Do it.

So I recently heard a song called "Do It Lord" by Tommy Walker off of his latest album called I Have A Hope. Every time I hear the chorus, which is the phrase 'Do It Lord' over and over, I can't help but wonder if Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson co-wrote the song on the set of Starsky and Hutch. Despite my wandering imagination, this is still a great song on a great album by Tommy Walker. Sing your heart out Tommy. Do it.

APK

Adventures in the Shire: family time

Adventures in the Shire: Hiking to the Creek

Belle & Eli - a special moment

That is what the below video post title should say, but it's not working!

Belle

Adventures in the Shire: Ole Augusta

Monday morning The Kirk Haven clan accompanied Pa & Ma Kirk (aka Don Paul & Jackie) onto the Ferryboat, Ole Augusta, where we crossed the Ohio River from Ripley, Ohio to Augusta, Kentucky.

We rode our bikes along the river in the postcard river town of Augusta (also the home of George, Nick, & Rosemary Clooney for all of our non-Ohio readers).
It was a gorgeous, serene morning. So much so that baby girl Kirk fell asleep in her bike seat on the back of Aron's Schwinn; her little head bobbled all about the last of the ride as she slept sitting upright.
ejk

Back in the MI

We're back from our mini-vacation. Aron headed off to work after arriving home at 10:30 last night, and I am avoiding the inevitable mound of laundry I will encounter when I unpack. So I thought I'd post a quick note to procrastinate a little.
We had such an amazing time with so many of you who mean so much to us! Time was too short to see everyone, but we'll be back again in July for an entire week, so hopefully we can connect then!
Aron & I will be posting some picts throughout the week to highlight our Adventures in the Shire, as we like to call our home in Brown County!
Stay tuned, friends, more to come!
With much love!
ejk

See ya Tuesday!

Well friends, we're off to the homeland for the weekend: for some we'll see you later, for others, we'll see you very soon!
Can't wait to share some cherished moments with you when we return. Until then, here are a few thoughts to ponder this Memorial Day:

Although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored. ~Daniel Webster

For love of country they accepted death... ~James A. Garfield

All we have of freedom, all we use or know -This our fathers bought for us long and long ago.~Rudyard Kipling, The Old Issue, 1899

Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations, that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of a free and undivided Republic. ~John A. Logan

Since the fall of man, we have been shackled by snares of our own devices. From that moment foward freedom has always come at great cost. Our Great Warrior King has freed us by laying down his life, and many of his children have followed suite - in the name of freedom.
May each of us ponder this & allow utter gratitude to change the way we live.
All our love
the kirks

princesses at heart

Isabelle & I attended a Royal birthday celebration for her majesty, Princess Brooke. All princesses and their queens were encouraged to wear their finest attire for this courtly ceremony. Some of the moms wore their wedding gowns, but this Queen's bridal attire is in Ohio. Princess Belle is at my hip in this picture in the lower right corner.
Taking after her mother, she's eating salad & loving it!
Leaving the ball.One last kiss before the clock strikes 6:00.

Mormon Mayhem

A few weeks ago I was with a group from church on a service project in our community doing some landscaping for a local half-way house ministry. Two Mormons were riding by on their bicycles and stopped and asked if they could help. We said sure and as I worked alongside them I struck up a conversation.

Now, we have a small group from church that meets every other Sunday night and we're studying different religions. They asked me to lead a session on Mormonism, and I agreed. I ended up asking these two Mormons if they would come and tell our group about their faith. So they came last night and shared with our group.

I spent hours preparing because I wanted to confront these gentlemen with some of the un-Biblical and downright dangerous beliefs that their church professes. Beliefs like Jesus' blood doesn't cover all sins; God was once a man who worked out his own salvation; all churches other than the Mormon church are an abomination to God and only by belonging to the Mormon church can you be saved; the Fall (Garden of Eden) and sin itself were intended by God and are actually good because they allow us to experience suffering through which we can become gods. Hmmm, eating the apple was a good thing because we can become like God. Now that sounds an awful lot like Satan's lie in Genesis 3:4-5.

Mormonism bothers me more than any other religion/cult, because they profess belief in Jesus Christ and the one true God, but their teachings about Jesus/God are completely un-Biblical. Hence, one must conclude this is a false Jesus they proclaim. The kind of false-Jesus teaching Paul rebukes the Corinthian church for putting up with in 2 Corinthians 11 and warns the Galatian church about in Galatians 1.

So, they presented their basic beliefs for about a half hour and our group spent the next two hours debating with them. I was so proud of how our group handled themselves. Almost every single person in the group challenged these two young gentlemen's beliefs with complete gentleness and love. It was an awesome experience and really helped sharpen me to confront un-Biblical teaching in the future. I hope we planted some seeds of God's holy truth in these gentlemen. They definitely planted seeds in me. Seeds of desperation and urgency for all people to know God's holy truth, his one and only true Word, the Bible, and the complete utter freedom of abiding in Jesus Christ.

Dear God, burn away the dross from the Mormon Church and let them discover your true Son. Let them experience the freedom of Christ and forsake their falsity. Your grace is enough for us.

APK