Day 3 – Recreation and Karaoke
This blog is being written from the recreation center during the big karaoke night. The room is full of American Idol wannabees. At the top of the list are my wife and daughter, both of whom can’t wait to sing. The rest of us aren’t quite as excited about it, but it should be fun anyway. I’ll narrate the day's event on the blog with live updates from the interesting occurrences at the karaoke.
Warming up during my prayer time this morning at 7:45 am were two girls and their mom. They were singing country songs, waiting for the recreation center open. Do you know how hard it is to pray when three girls are singing country music acapella and off-tune? Fortunately, they left after 8 minutes. I guess prayer does work!
We try to have themed devotions on vacation. In the past we’ve done Ocean Devotions (Galveston), Mountain Devotions (Gatlinburg), and Desert Devotions (Palm Springs). This year we took a good look around and decided the most appropriate topic was bugs. They are everywhere here in the Ozarks. So here are this year’s Bug Devotions, one for each day of the week:
1. Ants are small creatures, but smart. They work hard when it’s warm so they can have a vacation when it’s cold. All the small kids in the family can pitch in to help out with the work and be a big help. One of the reasons we work hard during the school year is so that we can take a break in the summer when school is out. (Proverbs 6:6; 30:25)
2. Hornets/wasps are frightening, but they can be controlled by God. He used them to scare his enemies so that the Israelites could defeat them. (Exodus 23:28; Deuteronomy 7:20; Joshua 24:12)
3. Gnats show us that we shouldn’t worry about little things when we have big problems. In Matthew 23:24, Jesus pointed out the error of the Pharisees in straining out a small harmless thing from the water you drink when you are about to swallow something far more dangerous (a camel).
4. Moths destroy clothes and fabric as the eggs hatch and the babies eat whatever they can find. Something we have that looks pretty can easily be ruined, so we shouldn’t get too attached to stuff (Matt 6:19; Luke 12:33; James 5:2).
5. Spiders make webs that take a lot of time and effort for them to build. While they look neat and are amazing, they aren’t very strong and certainly wouldn’t hold anyone up. People who don’t follow God think they are building a life for themselves, but it’s not strong enough to hold them up when they lean on it (Job 8:13-15).
6. Locusts in Revelation are used by the Devil to torment people that don’t follow God (Revelation 9:3-6). Just like God allowed the locusts to plague the Egyptians to get their attention, the Devil will use the biting pain of earthly things to discourage and torment people who don’t follow God.
7. Bees provide us a very special treat, honey. It is one of God’s sweetest gifts to us, but we have to work to enjoy it. Samson got honey, but only when he fought through the bees to scrape out the honey (Judges 14:8-9). Many of God’s blessings to us are like that, requiring us to make an effort to take full advantage of them.
Our kids enjoy the daily devotions from a same theme and it’s amazing all the stuff they can remember!
This has been a slow day in the Ozarks. They’re calling for rain Tuesday and Wednesday, so we decided to hang around here and do outside stuff. We played a little badminton in the morning and the kids enjoyed the playground. The indoor pool and hot tub were the location of most of the fun from 10:30 – 12:00, while I played basketball. After almost losing the resort’s basketball in the lake, I decided I had better get in the pool instead.
It was a nice, medium sized pool, with nice, cool water and not too crowded. Everyone was there except for Adam. He preferred to stay in the room and play his new Sim Theme Park game.
Ian, Adam, and Talon have created a neat theme park of their own on that game. It’s pretty humorous to hear them talk about going into debt, changing their admission costs, costs of employment, and other business terms. I think they’re really learning a lot about business.
Well the karaoke is starting. They began with thanking God and now we’re starting with a very high rendition of God Bless the U.S.A. It was a nice gesture. The lady up front is wearing a flag around her neck like a scarf. I thought that was a breach of flag etiquette. Oh well. As long as you’re singing a patriotic song, I guess it’s ok.
Now she’s singing Crazy by Patsy Cline. Maybe more appropriate than she intended.
After lunch in Dezi’s kitchen (chicken alfredo, breadsticks, and salad), there were differences of opinion on what to do for the afternoon. The wives and little kids went to the beach
to play, while Mike, Ian, and I stayed behind and played game cube. We played a classic Eighties game called “Rampart”, and Ian torched Mike and me.
