Seth and Papaw working on his pinewood derby car, with inspector Shani making sure he does it right... 
My parents...
Their grandchildren...
I'm grateful for the wonderful heritage of a godly, loving, hard-working family. I am blessed.
posted by Scott @ 4:53 PM
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We enjoyed a week in MO with family. I hope to post a picture or two of the trip soon. It was relaxing and went pretty fast. I especially enjoyed our trip to the WWI Museum in Kansas City. It just opened this month and was pretty amazing. I also had the privilege of spending an afternoon with my brother Steve and we talked about some pretty significant issues in our lives. Other highlights include rabbit hunting, playing cards, and watching my dad help Seth make his pinewood derby car. Very special.
I'm grateful that we had safe travels (about 1500 miles) and got home in time to host a gathering of believers on Christmas Eve. As always, the food and time of worship was excellent.
We had a quiet day at home on Christmas and S&S were a lot of fun (as usual). I did some work around the house in the afternoon and Barb C joined us for a turkey dinner.
I worked today and called several potential buyers that I have had contact with this year. A couple sound very promising so I'm getting more optimistic about 2007 sales.
I have no idea what God has in store for 2007, but I know I need to enjoy the journey for what it is and keep abiding moment by moment. As my dad reminded our family during our Christmas devotions, if we seek God first, He will take care of everything else.
posted by Scott @ 10:43 PM
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The Estep’s beloved pet hamster, Smokey, of Rudolph, OH died in the early morning hours of December 12, 2006. He was a simple pet and enjoyed eating and sleeping. In his younger days, he was known to spend significant amounts of time on the treadmill. He particularly enjoyed running at night.
During his lifetime, Smokey had two daring escapes which led him on untold adventures and made him the object of substantial search and rescue missions. One of his excursions provided excellent sermon material. Rumor has it that he may have even engaged in an illicit affair with a mouse during one of his escapades. However, he leaves no known survivors.
Upon the announcement of Smokey’s passing, both Seth and Shani Estep shed many tears and exhibited deep sorrow.
A celebration of life service will be held sometime this afternoon (whenever dad gets home from work). Shani Estep will be providing the special music and Scott Estep will be sharing the funeral sermon. Memorial contributions can be made to an agency of the donor’s choice.
posted by Scott @ 10:04 PM
3 comments
It's amazing how grateful you can become by simply being exposed to the pain of others.
I taught at the high school today. The first two periods went very well. I felt like I connected with several students and worked hard to motivate a couple students in particular. One responded with good effort; the other didn't.
At the start of third period I received a call from the BGPD dispatcher informing me that a 16 year old boy in our community had died and they needed my assistance for a death notification. He wasn't feeling well yesterday, skipped dinner and went to bed. He never got up.
The office staff was great in finding a sub for the sub and in a few minutes I was on my way.
The good news is that there was nothing about his death that would suggest that it was suicide. Of course, we will know more after the autopsy.
As if that weren't tragic enough, I traveled to a local hospital to help notify his mother, who has terminal cancer. She has already outlived predictions and is declining. Please pray for her.
From there I went back to the HS, talked with the principal and then went to work at my office. It was good to get some things done that I'd been putting off. Instead of working alone at my cubicle in the back of the building, I worked up front where it was comforting to be around people.
I had already scheduled to meet with another family this afternoon whose mother died yesterday. We had a good visit and I received the necessary information to prepare for the funeral on Saturday.
Tonight we had our third Bible study with a new group and we shared life at a very deep level. One guy was especially open and vulnerable, and our reading of Philippians provided exactly the guidance we all needed. His honesty drew all of us together and now his burdens are ours too.
Seeing the pain of others has given me some fresh perspective, a deeper sense of gratitude for the smallness of any of my challenges, and a greater awareness of the heart of God for those who are broken and know it.
posted by Scott @ 9:46 PM
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I enjoyed teaching last week and am grateful for the opportunities God is providing. Friday was especially nice since I got to have lunch at BGHS with two former Falcon football players (Rob & KB) who are student teaching there now. They are both Christians and we really enjoyed spending time together. Rob was baptized at my house last summer and is planning to start seminary in January.
I showed some properties yesterday and last night we saw The Gospel According to Scrooge at Dayspring. The contrast between the joy of the Cratchits in their poverty and the misery of Scrooge in his wealth impacted me more this year than ever before. Charles Dickens sure did an amzing job writing such a powerful story, and the folks at Dayspring have done a nice job with their production.
I had fun preaching this morning at St. John's Episcopal Church. Since I'm not an ordained priest in that denominaton, I am not eligible to serve communion. (I could write a lot about my disagreement with this position, but I don't have the time or energy to do it now.) With this being the first Sunday of Advent, the Spirit led me to preach about being prepared for Jesus' return. The people were very receptive and challenged by the stories Jesus told in Matthew 25.
My friend Paul Aduba is an ordained Anglican, so he came and led the rest of the service. He has great faith and it was encouraging to serve with him.
During the service I wondered how I can honor important traditions without allowing them to drown out the effectiveness of God's Word. I should meditate on the words of Jesus to the religious leaders about their traditions making the word of God to no effect until I can get some more insight on this.
It was a busy afternoon with Seth's Cub Scout den meeting, then I was honored to participate in the dedication service for the new building where Christ's Church of BG meets. From there, I met with a client who has a pretty decent offer on his house then headed home for dinner. A few of our church family joined us and it was good to see them.
This promises to be another good week and I look forward to seeing how this adventure of life will continue to unfold.
posted by Scott @ 10:10 PM
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Everyone has a story. This is part of mine. Thank you for reading. I hope that what I share will encourage, inspire, and incite you to further thought. Of course, I hope you feel free to comment and share your own stories with me.
