Merry Christmas

Have a joyful Christmas!

A Christmas Message

As I pondered over sharing a message with my family about Christmas. I wanted to get a new feel for what the Christmas season is all about. Yes, the birth of Christ is the reason for the season but I wanted a fresh point of view. I wanted a life's lesson.

I read a devotional in Crosswalk this morning that helped me see some things from a different perspective. The perspective from the shepherds that were out in the fields. Minding their own business when they were interrupted from whatever they were doing. Sleeping, tending sheep, living.... hmmm I was on to something.

I saw something different this time... "The shepherds". You see the shepherds were lowly people down casts of society. They were very smelly and dirty from tending their sheep, did I mention smelly. In Luke 2 verse 8 (NIV) it says they were "living" out in the field with their sheep.

We know the rest of the story. The angel of the lord appeared to them and told them not to be afraid etc... OK, lets take a small step back. The angel of the lord....hey the angel of the lord thought they (the shepherds) were worthy enough to tell them a life changing secret. That God is here on earth to save the world and to save them.

Now read and think a little further, Luke 2:17 : they (the shepherds) were used by God to spread the good news all around them. So, all around them were people they new from their sphere of influence. I can only imagine that the lowliest of society were honored to be thought worthy to see Jesus and believe, when the rest of society didn't think them worthy of anything. So why did God think them more worthy than the kings and rulers of the day? I think it's simple. The shepherds are an example of all who hear the gospel story. It is played out right before our eyes in this biblical message.

As a lowly shepherd, God wants you to accept him from where you are. He stands at the door and knocks. He has a message he wants to deliver and he is waiting for you to respond. No matter how dirty you are with all your sins. You may be dressed in your bathrobe with morning breath and hung over from the night before but he is knocking. He wants you to see Jesus and believe no matter what you've been doing. So answer the door, accept him into your life and you will be transformed beyond your comprehension.

Christmas Eve Message from Crosswalk

Sunday 11/15 was a fun day!

Before church, Julia woke us up to remind her mother that she (Beth) would straighten her (Julia's) hair if she (Julia) woke up early enough...Thanks honey! It was OK though. I like being alerted that it is 6:30 in the morning by a cute girl anyway. So I thought a "before" photo was in order. (She is not going to like me posting her photo.)

After church we watched the Saints game... they played the Rams. The Saints won the game but it wasn't pretty. However, they are now 9-0 and are secured a playoff spot. Never thought I would be cheering for the Saints again.

Julia invited a friend over for the day. (Wish I would have taken a photo) They look like sisters now that Julia has straight hair. They played outside by the pond a little and I did take a long photo from the house. I was on my way to photograph some wildlife when right about that time a friend of ours came by to see if we wanted our field mowed. I couldn't turn that down. So as the tractor was purring and I was walking to the pond, my next door neighbors decided to skeet shoot with their 12 guage shot guns. It not only scared me but just about any wildlife for a couple miles. Well at least I thought. I saw this Mississippi Kite fly overhead and I had just enough time to photograph it flying away.
I thought for sure I wouldn't have a chance for many more photos but as I was making my way around the south side of the pond I saw a bird that was bathing itself and it flew into a nearby tree. As I kept walking I heard a little splash and saw a field mouse in the water swimming away from me. The dogs must have scared it but they didn't see it. The poor thing swam and swam until it was almost to the shore of the north side. By this time it was exhausted. It stopped by a floating tree we have as a turtle resting place. My dog Maggie has a very keen nose and smelled the critter. She couldn't see it because it was behind the log. However, Maggie was determined to find what she was smelling and she was awarded her prize. She snatched the mouse and kept it hidden from anyone who came close. I am no fan of field mice but I did feel a little sorry for the varmint.

Just a little later Michael and I raked leaves and burned them. Maggie and Sam like to play in the leaf piles like young children. We let them have their fun until there were none left to play in. We finished the day by bringing the kids to youth group and I visited with some friends.

