Envy

I see Envy this way...being sad when someone else has victory and being glad when someone else loses. Now, you can apply that definition to any area of life, but have you ever noticed how sneaky envy is? We usually don't tend to envy people that are outside of the arena of life we are in. For example, I don't envy LeBron James, Bill Gates, Rachael Ray or Tom Cruise. All of these people are highly successful in their fields, but I'm not in their fields. I play basketball for fun (and hope I don't pull anything), I cook without getting paid for it, I'm on the computer but haven't invented anything to improve the quality of it & I act goofy alot, but no one would be willing to buy a ticket to see me on the big screen. Now, think about those people and who do you think would be envious of their achievements?...other NBA players, rich successful businessmen, other cooking shows & other actors. We tend to envy the people that do what we do. I may envy other Pastors or other churches. You may envy someone in the same field as you, but more than likely you won't envy outside of your personal arena of life. Look in the church, we envy the other areas of ministry that have success, other community groups that seem to grow faster than ours, or other musicians that play better than us. James 3:16 says, "for where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." More than anything, God wants His church to be unified and orderly, and with Envy hanging around...that won't happen.

Choices

There may not be a choice in the work itself, but there is a choice about the way you do that work.

There may not be a choice in the type of kids God gives you, but there will be a choice in the direction you lead them.

There may not be a choice in the type of people you work with, but there is a choice in how you treat them.

There may not be a choice to have more than 24 hours in a day, but you will have a choice in distributing the 24 hours you’ve been given.

There may not be a choice in defining how people will treat you, but there is a choice in your attitude toward them.

My In-Laws have these words in a picture frame, plaque or something in their house and I’ve always remembered them... “Life is God’s gift to you, what you do with it is your gift to Him.”

Quick Tip on Defeating Jealousy

I think one thing that creeps into our lives and causes danger is jealousy. Jealousy can be damaging to Christians because it keeps us from encouraging others along the journey. I see it in kids all the time. Kid A gets a new toy and Kid B gets mad because Kid A was blessed. However, as adults I think we can tend to be as jealous or more jealous than children. Think about the people in your life that have a better house, job, vehicle, etc. It doesn't take much thinking before the faces of several people start to pop-up in your mind. Jealousy can be a killer! One thing to remember is this...it's much easier to behave your way into a new way of thinking than to think your way into a new way of behaving. In other words, don't wait until you feel like celebrating; celebrate until you feel like it. When someone wins, gets a new toy, accomplishes something huge, whatever, just go ahead and compliment and congratulate them. With this approachment, you can remove jealousy before it settles in and hopefully, create a habit of celebrating the blessings of others.

Search for the Pony

There’s a story that illustrates the positive attitude of the person who is willing to take responsibility for his or her life…even when circumstances seem completely out of control.

Twin boys were born to two happy parents. As the children grew, the parents noticed a big difference in the outlook each had on life.

One boy was always negative. No matter what happened, he would always manage to find something negative about every situation.

The other boy was completely the opposite. No matter what happened, he would always see the best in every situation.

The parents began to worry that each child had a problem. So one Christmas they attempted an experiment to try and change theirs son’s reactions.

For the boy with the negative attitude, they bought him some wonderful gifts; a new bike, a train set, board games and some other fun items.

To the boy with the positive attitude, they gave a pile of horse manure.

On Christmas morning, the boy who was negative was led into a room containing all his wonderful gifts. But rather than being delighted, he complained. “The bike will become dirty and scratched the first time I ride it, and the other toys will break or wear out.”

Their other son, upon seeing the pile of manure, shocked his parents with a shout of excitement.

“Why are you so excited?” they said.

He replied, “With all this manure, there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!”

My point? When something bad happens, the challenge is to search for the pony.

Are you optimistic or pessimistic? The boy in the story may be too optimistic, but if we’re going to lean one way, why not lean in the direction of optimism?

