Oh my goodness I'm so excited!

                 IT'S GONNA BE AWESOME!

Easy Christmas Gift Idea

 For extra credit on one of my construction classes, I was told I could go to the campus wood shop from 10:00 - 1:00 and create anything I wanted. I decided to make some Christmas gifts for friends and family.

                                                           "Friends" Sign -

I started by selecting my base material, in this case, a recycled solid core door. Next I removed all existing hardware from the door and selected the best looking, unscratched section of the door, measured out 15 inches by 3 feet, marked it, then cut it out with a circular saw. I then centered a series of snap together router templates that read "FAMILY" on the sign base and taped them down.

                                        Router                                    Router templates

After setting the templates, I used a router to very carefully cut out the letters. After finishing with the router, I removed the templates to reveal the newly cut letters. Next I selected some recycled fencing material for the "frame" of my sign. These were cut to size with a chop saw, glued with wood glue, then secured with nails from an air powered nail gun. Almost done... all I needed now was something to hang it by!

                                                   Added Hanging Chain

I found some chains from an old hanging planter and ta-da... an easy and Christmas gift for anyone who loves that "rustic look"!

Hope you like it!
Chris

Note: Routers, Circular saws, Chop saws, Nail guns and any power tools are VERY DANGEROUS and should be used with extreme care! Please don't play around with these things. They're tools, NOT TOYS! 

What A Testimony!

Tim Tebow is my favorite football player... ever! He's an outstanding guy who hasn't let his superstar career get in the way of his relationship with his personal Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Please... if you have 12 minutes to spare today... watch this video! It's an amazing interview that's well worth your time!

For the National Championship Game in 2008, Tebow wore the verse "John 3:16" in the paint under his eyes. During that game 94 million people google searched "John 3:16"! How awesome is that?! I think I'm gonna go buy a "John 3:16" bumper sticker for my truck!

When asked about a comment from a teammate to "curb his references to Jesus Christ and his faith", Tebow responded:

"If you're married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife 'I love her' the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and every opportunity?"

"And that's how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ is that it is the most important thing in my life. So any time I get an opportunity to tell him that I love him or given an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I'm gonna take that opportunity. And so I look at it as a relationship that I have with him that I want to give him the honor and glory anytime I have the opportunity. And then right after I give him the honor and glory, I always try to give my teammates the honor and glory."

"And that's how it works because Christ comes first in my life, and then my family, and then my teammates. I respect Jake's opinion, and I really appreciate his compliment of calling me a winner. But I feel like anytime I get the opportunity to give the Lord some praise, he is due for it."

I love this guy! God bless Tim Tebow!

Everyone should have one of these!

               This is one of the most interesting staircases I've ever seen!

"My 28-foot wooden circular mahogany slide took more than 15 months to build. The slide was formed with a cold-molding technique that used two kinds of mahogany, 30 gallons of epoxy, and 40,000 staples, 36,000 of which were removed after the epoxy dried. Once the slide was installed in my home, spiraling stairs were built around it so that they were “married” to its curvature," explains inventor Scott A. Jones.

Cool Stuff huh?

Sunday's Coming...

This is too funny... but also kinda sad. So many churches are like this now... It seems like they're more focused on drawing in and "entertaining" a crowd than actually lifting God up in true Worship. We need to get back to the basics of church. Anyway, enjoy the video... hope it makes you laugh!

Another Cool Website: Steepandcheap.com

Anyone who likes outdoor stuff... this is for you!

Steepandcheap.com is a neat website that sells outdoor products at major sale prices. It works like this... They put up an item for sale (most of the time 50% off or more) and it has a time limit (mostly 20 minutes) and an item limit. You can buy the item as long as there's time left or it's not sold out. Now... the cool thing is... once that sale is over, they instantly put up a new one! They commonly sell things like...

- Running shoes 

- Hiking Shoes/Boots

- Sunglasses

- Outdoor Shirts and Pants

- Some very nice Jackets

- Ski/Snowboarding Gear (not much good for us Alabama residents)

- Outdoor Gear (Tents, Lanterns, Flashlights, Knives, etc.)

...just to name a few. 

All the items they sell are of high quality and most of them have great reviews. I'd invite you to check it out, especially with Christmas around the corner. You just may find the perfect gift at a great price!

Hope you like it,

Chris

Favorite Hymn: "The Love of God"

In my  opinion, no more beautiful lyrics have been written than those in the third verse.


If you've never heard this hymn, I'd encourage you to watch the video I have posted below.


The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.


When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.


Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.


Chorus:
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

God bless,

Cool Website of the Day: Searchtempest.com

Searchtempest searches all craigslist listings within certain parameters set by you. You can set a radius of miles from your address in which you'd like to search. You can set in what category you'd like to search, set minimum and maximum price ranges, even include Amazon and eBay results! I really like the high level of customization you can add to searches.

My favorite feature of searchtempest is a branch off of the original site called Autotempest. It searches all Craigslist Auto listings as well as eBay Motors, CarsDirect, Vehix, Cars.com, and AutoTrader.

So next time you're searching for a particular used item, i.e. furniture, appliances or even automobiles, give Searchtempest.com a try!

Until next time,
                    Chris

Man vs. Prairies

Anyone who's seen "Man vs. Wild" will appreciate this. Even if you haven't seen "Man vs. Wild", it's still hilarious! (I'm aware that he says "suck" in this video, but he says it in a humorous way referring to mosquitoes and how they "suck" blood.)

Wishful Wednesday

I wish that things didn't have to change. That we could all stay the innocent little minds we were as toddlers. That we didn't have to face challenges and hardships... But as it is, that's not the way God works. He uses these things to shape and refine us to be more like Him. So I will say, still wishful but willing to see what God does in my life, that I know "...that in all things, God works for the good of those of love Him..." - Romans 8:28

First Post!

Da da da da!!! It's time for the much anticipated first post! That's it... Wasn't it exciting?