Robotics Competition

Michael has been involved in a local robotics competition lately, here are some photos from the competition from a few weeks ago. The homeschool team was named Eclipse, the team mascot was the ninja platypus. Each school team had to come up with a Team name, have a booth representing their team and their robot, build a robot and program it to run certain tasks for an obstacle course. Sounds complicated but after seeing how things are done it's not as complicated as you might think. Each team member has a certain job to do. Each team is given certain parts to build a robot and a general program to perform the tasks at hand. The fun comes in how original and creative you get with the robot. The Starkville homeschoolers had great parental turnout for the competition. They did well and are going to Auburn, AL for a regional competition. Go Platipi!

Car Show

Along with the robotics competition, a car show was going on outside in a nearby parking lot. So during the lunch break we had something to kill a little time.

Rain Rain

The rain has been here for three weeks and it only stopped a few days in between. I've heard rumors that we've gotten 35 inches of rain in 6 months; 17 of those are for the month of September alone. I have to remember that there is sunshine on the other side of the clouds. The good side to this is that I can get a lot of housework accomplished.
(Photo by Julia Thompson)

Still Just a Kid, Thank You!

We had Phillip over for his birthday cake and celebration (On Oct 11). We were very thankful that he had another birthday to celebrate. A broken collar bone 4 weeks ago from a bicycle accident and a serious auto accident the night of his birthday kept us on our toes and praying for him. The car was totaled but not a scratch on any of the people involved. Thank you Lord!

The Ten Commandments

Today I reflected on the 10 commandments in Exodus 20. I've been going through a time in my life where I feel I need to post on my blog the core of my belief and of my family. After all, life is getting shorter each day that passes and I sense I just need to polish the basics of my life.


Exodus 20:3-17 The Ten Commandments

¹ And God spoke all these words:

² "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (He brought me out of my slavery to sin. Wow, what a gift.)

³ "You shall have no other gods before me. (Does that include football games and spending too much idol time watching the TV or on the computer?)

⁴ "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments. (I guess this means I need to love the lord my God with all my heart, soul and mind. If I spend more time doing the things that will keep me from Him than being with Him, I had better get my priorities straight.)

⁷ "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (OK, this should be straight forward, no using his name in vain.)

⁸ "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (I think I can relate to this one, God wants to be appreciated for all he's done. It tells me if he rested, I need to rest in Him on His day.)

¹² "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. (I have a great mom and dad so this one is close to my heart and they have made it easy for me to honor them.)

¹³ "You shall not murder. (No problem with this one, however, hate is the root of murder, so getting my heart right is important.)

¹⁴ "You shall not commit adultery. (I would think this would be obvious, but who am I to judge, he wrote it down for a reason.)

¹⁵ "You shall not steal. (If it doesn't belong to me, I don't take it. I can ask to use something but I should return it promptly after using it.)

¹⁶ "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. (No lying about others to make myself seem better than others.)

¹⁷ "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."(Keep my eyes on myself and be grateful for all God has given me.)

Kids Portraits

Had fun with the kids and took some photos while I had the chance.

A Strong Family Life

(Taken from a commentary in my Bible NKJ version)

Building strong family life is always a priority in serving God.

The family is the oldest and most basic of human institutions. In both the Israelite culture of the Old Testament and the Hellenistic culture of the New Testament, the household might consist of parents and children, relatives from several generations, servants, and even friends, depending on the economic resources of the head of the family. The Bible stresses its importance as a spiritual unit and a training ground for mature adult character.

The Bible pictures a clear authority structure within the family, whereby the husband is to lead the wife and the parents are to lead the children. But just as all leadership should be a form of ministry rather than tyranny, so these domestic leadership roles must be fulfilled in love (Eph. 5:22- 6:4; Col. 3:18-21; 1 Pet. 3:1-7). The fourth commandment requires the head of the household to lead his whole family in Sabbath observance; the fifth requires children to respect and submit to their parents (Ex. 20:8-12; Eph. 6:1-3). Jesus Himself set an example in this as a child (Luke 2:51). Later, He fiercely opposed supposed gestures of piety that were really evasions of responsibility toward parents (Mark 7:8-13), and His own last act before death was to provide for His mother's future (John 1"9:25-27).

