Adventures in Denver: December 2007

Thursday, December 20, 2007

A Few Moments with Elijah

"Daddy, who is this present from?"
"That is from your Nanna, she sent it in the mail for you."
"No...its not from a banana, that's silly!"

*****

"Elijah, what is your full name?"
"I'm Elijah Ethan Kaan."
"And what is Stella's full name?"
"Her name is Stella Wyoming Kaan."

*****

"Elijah, buddy, it is sleepy time, ok?"
"No! I don't want to go sleepy right now."
"Buddy, come on, we go to sleep every night."
"I can't go to sleep right now, the christmas tree is too beautiful."

*****

A song for the Season, by Elijah (kinda to the tune of 'Have a Holly Jolly Christmas')

"Have a Merry Merry Christmas,
There are presents under that Christmas Tree
I better not open them because
Momma said 'No! You better not open them!'
Thank you, thank you
Don't bite your friends"

*****

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Three Weeks Old

Stella is three weeks old! She had a doctors appointment this week and is now weighing in at 6 pounds 6 ounces. So far she's been a very easy baby. She loves to eat and sleep. It's amazing how different kids can be. Elijah hated getting his diaper changed, loved pacifiers, and only wanted to sleep in someone's arms. Stella likes getting her diaper changed, pacifiers make her gag, and she'll sleep anywhere as long as she's full, burped, and changed. Crazy kids.

Ben and I have definitely been trying to get used to having two kids. The hardest thing so far has been that right now they both have colds. So poor Elijah and Stella have runny noses and coughs...it's really sad. I think Elijah got his cold from a combination of going to MOPs and then playing in the snow all day on Thursday (he had a lot of fun). Then Stella got a cold from him.

You'll have to excuse my bad transitions and mild confusion in this blog, but I can't think very well right now. Anyhoo, I was looking through some pictures and found the ones of Elijah from Halloween, so I thought I'd throw a couple of those in too. Enjoy.

Devotions

Click the link above for the Daily Devotional, daily excerpts from the book "A Day's Journey" by Pastor Jon Courson.

Selected Article from Abiding Life Ministries Intl.

Coming to a Place of Deception

By Michael Wells

James 1:14, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”

Galatians 5:16-17, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

I am starting to believe that people are deceived because there is something in them desiring the deception. First, if Satan has the ability to deceive all men, then all men would be deceived. Obviously he does not have that kind of power. So what does he look for in a man that would allow for a deception? Satan is looking for something in the heart of man where the deception can begin. It would be impossible for Christ to deceive any person, for there is nothing in Christ that the flesh desires. True Christianity cannot deceive, for again, nothing in the flesh wants anything at all to do with Christianity.

Christianity has one message for my flesh: “Move over!” So what is it that makes man’s heart open to deception? I believe it is the desire of a heart that says, “I can be God.” Rephrased, it is the desire of the heart to be independent from God. This is why the Mormon religion is so successful; it is cleverer than the early Catholics who embraced the local gods of the people, or just gave them different names. As you know, many “Catholic” countries are rife with blends of Catholicism and witchcraft. Haiti is an example. However, the Mormons offer something more: man can actually become a god. Man can invite his wife to his celestial kingdom, where she can be eternally pregnant. This “deception” has incredible drawing power to those who have suffered under the hand of their unjust god, or who have served a god all of their lives. After all, who would not want to believe that he could become the one who hands out punishment and receives gifts from others?

Such a person is deceived with a ludicrous teaching, but moving past the cobweb to the spider, we see at the root a heart that says, “I want to be God.” Deceptions all offer the flesh something, and Christ is always taking something away from the flesh. When someone converts to Mormonism, or any of the other “-isms,” I never feel that the Mormons won one while the Christians lost one. Instead, I believe that the person, in believing the deception of Mormonism, actually revealed a heart previously hidden that is anti-Christ. Again, we see that nothing is working against us. God is permitting all the “-isms” for the revelation of hearts. The germ of every cult is this promise of keeping the flesh alive through some kind of God-playing. The amazing thing is that it holds any attraction, when it is so much easier to have a God than to play God.