I apologize about the long break that my wife and I have had in blogging. Adapting to another 2 year old boy in the house is a lot harder than we thought. It's amazing how busy those kids have been keeping us.
To update you all on our situation, Ethan, at this point at least, does not need surgery for his hydrocephalus. That may change after our opthamologist appointment, depending on how much pressure there is, but for now at least he seems to be fine. It definitely doesn't slow him down. Ethan and Evan are constantly running around and picking on their big sister. He's slowly picking up a few English words, and is understanding most of what we say.
My plan at this point is to post a few things from our trip in the next week and then try to convince Misty to do the same on her blog, which I know everyone wants.
God bless,
Parson Larson
Showing posts with label Adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adoption. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Beautiful Living: Older Men Part 3
Good morning (yes, I realize that it may not be morning where you are right now as you read this, but it's always morning somewhere). Update on things going on here before we get back to Titus. Awana has been going really well. We've gained a couple of kids, but at this point I'm not sure how regular they will be, and potentially lost one of my T&T girls due to a family situation. Please continue to keep these children in your prayers. We want to make sure these children know our Savior and as they study the Word of God will be living it out in their lives. Remember to check out my wife's blog for information on the adoption. The link is to the right.
Ok, now back to Titus. We're discussing the qualities that the older men in the church are to have. The next is that they are to be "self-controlled".
The opposite of self-controlled is to be "other-controlled". This is something that we need to be cautious about. What is it that controls you? There are many things that can cause you to lose your self-control. Alcohol is the first thing that I think of. It's common knowledge that drinking too much can lead to loss of control. I've been to wedding receptions where the booze has flown freely. Everyone had fun, even those who didn't drink, yet those who had been drinking were doing things that they never would do without the influence of alcohol. Self-controlled, they were not.
How about anger? I know people who become very angry. They lose control. When this happens, it is a scary thing because you don't know what's going to happen. If you look into their eyes, you don't see them, it's almost like looking into the eyes of an animal. Something that should definitely be avoided.
Being self-controlled is also one of the requirements for the leaders of the church in Titus 1:8. They should be self-controlled, or temperate in their desires. The question that this all comes down to is simply, "do your desires control you and force you to live in order to fulfill those desires?" Unfortunately, the desires that tend to control you are the desires that are sinful. What should happen, is that your desires change to become God's desires. Psalm 37:4 deals with this. “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
This does not mean that God will simply give you whatever you want. This is really dealing with your heart. When your delight is in the Lord, you delight in what He delights in. You desire what He desires. When your hearts desire is for God's hearts desire, then you will get the desires of your heart.
So, do your desires control you, or do you allow God's desires to lead you?
Ok, now back to Titus. We're discussing the qualities that the older men in the church are to have. The next is that they are to be "self-controlled".
The opposite of self-controlled is to be "other-controlled". This is something that we need to be cautious about. What is it that controls you? There are many things that can cause you to lose your self-control. Alcohol is the first thing that I think of. It's common knowledge that drinking too much can lead to loss of control. I've been to wedding receptions where the booze has flown freely. Everyone had fun, even those who didn't drink, yet those who had been drinking were doing things that they never would do without the influence of alcohol. Self-controlled, they were not.
How about anger? I know people who become very angry. They lose control. When this happens, it is a scary thing because you don't know what's going to happen. If you look into their eyes, you don't see them, it's almost like looking into the eyes of an animal. Something that should definitely be avoided.
Being self-controlled is also one of the requirements for the leaders of the church in Titus 1:8. They should be self-controlled, or temperate in their desires. The question that this all comes down to is simply, "do your desires control you and force you to live in order to fulfill those desires?" Unfortunately, the desires that tend to control you are the desires that are sinful. What should happen, is that your desires change to become God's desires. Psalm 37:4 deals with this. “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
This does not mean that God will simply give you whatever you want. This is really dealing with your heart. When your delight is in the Lord, you delight in what He delights in. You desire what He desires. When your hearts desire is for God's hearts desire, then you will get the desires of your heart.
So, do your desires control you, or do you allow God's desires to lead you?
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Things that make you go, ugh...
Hey everyone, things are pretty crazy here in the Larson home. 3 out of 4 of us are sick, leaving only sweet little 3 almost 4 year old Ellie to take care of the rest of us. (Ok, not really, but Misty, Evan, and I are quite miserable today.