After awhile, we joined the rest of the family out on the beach, where the highlight of the day was Mike seeing a snake in the water. Sandy, Dezi, and I vacated the lake and went back to the beach. Mike and Ian went out in search of the snake with a paddle, but weren’t able to find it.
I sat on the beach for another hour reading a book I checked out from Central’s library last week: “The Jesus Crisis”. It’s an examination of historical criticism from a Biblical perspective, explaining the philosophical underpinnings that make it an inappropriate method for understanding Scripture. Thanks to Mr. Reese for suggesting it to me. The authors are both professors at John MacArthur’s The Master’s Seminary, which made it even more interesting to me. It is very well documented and highly recommended.
The karaoke is turning into a strange concert by a couple of ladies here. I’m looking forward to getting Anna up there soon. However, the kids are having fun.
Devin and Alex are putting together a puzzle. 
Adam and Talon are playing Jenga.
[This is Mike writing as David is up taking a picture of Anna singing her Karaoke song. There is finally some real talent up front. So far, it has been more like Croak-e singing. Well, David’s back.]
Anna’s singing one of her favorite Zoegirl songs, “Beautiful Name”. She really has enjoyed all of vacation this week, and this was something she was really looking forward to.
Here’s a picture of her.
The lady in yellow is the host and the sound man is back there.
Sandy and I are trying to find something to sing. Just listened to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and I actually heard Mike and Dezi singing.
So Sandy has decided that we will sing I’ll Fly Away. Sounds like fun to me right now. Here's a shot of us doing it.
Well, we only have one or two more songs to wait for. I think it's time for bed, but Alex and Anna are going to sing the Brady Bunch theme song and Dezi and Sandy are trying to find a song. As soon as the Fincher kids sing, we're out of here, although Mike and Dezi are looking for something right now.
Sandy made Mexican food for supper and we had a great time together. A special treat was a chocolate milk brand that Mike has a hard time finding, but he saw it in Mountain Home. Promised Land Chocolate Milk
Ok, the kids just sang the Brady Bunch, and it was a real crowd pleaser. I thought we would have a video clip, but technical difficulties came up. Oh well, you can take our word for it.
I'm going to let you go for now. Tomorrow, we have a very special road trip and a celebration of Independence Day. And hopefully it will rain and cool off some.
Warming up during my prayer time this morning at 7:45 am were two girls and their mom. They were singing country songs, waiting for the recreation center open. Do you know how hard it is to pray when three girls are singing country music acapella and off-tune? Fortunately, they left after 8 minutes. I guess prayer does work!
We try to have themed devotions on vacation. In the past we’ve done Ocean Devotions (Galveston), Mountain Devotions (Gatlinburg), and Desert Devotions (Palm Springs). This year we took a good look around and decided the most appropriate topic was bugs. They are everywhere here in the Ozarks. So here are this year’s Bug Devotions, one for each day of the week:
1. Ants are small creatures, but smart. They work hard when it’s warm so they can have a vacation when it’s cold. All the small kids in the family can pitch in to help out with the work and be a big help. One of the reasons we work hard during the school year is so that we can take a break in the summer when school is out. (Proverbs 6:6; 30:25)
2. Hornets/wasps are frightening, but they can be controlled by God. He used them to scare his enemies so that the Israelites could defeat them. (Exodus 23:28; Deuteronomy 7:20; Joshua 24:12)
3. Gnats show us that we shouldn’t worry about little things when we have big problems. In Matthew 23:24, Jesus pointed out the error of the Pharisees in straining out a small harmless thing from the water you drink when you are about to swallow something far more dangerous (a camel).
4. Moths destroy clothes and fabric as the eggs hatch and the babies eat whatever they can find. Something we have that looks pretty can easily be ruined, so we shouldn’t get too attached to stuff (Matt 6:19; Luke 12:33; James 5:2).
5. Spiders make webs that take a lot of time and effort for them to build. While they look neat and are amazing, they aren’t very strong and certainly wouldn’t hold anyone up. People who don’t follow God think they are building a life for themselves, but it’s not strong enough to hold them up when they lean on it (Job 8:13-15).
6. Locusts in Revelation are used by the Devil to torment people that don’t follow God (Revelation 9:3-6). Just like God allowed the locusts to plague the Egyptians to get their attention, the Devil will use the biting pain of earthly things to discourage and torment people who don’t follow God.