The family is to be a community of teaching and learning about God and godliness. Children must be instructed (Gen. 18:18, 19; Deut. 4:9; 6:8-8; 11:18-21; Provo 22:6; Eph. 6:4) and encouraged to use that instruction as a basis for their lives (Prov. 1:8; 6:20). Discipline should be used as a means of corrective training to lead children beyond childish folly to self-controlled wisdom (Prov. 13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13, 14; 29:15, 17). Just as there is purposeful, loving discipline in God's family, (Prov. 3:11,12; Heb, 12:5-11), so there must be in the human family.

The family is meant to function as a spiritual unit. In the Old Testament, passover was a family observance (Ex. 12:3). Joshua set an example when he said, "as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Josh. 24:15). Households became the units of Christian commitment in New Testament times. (Acts 11:14; 16:15, 31-33; 1 Cor. 1: 16). The fitness of candidates for church office was assessed by observing whether they had led their own family well. (1' Tim. 3:4, 5, 12; Titus 1:6).

Prarie Arts Festival

We had fun at the Prairie Arts Festival. Tom Marlin and I ran in the 5k race. The kids parked cars in the church parking lot. It was pretty much the same as it has been for the 10 years I've participated but still fun.

Yellow Jacket Problem

Back in September we had a yellow jacket problem. Luckily we had a close friend who had a bee suit and knew what to do. He told us that yellow jackets normally nest in the ground and that nesting in our attic was unusual. He waited for nightfall since that was when most of them would be in the nest and less active, then sprayed them with Bengal roach spray. Must have got them all because we haven't had a problem since.

Alligator Nest?

Late afternoon at the refuge. Beth spotted this gator close to shore. I think it had a nest and was keeping close watch. After reading information about nesting season.. it could be a possibility.

Alligators breed once a year. Courtship begins in early spring and reaches a peak during May. Males bellow in choruses or chain reactions to advertise their prowess and attract potential mates, but females make the final choice.

During courtship, male alligators can be very aggressive toward other males or toward humans. Mated pairs are frequently seen swimming or sunning together by mid-May; the male is the larger of the two. By the end of June, the pair separates and the female assumes her exclusive duties of nest building and guarding.

An alligator nest is a pile of rotting grass, other vegetation and mud. The pile is 3 1/2 to 6 feet across and 1 to 2 feet high, sitting in a site 13 to 18 feet across that has been cleared of vegetation by the female. By the first week in July, she lays a clutch of 20 to 70 cylindrical eggs. The eggs are 3 to 3 1/2 inches long, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and are buried 3 to 14 inches deep in the nests. Incubation takes about 65 days.

The female alligator stays close to guard the eggs from raiding raccoons, skunks and opossums. After the eggs hatch in late summer, the pod of baby alligators will stay together through their first winter and often through their second winter as well. The mother alligator stays close to her pod of babies, protecting them from male alligators, herons and humans.

Baby alligators must feed themselves. They eat minnows crayfish, snails, insects and tadpoles. They grow 9 to 10 inches each year for the first five years. As they mature, their diet expands to include fish, turtles, snakes, frogs, waterfowl, wading birds, raccoons, carrion and just about anything they can catch. By six years of age, they are mature and ready to breed.

WARNING: A female alligator will protect her family. Never approach a pile of rotting grass. Never approach a pod of baby alligators.

Love and Respect

Beth and I went to a marriage conference recently. The message was on love and respect based on Ephesians 5:33. The conference was jammed with information and the speakers delivered a message that is almost forgotten in today's society. Husbands should love their wives but wives should also respect their husbands. Say what? Yes, we've all heard the submission verses for our wives but they probably don't mean what you think. Respect plays an important role in a marital relationship. Statistics show that husbands would rather a wife that respects him over a wife that loves him. Both would be best but respect is preferred. The more he is respected, the more he loves his wife and the more he loves his wife the more she respects. It was a very profound and meaningful message. The conference was located in Cordova, TN at the infamous Bellvue Baptist church. We went with a few couples from our church and had an enjoyable weekend.

