It is good to be back home.  I enjoy taking time off but it is always great to come back to the place we call home.   Yesterday we drove for 12 hours and got in late last night. 

I have heard great reports of our service today.  I know we had 119 in attendance.  The word is that the guest speaker did a tremendous job.  We look forward to be back in church for the Wednesday evening service. 

While on vacation, we did something we rarely do; spend a lot of time with friends.  Vacation for the Cheney’s is usually the time that we get away and just enjoy time with our family.  This vacation, however, was different.  When some of our friends found out we were coming down, they started making arrangements to see us. 

We had alot of fun dividing our time up with different friends that we have known for years.  It was time to catch up and just share a meal together.  After the week was done, we reflected on the many meals we had with friends.  We did not have much down time, but it was a great vacation just being with friends and family.

This reunion made me hungry for Heaven.  All of our friends and family live a long way away from us.  We do not see them very often.  We stayed with some friends that we have not seen for over two years.  Others who used to be a part of our weekly lives, we have not seen in many months.  When we get to Heaven it will be different.  All the people who have had an influence on our lives and the ones we have impacted will all be there.  It will be a reunion of friends.  It is certainly something to look forward to.  Heaven will be a place where we say no more good byes.

We made it to Houston this afternoon and Hannah was especially excited.  My parents were elated to see Josh and Hannah.  What is it with grandparents anyway?  Hannah runs across the yard and my mom scoops her up with glee.  Josh approaches and my mom gives him a big hug and kiss.  I am standing next to them and my mom turns around with no acknowledgement that I am there and she walks in the house.  She then realized what she had done and turns around and says, “How are you son?”

From what I gather all grandparents have this disease.  They forget that their children bore those special grand kids.   After an hour or so, Sonya and I are being acknowledged and talked to.  I think we will go ahead and stay all week now:)

For many days I have been chewing on II Corinthians 13:5-6.

”Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. ⁶ But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.”

The first part arrested my attention.  Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.  As Paul writes I can’t help but think that there is a litmus test to which we test ourselves by.  Something to reveal to us whether we are in the faith or not. 

I know that this “EXAM” is found in the pages of Scripture.  I am searching out the test questions so we can know the answers to this exam.  I feel a sermon series coming up!

Here is a great blog post by Mark Batterson:

“I recently mentioned that I’m falling in love with the Bible all over again. Honestly, I think reading through a one-year Bible in different translations will become an annual ritual. I feel like it sets the tone for the day. And it keeps me consistent.
Having said that let me say this: not all parts of the Bible are equally exciting. Is that ok to say? Or to put it another way, all Scripture is equally inspired but not all Scripture is equally applicable. By the way, I think I heard Andy Stanley say something or write something along those lines. Wanna give credit where credit is due.
So I just finished reading through Leviticus. And I’m not gonna lie, it’s not the easiest read in the Bible. Reading thru Leviticus is like driving thru Iowa. My apologies to all Iowans, but after a while, the flat land and corn rows can get a little mind numbing. But you’ve got to keep driving. Eventually you’ll get out of Iowa. Again, my apologies. And you’ll come to some scenic overlooks in Colorado. And honestly, it’s the flat lands of Iowa that help you appreciate the mountain ranges of Colorado.
For what it’s worth, my big take away from Leviticus was a renewed gratitude that we don’t have to make all of those sacrifices because Jesus made one sacrifice for all people for all time.”

HT: Batterson Blog

Sonya and I will be leaving after our morning service for vacation.  We will be going south to Houston to spend the week with my family.  It has been several months since my parents have seen the grandkids, if I wait any longer I will be erased from the will.  Please pray for our safe travel.  I will be blogging some but not as much.  Keep checking back throughout the week for more writings.

This morning is week 3 of our Stories Series.  It has been a great series!  We hear a testimony (story) from someone in our congregation and then I share a message that relates to that story.  This week we are talking about Transformed Marriages.  Bill and Susie will share their testimony which happens to be an incredible story of restoration.

When told the reason for daylight saving time the old Indian said…

‘Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket.’

It is that time a year again.  We set our clocks forward tonight.  Argh! We lose an hour of sleep on this dreadful occasion.  I do not mind gaining an hour of sleep but never losing an hour.  All in all, at least it will get darker later.