Deurty

2006 is around the corner. The last week of 2005 promised to be relaxing and family oriented. But, what I received was a hectic, emotionally draining and fulfilling week. I had a wedding and two funerals. OF course the funerals were not planned in advance... they rarely are. :) I enjoyed helping serve people, but time with my family took a large blow. But, the Deurs are okay and we are enjoying a little time at my folks right now as we race toward the new year. 2006 promises a year of getting things done. I will lose weight. And I will get the list of things I've been putting off done. In this new year we are expecting baby number 3! Anyways - have a Happy New Year!!! Kiss the Troll, sd

The Christmas Eve gatherings were special times as a church family. Steve Thompson did a nice job laying out the candlelight gathering and the team was great. Vicki's dad (pictured above) came to town and hung out with us from Christmas Eve until today. We had a good time catching up and the kids enjoyed having him around the house. We made a trip to Detroit for Christmas. We currently have a team in Gulfport, Mississippi doing some relief work following Hurricane Katrina. They made it down there and will be there from December 26-31. I was hoping to go, but I have a wedding to do for my cousin - which will be nice. But I also have two funerals this week. This has turned out to be a very busy week that was supposed to be light. The joys. :) Well - this is uninspiring so I say good bye and talk to you soon. giddy up, sd

Gearing up for our Christmas Eve gatherings... You are welcome to join us for a Christmas Eve Gathering. 4 pm - Family Gathering 7 pm - Family Gathering 11 pm - Candlelight Gathering All located at Grand Haven Christian School on the corner of Grant and Ferry in Grand Haven. "Nothing. No light, no time, no substance, no matter - the Voice was there. Before anything moved, mutated or mated, Jesus, God's Voice, was there with God from the kick-off. How come? 'Cos Jesus, 'God's Voice', is God. Before anything began, they had always been. Before there was even anywhere to be, they were there." "Jesus got the name 'God's Voice' because he just spoke and stuff started. From nothing to everything, sparked only by the Voice. There's nothing that doesn't have the phrase 'made by Jesus' stamped on it somewhere. His words were life itself, and they lit people's lives - his light could blast its way into th...

I am addicted to food and last night I overdosed thanks to Doug McConnell. Doug is a Watermarker who became a follower of Jesus last year. Doug is a master chef and put together a seven course meal last night for the staff. It was amazing! On that note - I am hopefully - once again - to try to launch a weight loss/get healthy program in the new year. I don't think I have done that before... hmmmm Wednesday. January 7, 2004 [excerpt from my blog:] "I joined a gym and worked out for the first time today. I am trying to lose 20 pounds in 10 weeks. Anyways - I am enjoying the program I am on at the moment." Saturday, January 1, 2005 [excerpt from my blog:] "My goal in 2005 is to get into healthy shape. We are talking about serious weight loss..." I sense a pattern. sd

I am FINALLY adding links. If you want to be added let me know. :) I need to get more links - so send em if you got em - especially if "deurty" is a place you hang out. Shabbat Shalom sd

When it comes time to pray for people to get well there is one meaningful prayer that seems to be always uttered... "Guide the doctor's hands." With so many prayers for the doctor's hands you have to believe that they are the nicest looking hands on the planet. Doctor's also must be excellent drivers and fooseball players. Interestingly enough however, they are notoriously poor at writing with those same guided hands. Now don't get me wrong - I totally believe that God has given us science and physicians to bring healing. For this I thank God. For this reason I utilize medical means to get well and encourage everyone to do the same. I pop a pill and at the same time send up a prayer for healing from God. I guess I may be a bit tired of praying for God to guide hands and want to start asking for God to just heal. What if I put as much trust in God as the great physician as my doctor? I pray that God would grow my faith in His faithfulness. Roman hands, ...

Smooth as Snoop Dogg. Today we had our wood burner inspected. It passed, however the guy told us it would be smart to avoid using it. I am so glad I spent the money finding out that we have a wood burner in our home that is up to code, but could result in smoke and loss of life. I guess I am stretching the conversation a bit, but in the end - we are not using it. I am a Pistons fan and I am proud. I am however a bit concerned that the stones might get a little lazy on defense... but it may just be paranoid thoughts after defense minded Larry Brown left town. But, it has been fun watching them. I have been consuming a healthy diet of two Bible teachers lately. Benny Hinn and .... what the? Just kidding... Actually I have been listening to Dwight Prior from the Center for Judiac Christian Studies and John Wimber from the Vineyard Church. I just finished listening to some interesting insights from Dwight on the Tri-Unity of God. I have been learning about healing from Wimber. An...

I think that the context in which we say something makes all the difference. For example: The guy who recently was shot at the airport for saying he had a "bomb" could say this at the Hub and we would think he was joking around, but at the airport you never even whisper or jokingly say you have a bomb. In a crowded theater you don't yell "fire." In a church you don't say a swear word unless you are reading from the King James Bible and talking about donkeys. :) Any other words in which the context is everything? sd

Well, I am sitting here with a scratchy voice after a late night meeting. I was able to spend time with my folks, which is a treat. My mom always keeps Dove Bars stocked - which I dig. One thing that I could blog about, that is way too easy and tired, is the constant drone about whether or not we can call this season "Christmas" or whether or not we can have "Christmas songs" or "Christmas trees" instead of "Festive" songs, seasons or trees... I find getting up in arms about this is pointless and not worth our time. What do you think? If you don't think... what do you eat? sd

Well the HUB open house went well. We had lots of tasty food brought by lots of fun people. We had a great turn out of people. It was wall to wall people chatting, laughing and having a good time. Thanks to all who stopped in, brought stuff, ate stuff and hung out. I am again amazed at the people God has put together to be Watermark. I am full from Dayquil, sd

Recently I have been studying the word "love" in the Bible and finding it to be more about action than emotion. This has been a good study that reminds me to live out acts of kindness and to practically show love rather than just try to feel something for people. Can God command us to have feelings for Him and for others? Can God command us to practically show kindness, generosity and service to others? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Everyone is invited to our HUB open house this Sunday evening from 4-7 pm. Drop in, eat, say hey and bug out. Late- sd