Ripley's Aquarium and Thoughts of the Future

Well, the funny looking picture in my last post was the under side of a sawfish. He was lying right on top of the glass. We went to the Ripley's Aquarium on Christmas Eve. They were open until 9:00 p.m. We were able to touch stingrays and see shark eggs incubating, among many other things.

The shark right above our heads. Look at those teeth!

An octopus. It took us about five minutes to find him.

Our little "fish" in a bubble

This is some kind of giant crab. There were several of them in the tank, and one of them looked like he was trying to adjust his glasses with his front pinchers.

Elisabeth picked up a horseshoe crab. Apparently, they are perfectly harmless.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

We have had such a blessed year in 2008. None of our children were seriously ill--not even pneumonia or bronchitis. We were able to pay all of our bills. None of our family went to heaven this year. We were joined by a new little life in April. We purchased a new dog in January.

So many blessings. God certainly has been good to us. But, even during the years when there has been sickness and even , God has still been good to us. God is always good.

Yet even in spite of His infinite goodness, I still fail Him. The God of the Universe wrote a love letter to me, yet I find it difficult to spend time reading it every day. I have been saved for 30 years and still struggle with the most basic elements of Christianity and loving God. The new year is still five days away, but I have been mulling over and praying about what I think God wants me to do this next year.

1. Read my Bible and pray every day (if even for 5 minutes each). Sometimes this is so hard to accomplish with little ones running under foot. :)

2. Call someone in the church in need each week to be an encouragement. (This is especially hard for me, as I have a real aversion to talking on the phone. My dad used to make me call businesses and people as a teenager, but it didn't work. I still don't like to do it. ;)

3. Do something for someone else once a month. (Make a meal, bread, cookies, or some other such thing for someone with my children.)

4. Speak in kind, sweet tones as often as possible to my family.

5. Enjoy the life God has given me.

These may not seem very deep, but they are the things the Lord has laid upon my heart to work on this year.