February - Part 2

I was able to attend a worship conference in Pasadena, CA hosted by the Brehm Center and Ed Willmington. Cheryl Woodring and I "road tripped" our way there and back. The conference was all day Saturday. There was quite a group of us from SBC and we were able to see some alumni there as well like Sue Whittaker. Keith and Kristen Getty spent some wonderful time in worship and sharing the story behind the songs they have written. It is so obvious of their love for the church's history and foundation found in hymns. We were so privileged to hear Kristen sing many of their songs. I could just listen to her sing all day long. Also there was Lloyd John Ogilve sharing his heart for the Worship Leader in session called "Worship in Spirit and Truth".

Here are a few of my notes:
Nothing is more important than Worship. It is:
-Privilege of Praise
-Inspiration of intimacy with God
-Intentional discipleship
-Understanding people
-Knowing God more clearly
-The experience of the Human Spirit

One of the most important relationships you have is with your Pastor and your Worship director.
You need to get involved and pray for them in:
1. Purpose
2. Preparation
3. Partnership

-Worship begins with God
-Jesus Christ is the Director of Worship
-We are all here by Divine appointment with the Living God.
-We join Christ Jesus in the instigation of Worship to the Father.
-Does the worshipper view us, or our Lord God?
-Truth enables intimacy
**Are you preparing your congregation to do something they will do forever? In heaven worship will be all that we do, are you preparing your congregation to do just that?
-Adoration – the thermostat of the Spirit: The perfect proportion of “in” flow and “out” flow.
-There is a need for silence in worship, so that we can listen to God.
-We dare not bore people in our worship time by not being prepared.
-“I preach as a dying man to a dying man, every Sunday”

And finally a few words from Keith Getty:
“Sometimes we avoid suffering in our songs because we believe people don’t want to hear them; Everyone lives in quiet desperation – The need to hear a word from God”
We need to teach our congregation truths of Christian Faith:
-Singable songs that engage the whole being
-What comes in, comes out
-The traditional items that can be remembered long after they are sung
-What will people remember during trials?
-We need all of our words to speak truth to the daily trials of life

After the conference we were able to walk with Ed to his office and spend a little time with him. The next morning Cheryl and a few more of us from SBC joined Ed at his church. I was able to sit next to him in the service and it was such a blessing. Funny thing was, when I started to sing some of the congregational singing, it was just like it was 22 years ago when I had to try out to be a part of the small groups. I was nervous! I sure do miss him and Mary Lou. Speaking of Mary Lou, we didnt get to see her because Cami had just had her baby boy and the new grandmother was helping out. Welcome to the Grandparents club!

February - Part 1

The Strongman is at it again! Phil was in a State Championship Weightlifting meet. He did great again.

He never ceases to amaze me with his strength and determination to work harder and be the best he can be. Jenn, Shelby, one of her friends from work, Daniel and Brandon all stopped by for a little support.

Squat - 265*

Bench - 231

Deadlift - 402*

*New State record for his class.

January

Happy New Year.



I always loved this holiday because to me it means a fresh start, a new place to begin. I often think of Christ's forgiveness like a new year, with the old sin and struggles a mere memory. Thank you Lord Jesus for that sacrifice that allowed that to happpen.



January brought another "New" thing in my life. I started a bible study for artists at SBC. We are working on the book titled "The Creative Call". We meet the last Monday evening of each month. I have met some wonderful people that have encouraged and prayed for me and for others in the group. It also encouraged me to start working on other art projects outside of my comfort zone.



One of those projects being for a ministry art walk evening. We were to chose a ministry and create something that would reflect that ministry. I chose the prison ministry. It's a little unusual for me and a little outside of the box of "pretty" things I like to paint but it received some good feedback.

Shelby 2 months and 21 days

What a cutie!

SLEEPOVER

I wanted to create another fun memory so I invited Peri and Jackson to spend the night. They watched movies and slept on the livingroom floor after eating some homemade goodies. The next morning we had a nice big breakfast and we made some crafts together with Grandma.

They were a little tires when they left but they were smiling.

Christmas 2007 - Part 3

Christmas Morning. Our most precious gift is specially wrapped and waiting to be opened first; God's word, with the story of Jesus birth marked and ready to be read aloud. This year Shane read the story for us. I love listening to his deep voice.



Another tradition, for the girls at least is the Christmas Jammies. Mom even got into the spirit of things. We couldn't find a match for Shelby so we got something in the same color family. Phil took the picture of 4 generations in their jammies :)



Later in the morning Dad and Lena joined us again. Great memories!

