Birthday Celebration

Here's the whole family. Skipper is at the very front. Robert made sure that he made it into the picture. John and Robert (straw hat) are in front. John is 21 years old on his birthday. It just doesn't seem long enough. He works at Wal-Mart in Breckenridge. Robert had been at work on July 28th when he made it to the party. Yes he looks the part of ranch hand/cowboy.





On the back row are Sarah, Kerry, me, and James. James was 13 on the 27th of July. He spent much of the evening playing with his PS2 birthday present dreaming about what games he was going to spend some of his birthday money.

Here we have John, Robert, Sarah, and James all lined up. Sarah will be 16 in August. Again, how time flies.

Here's the whole crew. Erma Jean, Charles, Sarah, John, Kerry, Robert (Skipper), Brad, James, LeAnn, Gary, and Emily. We had a great evening.

Have a Great Day!
Brad

PS. We have a 6 month plan at 13.4 cents per kwh!!!

The Honest Word

Today is a day that the Lord has made, I should rejoice and be glad in it? How many times do we let what is happening around us affect what our mood is or our attitude is? Sometimes it's just too easy to allow other people the power over us to change our mood, demeanor, attitude, or even our work performance. We choose what goes into our minds. If we seek the Lord, our conscience will filter our words, actions, and beliefs toward righteousness. If we don't seek the Lord by searching his word, it is easy to break down our conscience-filter and start to speak and believe false teaching. That affects our attitudes, moods, and demeanor.

We talked in Bible class today about how the false prophets in Jeremiah 5 lied and gave the people who listened to them a false sense of safety - the Lord won't do that. They found out that they had sinned and the Lord did punish them. Paul talked to Timothy in first Timothy 1 about the teachers of the law who were teaching false ideas and being devoted to myths and endless geneologies. Paul said that they were confusing the message. God's work was being undermined. The discussions were leading to controversies rather than unity in Christ.

Since Jeremiah had problems with false information getting out attributed to God and Timothy was having problems with teachers of the law teaching things they didn't understand, how should we approach studying the Word and teaching the Word? What kind of responsibility does that put on the teacher and the learner? What happens when the student and/or the teacher stop seeking the Lord - searching the scriptures?

Paul told Timothy to command the teachers to quit teaching false teachings. He said that the command was from love - to restore success to God's work. It should be given out of a pure heart and a sincere faith. All of these things should guide those who teach and those who are students of the Word. Both have responsibilities to maintain the truth to find and stay on the path to heaven.

Kerry and I were very pleased this week when James decided to put on his Lord in baptism. He has struggled with the meaning of life and death for a long time now and come to this decision after having a lot of time to think and study this summer. I'm banking on the Christian brothers and sisters will keep each other honest and seek God's truth to keep him on the road to heaven. That will help all brothers and sisters stay true to the path.

Have a great day and week!
Brad

PS. To help support my family and meet our financial goals, I'm looking for electricity customers in Texas. Take a look at the site linked to the title of this article to find out more. It's a great company with integrity. Thank you.

Super Saturday

I'm sitting at the table contemplating or reflecting on my day waiting for the rice to soften to go with my supper. Today is super Saturday for more reasons than Sarah made it home from her Colorado vacation! She had a great trip and is not enjoying the heat we are having today. It is a super Saturday because I am preparing for the Bible class lesson and sermon for church tomorrow. Reading and studying the Word of God is always special which I do most days and is a priority in my life. The other thing that I did today happens only once a year. Today is super Saturday because it is the day that got together as Ignite associates and learned more about the company and the changes being made.


One of the biggest messages was to remind people that these hard economic times help people understand that they need to do something to make some money looking at 'recession-proofing' their income with a business that brings true residual income in an industry that grows through hard economic times. People pay their electric bills and keep electricity. They will stop buying other products because they are not as much a necessity as electrictity and food on the table are. There are plenty of people out there that would like to help do the same for you because it's not going to cost them anything that they are not going to spend already. This business also helps to soften the blow if the company decides to downsize your position or those fixed income check seem to be getting smaller even though they haven't changed.