I highly recommend the book written by Dr.Emerson Eggerich, "Love and Respect". I give it a 5 star rating for the best in meaningful application. Beth and I have been married for 27 years and I have found this message to be one of the best. We've learned so much already and found the principals useful.

Blueberry Pickin

We went blueberry picking a few miles from the house. I love this time of year when I can enjoy fresh blueberries on my pancakes and crepes. The last day to pick was a few days ago. We picked a total of 13lbs in a few visits.

On to Louisville, KY

After Lexington and Petersburg we drove on to Louisville. We didn't have a place to camp so we stayed at a hotel. We had time to look things over and plan our next day. Beth is really good at this. I planned my next morning months in advance. This was the highlight for me. I have been wanting to visit the Louisville extreme skatepark ever since it was built back in 2005. I took Michael with me and he seemed to have a good time. I felt bad that he had to get up early but I knew he wouldn't be disappointed. We arrived at the park before the heat and the crowd. I had so much fun. There was so much to skate and the lines were incredible. I could easily drop in to any areas to skate. If I would have had more time or a second day, I am sure I would have learned a few new things. I met quite a few new people and they showed me a thing or two.


After we returned to the hotel it was off to downtown Louisville, where we toured some museums. The best one was the armory museum. There were weapons from the pioneering days to the civil war. Then there were weapons from the early days of England. Live demonstrations showing weaponry and wonderful, full dress, story telling. It took half the day just to walk through but when we were finished we still had time to visit the Louisville slugger museum, where I got the chance to hold various baseball bats that were mad for the great players back in the day, Babe Ruth, Joe Dimagio and Micky Mantle to name a few. While I was visiting that museum with Michael, Beth and Julia were visiting the glass museum. It was another great day.

Creation Museum Visit

The next day our stop was in Petersburg, KY. We visited the creation museum and it was very nice. Everyone was very helpful and the tour was laid out carefully so that everyone could see and hear what was going on. As I had mentioned earlier in a fairly long post. (See, "Now You Know") This museum is dedicated to explain creation science. It was the main reason we went on our travels for this summer. We were not disappointed. www.tnbplus4.blogspot.com

Cumberland Falls and Boonesboro

The next stop along the way was Boonesboro but on the way there we stopped at Cumberland falls to enjoy the scenery. When we finally arrived at Boonesboro we were very tired and it was late in the day. We were ready to leave next day and would have not enjoyed touring the lock and dam museum or the fort if Beth didn't forget her cell pone. Funny how God worked that out.

Camping in the Smokies

We camped in the smokies on the first leg of our journey. I took some photos and enjoyed the rest of the trip. I always come back thinking I didn't take enough good photos but I have to enjoy myself sometimes even if it means I have no visual record. One of my favorite cartoons says it all.

Does God Like to Have Fun?

By Andy Wood, August 21, 2008

Pastors get lots of interesting questions. You be the pastor for a minute and answer this one I once received:

Does God like to have fun? What does God do for fun?

What would you say? Read More...

Now you know!

What worldview do the Thompsons have? What does this have to do with visiting the worlds largest creation museum?

What is Worldview?
According to Wikipedia!

"A worldview describes a consistent (to a varying degree) and integral sense of existence and provides a framework for generating, sustaining, and applying knowledge."

Everyone has a worldview! Your worldview is shaped by personal experience, (which may or may not be influenced by the supernatural), and knowledge of factual evidence in the world you live in. How you interpret reality is influenced by your worldview. Facts can be interpreted quite differently between opposing worldviews.

Therefore if you can agree that;
1. Worldview can effect interpretation of reality and or factual evidence and
2. Worldview does not change factual evidence, (you can see the same facts and draw different conclusions),
then there is common ground for opposing worldviews. (You can agree to disagree)

What worldview do the Thompsons have?
We obviously have a biblical worldview influenced by our Christian faith. Everything we've experienced can be explained through our knowledge of the bible and we are influenced by the supernatural work of God in our lives. We believe that we exist because God created us just as it is explained in the book of Genesis in the bible.

