John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

God thank you for your peace.

Ice Storm, Power Outage

Oklahoma was hit with a massive ice storm this weekend, destroying trees, knocking down power lines, and covering our little car in half-inch thick ice which I had to carve off.

Power to our home was lost sometime Monday morning while we were sleeping. We woke to a cold house and the realization that our baby monitor was no longer transmitting the sound of our precious sleeping daughter. She was fine of course, and I shouldn't worry so much anyway, since she has a set of lungs on her that could wake the dead (she's going to be a singer like her momma someday, you know).

The storm is blamed for the deaths of something like 18 people in Oklahoma and Missouri. On my way to work yesterday, I saw a car sitting on the side of the road. Upside down. It didn't look like anyone was hurt, and an ambulance crew was there to make sure.

Oklahoma drivers are known for being absolutely stupid in icy road conditions, so I was surprised to see that most people were driving cautiously and even being sure to stop at powerless traffic signals.

We got our power back yesterday evening, but our phones are still out and consequently our beloved Internet access (I am writing this from an undisclosed, secret location :-).

Thank you, God, for protecting our family and friends during this storm. Thank you for heat in our home. And food.

This sort of thing makes one remember how blessed he is.

Verses

I was reading some verses today and these really stood out to me

• She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. Proverbs 31:25
• God, help me be able to laugh at the days to come instead of worry.
• A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:13
  
• May this be the only reason I smile, the overflow of my happy heart.
• If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18
• What a free life that would be. I want to live at peace with everyone.

God, thank you for your word. It really is a light to my path.

First Steps

Tonight we were at the Culver home and Mac took her first two steps from Daddy to Mommy! How fun!

OneBody - Free, Open-Source Church Software

This week, I made the church software we've worked on for the past year open-source and put it on the web: beonebody.org

I'm excited and nervous all at once for what will become of it. Will a community of great people materialize around the project? Will it grow and become better? Who knows.

Whether or not it's a big success, it just feels good to give my work to the world and see what happens.