The time drill for water is when the water is still flowing, not after it has already run out. If you are ready to start drill give me a call. If not, you may have questions you would like answered. Call me or visit my new website at http://www.bradloveland.igniteinc.biz/. If you are not ready to drill, but would like to help a family find the water go to my website and give me a call. I'll walk you through becoming a customer.

I appreciate your attention and comments.

Brad

Teaching/Home Projects/Home Business

The primary occupation kicked in this week as I went to training to satisfy my comp days and some hours for a grant that I am participating during the next full year. I have been at the region center for teacher training this week studying a new ways of having conversations with students and, by extension, parents. The rain has been alluding us for the most part. We did get some rain yesterday afternoon, but not enough to water the grass. It is July and summer and back-to-school is here.

Two-a-days and summer band will begin in a little over a week. The local television sports broadcasters are talking about the area football teams and games 'to see' during the fall. This is the time that I outline and put together the supplies for the activities that I will be spurring student conversations with during the year. The conversations must be worded correctly and checked to make sure students have the appropriate knowledge to be successful.

Getting ready for school and balancing the other activities and responsibilities in life is a challenge. Many of us as bread-winner teachers also do other things to boost the amount of money coming to pay the bills. Reviewing priorities is an important part of what we do so that the brothers and sisters at church, the students, our children, and customers get what they deserve or are paying. After all there is just one goal that we are heading-the reward in Heaven. Keep those priorities in order and all will go better in the long term.

Well, it is time to work on the Bible class lesson for Sunday. It will be time in the morning to learn more about the home business. Then, the rest of the weekend are for the church family and the family and the home business in this priority.

Your comments are always welcome.

Have a Great Weekend!
Brad

PS. Current rates for July, 2008 in AEP North region are 15 cents/kwh for a 2 year agreement or 15.5 cents for a 1 year agreement. Find out more - Click Here! (See first Comment!)

Coloring the House

Kerry brought the main color (grey) and the door color (a rich deep red) home when she made her trip to Lowe's Saturday. Thanks Dad for the use of the pickup for the one by twos and moulding that we also needed.

After church, I washed the north side of the house and it dried during lunch. Then, James and I came back and started painting. It went pretty fast. I just need something bigger to pour the paint into. I got the north side of the house done by the time Kerry came home with the laundry. I think I'm a little sore from hanging from the back eaves yesterday and it was hot this afternoon, so I didn't paint until dark and go on to the back in the shade. I wanted to be able to move in the morning since I have a workshop tomorrow in Abilene.

Kerry is very pleased with the color and I think it's going to look really good once we get more on the house. After the siding and the doors, I'm there will be the trim and the awnings. We'll get some pictures in a few days when the light is better. We will no longer be one of the four white houses at the corner of Ash and Fannin any longer.

Sarah is still in Colorado with her Memaw and Papaw. She called Friday and I told her that we were painting the house black and pink. I don't think she believed me. She's having a great time. It's cool up there. We told her to enjoy it. I'm hoping to get much of the siding color done by the time they get home.

Have a Great Week!
Brad

Patience and Judas

As you have probably already figured out, it hasn't been raining. I've been administering the July TAKS exit test during the mornings Tuesday through Thursday. Tuesday and Wednesday, I was a little lazy and only worked inside the house. Thursday afternoon, I got back out and worked on the priming on the north side of the house. I had two phones on me because I was expecting a package from FedEx and the company I ordered from only put the box number on the package and they weren't entirely sure where we were. The package finally came, so we can continue printing the church bulletin. I kept working Thursday afternoon, Friday morning and part of the afternoon, and all afternoon today.

While taking breaks today, I worked on the church bulletin and worked on the adult class lesson for tomorrow. Through all of the breaks, I have to exercise patience because there are days I would like for everything to be done with the house. I'm getting good exercise doing this and with patience, we will have the satisfaction of better fitness and projects that we accomplished ourselves. Judas may have gotten impatient with Jesus and his ministry. Our bible class is still discussing Judas, the traitor. Here are some thoughts I had on the subject helped by Barclay's commentary on Matthew. This is after reading the first part of Matthew 26.