Why is it important to know this about us?
We believe that God created the world and we do not believe in evolution. (An opposing worldview) We believe that the evidence provided for us today and tomorrow agrees with the bible. We believe that evolutionists have the same evidence but draw a different conclusions because they have a different worldview. We believe that there are things that are still unexplained and some that may never be explained.

Sorry for the long post but now you now know why we are going to visit the world's first creation museum. The creationist museum is a 70,000 square foot museum designed to promote young earth creationism. Designed by a former Universal Studios exhibit director, this state of the art museum brings the accounts of the bible to life. The museum presents an account of the origins of the universe, life, mankind, and man's early history according to a literal reading of the book of Genesis. For more information, visit http://creationmuseum.org/ . This will be the furthest stop and only one stop during our week long vacation. I hope to have plenty of photos to post on facebook and here.

Some waterslide fun

I remembered how much fun we had with Tee and Phillip when they were young. So I had to make our playground slide a wet slide and Julia and Michael joined in on the fun.

Babysitting

Beth and I babysat our friend's children and they were very sweet. We had lots of fun. It made us remember how much work it was when our kids were in diapers and toddlers. Beth had plenty of help, Julia and Elizabeth Salmon helped out tremendously. They were so photogenic. I guess it's because their mother is a photographer too.

Julia's birthday week

Julia celebrated her birthday at three different places this year. The celebration ended at home. We had crepes for breakfast, red beans for dinner and her flavor of choice for her birthday cake.

Gray's 80th Birthday

We had a lot of fun celebrating Gray's birthday. There was lots of music and singing.

Slide Show

Much needed portrait

Julia and I were all alone Sunday afternoon. So I asked her if we could take a portrait together.

Gray Rat Snake

Beth found this snake when she went for a walk Friday afternoon, so she called for Michael and I to come look. It is a gray rat snake approximately 4.5 ft long. The only photo we have of the snake's length was of me holding it while it was relaxed. I look really short... I wonder who took the photo?

Dewberry Pickin

Did you know there was a difference between dewberries and blackberries? They look the same but there is a difference.

Click here for Slideshow

Julia Learns to Sew

Although this photo looks posed, they really were sewing. Julia is making a stuffed rabbit. When she is finished I will post some more pics.

Spring Garden

Beth's spring garden with her first try at strawberries, broccoli, romaine lettuce, and potatoes. They all look great, so far the strawberries tasted the best. LOL :o)

Maggie Gets Brushed

Click here for slide show

Maggie and Sam got a bath today and maggie needed brushing out. She lost a lot of hair today, due to brushing but you won't see her complaining, she like the attention.

Flowers at MSU Rose Garden

Beth and Julia wanted to go to the rose garden and take some photos so they called me at work and I met them there. Yeah, I know there are no roses in these photos, but it shows that there is a variety of other plants and flowers at the location.

Family Walk Around the Pond

Run Wild

I ran in a race with Tee and his friends, Libby and Amy this Saturday. The weather was gorgeous and made it very tolerable. The race was split into 3 courses, 1 mile, 5k and 10k. I did the 5, Tee, Libby and Amy did the 10. We were able to run together for the first 5k.

After I finished I took some more pics. The race was sponsored by the student health center and was called Run Wild. I posted more pics on facebook.

I felt really good and I hope to run in other races this year. I need to find a friend to run with.

Noxubee Visit

Hooded Merganser

The first sign of spring is when the hooded merganser ducks migrate and land on our pond in the mornings. I was wondering what a certain sound was the other day. I didn't know that the ducks make this noise. Click here to to listen

Snow Finally

Well it has been all of 9 years since we've had snow like this. From 6:00am till 10:00am we enjoyed the snow while it lasted.

Trying out the swing

Phillip tries out the rope swing while visiting for the weekend. Getting to the starting point tests your courage; after that it's a lot of fun. :)

Walkin in the woods

Beth and Julia check out the paintball bunkers

Sam enjoys the pond

King Cake Time

Jill gave us a really good king cake recipe and we tried it out. Beth read the directions from the couch while Tee and I did some creative interpreting. It was soooo good that I ate almost half of it. Sorry guys. :) Dad

We had a lot of fun making it too.

Guess who?

Click on the photo above to find out.