The Quiet Game

I can remember playing the ‘quiet game’ when I was younger. Also, we played it with our girls when they were little. The quiet game is probably the most favorite game for parents to play with young kids.
I was reading at the bookstore today and a little girl was with her mother who was sitting in the reading area I was in. She kept talking and talking and the mother kept telling her to hush and be quiet. I said what any other respectable person would say, “don’t worry she’s not bothering me”…while in my head I was thinking…(have you ever heard of chuck e. cheese lady?) I started to suggest the quiet game. The quiet game is fun when you’re little, but we all come to a point in life where we figure out the quiet game. I can just bail out quickly and then talk all I want. Well, as adults I don’t think we ever really stop playing the quiet game. We play the game when we refuse to tell our true feelings because of fear. Fear of hurting feelings, dealing with pain and conflicts or cleaning up a relational mess. There are probably a lot of couples who play the quiet game everyday and then one day it all comes…usually undetected. The best way to end the quiet game is to tell your true feelings. But, who do you tell? The person that needs to hear it is what Jesus recommended in Matthew 18. I wonder if you have been playing the quiet game with someone at work, your spouse, your strong-willed child or a hateful relative. Remember, fear always lies behind the quiet game. Fear says, “God is not big enough to handle your problems.” I disagree…with God all things are possible.

Holy Cow...I'm blogging again!

It's been two months since my last post. Man, that's pretty bad. 2 options...#1 can this blog. #2 breathe some life into this dead blog. I've decided to go with option 2. Summer is winding down and school will be starting next week so, I'm gonna try to rebirth this blog. Wish me luck. Allow me to catch you up to date a little on the Archer clan. We've had a great summer. As far as vacation stuff...we spent a week in Orange Beach with some friends of ours back in June. That was an awesome time. We went to Branson/Eureka Springs last week for 3 nights. Micah turned 13 so we called it the Back to School Bash/Micah's 13th Bday party. It was a short trip, but fun. Basically, we just spent 2 days at Silver Dollar City and tried to ride the big rides as much as possible. Seriously, from one roller coaster to the next. One night we drove over to Eureka and watched the Passion Play. They've changed it a little since last time I went, but it's still good. Other than that, we've just pretty much hung out all summer. Micah played in several team camps during the early part of summer so, that kept us busy. Maddie went to volleyball camp. The girls like to sleep in, I mean really sleep in...11:00...noonish. I remember wayyyy back in the day when I could do that...now I can't...that's a sign of getting old. However, it's over for them since Marinda went back to school this week. Teachers have to go a week early. That's about it...feels good to get back in the blogging groove...see ya in a couple month...ha!

Orange Beach

Girls are nice...but they want to be bad.

Last night, I took advantage of the nice cool evening by building a few fires. Now, these could really be referred to as 'baby' fires. Like many of you, I had some major limb cleanup from the icestorm (and I still have more). Well, I built some pretty big fires and there's always leftover stuff that has to be raked and burned later. That's what I was doing last night in the backyard. It was just about dark and the girls were outside swinging and playing basketball when they decided to come over and play around one of the 7 fires I had going. I looked over and Micah had found a frog. She was holding it over the fire and said..."hey daddy, what will happen if I drop him in the fire?" I said, "he will either burn up or feel the heat and jump out." Maddie said..."throw him in the fire Micah." Now let's pause here for a little history of my childhood.

My brother Tommy and I had a little fun with frogs back in the day. We would get firecrackers...place one in a frogs mouth and put the frog on top of a fence post. After lighting the firecracker we would tap the frog on the rear just before it exploded and if the timing was good...the frog would blow up halfway down on his fall to the ground. Mean? Yeah, but I think most boys do stuff like that. Well, for the 1st time I saw the girls flirting with the line of 'cruelty' and I thought they were gonna cross...Maddie probably would have...back to story.

Micah sort of looked at the frog and then said something along the lines of..."I think I'll just let him go." As the frog was hopping off to safety I picked up the shovel and smashed it flat as a pancake and said..."that's how you finish what you start ladies!!!" Just kidding, I didn't do anything but I did learn something last night. We all have a little something inside of us that wants to do evil and that's why we have to depend on the only perfect person that ever walked this earth.."thank you Jesus."