So far, we have seen that the Jewish authorities were looking for a way to arrest Jesus quietly. Judas was the solution to allow this to happen. In the scripture, it is obvious that Jesus knows what is happening and who is behind it. The motivation of Judas has caused much discussion and speculation. It is important to realize that some of what men write about Judas giving Jesus over to the authorities is all speculation. For example:

1. It may have been because of greed. I doubt this conjecture because the amount of silver was equal to a little less than a month’s wages. Either way, scripture does say that he repented of this sin. It was too late to change the outcome. He could not live with that, so he committed suicide.
2. Maybe he was completely disillusioned and angry with feelings of hatred when the bubble burst. The Jews had a nationalistic dream of a new earthly kingdom coming in power. At this time, it was obvious that this would not be the case since Jesus was given to die on the cross.
3. It could be that he never intended that Jesus would be put to death. He may have repented as he realized that they were out to kill him. He may have wanted to force Jesus hand to establish the kingdom and come in power now because of impatience. The spiritual kingdom was established not the earthly kingdom.

The tragedy of Judas is that he would not accept Jesus for what he was instead of what he wanted Jesus to be. How is that important for us to realize? The real awfulness of sin is captured here. When confronted with someone in sin, Jesus does to things. First, he confronts the person in sin. He tries to get them to stop and think about what they are doing. Second, he confronts the person with himself. Can you look me in the eye and go out and do this thing? He seeks to have them realize the horror of what they are thinking about doing.

Jesus knew the heart of Judas. Note how he confronted him. The suicide of Judas is the final indication that his plan had gone wrong. If he was hoping to force Jesus to blaze through as conqueror, he was terribly disappointed that his actions led Jesus to the cross to triumph over death. This does give us some insight about sin.

1. One thing about sin is that we cannot turn back the clock and choose a different path. As soon as a sin is committed, it cannot be undone or taken back. Realizing that nothing can really be taken back should inspire us to be doubly careful about what we are doing.
2. The one thing about sin is that people can end up despising the thing that was gained by the sin. Trying to fill a void, people desire something. The only problem is that the thing gained by sin is also empty. It seemed like it would make them happy and fulfill their life, but it does not and will never satisfy the longing that the sinner is trying to fill.

Judas wanted his own way and sinned to get it. Then, he changed his mind, but he could not take it back. He could not undo what he had done. He tried to undo it, but it fell on deaf ears. The plan was in action and there was no turning back. The chief priests called the 30 pieces of silver 'blood money.' They would not release Jesus. The deed was done. Jesus was offered as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, without which, we would not have hope of salvation. Judas may not have been showing patience, or he may have hated Jesus.

What do you think about Judas? He played his part and there may not have been hope of eternal life for us had he not done the deed. Feel free to comment.

Have a Great Sunday!
Brad

New Skills I've Learned

The clouds have come and gone several times this morning. James came back in while ago and said that it was raining. It was light, but enough that the dogs didn't want to get out in it and play. It is also enough that I decided to work inside and put away the laundry along with a few other things. Since I decided that, the sun has come out and it is humid. Maybe I will want to get out and paint this evening.

As I was putting the laundry away that Kerry got done for us last night, I started running across the things that I had not done in any other home we have lived inside of the house. There's the water heater, taking out a wall, putting in a wall, rebuilding the front porch, rerouting electric plugs, and on and on it goes. In May, I was wondering if I was accomplishing anything here. As I think about it there were many things accomplished as the list shows. I've been highlighting some of the outdoor things that have improved on my website http://www.bradsoddsnends.biz. that also tells about some of the other things I have been working on besides working full time as a high school math teacher.

Installing the water heater was the most challenging. We had the gas line repaired and re-routed to fit the new water heater. The challenge was breaking the seals of the water pipes coming from and going to the old heater. When one finally broke loose, it went so fast that I trapped my thumb against the wall with the handle of the pipe wrench. That was a painful ugly site for a time. It did finally heal nicely, but it taught me to look where my thumbs and fingers are and where they might get pinned before I start pushing and pulling. Once that was done, getting the old heater out was easy. It was smaller and lifted right out of the closet. Placing the water heater went well, then connecting the pipes went well. And it worked!

