Tuesday's Thoughts: Your faith affecting others

Luke 5: 18- 20

"And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee."

Growing up I would always listen to Bible stories on tapes. With the tape I visualized a man in his late 30's sick of palsy....

One day a friend came to this palsy man and excitedly told him about this Jesus that can heal. For years that friend had seen the palsy man laying there, not able to do the things everyone took for granted. Vut latly He had heard storied of people being healed. Could it be that his palsy friend had a chance to be normal? He had to tell him!



After the palsy man heard his excited friend's story he shook his head in disbelief. What he was hearing was to good to be true. "No", he answered, "No need to bring me there. We would just make fools of ourselves." But his friend would have none of it. Together with three mutual friends he conspired a plan. They knew where Jesus would be next and they just had to get the palsy man there!

The next morning they laid the palsy man on a blanket with sticks and picked up a corner, going to the house where Jesus was....while the palsy man, embarrassed of the situation, grumbled under his breath.



Even though they got there early, the house was full and a crowd had gathered in front of the house. They pressed, they asked, they tried to get the door but no one would let them through. The palsy man told them to go home, that it wasn't any use. That it was probably happening for a purpose. It was just not meant to be....


The four friends put their friend down and stood there trying to figure out what to do when they all noticed the stairs leading to the top of the house. Their eyes met and they knew they were thinking the same. They took their friend and climbed up the stairs.

Hitting the roof with sharp rocks, it did not take them long to make a hole. Outside people shouted to them to stop. Inside people screamed and jumped out of the way. Everyone was looking up as suddenly a bed with a man slowly came down the roof and was laid at Jesus feet. Here is where we read those beautiful words: "And when he saw their faith" Their faith. THEIR faith. He forgave the man his sins and healed him.

How can you affect someone with your faith? Do you have a family member or friend that aren't saved? Do you pray and have faith that God is working on them and that one day they might be saved?

Is their a family member, friend or acquaintance going through a rough time? We will never know but maybe YOUR faith and prayers is what will get them through!

Are you maybe doing something the Lord is asking of you but it seems risky or "impossible"? Maybe it will be YOUR faith that the people around you see and inspire them to want that same faith in God orr a fellow Christian will grew in the Lord after seeing you step out on faith.

Ask yourself today: Do I have faith that can and will affect others?!

Photography Fun with our Blog Name

Hi Everyone,

Today we want to share some fun Iris had this week. She loves to take photos and had this idea of taking some Scrabble pieces, writing the blog name and shooting some photos. We hope you enjoy them!
Feel free to use them. If you use them on your blog please link back!

Friday Freebie #1: June '12 background

 I don't know about you but I like changing up my desktop background every few weeks. I like the change, the sense of new so I thought I'd start sharing screen backgrounds. I try to have a variety of sizes including ipads/tablet backgrounds and iphone/android backgrounds.Click on the links underneath the picture to get the full size. Right click, go to "Save As" and download it to your computer.

If you use one please leave a comment and tell me if it worked....so I can tweak them to perfection.☺

Different sizes are:

800x600- good for ipads & tablets

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj598/Iris-photos90/Freebie-Backgrounds/June12-800x600.jpg

1024x768

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj598/Iris-photos90/Freebie-Backgrounds/June12-1024x768.jpg

 1280x1024

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj598/Iris-photos90/Freebie-Backgrounds/June12-1280x1024.jpg

1400x900

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj598/Iris-photos90/Freebie-Backgrounds/June12-1400x900.jpg

For iphones and Androids

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj598/Iris-photos90/Freebie-Backgrounds/June12-480x80.jpg

800x600 Good for ipads & tablets

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj598/Iris-photos90/Freebie-Backgrounds/June112-800x600.jpg

 1024x768

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj598/Iris-photos90/Freebie-Backgrounds/June112-1024x768.jpg

1400x900

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj598/Iris-photos90/Freebie-Backgrounds/June112-1400x900.jpg

For iphones and Android

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj598/Iris-photos90/Freebie-Backgrounds/June112-480x800.jpg

Tuesday's Thoughts: Modesty

"1 Timothy 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;"

Modesty? What does modesty exactly mean?

Here is a definition from Webster 1812:

Properly, restrained by a sense of propriety; hence, not forward or bold; not presumptuous or arrogant; not boastful; as a modest youth; a modest man.

2. Not bold or forward; as a modest maid. The word may be thus used without reference to chastity.

3. Not loose; not lewd.

4. Moderate; not excessive or extreme; not extravagant; as a modest request; modest joy; a modest computation.

Fresh Modesty

The world makes immodesty look "beautiful" but Christ honoring clothing is to dress modestly. I like Websters first definition: "restrained by the sense of propriety. This means you will not show your body because its property. Who's property? Well first of all you belong to God and secondly your body belongs to your [future] husband! Don't be showing things to everyone that does not belong to you!

1 Timothy 2:10 “But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works."

A lady should be known for her inward beauty. Her relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ will shine through her and give her a beauty no model can compete with. When you read your Bible DAILY, pray to God DAILY, go to church, study his word, surround yourself with godly things the Holy Spirit can dwell in you and give you inward beauty. This is the beauty that should be seen waaaay before people see how attractive you look.

