Cassius Rhue

"Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.'" (Job 28:28)

Love is irresistible, irrefutable, undeniable. Nothing rises to it. The dark side of our character has no weapon against it. It's our trump card. - Jim Daly

Psalm 121:1-2

I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?  

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 

God, lift your eyes to heaven, the highest heaven, 

where your holy and heavenly Father dwells.

Father God, You made heaven and earth and in Your

creative power we ask You to bless us.  

Help us in our time of need and be with us in all things throughout this journey.

Indeed we praise You, our creator, our joy, and our help!

You want... God wants

I was speaking this to my soul this morning and decided to share with you.  

You want a good week with good things happening for you and in your life.  You want joy, excitement, challenges, victory, success, open doors, and blessings.  You want health for yourself, for your children, and for your family.  You want a good life, with justice, peace, safety, protection, and comfort. You want riches and favor.   You want all this..., right?

God wants you to enjoy all of this and more.  God wants you to enjoy great things in your life now and in the life to come.  God wants you to have joy, excitement, challenges, victory, success, and blessings in your spiritual and physical life.  And He is able and in the process of opening the doors for you to receive blessings that you have only dreamed of and heard about.  

You want health, how about wholeness, restoration, renewal and new life.  You want a good life with justice, peace, safety, protection and comfort.  God wants you to have a life in mercy, experience justice, grace, peace that passes all understanding, and the comfort of abiding in his presence.  

God wants you to feel the satisfaction of His strength, the comfort of His place of refuge, and the calm that comes when His presence speaks to your storm, walks on your rough waters, or scoops you up in the midst of the darkest valley.  God has a storehouse that will never be tapped out, water that never runs dry, bread that never goes stale, and favor that makes a country mile feel look like the width of the smallest hair on your head.  

You want good, God wants great!  You want wonderful, God wants something that you can't even begin to get your imagination around or your wildest dreams to contain.  You want... God wants you and wants to love you endlessly, recklessly, abundantly, graciously, fearlessly, unconditionally, and eternally!

I guess it comes down to whose life you want, yours or God's?

I want what God wants for my life...,

 and yet my flesh is always at war within me to settle for less.  

May God, infinite and strong win the battle and guide my will to seek His all.

Welcome to Friday - 5.1.15

Welcome to Friday!

What a week!  What a week it has been and I am so thankful that today is Friday.  So, tell me, how are you doing?  How is everything going for you this week?  I hope that you had a really amazing week and that things went really well for you during the week.   

I pray that you have had a week that was even better than you hoped and planned.  If you had a cup, I hope it ran over with goodness and mercy.  If you had a bucket, I pray that it was filled and bursting over the brim from grace.  And if you had a tank, a tower, and/or a silo - I pray that it too has been filled, bursting, overflowing, and running over with steadfast love, unmerited favor, endless grace, and unshakable joy.  I hope your week has been so wonderful and blessed! 

I had to stop and ask Trish where did the week go.  Seriously!  It has been a really good week, but I am really glad that it has come to a joyful, successful, and timely end.  I had a number of irons in the fire and a number of projects going on at work and home (translation, I was overextended this week).  Everyday seemed to run from sun up to sun down.  I spent a large part of the week buried in the office or buried in the computer dealing or understanding something at the office.  

The best part of my week was each afternoon, coming home to Ava opening the door with a big smile, Emma running in behind her, and then getting inside to see Trish's smiling face and that of the other girls.  What a great blessing to have a family that is filled with love and finds ways to appreciate one another.  I had an especially blessed afternoon when Ava told Trish that she was excited to see me, and that "Daddy will be so happy to see me!"  Last night when I tucked her in, I said, "Ava, I was so happy to see you when I got home."  She smiled from ear to ear and her eyes were bright as diamonds in the sunlight.  It will be a mental image to hang on to for days.

All in all, we are doing well.  The girls are busy and winding down for the year.  They had testing this week.  Gabbi is preparing for her dance class performance.  Due to her foot injury she will be working behind the scenes.  I know she is a bit disappointed, but she has made the best of it and I am confident that it will lead to a blessing for her.  

I am thankful for so many blessings this week.  If I had a cup it would have run over with laughs, love, success, open doors, friendships, and great family time.  I am thankful for

• A date night with Trish.  I cooked for her and it turned out nice
• Sydney provided security for our restaurant (the dining room)
• Emma didn't try to help me eat my dinner this time
• A great trip to Georgetown on Saturday
• Time spent with my mom and dad
• Eating lunch with mom at the house 
• Daddy fixes up a plow for my garden.
• A chance to see Vincent and get some good laughs in as usual
• Laughing at our college days
• Laughing at the idea of our nephew working in the summer heat
• Someone eating deer sausage without knowing it
• Country air, country views, and safe travels
• A great worship service on Sunday
• An amazing grace filled testimony from one of the youth on Sunday
• Pizza night on Tuesday at the house
• Taking Ava to the store and hearing her talk about her growing "wish list"
• Ava declared she didn't want this toy on her wish list, she wanted it now
• Usually, telling her its on the "wish list" worked - I think that one is over now
• Getting through employee reviews
• Great game of basketball on Wednesday
• Seeing an old friend working at the soup kitchen on Thursday
• Completing a devotional for an upcoming event
• The girls all getting through a week of standardized testing
• Changing the lights without incident
• Fixing the light in the garage without throwing a breaker or sparking again
• Fixing the high ceiling light while keeping Emma off the 10 foot ladder

I am praying right now that your Friday and your weekend will be phenomenal.  I am praying that your weekend will cap off a great week, and that you will find rest and renewal.  Enjoy your weekend and as always...

Welcome to Friday!

--- Cassius Rhue 

"Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.'" (Job 28:28)

Love is irresistible, irrefutable, undeniable. Nothing rises to it. The dark side of our character has no weapon against it. It's our trump card. - Jim Daly