Micah's Braces

Yesterday my oldest daughter Micah got braces. Marinda was at school so I took Micah to get her braces...meaning I got about 5 text messages within a 30 minute time span..."are you there?"..."have they started?"..."what are they doing?"...stuff like that. I took a few pictures, which I won't post on here to avoid embarrassing a 12 yr. old. I have to give props to Burris...they said about an hour and it was about an hour. The only sad thing was they told me I could bring her in for her appointment and while they were putting on her braces I could relax in the massage chair. Well, someone else was already in it so...what do you do? After they finally got out of it, I was busy filling out some paperwork. Didn't get the massage but Micah got the braces and they look pretty cute on her. Plus, she's been pumped about getting them since all of her friends have them. I don't think it's gonna go so smooth with Maddie in a couple years...she's already dreading it. I may let Mom take Maddie.

Dave on Town Hall for Hope

We will be hosting this event at Crossroads Church this Thursday night at 7:00. Childcare will be provided. Shoud be fun!

Children's Vision

Tonight all cell groups will be meeting at the church to hear Jeanene Sanderson share what God has been doing through her work in Bogota, Colombia. We give monthly financial support to Jeanene, so, it will be exciting to hear how our dollars are making a difference in the lives of the children in Bogota. She is traveling all the way from Bogota to share with us...so let's make an effort to show our support by being in attendance tonight at 6:00 at the church. Jeanene is very passionate about her ministry and I think you'll be able to see that as she shares tonight. See ya!

Coming Clean

The post on April 1st was actually not true. I did play ball the night before but received no injury. I found a picture of a pair of knees that looked similar to mine (mine really look better) and came up with the idea to celebrate April Fool's Day on my blog. Well, I meant to 'come clean' yesterday but I forgot and after receiving a phone call last night from my Dad asking..."how bad did you mess up your knee?"...I decided I'd better tell the truth. Let me say, however, thank you for all the cards, phone messages, flowers, food & just genuine concern over the past couple of days...it really meant alot to know everyone cares...later!

Never learn

You probably remember this from last July...

Well, now you add this to the list...taken with my phone...sorry if it's not the greatest picture but you can see the difference in the size of my right knee.

Luckily, it's just a bad strain...should be ready to go in about 3 to 4 weeks. Maybe I just need to go ahead and retire from bball...not on your life!

Riding in the Van

Trip to the Museum

Late Night Cafe

We will be having a Late Night Cafe Friday, April 3rd starting at 7:00 at the church. The Georgie Baker Band will be playing...possibly another band from Paragould and I'm sure the Crossroads Band will be playing some tunes. Bring your snacks, games, friends & listening ears...cafe is always a fun place to hangout.

Tanger Outlet Mall

Lambert's in Gulf Shores

Adventure Island

More pictures

Maddie has a red spot on her foot that appears to be a Jellyfish attack (we haven't seen any except for this one on the beach) and she claims this is the guilty party...

Austin is happy because we moved Aaron to help cover his feet...he kept filling Austin's ears with sand...

Austin protecting his body from the dangerous rays of the Sun...

Micah looks dead...

Hard at work on burying cousin Austin...

Playing in the ocean...

Not quite sure what's going on here...

Swimming Photos

Spring Break!

breakfast song

Not sure what to think about this.

Jarrett Doughtery

A couple people asked about the comedian audio clip from this past Sunday. His name is Jarrett Doughtery and he is a comedian in Branson. Here is a clip of him as Brother Cecil Watkins. It's 13 minutes long...but funny! Enjoy!

Brother Cecil Watkins

Love Shack

We're taking down the 'do not disturb' sign this Sunday and going into the bedroom of a young married couple to see what sexual intimacy looks like from a Biblical standpoint. Inviting a married couple to church this Sunday would be awesome! See ya!

Snow Pictures

I hate missing church...makes me sick to my stomach. However, sometimes there's just nothing you can do about it...so we tried to just enjoy God's dandruff...dandruff?...that was pretty good feel free to use it, just sort of came out.

Here is Micah making a Snow Angel...


...the finished product

...according to Micah this is the perfect snowball...which she hit me in the chest with after I snapped the picture

...Maddie going for the gangsta in the snow look

...this snowman was built by Maddie and looks pretty decent...but it's really only about 18 inches tall

...more gangsta by Maddie

...and one final pose with the snowman.