Christmas 2007 - Part 2

The other blessing of Christmas is FAMILY!

We were able to fly Mom in from Texas for a visit, and Dad and Lena joined us for the festivities as well.

Since Christmas Eve is the "Mac" side of family traditions, we hosted everyone at our house. Joyce started a great tradition years ago by having an ornament exchange, so we kept that tradition going by making ornaments this year. As you can guess the guys werent too thrilled at first but later got into the creative fun of it all.

I made homemade spaghetti and meatballs and others contributed the yummy sides and desserts. Needless to say, we didnt go to bed hungry.

Yet the blessings I saw around the table were that each person here knows the true meaning of Christmas. Hallelujah!

Christmas 2007 - Part 1

Yes, I know that it is currently 109 degrees and I am finally reflecting on Christmas. Goofy, isnt it?

The Christmas Programs at Scottsdale Bible Church are always incredible and this year was no exception. We had performances on Thursday the 13th, Friday the 14th and two performances on Saturday the 15th. The fun part about Saturdays performances was the Christmas festival we held on campus that included games, real snow and food for families.

One creative element I was able to contribute was more live painting. With the help of Kelly Crum and Jennifer (with Shleby attached) we painted a nightime Bethlehem countryside scene on 6' high panels that wew 4' wide and we did 6 of there. During each performance I painted live, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in the manger. My favorite part of this experience was the children that came up after each performance to ask questions about painting and that they recognized who I was painting. I often sent them on a search through the other panels to see if they could spot the three wise men on their camels. Great Fun.

This is such a blessed time of year and I always feel doubly blessed that we get to focus on the real meaning of Christmas very early through the preparation of these performances and other activities at church.

Shelby at 4 weeks

It is hard to believe that Shelby is four weeks old already. I was able to spend a few hours alone with her this past Friday after I kicked her mom out of the house. (Sorry sweetie, but you know you are supposed to share :) )

We had a nice time together but mom came back soon because she was going through "baby withdrawals" already. Jenn snapped a few pictures of me with Shelby. My apologies to the viewing crowd, it was my day off and I did't have any make-up on; you should be looking at Shelby anyway, she is waaaayyyy, cuter.

Dad Cook - Surgery update

Dad had knee replacement surgery this past week. The surgery went well and we praise God for that. He will be sore for a while and then have to go through rehabilitation. Our prayer is that once he is healed that he will be ready to be as active as he has always been - look out Milly.

FINALLY!

There are times in my life where I feel like such an airhead. I lost my blog password, couldn't remember my login to request the password...Man, I'm getting old!

So I was able to get into email for the first time in months and started cleaning out the 5, 368 emails in there and I found my initial sign-up for the blog. Yippee, I was able to get in, change my password and now I am updating for the first time in 2008. (I know, its pathetic)

My only prayer is that my family and friends will love me anyway in spite of this great lapse of communication.

So over the next few days, I will be adding lots of updates and posts.

And the Winner is...

The children of Tanzania!
After a very long day (14 hours), Phil was victorious in his class.
He raised so far $380.00 for the children of Tanzania and lifted 822 lbs total in three events - Squat, Bench press & Dead lift.

Phil entered two classes:

• The Masters Pure Unequipped-Ages 45 to 49-181lb class (this class mean he has never taken any steroids) and


• The Masters One Unequipped-Ages 45 to 49-181lb class (this class mean he has been steroid free for three years or more)

Unequipped means that he didn't use any special suits or other equipment to enhance his performance.

The Lord has truly blessed Phil with strength and wisdom in using his body to glorify God. We give a BIG Thank You to those of you who contributed to the children of Tanzania. It is still not too late to contribute your tax-free donation - just send a check made out to Scottsdale Bible Church and in the memo write "Phil Cook-Bike Tour", since Phil piggy backed onto that event.

Announcing Shelby Lyn Bonesteel

Shelby Lyn

Born: October 20th, 1007 at 10:21am

Weight: 6 pounds 14.9 ounces

Length: 20.25"

Another Baby Shower

On October 13th we had a lovely baby shower for Jenn at the home of David and Kelly Crum. Attending were: Kelly Bomar, Kelli Taggart, Nancy Nixon, Joyce King, Jilian King, Cheryl Woodring, Kelly Crum and Myself, with special gifts from Grandma Mac and Kathy Moore.

Ashley is 2!

Ashley Faith Moore is two years old...already! She is so fun, bright and energetic. Ashley was a non-stop ball of activity all evening even as the evening wore on and it was past her bedtime.

