Be Ye Holy As I Am Holy

I so want to be what makes God smile.

I love this quote:

Many Christians have what we might call a "cultural holiness".  They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians around them.  As the Christian culture around them is more or less holy, so these Christans are more or less holy.  But God has not called us to be like those around us.  He has called us to be like himself.  Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.

~~ Jerry Bridges

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Carry on!

Birth of the Alter Ego

Questmiles is burning up cyberspace declaring the Good News of the Gospel all over the world.  Our travels and happenings are recorded here along with our thoughts, devotions, and inspirations.

Please add any of your thoughts to those we may have imcompletely posted along the way.  "Iron sharpens iron" says the Word...and we want to be as sharp as can be.

Also, when times have grown serious and the world around you feels heavy with the weight of spiritual matters, there is also another place to which you can turn.  "theparsonshouse.blogspot.com" is now open for business.  

Even Jesus laughed with his friends around the fire as they were eating fish...so, come over to our fire and we'll see if we can't scrounge up a few fish and a lot of laughs.  Real life as it happens at the Homeplace is sometimes stranger than fiction.  Our humor is many times very bizarre.  We laugh at the zany, 'off-the-wall' happenings that many other people just find stupid. But it's who we are, and we're inviting you to join us for a bit.  

Just a warning:  we cry a lot, too.  We cry over sick and lost animals, dead birds, and dead lizards.  We cry over sad movies and sad commercials.  We cry when friends leave and when they come back.  We definitely do our share of crying.

Then there is the fighting.  We get MAD over here.  We get tired and have no patience and walk off muttering and then repeat it LOUDLY if we're asked what we said.  We go to bed without saying goodnight if it's really bad.  (We will then wake up whomever we're mad at to apologize. Which doesn't help the situation).  We have been known to fuss at the dog when the dog didn't even do anything.

We play games and jokes and tricks on people.

We EAT.  My Word, do we eat.  We hunt for special occasions and usually have no trouble finding them and celebrating them.

We don't like to be bored.

So, come on over to theparsonshouse.blogspot.com whenever you get a chance.  We'll be happy to have you drop by and set a spell.  And join in the festivities.  The more the merrier!

Dream AND Do the Hard Things!

A great big shout-out to all the wonderful young women who were in the Saturday session of Arkansas Ladies Conference!  I hope you have been continually dreaming since then...and also planning ways to put your dreams into practice.

As a review for those of you who were there and a point of information for those of you who were not, we had a wonderful session together discussing dreams.  There is great new book out by Alex and Brett Harris entitled Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations.  It talks about how today's society has reduced the expectations of those in their teens to an unprecedented low level--and teens AND their parents have stooped to meet this low level of expectation.  When teens are presented with a very high level of expectation of what they can and need to do and who they can and need to be, they rise to meet those expectations.

The Harris twins also have a website in which they discuss a lot of their concepts (www.therebelution.com).  

Terry and I and our kids are in the process of reading this book aloud in a Shock Family Meeting at least 3 evenings each week.  We are articulating our dreams and structuring our family life so that we can accomplish those dreams. Our kids are learning that THEY can do the hard things as well.  At the Homeplace, the Shocks have decided that we will make a difference--all four of us--and that the world will be a better place because we have lived.  

At the Homeplace and in Arkansas, we have issued a challenge.  What are your dreams and what will you do in the next two months to accomplish them?

Several of the dreams which were shared in the group were incredible...there is no doubt in my mind that these young women can and will make a huge mark on the world in the weeks and months to come!

I hope to see a lot of what they are thinking and doing posted here...it inspires all of us!