The satisfaction of coming through the problems of putting the heater was great. The wall removal was the next most intense indoor project because it involved moving a plug and finishing covering up a door that once went into the living room before we put the wall in to make a bedroom for the boys. Kerry helped cut ship-lap boards and carry them out bringing the short hallway into the kitchen giving us room to have a kitchen table to have family meals around. That is satisfying as well.

We're just going to keep going. Little by little the projects will improve our living conditions. We will enjoy the satisfaction of seeing all that work we have put into the place. Oh, I'm hearing thunder again. I guess I'll go ahead and put a chicken on to stew for supper. I hope your days are going well. I'd love to hear about what you do that is satisfying. Please feel free to comment at http://bradspower.blogspot.com for those of you that are getting this via email or on this page for those that are reading on-line.

Have a blessed day!
Brad

Energy for Bible Class

Bible class each week is a meaningful, enjoyable time of fellowship and Bible study. We share many things with each other and encourage each other every single time we come together. There is nothing like it during the week. The folks in Putnam have honored me by asking me to lead the adult class each Sunday. We are very informal and it makes for a time that I pray is pleasing to the Lord. Currently we are studying Matthew. I'm hoping to finish this study up by the end of August.

We are in Matthew 26:14-30. We will have to finish this lesson next week. At this point, we know that the Jewish authorities are looking for a way to arrest Jesus quietly. The Roman authorities were worries about the chaotic season of Passover in Jerusalem at this time. While the Jewish authorities were wondering how they were going to pull this off, Judas came to them and asked them what they would give him to hand him over. They gave him 30 pieces of silver.

Jesus according to scripture new what was going to happen and who would be responsible for that. He had accepted this and he kept his disciples close, but didn't really let them in on the specifics of his arrest that would lead to his Crucifixion. He let them know that they would all deny him during this time. The disciples couldn't imagine such an idea. What would possibly happen to cause this?

The question we left with was how Judas got to the point of handing Jesus over? And what happened before his death? What could happen to us to cause us to deny Jesus and even turn on him? Ponder on that this week and we'll talk more about this next week.

Take care,
Brad

Thanksgiving

What are you Thankful for? Comment and let everyone know.

I am so thankful for the opportunities that the Lord has blessed us with here in Putnam. We are building better family relationships. We are working on worthwhile projects that we see progress on like the house, clearing brush, and pruning back trees. We have good jobs (Baird High School & the state school) and good home business opportunities (linked to Brad's Odds N Ends) to make ends meet those months when the repairs and bills seem to add up faster than the regular income. I am thankful for the relaxed lifestyle and atmosphere that we have found here.

I challenge you to find the blessings in your life and share them.

Take care,
Brad

Starting off the Weekend

James and I were taking care of odds -n- ends today. We started by checking on the recouperating dogs, Tippie and Suzie. They are doing very well. They are still running a little slow. They both wanted to stay with me even though there were other things that needed to be done. We gave them their medicine and fed them. We made sure they had home to move around and play today. They had a great time, but Buck and Mattie wanted to play too rough. The roughness shortened the play times today. I believe they will be back to their playful selves in a couple of days.

Breckenridge was our next stop after doing some cleaning around the house. I had some banking to do. We're still getting some of John's mail here, so I took it back to him. He was at work, so we didn't get to talk long. He looks good and is happy with his job. He is also looking forward to his 21st birthday at the end of the month. James will be 13 the day before. It goes so fast. It pays to pay attention!

After washing dishes in the kitchen, I began working on the Putnam Church of Christ bullitin and my Bible class lesson for Sunday. The scripture is Matthew 26:14-30 or so - the traitor. Think about what his motivations might have been. It could be that he was trying to make Jesus into what he expected instead of accepting who he was.