We had a lovely time at Eric and Kathy's home with some cousins and Eric's Mom. She made the best gumbo, mmm, mmm, good. We always feel so privileged to be a part of Eric, Kathy and Ashleys life. Now that Kathy is pregnant with twins, we are excited about that as well; not just for Ashley to have siblings but for the joy they will bring to Eric and Kathy.

As you can see Jenn is getting closer. If you asked her she would tell you that she is ready for Shelby to come out. Soon, sweetie, soon.

Mom's Birthday-Epilog

Here are just a few more photo's from Mom's big weekend. On Saturday we drove into San Antonio to do some shopping at a very large outlet mall. Other than being quite warm, we had a good time looking in the shops. I think the most fun we had was when we started looking for baby clothes for Shelby.

I am so grateful that we were able to do this. I am even more grateful for Bev & Kal for their incredible friendship to Mom. Mom is truly blessed to have such wonderful and kind friends. And because of them, Mom now has many more wonderful friends as well. Thanks to the Kerrville Kinship Crowd for your hospitality and the love you give to our Mom.

Happy Birthday Mom. We love you!

Mom's Birthday - Part 2

On Friday, Bev and Renee (with the help of some other special people) created a lovely luncheon for Mom. There were about 25 people there. Bev mentioned that Mom has many more friends but it would have been too large of a crowd for that facility (not to mention all the additional food that would be required).

They made a beautiful cake that was also delicious and had a nice spread of food items. The best part was seeing these lovely people and how they have so eagerly embraced Mom in their midst. After years of working hard, it was just wonderful to see her building relationships and having fun.

Mom opened some gifts and was incredibly touched by her friends love and generocity. What Mom sometimes forgets is that it is her sweet spirit and caring attitude that draws people to her. Of course as Mom opened the gifts...she cried!

After the luncheon, Mom was able to show off her cute little home to some of her friends and you could tell how proud she was.

Joyce unfortunately was tortured by Chaz, one of Mom's cats during the night and was not able to get a whole lot of sleep. We dubbed Chaz "PC" or Psycho Cat. Rocky was a perfect gentlecat the whole time we were there.

Happy Birthday Mom-Part 1

Well it was finally here, the moment that Mom was waiting for...her 70th birthday.

Joyce and I decided to surprise her at the last minute and fly to Texas to spend a couple of days with her. Bev was in on our little secret so that we knew what Mom's schedule was. When we arrived at her door and the recognition hit her face, Mom did what we know her best for; she cried.

Mom had a busy couple of days scheduled. The choir that Mom is in was privileged to sing before the Baptist Pastors organization for the region. It was great fun seeing Mom in a choir again. You could tell that she was really enjoying herself as well as all of the members of the choir. They had a very nice sound. This is the same group that will be traveling to Missouri to do some concerts and have some fun pretty soon. They were just lovely.

After the concert we went to Mamacita's Mexican Restaurant. Of course the birthday girl had to have a margarita!

Tomorrow - the big party!

These Hands - Communion Sunday

This morning I had the privilege of painting in all three services. This was totally outside my normal comfort zone. I dont mind singing in front of lots of people but, my art has always been somewhat personal. This year has brought some changes for that and I have heard God calling me to use the gifts that He has given me for his Glory. I am humbled by that call.

I had two songs and one poem to complete the painting; about 10-14 minutes (depending on which service). After I completed the painting, I sang a song and then led the congregation in joining me. I had some positive feedback from that experience and I am so grateful that in spite of being terrified, that I did it anyway. There were two different gentlemen that approached me after the third service, one gentleman wanted to buy the painting and the other shared a poem he was inspired to write while I was painting. It was truly a blessed morning. I am so grateful to family and friends that prayed for me this morning. I can't wait to see what God will do next.

1st Baby Shower

We enjoyed the first baby shower for Donald and Jenn at his dad's house; Don and Patty, Candice and Tammy. Other family members there were Mimi, Donald's mom Kelly and her husband Tom, brother Mykel and Aunt Sue. Many friends were there too - Jenn can fill in the blanks but here are the names I can remember; Brian, Brandon (Toogood), Brandan Maren (or B-rad as we know him), Daniel (Cookie). We had some good elk vittles-burgers and swedish meatballs, beer-butt chicken (don't ask) and other yummies.

Jenn and Donald received some cool things from his mom; Donalds christening outfit and his old baby shoes and some other heirloom items. The guys brought them diapers. There were many other great items but I will let Jenn handle that post. Here are some pictures. A lot of them didnt turn out very well but I think its because my batteries were dying. Sorry Jenn.