Accordion To Kellie

Many may ask: "How much do I have to cover to be modest?" "What clothes are modest?". Ask your father if you have a good one or your brother. Is there an godly Uncle you are close to or ask your Pastor: "What I wear, does it make men stumble?" Also, when you stand in front of the mirror... why do you want to wear it? So you can see my _____ really good!? If you are in doubt about a clothing... it's probably not modest. If you have to pull on your____ to keep it up/down to be modest...throw it out. If you cannot move normally without it being immodest... it must go.

Be prayerful when you pick your clothing and stay honest...God will let you know.

Here bellow is a video I came across a while back. The music in the beginning and end is bad but it's only about 5 sec long. Please find time to watch it this week. This video gives you a gimps into a christian man's mind. The struggles he has to face daily! After listening to this it is your choice if you want to be a help or a stumbling block!

Here are some quotes:

• "Each and every day is a battle against my sinful nature against my depraved mind"

• "Sometimes when I see a girl provocatively dressed I say to myself she doesn't even know that 101 guys are going to devour her in their minds today."

• "And to the girls who don't follow the pattern of the world, THANK YOU a million times over"

• "There is not a man that doesn't struggle with lust. If they had any idea what went through a guys mind it would probably vastly change the way they dressed"

• "At church is the one place I would think I wouldn't have to face temptation but that is not the case."

• "If a lady in church dresses immodestly it is hard to see her as a sister in Christ because as I listen to her I also have to fight temptation"

• "Sometimes ladies are just not aware that little things can distract guys a lot!"

• "Christian ladies are suppose to be distinctly different so that people can see the difference and come into church not being distracted by skin that should not be on display."

Modest doesn't not mean looking frumpy. Modesty means not showing skin that shouldn't be seen!

An entire week in 2010

Today we are a little late with our post because we wanted to work on it together and both of us had a busy weekend but here we go:

In the summer that Patrick came to Germany, my church had a Vacation Bible School. We had been dating for little over a month and weren't really open about our relationship then. That didn't stop me getting excited about spending and entire week, every evening with the man I was falling in love with.

(Patrick)

When I heard about their Vacation Bible School I was anticipating to work in it. I had worked in the VBS's of my church and was really hoping to be a part of theirs but then I learned that it was going to be completely German. But it still worked out!!! I was put in charge of the games since I love games. I didn't know any German but had lots of fun anyways.

(Iris) I worked in the crafting department and we BOTH were apart of the music program. It was the first time we spent and entire week together and though I had the biggest knots in my stomach when Patrick was around I really enjoyed that week of Vacation Bible School (because Patrick was there ☺).

(Patrick)

But during all this time I was conscience on where Iris was. For some "weird reason" I wanted to know where Iris was at all times. ☺ I really enjoyed playing music with her during the singing.

(Iris) Here is a picture someone took of me during the Vacation Bible School. Do you see my big smile? May it be because of the man in the back of the picture?☺


(Patrick) OK...so bellow is probably not the best picture of us either but actually the first picture that was taken of us together, in public, as far as we know! Yeah, I am on the guitar and Iris is listening...that's how our relationship began... MUSIC.

Bellow you see a video clip my Grandma made of us playing our VBS song while the children are singing. This is the unedited version and I want to warn you to turn your speakers down... IT WILL get LOUD!!! I hope you can enjoy the enthusiasm of children at Vacation Bible School. ☺

For those that read this post as an email please click HERE to watch the video.

A trip into the past : The City of Nürnberg

This past Saturday I took a trip to Nürnberg with some friends. It was a wonderful day of fellowship and fun. Nürnberg is a very old city with a lot of history. It was an imperial City and it only had to give account to the Emperor. Most other cities had to give account to Kings and Princes as well as the Emperor. Nürnberg was also known to be a commercial city as it It was one of the most important cities when the Spice-trade started.

Nürnberg is also known for its key role in WWII. Hitler was planning on making Nürnberg his capital city of the Third Reich and after the war the Americans held the Nürnberg-trials there. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I felt like I took a trip into the past.

The St Lawrence Church (Building started approx 1250)

Leading merchants would get a niche like this one for their families in church

The organ and the main window. Churches at that time were built East to West. This window is in the East so that the first rays of sunlight would show off the magnificent art of the glass work

The bell was broken in WWII. Though they tried to fix the crack it never had a good sound.

A few pictures of the city:

The Fortress in Nürnberg

LEBKUCHEN- a spice cake what Nürnberg is known for. (And yes the orginal taste better than the ones in Aldi)

I just loved this stand!

The fountain on the market place. It probably should have been the top of a church but there wasn't enough money and they made a well out of it! Beautiful craftsmanship.

How do you like this smiley face? ☺

Going up to the fortress

Overlooking Nürnberg!

These are just plain cute! ☺

Who would like to live here?

After looking at the fortress we went into the underground tunnels that saved many lives during the air attacks of WWII :

Originally the underground tunnels started out as individual beer cellars.

An example on how they used to collect water. In Nürnberg  it's mainly sandstone but the water would collect on the layer of clay.

An air shaft

What they used to bring water from the Forrest into the city. Of course the wood soon become rot and then they used lead. Though lead was poisonous it normally didn't poison the water because it went through much to quickly

Other fun things like ...

...a confederate army chess game for my southern friends!

or maybe you want some swords?

 Lastly we went to the Colosseum Hitler built. It was 16,5 km² big and was suppose to seat 50.000 people.

How it looked like before

The swastika was blown up on April 22, 1945

The place where we all are standing is where Hitler stood and held his speeches.

What amazing God we have. Hundreds of years of history but our God is the same yesterday, today and forever!