Yesterday, I took a couple of hours to work on prime painting on the north side of the house. I got about a third of it worked. When I ran out of paint, I was at a stopping point, so I quit. I have been using my own power rather than electricity to help my health and muscles. I'm still using the Herbalife products (and distribute them. If you need something, email me).

About the time I was finished with that, Kerry called ready to start home from work. Where do the days go? Comment and let me know where today went!

Have a Great Day!
Brad

The Dogs Big Day

Yesterday was a big day for Suzie (the yellow/tan dog from the previous post) and Tippie. They don't get out much, so they were nervous to get into the car. I then remembered that the only times they have been in the car was to get their shots in the last 6 months. Tippie was particularly sensitive to the bridges (rough pavement) that we had to go over to get to the clinic. The other dogs go with our son, Robert, quite often to 'help' him with his fencing work, but Tippie and Suzie don't leave home. They enjoy playing here. They are real home bodies. Looking back, we should have taken them places where they was visit and play some so they would not be so nervous about the trip and they would not have been so worked up about going into the clinic.

The clinic was nice and it is best to set up the visit in advance including filling out the paper work associated with the event. That will speed up the time plus this is surgery and has to be scheduled. That also gave us time to prepare the dogs. They were great with the dogs and when we came to pick them up, they were happy to see us and awake. They have medicine to help them through the next couple of days. By the evening, Suzie was walking around and acting more normal. Tippie on the other hand wanted to get in her corner of my daughter's bedroom and rest. Neither one of them want or need to play. They should be back to normal in a couple of days.

We used the Rescue the Animals clinic since these puppies had been dumped and we have accepted the responsibility of keeping them. They worked with us on the cost. They do a great work with mostly volunteers. They also have many pets looking for permanent loving homes. They show some on their website.

To save gas, we planned many errands to run all day. We had Suzie and Tippie settled in by 8:15 am. We then had a tire repaired off of Kerry's car, went to eat breakfast as McDonalds, went to the bank, and met my mother at the AT&T store to help her look for a cell phone. We then went a visited at their home near town and ate lunch. Before we knew it, we were getting into the car to pick up Suzie and Tippie. Combining the trip really helps keep the gasoline bill down which is a whole other topic for another day.

Use the comments feature to post your tips about how to make spaying and neutering easier for your pets.

Take care,
Brad

Looking back, we should have taken them places
where they was visit and play some so they would not be so nervous about the
trip

Extra - It's Important to Spay/Neuter...

...if you don't want or need more puppies. There are more than enough to go around now.
Tomorrow, we're taking our females puppies that are old enough to be spayed. I'll let you know how that goes later.
If you'd like to know how we got into this fix, follow this link to Pet Dumping.
Take care,
Brad

Wecome!

You've found it, my new blog is up and running. My name is Brad Loveland. My family and I live in rural Texas just about 30 miles from Abilene. We moved here from Fort Worth, Texas to be closer to home and family about a year ago. We are also decidedly not city people. We enjoy all that the country has to offer us.

My wife, Kerry, and 3 of our 4 children live here and are much happier this passed year. Our children are 12, 15, 17, and 20 years old as of now. I am a high school math teacher. My daughter had to endure being in my classes last year. Our 12-year-old boy will probably have to endure me this year. We'll see how that comes out this fall. Kerry works at a state school for special needs people.

As with most moves, it took more dollars to move than expected and the other house we own, we still own. So, I do some things on the side to help out and to get price breaks on the side to stay healthy. I am an independent Herbalife Distributor. [If you need some products or would like to be a distributor as well, email me at herbalife@bradsoddsnends.biz]. I am also an independent associate for Ignite, Inc. If you live in Texas or Georgia, read more about what I'm representing here. I most enjoy teaching. I will write more about that when school starts, I'm sure.

I've written some articles about our experiences in the last year at Brad's Odds N Ends. I'm looking forward to sharing with you and hearing from you. Thanks for reading the blog.

Brad

Welcome to this New Place!

My name is Brad Loveland. I live in a rural town near Abilene, Texas. We moved here about a year ago from Fort Worth, Texas. This has been an adventure and a learning experience. I would like to invite you along for the ride. Are you ready?