Family Portrait

Not very long ago Erica, Elijah and I went to get pictures at a photography studio. Erica wanted to get some pics while she was still pregnant. So me being the good husband I am, I agreed. And everything went well. They were actually nice looking pictures. But we all have had to take family pictures, right. You want to wear something nice, maybe even all matching. And you do this for memories later in life.

Well at the photo studio, they had one picture on the wall where all of it was taken up with family members. I mean from the great-grandmother (I think) to the youngest newborn baby sitting on a mother's lap. This was a huge family. And I looked at the picture and tried to guess who was who. Who looked like sons or daughters of the great grandmother. I did this for probably ten minutes or so. (Yes I know I get amused by things very easily!!) But I could not do it. I would look and look and get confused. There were so many people in this family.

What if we took a family portrait of the church? What about at Westside? What about in Texas? What about the U.S.? What about......you know next right, the world? What about all the people living and already dead who are in the church?

Wow!! That would be alot of people! That would be one giant family portrait. And we all have something in common. We all are covered by the blood of Christ. What a wonderful similarity! Take time as you go throughout your week to be thankful that we have a family whose numbers are "as many as the stars." And we have a Father who is Head.

Live it,
BB

Caterpillars, Nails, and Cheetohs

Do you know where caterpillars come from? If you know the process of metaphorphosis you probably can describe where a butterfly, pupa, and caterpillar come from. But what about nails? Where do they come from? Or what about cheetohs? If you have ever watched the show How Its Made you may have seen them making cheetohs. It's awesome!

Let me give you several items and I want you to match them up. You will match the left column to ones on the right column. See if you can match each item in the left column with its source in the right column (don't mind the line of periods):

1. Rubber .............................A The Sun
2. Silk ...................................B Sea Animals
3. Penicilin ...........................C Sand, Lime, and Soda
4. Glass ...............................D Sheep
5. Moonlight .......................E Elephant Tusks
6. Sponges ...........................F Mold
7. Wool ................................G Trees
8. Wax .................................H Caterpillar Cocoons
9. Leather ........................I Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral Oils
10. Ivory ............................J Animal Skins

So how many did you get right? No I am not going to tell you the answers, because you would just skip down to the answers without doing the matching. But more important, is there a point to all this matching? Well how about this: Can you add one more item to the right column that would be the source of all the left items?

If you answered God your right. God is the source of all those things on the left and right. He is the source of all things. Listen to what James 1:17 says. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows."
God is the source of everything that is good - not just good things, like roses, kittens, bubbles and Whataburger. He is the source of kindness, respect, love, and courage. "Good" comes from God because he is good. "Right" comes from Him because He is "righteous". Everything about you comes from God. You are His. You are good because you are a gift from God.

Extra points: Show this blog to your parents and see if they can get the above part right.

Live it,

BB