Be praying for us, the adoption process may speed up for us here. There are two families traveling to Vietnam in about a week that were either behind us in their schedule or dead even with us. Read Misty's blog for more information on that.
Also, Awana is going to be starting here next Wednesday (the 19th) and we were supposed to have our basic training on Saturday. Unfortunately, the guy who is doing the training is delayed on a work trip to Texas and won't be back in time. We are going to delay the training, but still have our kick-off parents night on schedule.
We've also finished up the book of Titus in Church a couple of weeks ago and are beginning to go through John. I think I'll wait to do Hebrews 11 until later. I'll still update with notes from Titus as we go along here though.
God bless,
Parson Larson
Be praying for us, the adoption process may speed up for us here. There are two families traveling to Vietnam in about a week that were either behind us in their schedule or dead even with us. Read Misty's blog for more information on that.
Also, Awana is going to be starting here next Wednesday (the 19th) and we were supposed to have our basic training on Saturday. Unfortunately, the guy who is doing the training is delayed on a work trip to Texas and won't be back in time. We are going to delay the training, but still have our kick-off parents night on schedule.
We've also finished up the book of Titus in Church a couple of weeks ago and are beginning to go through John. I think I'll wait to do Hebrews 11 until later. I'll still update with notes from Titus as we go along here though.
God bless,
Parson Larson
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Life...
Greetings! Things have been going well for us here in Kansas these past few weeks. We had our Valentine's banquet on Saturday with another church in the area. It went extremely well. There were quite a few in attendance with an interesting devotional on love, our love for Christ, and how we show our love to Him. Along with some specials, wonderful food, and games we had an incredible evening.
Judges has been a lot of fun for me lately. I'm enjoying doing a slightly different type of sermon lately. This week we'll be in chapter 6 with Gideon. I'm excited about this one! Great application on trusting God!
The adoption process continues to move on, but you'll have to check out Misty's blog for that one, the link is on the right.
God bless!
Judges has been a lot of fun for me lately. I'm enjoying doing a slightly different type of sermon lately. This week we'll be in chapter 6 with Gideon. I'm excited about this one! Great application on trusting God!
The adoption process continues to move on, but you'll have to check out Misty's blog for that one, the link is on the right.
God bless!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Merry Christmas
It's looking like it will be one of the busiest Christmases I've had for quite awhile, but I guess that I can expect that now that I'm a pastor. (For those just stumbling across this, I'm at my first pastorate in Kansas.)
For those who live in North Central Kansas, I have one question... Does it snow here? We moved here in August and had some good rain storms (tornado just north of us) but it is now December 12th and we haven't had any snow yet!!! We have had 60+ degree weather in the last week. What's going on? Nothing is forecasted for this week either. Oh well, just remember this post when we're snowed in this January.
Had dinner with some new friends in the area last night. Like myself, he is a young pastor in a rural setting so we have quite a bit in common there, plus their two boys are the same ages as my kids, and Misty and Mary Ellen get along really well too. It was a lot of fun.
Last Sunday's sermon was about missing Christ in Christmas and comparing us to those who missed Him the first Christmas. I'm not entirely sure what this week I'll be preaching on, other than a Christmas theme, but I have a few ideas. Just need to narrow them down to something a little more specific.
Our Home Study for our adoption is coming up this week, please keep us in your prayers. I'm kind of nervous about that. If you want more information go to Misty's blog at mistyandtyler.blogspot.com
God bless and Merry Christmas!
"Parson Larson"
For those who live in North Central Kansas, I have one question... Does it snow here? We moved here in August and had some good rain storms (tornado just north of us) but it is now December 12th and we haven't had any snow yet!!! We have had 60+ degree weather in the last week. What's going on? Nothing is forecasted for this week either. Oh well, just remember this post when we're snowed in this January.
Had dinner with some new friends in the area last night. Like myself, he is a young pastor in a rural setting so we have quite a bit in common there, plus their two boys are the same ages as my kids, and Misty and Mary Ellen get along really well too. It was a lot of fun.
Last Sunday's sermon was about missing Christ in Christmas and comparing us to those who missed Him the first Christmas. I'm not entirely sure what this week I'll be preaching on, other than a Christmas theme, but I have a few ideas. Just need to narrow them down to something a little more specific.
Our Home Study for our adoption is coming up this week, please keep us in your prayers. I'm kind of nervous about that. If you want more information go to Misty's blog at mistyandtyler.blogspot.com
God bless and Merry Christmas!
"Parson Larson"
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