7. Bees provide us a very special treat, honey. It is one of God’s sweetest gifts to us, but we have to work to enjoy it. Samson got honey, but only when he fought through the bees to scrape out the honey (Judges 14:8-9). Many of God’s blessings to us are like that, requiring us to make an effort to take full advantage of them.
Our kids enjoy the daily devotions from a same theme and it’s amazing all the stuff they can remember!
This has been a slow day in the Ozarks. They’re calling for rain Tuesday and Wednesday, so we decided to hang around here and do outside stuff. We played a little badminton in the morning and the kids enjoyed the playground. The indoor pool and hot tub were the location of most of the fun from 10:30 – 12:00, while I played basketball. After almost losing the resort’s basketball in the lake, I decided I had better get in the pool instead.
It was a nice, medium sized pool, with nice, cool water and not too crowded. Everyone was there except for Adam. He preferred to stay in the room and play his new Sim Theme Park game. Ian, Adam, and Talon have created a neat theme park of their own on that game. It’s pretty humorous to hear them talk about going into debt, changing their admission costs, costs of employment, and other business terms. I think they’re really learning a lot about business.
Well the karaoke is starting. They began with thanking God and now we’re starting with a very high rendition of God Bless the U.S.A. It was a nice gesture. The lady up front is wearing a flag around her neck like a scarf. I thought that was a breach of flag etiquette. Oh well. As long as you’re singing a patriotic song, I guess it’s ok.
Now she’s singing Crazy by Patsy Cline. Maybe more appropriate than she intended.
After lunch in Dezi’s kitchen (chicken alfredo, breadsticks, and salad), there were differences of opinion on what to do for the afternoon. The wives and little kids went to the beach
to play, while Mike, Ian, and I stayed behind and played game cube. We played a classic Eighties game called “Rampart”, and Ian torched Mike and me.After awhile, we joined the rest of the family out on the beach, where the highlight of the day was Mike seeing a snake in the water. Sandy, Dezi, and I vacated the lake and went back to the beach. Mike and Ian went out in search of the snake with a paddle, but weren’t able to find it.
I sat on the beach for another hour reading a book I checked out from Central’s library last week: “The Jesus Crisis”. It’s an examination of historical criticism from a Biblical perspective, explaining the philosophical underpinnings that make it an inappropriate method for understanding Scripture. Thanks to Mr. Reese for suggesting it to me. The authors are both professors at John MacArthur’s The Master’s Seminary, which made it even more interesting to me. It is very well documented and highly recommended.The karaoke is turning into a strange concert by a couple of ladies here. I’m looking forward to getting Anna up there soon. However, the kids are having fun.
Devin and Alex are putting together a puzzle. Adam and Talon are playing Jenga. [This is Mike writing as David is up taking a picture of Anna singing her Karaoke song. There is finally some real talent up front. So far, it has been more like Croak-e singing. Well, David’s back.]
Anna’s singing one of her favorite Zoegirl songs, “Beautiful Name”. She really has enjoyed all of vacation this week, and this was something she was really looking forward to.
Here’s a picture of her.The lady in yellow is the host and the sound man is back there.
Sandy and I are trying to find something to sing. Just listened to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and I actually heard Mike and Dezi singing.
So Sandy has decided that we will sing I’ll Fly Away. Sounds like fun to me right now. Here's a shot of us doing it.
Well, we only have one or two more songs to wait for. I think it's time for bed, but Alex and Anna are going to sing the Brady Bunch theme song and Dezi and Sandy are trying to find a song. As soon as the Fincher kids sing, we're out of here, although Mike and Dezi are looking for something right now.
Sandy made Mexican food for supper and we had a great time together. A special treat was a chocolate milk brand that Mike has a hard time finding, but he saw it in Mountain Home. Promised Land Chocolate Milk
Ok, the kids just sang the Brady Bunch, and it was a real crowd pleaser. I thought we would have a video clip, but technical difficulties came up. Oh well, you can take our word for it.
I'm going to let you go for now. Tomorrow, we have a very special road trip and a celebration of Independence Day. And hopefully it will rain and cool off some.
posted by Central Christian College of the Bible at
8:19 PM
