When you dream…         do you dream?
When I dream…  What stops me from following?

I am a visionary.  I am a person who dreams often.  I am a person who loves to dream and think things through.  Do you follow your dreams?

No.

What stops us from our dreams?  The main reason if most always fear. The fear of the unknown, the fear of hearing NO.  The fear of others…

In life we must face our fear.  We must pursue our dreams, our vision.  We must follow our dreams passionately with everything we have.  If you never try, you already have failed.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

2 Corinthians 4:7-11

Later this week we will travel to Idaho to visit our son’s grave. Last week the headstone was placed and we will be able to see it and have a little ceremony with our family. I know both my wife and I are greatly looking forward to the visit with our son.

Not in the exciting way, but more the way that a parent longs for his kids to hit the baseball in little league. This might not have hit the nail on the head. It is more like the longing for your child which you have not seen in a very long time. We miss him and we need to see him.

My parents recently had a Red OAK planted as a memorial to my son as well. I am told this this is a beautiful tree. The Red Oak is a tree that everyone can recall the beautiful deep scarlet leaves in the fall. The tree will grow well in the area it is located and will provide great shade for our family home in Eagle, Idaho.

It will be a constant reminder of our beautiful son who had very numbered days with us, but we long for the days we get to spend together with him in paradise.

UPDATE

Actually it is a Red Oak, I made the change above.

The Same Kind of Different As Me is a must read for all readers. This is something for all ages. In fact this
is one book you should take the time to read to your kids and buy a copy for your friends and family. This is one of those books that will change your life. A book like this does not come around all the time, so go get one today.

This book will challenge you to look at life through a different lens. This book will take you through the life of a successful business person, a modern day slave, and the lady that brings them together. This is a powerful true story.

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I was provided a complementary copy of this book by Thomas Nelson for review.

It has often been noted that evangelicals do not confront what they believe is wrong. The idea is that Jesus was meek and mild the author MacArthur very thoughtfully jumps into the Scriptures to show us that Jesus was the opposite. Jesus was quite confrontational.

Jesus confronted things which were wrong when He was confronted with it. Jesus did not hold back and confronted that which was not right. MacArthur clearly shows that he was still merciful, but definitely pointed out which was wrong. When Jesus encountered sinners He was kind and merciful and living. Jesus was confrontational when He faced those who were “religious”. He simply did not stand for religious leaders doing, saying, or enforcing the wrong things. It was the hypocrisy and false teachings that Jesus did not let stand. Jesus would strongly confront these actions.

I have never been an avid reader of John MacArthur but this book allowed me to see a side of MacArthur that I could agree with. I do not believe in being confrontational just to be confrontational, as I once thought MacArthur believed. Now I can identify with MacArthur and can agree that we must confront certain wrongs and we must stand for that which is right.

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I was provided a complementary copy of this book by Thomas Nelson for review.

This week we saw our good friends from Claresholm, Alberta head back home. They spent 10 days with us. Having great friends makes life so much better. We really enjoyed every minute we were able to spend with them. We hate to see them go and we wonder if it will be another 3 years before we see them again.

As soon as they hit the road we found ourselves in sprint mode to get things wrapped up with our home, at work, and everything else that goes along with cleaning up after company and getting ready to hit the road ourselves.

You see, it is that time of year again! Soon it will be that 1 week that gives the reason to work the previous 51 weeks. Our annual Rinard Family Vacation to McCall, Idaho! This is like truly the happiest place on earth. I know, I know. Disneyland uses that slogan and how can you be happier than a kid on Main Street look at the Castle at Disneyland.

Well fact is, you can. You have never seen so many people so excited like little kids at Disneyland, except 1 time a year. This is that time! This year I hear we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 28 people going to McCall for our trip!

HEAVEN! Truly, I kid you not.

I have been looking for a Bible that has real leather and is bound extremely well. I have been looking for years, and these days it is almost impossible to find. But, I said almost. It can be found. In fact I found 2 different manufacturers of Bible’s that remind you of the one your parents read in their la-z-boy recliner before you got out of bed every morning.

I purchased the New Living Translation Reference Bible in Goatskin leather. This Bible smells good, feels good, and the leather is pretty flexible right out of the box. This Bible isn’t cheap, and this is definitely an example of getting what you pay for.

This is a very small Bible, and I believe just the right size to be able to carry with you very easy. This is a purchase that just makes your week so much better!